Crotalines

[gaboon69]

Crotalus adamanteus.


Bothrops asper. My favourite.

Thanks for watching.

[Archie Bottoms]

Very nice bothrops I curently have 3 bothrops 1 atrox and a pr of colombiansis .I have recently been told by a bothrops expert that swears that colombiansis are nothing but a locality asper and nothing else.They are very close to each other that is for sure.I like to call them heat seeking biologicol death missels.When my adults get hooked they zero in on my hand and I have had to drop the hook a few times as they can climb up it very fast..True asper are a dream snake for me one day soon I hope.Very nice eastern as well..

[Loretta]

heat seeking biologicol death missels

lol!!

Very nice Gaboon69! I've heard that they can be a bit temperamental... True or not?

[Bushviper]

I am sorry but the Bothrops all look pretty similar to me. I have seen the huge fangs on B. atrox which are impressive and kept literally hundreds of B. neuwiedi before I found out how dangerous they were. That was enough for me. B. alternatus is pretty though.

[WW]

I love Bothrops. They are not really that bad to work with - you just need to set aside any preconceptions of what vipers/pitvipers are and do, and learn how Bothrops act. If you expect them to act like a rattleless rattlesnake or a slender version of a puffie, then you will have some unpleasant surprises. If you expect them to act like a black mamba with inch-long fangs and heat-seeking target acquisition systems, then youwill be fine. Take them as they are, and they are by no means unmanageable.

Oh, and B. colombiensis is NOT a locale of B. asper, they are actually much closer to B. atrox.

[gaboon69]

Hi guys.

Thank you for the kind comments.
Once you spot the differences (often subtle), then you can't mistake the species.
I think that is what makes Bothrops such an interesting genus. Lots to learn still though.
If left undisturbed then these animals are well behaved but they can certainly be explosive at times.

Heres an extract from Wiki which I thought was a cool myth.
"It has been suggested that the venomous bite of B. asper was a factor in the choice of certain Mayan settlements such as Nim Li Punit, where the thick jungle inhabited by these snakes was used as a defensive boundary"

No cowboys here.

Cheers and thanks to Gavin for his advice regarding their husbandry.

[mgiddings]

You got them! Congrats!

The asper are really nice! As far as I have heard these can be crazy snakes!

Enjoy!

[Archie Bottoms]

Thanks Wolfgang.That is how I treat mine .One group of snakes you do not want to underestimate in any way.Good luch with your snakes.

[justinvBreda]

Awsome snakes!! the B. asper gives me the heebeegeebies but that Crotalus adamanteus is absolutly beautiful!! Just be careful when working with them

[gaboon69]

@ Mike: Yes I did. Its been a long wait mate! Good to see you are back in one piece
@ WW: Out of interest. What were your experiences with Bothrops fonsecai like ? I saw some of those photos you took. Impressive !
@ Archie Bottoms. Glad to see some more Bothrops lovers here on the forum. These are also lightning fast when they want to be. Please post some pics when you have the time.
@ Justin : Thank you. Will do mate.

[Archie Bottoms]

Here is my snakes[img]http://www.sareptiles.co.za/gallery/albums/userpics/17044/100_1957_rsz.jpg[imghttp://www.sareptiles.co.za/gallery/albums/userpics/17044/100_2582_rsz.jpg[img]http://www.sareptiles.co.za/gallery/albums/userpics/17044/100_2584_rsz.jpg[/img]][/img][/img]

[Archie Bottoms]

Looks like I messed up trying to post them.

[Superciliaris]

[WW]

@ WW: Out of interest. What were your experiences with Bothrops fonsecai like ? I saw some of those photos you took. Impressive !

Missed this earlier.....
My only experiences with B. fonsecai is of captive specimens at Instituto Butantan - those captives were generally fairly easy-going snakes, certainly by Bothrops standards. It's a long time ago, but I certainly can't remember ever seeing one get seriously agitated. The closely related B. cotiara is similar in that respect, and both thus differ sharply from their relative B. alternatus, most of which tend to be extremely irascible when recently wikd-caught.

[gaboon69]

Thank you for that WW. They certainly are impressive. @ Archie. Nice animals you have there! Got to love them. Much appreciated.