# Miscellaneous Herp Interests > Venomous Animals >  Gabby Viper

## Neal

Anyways, I was hanging with a friend today(well yesterday) who has 2 cottonmouths & a Gaboon Viper. I got to mess around with the Gaboon Viper. I don't really have any experience in anything venomous, or any kind of hooking experience but I watched him do it once or twice. Anyways I will post the pictures off my phone later today so you can check them out. Beautiful snake, so when I get my permit, i'm thinking about either a Gaboon Viper, or maybe a Rhino Viper, but my other options are either a Saw-Scale Viper or a Desert Horned Viper. Then once I get some time with those then i'm going to step up to a Cobra. He's gonna let me work with them for a few weeks, then i'm going to apply for my permit. I've dealt with cottonmouths before but that was moreless relocating them, never had to deal with any venomous in a confined space, but all in all it was a fun day.

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## Neal

Crap, wouldn't let me edit.

To add that, he's either going to be purchasing a Fur-De-Lance or a Boomslang, which i'm not too familiar with the Fur-De-Lance but I know people that breed Booms. I wish I knew him when he had his cobras, because that would of been awesome to learn with.

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## Bitis_Gabonica

> Crap, wouldn't let me edit.
> 
> To add that, he's either going to be purchasing a Fur-De-Lance or a Boomslang, which i'm not too familiar with the Fur-De-Lance but I know people that breed Booms. I wish I knew him when he had his cobras, because that would of been awesome to learn with.


If you don't have hardly experience with any venomous then I suggest staying away from most of the species you mentioned except for the Cottonmouth. From what I have learned in the past 3 months of working with Ga. native venomous (everything except the Eastern Diamondback and Coral). What I think you should do if you already have Cottonmouth experience, get yourself a Timber/Canebrake rattler and after a year of that then you should be ready for all of the species you mentioned except for the Boom and Fer-de-lance (or any other South/Central American or Asain Lancehead) as they are DANGEROUS AND MEAN!!! Hope this helps.

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## Neal

> If you don't have hardly experience with any venomous then I suggest staying away from most of the species you mentioned except for the Cottonmouth. From what I have learned in the past 3 months of working with Ga. native venomous (everything except the Eastern Diamondback and Coral). What I think you should do if you already have Cottonmouth experience, get yourself a Timber/Canebrake rattler and after a year of that then you should be ready for all of the species you mentioned except for the Boom and Fer-de-lance (or any other South/Central American or Asain Lancehead) as they are DANGEROUS AND MEAN!!! Hope this helps.


I'm going to be working with either the Fer-de-lance or Boomslang before I get the species I want. I'll be working with the Gaboon more also. Then once I feel comfortable with hooking things and learning the ins and outs with it then I want to get the species I want. Thing about getting the native or like a rattle snake, is I really don't like the species, so I honestly wouldn't want to waste the money, then have to find somewhere to ship them to when they get older and such. When i'm ready though my first will be either the Saw Scaled or Desert Horned. Then down the line, months after that will be a Cobra, because I know how sneaky the Cobras can be. Out of the 3, Desert Horned isn't as mean, and it's the least potent.

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## Skiploder

> I'm going to be working with either the Fer-de-lance or Boomslang before I get the species I want. I'll be working with the Gaboon more also. Then once I feel comfortable with hooking things and learning the ins and outs with it then I want to get the species I want. Thing about getting the native or like a rattle snake, is I really don't like the species, so I honestly wouldn't want to waste the money, then have to find somewhere to ship them to when they get older and such. When i'm ready though my first will be either the Saw Scaled or Desert Horned. Then down the line, months after that will be a Cobra, because I know how sneaky the Cobras can be. Out of the 3, Desert Horned isn't as mean, and it's the least potent.


Neal:

Boomers can be real tough to handle.  They are fast and can ride a hook up onto your arm before you can fart in protest.

What locale of dispholidus do your friends breed?  There is a noticeable variability in the locales - including venom potency.

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## Derrick13

Well thats pretty awsome that you want to get into the hot side of life, and it sounds as if you have had some experince with hots, right on. I have and most likely will never own a hot and I have no experince with working with them, but I do have some knowledge on afew types in general and I would like to warn you about booms, there like nascars's with fangs and a temper like a F5 tornado. However, if you must work with them I would suggest finding out if your local hospital carrys the anti-venom for booms, and if not , then you should look into which is the closest hospital that carrys. Just to be on the safe side.

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## Neal

> Neal:
> 
> Boomers can be real tough to handle.  They are fast and can ride a hook up onto your arm before you can fart in protest.
> 
> What locale of dispholidus do your friends breed?  There is a noticeable variability in the locales - including venom potency.


I'm not sure. I haven't spoken with the guy in quite some time. I know he useto free handle his though. I would never even attempt that. I'm not interested in getting a Boom, I just will be working with one under his supervision since he wants to get one. I'm going to make sure I get all the necessary tricks and the sort, and a good bit of experience before I jump into hots. Plus the ones i'm interested in aren't even available right now. It will be another 5-6 months before I get my first hot, I figure by then with working with his Gabby & weither or not he gets a Boom or a Fer-De-Lance, both are bad though because of hemo.

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## Skiploder

> I'm not sure. I haven't spoken with the guy in quite some time. I know he useto free handle his though. I would never even attempt that. I'm not interested in getting a Boom, I just will be working with one under his supervision since he wants to get one. I'm going to make sure I get all the necessary tricks and the sort, and a good bit of experience before I jump into hots. Plus the ones i'm interested in aren't even available right now. It will be another 5-6 months before I get my first hot, I figure by then with working with his Gabby & weither or not he gets a Boom or a Fer-De-Lance, both are bad though because of hemo.


I'm going to try to word this very carefully because I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression.

I know several people who free handle boomers - mainly because they are a fairly intelligent animal that comes to recognize it's keeper fairly quickly.

While they practice this, they ALWAYS remove the animal from it's enclosure with a hook.  Boomers condition to feed very rapidly and will quickly associate the opening of the cage with food.  They often shoot out of their cages like arrows and/or hit anything entering them.

I own thrasops which are in the same family as dispholidus (and as juveniles are almost identical) and posses pretty much the same venom.  The difference being that boomslangs have bigger/more flexible rear fangs and open their mouths about 180 degrees.

I would be a liar if I told you I didn't free handle my thrasops.  I would also be a liar if I told you I had never been bitten.  The difference being that because of their smaller/less effective dentition the chance of an envenomation is greatly reduced.

The point being that after keeping an almost identical species, I would never free handle a boomer.  A good bite from them is a trip to the emergency room instead of some neosporin, a bandage and aspirin.

The trick with some of the dispholidines (notably dispholidus and thrasops) is to remember that at their core they are nervous and fast animals.  They move in erratic and unpredictable ways when agitated and will strike repeatedly.  They can be incredibly accurate too.

Whatever you decide, be careful.

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## Neal

OH, my friend doesnt free handle anything, but he is getting a boomslang and he has experience with all that stuff. I think I didn't make it clear the person that I know that handles his booms is not the same person that is going to be teaching me. I would never free handle anything venomous, well not like that. My rufous I free handle, but I mean anything that can be life threatening venomous. I'm only really looking to get the 3 species I stated above. Cobra being way last, because of the quickness & sneakiness. I can do the Gabby, but they're pretty easy to ride, and they don't move a lot, so it wasn't a big deal, the cottonmouths are a bit more touchy, but aren't too bad either. I figure when I get really good with the hook and I can successfully work the Boom on the hook then I should be able to deal with a Cobra, but again the Cobra is way down the line. My first venomous I will purchase in a few months will be either the Desert Horned Viper or the Saw-Scaled Viper, I would look for something else, but i'm really picky about what I own, and not many hots actually catch my attention enough to want to purchase one. They have a few others that I think are eye catching like the Copperhead, the Gaboon itself isn't bad either. Here are the pictures though:

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## singingtothewheat

Gaboons are beautiful.  If I were ever to get into hots, which is not likely I'd love a Gaboon.

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## MKHerps

Gabbys might be an ok species to work with as a rookie.  I think there are much better species that you could start out with, but of the species you listed as wanting the gaboon might be your best.  Although most of the time they are slow and almost ball python like, they can react very quickly.  I know a guy who sold one of his baby gaboons to a lady in California, who decided to free handle her's and they found her dead days later in her house.  They litterally  had to scrape her of the floor. This girl had experience with hots and work at the zoo in California.  So dont under estimate them.   Also there is a pic on Venom-center.com of a boomslang bite, it might make you think twice before you free handle one.  Fer-de-lance are very dangerous. Be very careful when working with them. The are one of the most dangerous species in South America, killing more people then any other species there. My good friend has a pair of adults, and they a one of the most aggressive/fast snakes he owns.  I would rather mess with his spitters then the fer-de-lance.   

My personal opion is that you are jumping into things quick. Remember that hurrying hurts.  Make sure you learn as much from your mentor as possible, before you mess with some of the species you listed.

Matt

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## Neal

> Gabbys might be an ok species to work with as a rookie.  I think there are much better species that you could start out with, but of the species you listed as wanting the gaboon might be your best.  Although most of the time they are slow and almost ball python like, they can react very quickly.  I know a guy who sold one of his baby gaboons to a lady in California, who decided to free handle her's and they found her dead days later in her house.  They litterally  had to scrape her of the floor. This girl had experience with hots and work at the zoo in California.  So dont under estimate them.   Also there is a pic on Venom-center.com of a boomslang bite, it might make you think twice before you free handle one.  Fer-de-lance are very dangerous. Be very careful when working with them. The are one of the most dangerous species in South America, killing more people then any other species there. My good friend has a pair of adults, and they a one of the most aggressive/fast snakes he owns.  I would rather mess with his spitters then the fer-de-lance.   
> 
> My personal opion is that you are jumping into things quick. Remember that hurrying hurts.  Make sure you learn as much from your mentor as possible, before you mess with some of the species you listed.
> 
> Matt


I never said anything about me free handling anything venomous, I said I wouldn't. I don't think i'm jumping into anything being that my intentions on getting venomous are about 6 months from now, and that's at the earliest, may be later, depends what route I decided to go with my 2 GSXR1000's. I won't get anything until I feel that i'm comfortable with working with them though.

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## FIEND_FO_LYFE

All i can recommend is, Midwest tong 'Soft tongs'
and start with a native spiecies.

I LOVE N.P. Rattlers.

too bad i only get to play with the ones i find field herping.

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## Neal

I was doing a good bit of reading, I like a lot of things about the Gaboon, but what's ultimately going to decide what I get as a first Hot species, is the way the looks intrigue me. Gaboon's are very beautiful in natures since, then price will play a factor, because I have my limit on what I'd pay for anything. The only native snake that I really find nice looking is the Coral Snake, and there's no way i'm starting off with that as a first snake. Some of the other ones are like the White Lip Viper? Also the Chinese Bamboo Vipers(the male) look very nice with the red stripe. The Chinese Red Spotted Viper is also another I like, but $650 is a price range i'm not willing to step up to. Moreless $250 is going to be my limit, maybe a tad bit more with shipping and all. I know whenever I get into the Cobras though, I already found the one I want, it's a Gold Headed Cape Cobra, but it would have to be CB, and I want something a yearling or less. Not something already 5 ft. So if anybody has any recommendations with any species which would make great display snakes, and not too pricey please let me know, so I can start making up a list.

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## MKHerps

I am sorry if I offended you.  I think some of the arboreals are great start.  I know you said you were not going to free handle anything but I just wanted to let you know what some of those snakes are capable of.   Alot of the arboreals you jsut mentioned like the white lip, and bamboo vipers are not as nearly dangerous as fer-de-lance.   A bite from one will cause a lot of pain, but usually will not result in death or loss of an extremity.   White lips are a great start in to hots.  I have eyelash vipers and some bamboo vipers.  My bamboo vipers are different then the species you are seeing on KS.  Here is a pic of one om mine.

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

Matt

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## Neal

> I am sorry if I offended you.  I think some of the arboreals are great start.  I know you said you were not going to free handle anything but I just wanted to let you know what some of those snakes are capable of.   Alot of the arboreals you jsut mentioned like the white lip, and bamboo vipers are not as nearly dangerous as fer-de-lance.   A bite from one will cause a lot of pain, but usually will not result in death or loss of an extremity.   White lips are a great start in to hots.  I have eyelash vipers and some bamboo vipers.  My bamboo vipers are different then the species you are seeing on KS.  Here is a pic of one om mine.
> 
> [IMG][/IMG]
> [IMG][/IMG]
> 
> [IMG][/IMG]
> [IMG][/IMG]
> 
> Matt


No offense taken. I love the first 2 pictures. The second 2 aren't bad, but the color wouldn't suit me. Do you breed your bamboo vipers? Also what do you normally sell them for?

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## jparker1167

> I'm going to be working with either the Fer-de-lance or Boomslang before I get the species I want. I'll be working with the Gaboon more also. Then once I feel comfortable with hooking things and learning the ins and outs with it then I want to get the species I want


you should be comfortable working with a hook before you work with hots. also cape cobras are pretty nasty and have a very bad bite not a cobra that should be kept as a first elapid

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## Neal

> you should be comfortable working with a hook before you work with hots. also cape cobras are pretty nasty and have a very bad bite not a cobra that should be kept as a first elapid


If you read my posts, i'm not getting a hot anytime soon. It will be months down the road when I feel i'm comfortable. I know I can work with a hook easy, I worked with a stick easy to move copperheads & cottonmouths. Cobra will also not be my first snake. That's over a year away anyways. My first will probably be one of the arboreal vipers.

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## MKHerps

There has been a lot of people in this thread telling you what to and what not to get.  I think really it is what you want. Dont get something you're not going to enjoy keeping just because everyone says that is what you need. Nobody wants to see you get hurt either.  So take as much time learning as you can with a mentor.  When you feel the time is right go for it.  We all started somewhere.  I did not have anyone teaching me the ropes, but man I wish I had. You are lucky on that aspect. Just be careful and always stick to the rules, it could mean your life when dealing with hots.  If you need to clean water bowls or cages but dont have the time to take the snake out first, then just dont clean that day. Being in a hurry will get you hurt.  That is all I can recommend, but in the end get an animal that makes you happy everytime you look at it.

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## Neal

> There has been a lot of people in this thread telling you what to and what not to get.  I think really it is what you want. Dont get something you're not going to enjoy keeping just because everyone says that is what you need. Nobody wants to see you get hurt either.  So take as much time learning as you can with a mentor.  When you feel the time is right go for it.  We all started somewhere.  I did not have anyone teaching me the ropes, but man I wish I had. You are lucky on that aspect. Just be careful and always stick to the rules, it could mean your life when dealing with hots.  If you need to clean water bowls or cages but dont have the time to take the snake out first, then just dont clean that day. Being in a hurry will get you hurt.  That is all I can recommend, but in the end get an animal that makes you happy everytime you look at it.


Yea, that's what i'm trying to make clear. I don't want to waste the money to get a rattlesnake or a copperhead or something like that. I'm also not going to start off on a Cobra because I don't feel comfortable enough to work with them yet. I will always be careful, no matter how experienced I become. I think my first hot will be one of the aboreal vipers. Either the bamboo or the beautiful tree, I definately can say that i'm taking a liking to arboreal vipers though. Just want to do a bit more research on the adult size, and behavior, and venom the whole 9.

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## spitfireashlea

I think it is safe to say everyone who has posted really just wants you to be safe. If you feel you are being safe, then really it is your decision. Good luck with hots, tell me how working with the gaboons are when you get one. I'm highly interested, but wayyy to scared   :Smile:

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## Neal

> I think it is safe to say everyone who has posted really just wants you to be safe. If you feel you are being safe, then really it is your decision. Good luck with hots, tell me how working with the gaboons are when you get one. I'm highly interested, but wayyy to scared


It's been a little fun so far working with the Gabby. They really don't move around to much, and aren't difficult at all to hook. He doesn't even really strike at the hook or anything. I know people are just wanting me to be safe, and I am. I know a fairly good amount about a lot of things, and certain species of hot's i've studied because of just being interested in them, or their behavior.

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## PyroPython

I love gabbys. As soon as I am able to keep hots again, it is def. on the top of my list. A friend of mine has a nice sized female. Lightening fast. Beautiful snake.

Did you get one? Got pics, if so?

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## Neal

> I love gabbys. As soon as I am able to keep hots again, it is def. on the top of my list. A friend of mine has a nice sized female. Lightening fast. Beautiful snake.
> 
> Did you get one? Got pics, if so?


Not yet, i'm going to work with his gabby & cottonmouths more before I get my hots. I'm going to end up getting an arboreal viper, or a gaboon. Those are moreless what i'm set on for a first hot. Then after some time, im going to get a Gold headed cape cobra, but that's over a year down the road, probably around 2 years. I want to sort other things out first.

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## Colin Vestrand

> Not yet, i'm going to work with his gabby & cottonmouths more before I get my hots. I'm going to end up getting an arboreal viper, or a gaboon. Those are moreless what i'm set on for a first hot. Then after some time, im going to get a Gold headed cape cobra, but that's over a year down the road, probably around 2 years. I want to sort other things out first.



neal, i think you are headed in the right direction.

i read your first post and shuddered at the thought of a boomslang or sawscale for a first hot.  confidence without overconfidence is your goal, and it's awesome that you have a mentor figure.

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## pilot511

The arboreal vipers are awesome, just may require a double hook because they hang on to stuff pulling them out (if you have branches and stuff with them)...cottonmouths/copperheads are a great start, thats what I started with, as well as WDB rattlers....I held my first Cobra a few days ago, a 5 foot Nubian spitting cobra and went very well, had a midwest 30 inch hook (love it) and tailed it...He definitely wasn't too crazy but did love to ride the hook...great practice and best of luck getting started with everything, gabbys r awesome, but they'll amaze me with their quickness.

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