Quote Originally Posted by jason_ladouceur View Post
I have worked with 3 of the 5 large bitis. I absolutly love them. They are without question my favorite family of snakes followed closely by Atheris. I completely agree with the people here that have stated both that Bitis are not for beginners and that aggressive non venomous snakes are all but useless for training you to keep hots. I have been keeping reptiles for 20 years, and hots for almost 15. I have worked with many species of crotalus, aboreal vipers, many vipers both new and old world, and some elapids. And I can say that without question that gaboons, out of all the many 100's if not 1000's of animals I have worked with are probably the most challenging of all the specimens I have kept. They are without a doubt the most difficult to read in terms of what they are about to do. And adults are so heavy that they are very difficult to lift with even 2 hooks. And tailing a Bitis of any size is IMO an action that is very much taking your life in your hands. Find someone that can show you the ropes if you can. If you can't than I would advise you to at least start with a hot that will not more than likely result in a probably fatal bite if you do make a mistake. Gabs are awsome! But defiantly not be novice keepers. Be safe.
I agree with everything you've said, but I don't agree with them not being good for a first time hot keeper.

Many people keep atrox as a first hot, and although they aren't built as heavily, they generally are far more nutty and tricker to hook.

What makes a gaboon bad for a first hot? If you cannot bring yourself to not underestimate these snakes, do you deserve to keep any hots at all? You should always over estimate regardless of whether the snake shows defensive signals or not.

My two gabs were my first snakes, forget about venomous snakes. I didn't keep non venomous at all. But I had experience dealing with large gabs, puff adders etc.

A friend of mine has the perfect hook for large Bitis. It is almost shovel like, the hook is about 7 inches wide, and is perfect to take big Gaboons out on and they sit perfectly on it.

Many people do tail Gaboons, however I'm with you. I personally would not do it at all, they are far too 'athletic' when it comes to striking.

I will try to get a picture of the hook my friend has, it's really useful.

Have you come across any of the 'dwarf' gabs? A few of my friends have adult Gaboons that are 6-7 years old and are only 3 foot.