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RE: gaboon vipers
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by Buzztail1 on June 15, 2004
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Not aggressive at all. They will lay completely motionless until you get well within strike range and then nail you.
Venomous enough to kill you without quick medical attention. How quick is just splitting hairs. Dead is dead.
Karl
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RE: gaboon vipers
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by LarryDFishel on June 15, 2004
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To elaborate a little on what Karl said... Gaboons are usually quite easy to handle because they usually just sit there, including siting still on your hooks, rather than trying to get away, but you have to be VERY careful not to be lax about keeping your distance. If one mistakes your foot for a rat or feels threatened enough to strike, he WILL NOT MISS. I'm confident I can dodge a strike from most cobras (I have no intention of testing this theory). A few people can dodge a rattlesnake strike. I've never heard anyone claim to have dodged a gaboon... A gaboon strike looks like some sort of time-warp. One instant he's laysing flat, and the next he's holding a rat in his mouth, and you didn't see anything happen in between.
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RE: gaboon vipers
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by Phobos on June 15, 2004
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Hi:
Both Karl & Larry give good descriptions. I really like Larry's "time warp" description. It really seems that is the case. The only hint they are aware of what's going on around them is their respiration increases and the eyes will sometimes shift to follow movement. Just don't be in range when they explode!! I use two foot long forcepts to feed and it still scares the crap out of me when it strikes; even though I know it's comming.
Dr. Sherman Minton reported in one of his books that one young native boy in Africa was dragging a 6 foot Gabby into camp by the tail. He said this attests to it's relative calmness in attitude. Try that with the Gabby's cousin; the Puff Adder!! Yikes!!
Best,
Al
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RE: gaboon vipers
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by Richie on June 15, 2004
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Hello fellow Hot Herpers!
Certainly not aggressive in the sense of the word. But if they feel threatened they become very defensive!!
Gaboons tend to bluff first, strike later (although NOT always)!
When my largest specimen hisses, it sounds like a combination of a tractor tyre deflating and pouring cold water into an empty, boiling hot pan! VERY intimidating!!
My largest specimen easily strikes 3 feet across the enclosure to hit a medium rabbit.
The other thing is... as Steve Irwin would say, "They hit like a ton of bricks!!". The enclosure literally shakes when the big guys strike!
The day you underestimate a Gaboon, will surely be your last!
Stay safe.
Viperman (UK)
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RE: gaboon vipers
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by Snake17 on June 15, 2004
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The only gaboon viper I handled was totaly unpredictabil. I guess that`s how you should handle them...as very unpredictable, very toxic snake. Regards, Alex.
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RE: gaboon vipers
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by Fabian on June 16, 2004
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I have had 5 gaboon vipers and they were all very nice to work with. Four of them were big 3 feet + and one baby that was about a foot long. It was the only one that would show any signs of aggression. Mostly all hot air but somewhat jumpy to.....Fabian
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RE: gaboon vipers
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by Dadee on June 25, 2004
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An excerpt from The Washington Post:
Boy Bitten by Viper Is Released From Hospital
By Alma Guillermoprieto and Martin Weil Washington Post Staff Writers. The Washington Post (1974-Current file). Washington, D.C.: Apr 29, 1983. pg. C3, 1 pgs
Article types: article
Section: METRO Federal Diary Obituaries Classified
ISSN/ISBN: 01908286
Text Word Count 460
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Abstract (Article Summary)
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Louis (Junior) Morton, the 16-year-old Southeast Washington youth who was bitten 3 1/2 weeks ago by one of two deadly Gaboon vipers stolen from the National Zoo, was released from Children's Hospital yesterday.
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How serious is that to be in the hospital for 3 1/2 weeks? Sounds serious enough for me. The dumb kid placed the 2 Gabbys in a sack and like an idiot, threw it over his shoulder and stepped onto a Metro Bus, which is where they collected his troubled body into the ambulance and escorted to Med-Star *used to be DC's level 1 Trauma Ctr*.
Matt
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