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Bitis Head twiches/jerks
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by Phobos on June 18, 2004
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Hi All:
I've noticed over the years with mostly gabbies & rhinos and to a lesser extent in puffs; some sort of head twitch or jerk. It seems invountary and occurs at random intervals or little clusters. I've seen this in zoo collections as well as my own. I don't know any Ophido-neurobiologists who might shed some light on the subject, so I'm just polling people to see if how common this is and what opinions keepers have on the phenomina.
Best,
Al
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RE: Bitis Head twiches/jerks
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by stopgetinpopped on June 18, 2004
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Al,
Actually it is theorized that both on Rhinos and gaboons that this behaviour is a type of Prey lure. Much like caudal luring...only on the other end.
the reason you see this is basically from your approach to the cage/movement
With Gaboons they typically "twitch" the pupil back and forth, occassionally a slight twitch to the head also, but mostly the eye.
The Rhinos, you see a slight "shake" to the head when approached.
Think about it, you have some of the most still standing ambush hunters in the snake world. Neither of which will move unless disturbed for weeks at a time.
Even if a prey item is in the close vicinity they are not like a rattlesnake where they will quietly stock the food item. They remain motionless. Except for the respective "twitches" the Gaboons resembles a worm I imagine....a mouse sees the motion and curious or hungry or whatever approaches that "worm" and WHAMMO! you know what happens next...
The rhinos, honestly to me closest thing that that resembles is a mouse getting comfortable for a nap???...But again, it obviously attracts something and again WHAMMO!
Pay really close attention to this behavior, as you will notice that the longer it has been since the snake fed, the more often and more vigorously the snake will "twitch"
If it just fed, it doesn't do it as often or as vigorously, however being an oppurtunistic feeder they will still do it even after being fed....
Hope this helps!
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RE: Bitis Head twiches/jerks
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by Richie on June 18, 2004
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Hi there.
I too have observed on many occassions, the "head twitch phenomenon".
I agree with stopgettinpopped, that it could be a derivative of caudal luring. My specimens (Gaboons and Rhinos) also seem to head twitch more vigorously, when they are due to be fed (Rhinos particularly).
But I have noticed another behaviour too...
When I bred my Rhinos, I had a reverse trio. The males were unrelated (as was the female), and each specimen measured 42 inches.
The males were kept seperate from the female and normally, they occupied different areas of the enclosure.
AFTER I cycled them for breeding, the males began resting quite near each other, but FACING each other, about 15 inches apart.
Every day for about 2 weeks, I would come home from work and observe them VIGOROUSLY head twitching at each other! A twitch every couple of minutes, lasting 3-4 seconds each time was observed.
I cycled both males with the female and they both mated with her spontaneously, during the following 2-3 weeks.
Once they were back in the "normal" routine they both resumed occupancy of their original ambush paths and I haven't observed the behaviour since.
So... maybe Rhinos use the head twitch phenomenon as some sort of aggressive display towards rival males? That seems to be the behaviour I have witnessed.
Perhaps they have a whole repetoir of twitches and displays, each meaning something different? Certainly worth further study!
Regards
Viperman (UK)
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RE: Bitis Head twiches/jerks
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by Phobos on June 18, 2004
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Richie & stopgettinpopped
Too cool!! Great observations. Makes sense to me. It does indeed require more study. Maybe some others will respond and provide additional input.
Richie: too bad you did not have a camcorder to record that ritual..that would have been awesome to see.
Cheers!
Al
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RE: Bitis Head twiches/jerks
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by Richie on June 19, 2004
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Hi there.
Too true Phobos, too true! Unfortunately, I didn't have a camcorder at the time. It was certainly fascenating behaviour to observe.
It will be very interesting to experiment with my other Bitis (West & East African Gaboons), as I plan on doing in the not too distant future.
Regards
Viperman (UK)
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RE: Bitis Head twiches/jerks
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by Fabian on June 19, 2004
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Great topic,
Only I have also seen this in other species to. Like a forest cobra and a few different rattle snakes I have had before. I guess they are doing the same thing for the same reasons. Has anyone else had other snakes do this ?
Thanks for sharing your wisdom on this........Fabian
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RE: Bitis Head twiches/jerks
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by Snake17 on June 20, 2004
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Sure, I`ve noticed the head-twithching in european viper species as well, like Nose Horned Vipers(Vipera ammodytes) and European Adder (Vipera berus). I can`t wait to get my first Bitis to obderve them do it too. I think that the prey luring explination is the most plausibil. Just my 2 cents, Alex.
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RE: Bitis Head twiches/jerks
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by LarryDFishel on June 23, 2004
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Interesting you should mention rhinos Richie... I cared for (tried to anyway) a rhino for a while that was brought in with a resperatory problem. He did this curious head twitching thing that I attributed to the resperatory problem...except it seemed like he only did it when I approached the cage. I had all but forgotten about it, but now that you mention it as a possible intimidation move, I realize where I've seen similar behavior before. We have several species of iguana that do the same thing when approached... In them it seems obvious that it's meant as a threat, but I just never thought of it that way with rhino viper for some reason (maybe because he seemed intimidating enough lying motionless...)
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RE: Bitis Head twiches/jerks
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by Phobos on June 23, 2004
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Larry:
I agree! They are intimidating enough without moving. This "head bobbing" is very common in the lizard kingdom. When living in Tucson where lizards were everywhere almost everyday I could get males to bob their heads if I started it first. Rather than beating a hasty retreat they would have a go with me if I did not advance on them.
Best,
Al
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RE: Bitis Head twiches/jerks
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by LarryDFishel on June 24, 2004
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Actually, what I'm talking about is a bit defferent... Small lizards like the anoles that we have here do the head bobbing thing (I've always thought of them as "push-ups"). In fact there's one that lives behind our snake room and comes out to threaten me each day when I start washing bowls (I'm sure I would be very impressed if I were 2 inches tall). But I've seen several species of Iguanas shake thier head sort of randomly in any one or all three axes when approached. It's an odd sort of twitching movement that if you sped it up, would look like what the rhino viper used to do. It's almost like they've got something stuck to thier head and are trying to shake it off.
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