# 'Just the two of us'



## Crotalid (Jan 9, 2013)

My male and female Gaboon, looking pretty cute together if I may say so!


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## Chris1 (Jan 9, 2013)

they are stunning,...great pic too!


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## Gonemad (Jan 9, 2013)

They are nice! Wow they would be easy mistaken for autum leaves!


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## Crotalid (Jan 9, 2013)

Gonemad said:


> They are nice! Wow they would be easy mistaken for autum leaves!



Lol, true. In their enclosures I often think they've escaped as they hide so well under leaf litter. 



Chris1 said:


> they are stunning,...great pic too!



Thank you.


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## Shotta (Jan 9, 2013)

wow those are some beatiful gaboons
lol i'd hate to cop a bite from one of those:shock:


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## Crotalid (Jan 9, 2013)

Nilesh said:


> wow those are some beatiful gaboons
> lol i'd hate to cop a bite from one of those:shock:



Thanks! Neither would I lol.


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## nch90 (Jan 9, 2013)

that pic is awesome mate beautifull snakes


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## Snapped (Jan 9, 2013)

Stunning vipers!


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## Crotalid (Jan 9, 2013)

nch90 said:


> that pic is awesome mate beautifull snakes





Snapped said:


> Stunning vipers!


Thanks guys.


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## Belial (Jan 10, 2013)

Beautiful snakes - Gaboons are one of my top ten fav, and i don't really know why, vens usally scare me to death ( that and croc's, come across a spider and girly scream) i need to work on -.-
Fatal Attractions: Gaboon Viper Kills Its Owner : Video : Animal Planet - Love the stories
Anyways i'm rambling,
Amazing animal <3


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## Crotalid (Jan 10, 2013)

Belial said:


> Beautiful snakes - Gaboons are one of my top ten fav, and i don't really know why, vens usally scare me to death ( that and croc's, come across a spider and girly scream) i need to work on -.-
> Fatal Attractions: Gaboon Viper Kills Its Owner : Video : Animal Planet - Love the stories
> Anyways i'm rambling,
> Amazing animal <3



I girly scream with spiders........lol. You have no idea how scared I am of spiders and this like crickets/locusts etc!

Thanks  I think it's because Gabs don't look as 'angry' as most venomous, they've got quite a sweet looking face - I think anyway lol.


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## caliherp (Jan 10, 2013)

Crotalid said:


> I girly scream with spiders........lol. You have no idea how scared I am of spiders and this like crickets/locusts etc!
> 
> Thanks  I think it's because Gabs don't look as 'angry' as most venomous, they've got quite a sweet looking face - I think anyway lol.


I'm with you on that one. Put me in front of any venomous snake or even a large constrictor and ill be fine. Put a spider on my back and I freak out like a girl. Incredible snakes and great picture. I can't wait to get mine. Only 500 more hours working with my mentor till I can get my permit.


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## Xeaal (Jan 10, 2013)

These are so gorgeous; some of the colours they come in are amazing. What sort of an enclosure do they live in? Are they generally aggressive, or passive until annoyed? How old are they? Sorry for all the questions, but the fact that you OWN these blows my mind. Please keep posting pics because you international members are the only chance we really get to see these kind of beauties that are actually owned by real people.


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## Crotalid (Jan 10, 2013)

Xeaal said:


> These are so gorgeous; some of the colours they come in are amazing. What sort of an enclosure do they live in? Are they generally aggressive, or passive until annoyed? How old are they? Sorry for all the questions, but the fact that you OWN these blows my mind. Please keep posting pics because you international members are the only chance we really get to see these kind of beauties that are actually owned by real people.



Thank you! They will look even better once their head has gone a pure white colour. 

Their enclosure at the moment is just a plastic tub with soil and lots of leaf litter. They are housed separately, I will take a pic tomorrow. There isn't much else you'd do for a Gaboon, in the wild you'd find them in leaf litter etc. They're inactive pretty much all the time, but they make up for that in looks. I'm not really one to get enjoyment out of an active snake anyway, doesn't bother me whether they move around or not. 

Gaboons generally are really passive unless you aggravate them, or if they're shedding. In the 10 months I've had mine, the male has never struck at me, and the female has struck at me twice (once in shed). But I still treat them the same as any other venomous snake. 

They're 10 months old, female is around 1.2 ft and male 1 ft or so. 

Don't apologise for asking questions, I'm not like that . Il answer your questions all day lol, that's what a forum is for. 

Do none of the Zoo's in Aus keep Gaboons? 




caliherp said:


> I'm with you on that one. Put me in front of any venomous snake or even a large constrictor and ill be fine. Put a spider on my back and I freak out like a girl. Incredible snakes and great picture. I can't wait to get mine. Only 500 more hours working with my mentor till I can get my permit.



It's the way spiders move!!

Good luck with your permit dude, you looking to get rhinoceros or gabonica?


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## emmalene_bunny (Jan 10, 2013)

I love them!! Best looking couple going around if I dare say so myself


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## Crotalid (Jan 10, 2013)

emmalene_bunny said:


> I love them!! Best looking couple going around if I dare say so myself



Haha, thanks!


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## Crotalid (Jan 11, 2013)

Another pic of my female.


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## sharky (Jan 11, 2013)

Gaboon Vipers are AWESOME!!! I've always loved that wicked pattern on their backs  You have a stunning M/F pair


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## Crotalid (Jan 11, 2013)

sharkyy1o5 said:


> Gaboon Vipers are AWESOME!!! I've always loved that wicked pattern on their backs  You have a stunning M/F pair



Thanks mate! Indeed, their pattern is incredible.


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## Stuart (Jan 11, 2013)

Fantastic Photos mate. How to do manage to get so close for the good photos without them doing the typical Gaboon gesture of "go away"?


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## Crotalid (Jan 11, 2013)

SniperCap said:


> Fantastic Photos mate. How to do manage to get so close for the good photos without them doing the typical Gaboon gesture of "go away"?



Thanks mate.

Just use a sheet of glass to get in close, or a good zoom lens.

These two are really well behaved though, they only really huff and puff the first time they see you. Then they calm down and sit there like statues lol.


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## Crotalid (Jan 12, 2013)

This is their enclosure, males is the same as the females. 











I like how their heads have the line running down it, as if they're mimicking the stem running through a leaf. 

Their enclosures are pretty minimalistic, but they don't make sure of more elaborate set ups like the arboreals or rattlers do! 

She's stands out once you know where she is in the pic, but if you were walking through a forest with her under leaves like that...no chance of seeing her. 

Thankfully in Africa they don't occupy the same areas where people live, so bites very rarely happen!


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## Xeaal (Jan 13, 2013)

To be honest with you, I am not sure whether we have Gaboons in Zoo's here. There may be in the other cities, but I don't think we have one in Melbourne. The "head going white" you mentioned, is that something they all do? Is it an age thing? God they are so cute, it's just ridiculous - the amazing scale patterns on their heads is so unique, I could study it all day. Oh.. and I totally agree with you about the spiders, although I think some people on this forum must be a bad influence because I have seen three Huntsman spiders at my house in the past week and I didn't kill any of them lol.


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## TheJoyces (Jan 13, 2013)

How do you clean their enclosure? How many other vens do you own? Where did you get them? Sorry for all the questions they are gorgeous just wondering lots of thing like when they breed what will you do with the clutch?


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## Crotalid (Jan 14, 2013)

Xeaal said:


> To be honest with you, I am not sure whether we have Gaboons in Zoo's here. There may be in the other cities, but I don't think we have one in Melbourne. The "head going white" you mentioned, is that something they all do? Is it an age thing? God they are so cute, it's just ridiculous - the amazing scale patterns on their heads is so unique, I could study it all day. Oh.. and I totally agree with you about the spiders, although I think some people on this forum must be a bad influence because I have seen three Huntsman spiders at my house in the past week and I didn't kill any of them lol.



No, they don't all do it. It just depends which type of West African Gaboon you have. There are quite a few variations, just pulled up a couple of pics off google:

White head: This is what the parents of my two look like





Blue head:





Pink head:





I prefer the white head. I will gradually get lighter and lighter with each shed, Gabs keep getting better until they're about 2ft in size, mine are only around 1ft at the moment 

Screw that! I run from big house spiders, I'm not even joking lol. Doesn't make sense! 





TheJoyces said:


> How do you clean their enclosure? How many other vens do you own? Where did you get them? Sorry for all the questions they are gorgeous just wondering lots of thing like when they breed what will you do with the clutch?



I take them out and put them in another enclosure and then clean theirs .

I've only got 4 others at the moment. But due to increase quite a bit by the end of this year i hope! At least 5 more minimum. 

When they breed i will sell them, there are big shows in Germany & Holland where they have venomous sections, where a lot of people sell their offspring. Although they still won't breed for another 4 years yet. I may not even breed them, as there are so many about there is no point in flooding the market as it were!


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## Xeaal (Jan 14, 2013)

That pink one looks kind of bashful lol. How does the color thing work? Are they a specific color per locality, or do they change to blend in with their environment no matter where they are from? I have seen the grey and red (autumn) colored ones before.. the pink is a whole new basket of cute though. And they seem to have some variation in eye color too, from what I can see. Fascinating animal. I'd love to see one in person and study them a bit.


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## Nighthawk (Jan 14, 2013)

Absolutely incredible! Loving the colours  I'm with you on the white ones, although the pink is pretty cute too.


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## Crotalid (Jan 15, 2013)

Xeaal said:


> That pink one looks kind of bashful lol. How does the color thing work? Are they a specific color per locality, or do they change to blend in with their environment no matter where they are from? I have seen the grey and red (autumn) colored ones before.. the pink is a whole new basket of cute though. And they seem to have some variation in eye color too, from what I can see. Fascinating animal. I'd love to see one in person and study them a bit.



Haha, yeah i guess! 

To be honest, i think it's just random lol. So it's easiest to just look at the parents and you know what your babies will look like  

Especially as a lot of people probably have locales mixed through breeding etc. The parents of mine are both from Ghana. 

Grey and red? Never seen red on a Gaboon, sure you aren't thinking of Rhino vipers? (Bitis nasicornis)

Yup, the eye colour seems to blend in with the colour of the head!



Nighthawk said:


> Absolutely incredible! Loving the colours  I'm with you on the white ones, although the pink is pretty cute too.



Thanks! Yeah i love them all, but the white ones are my favourite


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## caliherp (Jan 15, 2013)

Crotalid said:


> Good luck with your permit dude, you looking to get rhinoceros or gabonica?


Thank you. I plan on getting them both as they have been on the top of my list for years. I'm just going to take it slow once I get my permit, I don't want to jump rite into it and get in over my head.


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## Crotalid (Jan 15, 2013)

caliherp said:


> Thank you. I plan on getting them both as they have been on the top of my list for years. I'm just going to take it slow once I get my permit, I don't want to jump rite into it and get in over my head.



As long as you don't underestimate them you'll be fine.

ah cooll, best of both worlds!


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## caliherp (Jan 15, 2013)

Crotalid said:


> As long as you don't underestimate them you'll be fine.
> 
> ah cooll, best of both worlds!


I wouldn't. I like the white phase as well. Way more contrast IMO. I'm a huge fan of contrast.


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