Atheris hispida

I'm in love







they're so cute and handsome.
Rene

BTW: that's a adult male, just shed.

Gorgeus animal you have there

Does anyone know of any animals available, perhaps on Hamm?

Damn nice, Rene! One day I'll have some of them as well. The nicest Atheris sp.! Wish you good luck with them!

Kind Regards, Manuel

Stunning animal, have you got a female for him ?
Could you tell us a little about your keeping parameters ?

Kind regards

Stunning snakes as usual! Now hunting earthworms etc. for the buggers?
How many of them did you get?

amazin snake.... congrat!!

YOH !!! That's the best pictures I have seen of this species !! AMAZING !! Thank-you.

wow, amazing. If you could share with us some info about how you keep them and so on I would really appreciate it. And how many of them do you have?

Dragon snake

For me one of the most beautiful snakes! What do you feed it with?

Best regards
Pascal

Can see why you are in love! Couple of questions posted in relation to food, what "things" do these stunning snakes feed on?

They are so beautiful ! and...please tell us something about the keeping...
best regards
philipp

Congratulations, beautiful snake and great pics. As most of the above have asked, let us know what you get it feeding on. Also it would be useful to keep notes on your environmental parameters. I wish you the best with these.

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Rene, please detail on your success or lack thereof with hispida. I am very interested in the husbandry of them.

Rene, absolutely stunning hispida!!!

A feast for the eyes your photos, a beautiful beast.
Best..

I could watch for hours, really beautiful . I also hope that I will succeed in the end to buy his dragon, for some time, this is my holy grail. The most beautiful.

Are there reports of succesful breedings? As far as i know only a few specimens, if any at all, have been kept alive in captivity for a really long time.

Definitely a species which should be left in the wilderness in my opinion.

Peter,

And no matter how many times the truth you're expressing is re-mentioned, the downward spiral continues.

The hispida story is a BIG shame on the herpetological community.

Sorry guys about the very late answer. I do not Keep hispidas anymore, and will never again buy any of these. Peter Zürcher is right, this spp does not belong in a cage, to many things are unknown about the feeding and their needed pray. I tried almost everything but the animals died anyway. I had 2 babies from a gravid animal and they where doing good, eating snails on there own from the beginning, but after 3 months they died within one week. What i found out is that they eat a special snail with the housing, and this snail i could not find. The parasites you can eliminate and the climat is not that difficult, but the food seems to be the point. So please iff you want them go to africa and pick them yourself including the necessary snails.

I think that last three comments (up), has created one of the most important discussion since long time.
Small but full of respect.

Hello,


firstly I should mention that I have never kept this species.I just feel a need to write here something.
As far as I remember well,these bushvipers have been already successfuly bred - at least 3 times.
Robert Meidinger has even written an article published in magazine Elaphe.I was surprised after reading the paper since it seemed like "not so hard to keep" species.

Meidinger, R. 2000. Erfolgreiche Haltung und Erstnachzucht von Atheris hispidus, der Rauhschuppigen Buschviper. Elaphe 8 (4): 5-10

Another article has been published by a person from Germany.Unfortunately I have never read the stuff.Well,now I am thinking if it is about successful breeding or "only" successful keeping but I think it does not matter.

Fleck, J. 2003. Bemerkungen zur Haltung und Fütterung von Atheris hispida LAURENT 1995. Elaphe 11 (2): 38-42

And the last case I am aware of has been in Czech republic.An extremely experienced person has successfuly bred them in captivity too.There is no article about it.I just remember few main points about captive care shared few years back through a forum.

For instance :

the main problem is they have pretty fast metabolism.This simply is not like squamigera,nitschei etc.Therefore they do not last without water or food too long.I believe after the capture by hunters in wild they are just left without any care,waiting till export into Europe/USA etc.This is the most important part - simply the shorter waiting the better.

After arriving:
rehydratation,no deworming !,naturally furnished cage,earthworms as food,low night time drop 14-16 °C - many breeders do underestimate this rule in my opinion and daily spraying...

I know that is just a theory and practice can turn into a horror movie but once a person is SKILLED ! mainly with WC reptiles,treatment etc and has the unique breeding sensitivity,so why not to try this species ? I believe A.hispida is the category exactly for this kind of people.I am just glad that they are not imported so frequently in high numbers.

Best regards,
Radovan

I see an interesting discussion, I've read just about the biggest problem is feeding. Despite this, I think it's one of the most beautiful snakes. Hi Radovan Muška, or you can buy this magazine somewhere? (Elaphe 8 (4): 5-10). Thank you.