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I was wondering if anyone could answer my question about vipers. I wanted to get a Rhino Viper and I was wondering what is the difference between the male and the female. Such as appearance, temperament, and size? Thanks a lot.

>>I was wondering if anyone could answer my question about vipers. I wanted to get a Rhino Viper and I was wondering what is the difference between the male and the female. Such as appearance, temperament, and size? Thanks a lot.

In order for you to "LEGALLY" own (Bitis nasicornis) you must already have 1000 hours(much more now I think) of working with this species under the care of another "LICENSED" worker to obtain/posess this kind of snake!!!......meaning you should already know ALL about this snake well before ownership!!!, as this species venom is HIGHLY TOXIC!!!!!.......this being said, to answer your question in regards to size ect..., the female attains a greater size than does the male, having been recorded in excess of five feet, with the average being around forty inches....... Both sexes look basically similar to one another......they are also known to have a fairly mild temperment as far as vipers go..........Please learn ALL YOU CAN about these types of snakes before getting the idea to "dabble" in them, as this could quite literally be a fatal mistake...hope this has helped..........................................Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

I suggest you post the original question in the venomous forum.

In order for you to "LEGALLY" own (Bitis nasicornis) you must already have 1000 hours.............

Doug,

I'm not sure where you got this information. It must be a local or state law. It doesn't apply everywhere.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I can own a rhino here with no proof of experience at all. In fact I dont even have to tell anyone I have one, dont even need any kind of permit. Law's differ state to state.
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Jason

I hate every single law regarding snakes.........EXCEPT one that would make at least "SOME" effort to keep venomous ones out of the hands of the inexperienced!!!!. And my very good reason being, the media,.... and what a virtual "CIRCUS" it has become regarding snakes(and many other issues as well). ......it's kind of funny, in many states you can't have fireworks, walk a dog without a leash, smoke in public places, walk down the sidewalk with a beer, but there's no problem at all with letting someone have a HIGHLY TOXIC snake or two that the owner knows very little about, that can potentially kill you (and others if it got loose)............that's exactly the sort of thing that WILL shut down the ownership of ALL SNAKES(harmless included) and ruin the hobby for everyone eventually. I think that it's PURE INSANITY not to have some basic criteria for owning highly toxic snakes in any state, without exception....this is only common sense,..unfortunately many times, it's not so common....... Doug

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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

You must be assuming that people would actually follow the law...haha...nice one. People already dont follow the law, what would make them start?
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Jason

No,.....I'm not assuming people are following the law either, not at ALL!......but to NOT have the law is the same as condoning it. Are you telling me that you think (for example) someone that has never even owned a Garter Snake would be fine with a 14ft. King Cobra??......the point here is to make an EFFORT to keep them from being owned by people that have no business owning them, THAT IS MY ONLY POINT!!!. then whatever happens is on the jerk that wasn't supposed to have it in the first place......RIGHT????.....I'm sure this makes a little sense, doesn't it?..................................Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

Your latter reply to Doug only demonstrates you are not mature enough to work with venomous, especially Bitis spp..
As Chris has indicated, your post would be better served within the venomous forum, under Viperidae Snakes, though I hope you were merely joking about such an acquisition and your initial post and corresponding comments were in jest. Should such be the case, I do apologize, but this is a very sensitive topic to those of us who work with venomous and non-venomous, as the negative press surrounding "accidents" involving venomous within the private sector actually have a negative impact on everyone keeping herpetofauna, whether venomous or not ...

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

How does my reply demonstrate anything? The fact is that laws are not followed that are already there. I have no desire to keep any bitis species, I only have desire to keep about 3 different hot snakes, and currently only keep one.
You guys think we need laws to keep everything in check, the fact is that here in oregon there isnt any reason to have any laws telling people what to do and how to do it. We dont have a problem with people going out and buying king cobra's and showing them off on the sidewalk.
I dont know about the rest of you but I'm getting sick and tired of big brother government telling me how to do everything.
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Jason

N/P
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!