Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does any one have any experience with these? How big do they get? How strong is there venom? Are they a good begginer hot snake?

There are several vipers that go by that name. I think it's most often used for Cerastes vipera, which is also called the Avicenna viper. I think the Cerastes cerastes also goes by that name sometimes and at any rate they're pretty similar. They're quite easy to keep, except the wildcaught ones have all the usual problems. They hook like greased kittens and so are much tougher to manipulate than a viper that 'grips' a hook. The venom, from what I've read, has a relatively low chance of killing you but in general will really f* you up. They're closely related to the more famous sawscaled viper and have a similar venom.
If you're talking about a different snake, disregard the above and ask someone else because I probably don't know .
I wouldn't get one because it's a good first hot. There are better first hots. Like Agkistrodons and smaller rattlesnakes. I'd only get one because I really really really like sand vipers. But if you do really really like sand vipers I think they're a do-able first hot. AV is available, but there's a rigamarole you have to go through.

Cerastes vipera

Ok.. They're pretty awesome, but still a little tough to manipulate. And you NEED to be prepared to give WC animals medical care. They come in a little rough sometimes. So be familiar with tubing and medicating. I just found a website that calls them 'Cleopatra's asp'... that's pretty cool.