Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I've been researching both of these two types for awhile now. Does anyone have experience with both of them? How are they different?

I've seen many photos of them and they look very similar (besides the head markings). Many articles state they are both highly toxic, and are normally quite sluggish (obviously not when it's about to strike). Is one more difficult to care for than the other?

It seems that Rhino vipers seem to have a bit more of a bright coloration. Just an amateur observation.

Please let me know....

Thanks,

Peter F.
p.s. I'm still at the research stage. Any help would be greatly appreciated : )

I keep both species plus puff adders...... Gaboons and rhinos are very similar in their care requirments...... Gaboons and rhinos are also very closely related and can be cross bred..... I have 4 gaboon rhino crosses...... Gaboons get to be much larger than rhinos..... I have a 5ft 4in female gaboon..... she is just huge...... There are pics of her in the venomous gallery....... Rhinos stay smaller but can be alittle pissy but still way calmer than puff adders...... I would not recommend any of them if you have not had lots of experiance with other less toxic, smaller species.... Bitis are alittle harder to maintain in captivity than you might think...... And you do not want a 5 ft gaboon overpowering you..... And they can if you arew not ontop of your game......

gaboons and rhinos are very similar.rhino vipers like it cooler about 78 degrees and they also like it a bit more humid than gaboons. the largest rhino viper i own is about 5ft long and is the meanest snake i own, when handling her i use two appropriate sized hooks because she has a tendency to do some very acrobatic tricks to try and kill me,( as a side note dont tail any bitis they are very strong and can whip around and bite you in an instant two hooks is a much safer method of handling). i keep my large bitis in custom built cages with a substrate of newspaper for gaboons and cypress mulch for my rhinos. i soak my bitis every five days to make sure they stay well hydrated, i also inject water into their prey items.gaboons and rhinos also crossbreed in captivity and in the wild i recently acquired another cross bringing my total to nine of these bad boys. i started with a neonate gaboon and rhino for my first hots but i stress that they are very unpredictable and very venomous
one last thing complacency kills

Especialy being that they only average 3and a half to 4 ft.... That has to be so kind of record.....

shes pushing 5 ft. i tried getting a pic of her but she wont cooperate she was bred a few months ago by a w.a. gaboon and she didnt like it one bit she dragged him all over the cage. last year at the vet she measured 4'4" and has definetly grown. im really crossing my fingers for cross babies. you know what we ought to do gregg is post some pics of our crooses to make everyone real jealous lol. i have a wild caught baby cross that is about to shed and i think shes going to be spectacular. ill post a pic after shed

That is awsome...... That rhino must be something to look at..... Hey, Arent those crosses awsome??? They eat like pigs.... Mine are growing pretty fast...... I am crossing gaboons and puffs this season..... Should be interesting.....LOL... I have a nice big female puff for one of my male gaboons..... I know atleast you will like them...... I am not sure if it has been done in captivity yet but I do know it happends in the wild..... Have you seen this cross???? I hope everything goes smooth with this..... You GOTTA get a pic of that rhino.....LOL..... I will post some pics of the gaboon/rhino crosses soon..... Talk to you later bro....

there is a pic of the puff gaboon cross in the dangerous snakes of africa and another pic in the reptiles of south africa by bill branch. the pictures show very different looking snakes. the puff gaboon cross definetly has alot of potential.