Reptile & Amphibian Forums

any tips where i can find good info on these guys especially regarding captive care??Both internet or books...
I saw some saturday and oh my god little beauties, struck me straight trough the heart!

thanks for your time and effort

Try out this site. It is very basic, but very informative. I have 4 Squams with 4 different colors and patters, and 4 different personalities. They have a ton of different colors and patters available. Thier personalities do vary, but they are very aggressive feeders, and do have very dangerous venom. Be very careful. As of yet there is no known anti-venon for thier bite. Mine are extremely aggressive, but if carefull, they are great to work with. They are actually one of my favorites to work with with the exception of Gaboons and Naja species. Good Luck !
Chris
Link

I'm no expert on these snakes but I can tell you a couple of things...Mine likes it warm (upper 80's)or he goes off feed. daily misting seems to do him good. He is a very aggressive snake when disturbed. Watch out for a strong-fast and often vertical strike! Do not take chances (especially) with this one. Good luck.
Frank

thanks for the website, that is the kind of information i was looking for. I couldn't find it because i was searching under squamiger, wierd thing is that saturday all of them where sold under A. squamiger.

guess these guys are still out of my league, maybe in a couple of years. When i'm more experienced.

thanks, regards danny

Hi Danny

The reason that the snakes were listed as A. squamiger is because their Latin name is Atheris squamiger (or Atheris squamigera, depending on who you talk to). This is the Variable Bush Viper that can be virtually any color with any combination of colors. My collection is almost exclusively Atheris and they are great snakes. Yes, there is no antivenin and you will suffer greatly from a bite. If you are just starting off with venomous, I would suggest starting with a different species just to be safe.

Just for providing good information, however, these are not rain forest creatures that live exclusively in trees. They live in montane forests and go through seasonal variances. Yes, they can deal with hot and humid conditions for short periods, but they also are used to cool and humid, and hot and arid conditions for short periods. But they may perish if kept under these conditions for too long of a time. They also can be quite arboreal at times and hide beneath shelters at other times.

I keep my snakes dry and mild for most of the year. They can develop respiratory infections if they are kept too moist for too long. Babies are especially susceptible to RI. Most squamigera will learn to drink from bowls and do not need misting once they are settled. I mist mine heavily only during the mating season. I keep mine in the upper 70's most of the year.

I have two pairs that are currently mating in the limbs of their cages and I have one pair that is mating beneath a piece of cork bark. The latter pair hides all of the time on the substrate. So they are quite variable in their coloration, as well as in their habits.

Best of luck with them if you decide to try them out. They are small vipers that have a short striking range and are not extremely fast on dry ground, so they sound like a good beginner venomous species, but there is no antivenin...so maybe think like a copperhead Take care.

Derek Morgan

Hello Derek,

thank you for your info, that is a lot of good info!

regards danny