Reptile & Amphibian Forums

n/p

female i think I posted this once before
if I did sorry

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Bud

and note some of the differences between C. c. cerastes and C. c.gasparetti. Head structure, pattern, and a white tail to name a few.
Wingert

she was rubbing scales.
wish I still had her.

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Bud

Thanks for sharing these pics....what a beautiful cerastes! I especially like the white on the tail. This is an underrated species but of all of the wonderful and venomous we exhibit at my wildlife center, it is our resident cerastes cerastes that gets the most "oohs and ahhs" from visitors. They are the ultimate ambush hunter in the herp world and perfectly adapted to life in the desert. Rob

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation (IL)

Great group of snake photos. My female is only about 7", but doing great. males seem to be rather fragile (I've lost two and others have mentioned the problem to me). Any thoughts on why?

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

I have witnessed whole shipments arrive in aparent good health.
Almost all would die.
some females would survive.
It might have something to do with the fact the exporters put them all in one enclosure waiting for shipping.
Thus spreading virus and other nastys.
Then when they arrive in the states they are kept again in a large group.
Another sad fact is that 99% of the dealers that import animals have no quarinteen areas.
They sell them ASAP never keeping a animal long enough to treat them or see if they are going to live.
Thats the name of the game many are guilty.
until there are standards or laws in place to ensure The
Reptiles up for sale are healthy at the dealers end!
and they[dealers] are more responsible or maybe smarter.
This will continue to be the Norm.
So delicate species like cerastes will continue to
suffer massive die outs from multiple causes.
Most captive bred do good.

later

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Bud