Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Cerastes cerastes gasparettii, does anyone have any information about this spieces? I'm currently housing 1.0 for a friend. Don't seem to find anything about gasparettii.

Cheers, Ronny

Found this on the forum:

"Captive Care for the genus Cerastes

Desert Horned Viper, Cerastes cerastes
Gasperetti's Horned Viper, Cerastes gasperetti
Sahara Desert Viper, Cerastes vipera ( no horns )

Distribution: N. Africa to Middle East
Size: Up to 30 inches, but adults average around 24 inches.

Natural History :
These sand burrowing desert vipers are found in the rocky and sandy deserts of Northern Africa and the Middle East. When adults are kept in captivity they will require a 30 gallon tank with up to 4 inches of fine, non-abrasive sand as a substrate.

Behavior :

Venomous !!! Do not handle without proper equipment or training.

Captive Habitat :
Use full spectrum lighting 12-14 hours per day. Provide a basking area with access to a cooler zone or hide site. Provide rocky basking areas, likes crevices and caves.

Recommended Temperatures :
Day temperature should be gradient from 80 to 95 degrees F. Maintain night temperature range between 64-72 degrees F. Use reptile heating pads under tank for 24-hour heat.

Humidity :
This species requires only low levels of humidity.

Water Requirements :
Offer water only one day a week.

Nutritional Requirements :
Eats lizards, small rodents and other mammals. Usually 1 mouse every 10 days to 2 weeks is suffiicient. Pre-killed mice are readily accepted.

Lifespan:
Known to live up to 17 years in captivity.

Venom Information:
The Desert Horned Viper (C. cerastes) is said to have caused severe envenoming in some parts of North Africa. This seems unlikely but there are a few reports of fatal cases in the French colonial literature at the end of the nineteenth century. Envenoming usually results in local pain and swelling, complicated by necrosis in some cases. In Israel, nausea, vomiting, hemmorhages, into the skin, hematuria ( urinating blood ), reduced fibrinogen concentration ( reduces ability to clot blood ), increased prothrombin time ( same ), and other evidence of mild disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) have been described. ( D. I. C. - is the formation of tiny blood clots in the vascular system. It clogs capillaries and can be fatal. )

In Saudi Arabia, Aramco Medical Dept. treated 26 cases of presumed C. gaspereti bites in 10 years. Less than half needed hospital admission and there were no fatalities. Sahara Desert Viper (C.vipera ) bites have been reported from Algeria and Israel. There was local pain and swelling with or without a hematoma at the site of the bite and regional lymphadenopathy. A minority of patients show evidence of mild coagulopathy. Spontaneous bleeding has not been described.

( Clinical Toxicology of Animal Venoms and Poisons, Meier & White)

Antivenoms:

Cerastes cerastes

1. Algeria Antiviperin
2. France-Pasteur Merieux Antirept
3. Germany-Behring Near and Middle East
4. Germany-Behring North and West Africa
5. Morocco Monovalent
6. Moroco Bivalent
7. South Africa Echis Carinatus could be used if no other antivenoms are available.

Cerastes vipera

1. France-Pasteur Merieux Antirept
2. Germany-Behring North and West Africa
3. South Africa Echis Carinatus could be used if no other antivenoms are available.

No info available for C.gasperetti, but probably not necessary. See a doctor if you are envenomated.

Look at the following link to see photos of all three species of Cerastes.

Viperinae Photo Album"

Yeah, i'm sorry....i was in a hurry and got it all wrong the spieces i ment was Cerastes gasparettii mendelsohni

Cheers.

i'm sorry....i was in a hurry and got it all wrong the spieces i ment was Cerastes gasparettii mendelsohni