#silveroracle

THERE IS NO WAY FOR ME TO TALK ABOUT GABOONS WITHOUT FIRST POSTING THIS COMIC BY WILLIAM-SNEKSPEARE.

The Gaboon Viper (Bitis gabonica) is a subsaharan sweetie of serpentine extremes. She’s the heaviest viper and has the longest fangs and the greatest venom yield of any venomous snake! The only venomous snake that can be heavier is the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus), and that’s actually up for debate. There’s alleged specimens of Gaboon Viper that have weighed up to 44 pounds, but there’s no actual evidence of those specimens on record. The heaviest verified specimen was caught in 1973 and weighed 25 pounds with an empty stomach. The average Gaboon Viper, however, usually doesn’t weigh more than 19 pounds, while the average Eastern Diamondback tends to weigh 11 pounds. However, the record-holding Diamondback weighed 34 pounds. (And for comparison, the longest venomous snake, the King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) has a weight record of 28 pounds and usually weighs about 13.)

As far as temper goes, the Gaboon Viper is one of the most placid snakes. Not venomous snakes, snakes in general. There’s many reports of people stepping on these snakes and the snake just slithering away. However, they’re still a venomous snake, so free handling is a dangerous, terrible idea. Don’t do it. Ever.

The nasal horns on the Gaboon Viper are there for camouflage purposes. These snakes are ambush hunters, and so the horns kinda break up the outline of their head while they hide in the leaves. They do really well in all sorts of environments, including swamps, untouched rainforest, reclaimed cocoa plantations, and coffee farms!

Treat yourself to some things– a favorite treat, put on some good music, light some nice smelling candles, take a hot shower, etc. also maybe go work out– it helps with pain and cramps and also is a good distraction. You can get through this, I know it’s hard but it’ll pass soon.

Hello there, you’re my first advice-ask :3If it won’t come out when the basking light is on, it could be nothing to do with the light and everything to do with the surroundings. 

Points to consider are:

It’s not been home long, it may not have settled in yet. Though honestly a few weeks should be fine.

It’s just naturally shy. I mean not every snake is the same, some are more active than others, some prefer coming out at certain times. Corn snakes are more active at dawn and dusk anyway, maybe your friend is just missing when it comes out.

You only know it doesn’t come out if you’re watching it, and you can’t watch it 24/7, it might be your friend’s presence that deters the snake from coming out.

Temperature - is it correct? If it’s too hot, the snake might avoid it, too cold and it might not be considered a basking area. Especially if the basking area doesn’t have any decor.

Decor - if the snake lives in an area that doesn’t have much cover (i.e. plants, branches etc) and a lot of open space, the snake might feel vulnerable being so exposed, and will be less likely to leave an area it feels safe in.

I have no idea why you’d use a blacklight with a snake, what is he trying to achieve with that? Regarding temperatures, if he is concerned about night drops then he shouldn’t worry too much. Some keepers keep the enclosure the same temperature day/night (obviously not using a light emitting heater at night though), some keepers completely turn off heat (although this is only really done in warm-ish places or summer, where the temperatures don’t drop below 70*F), and some keepers carefully control temperature changes at both day and night. In my experience, each of the three options have worked well, and it’s just up to the keeper. 

Now, I’m British, so I have no idea what an UTH is. However after googling it apparently its a heat-mat. Using a heat-mat at night sounds like a good idea, so long as it’s controlled by a thermostat of course.