My 1st dwa snake.

[Bloodred dragon]

Hi there am looking in to getting my first dwa snake and was wondering if you could give me some advice on a good first buy. I really like the eyelash vipers what do you think. I have kept many reptiles over the years but nothing on the dwa, I am in the process of opening a reptile shop and my shop licence covers me to keep dwa but not to sell them.

Thanks for any advice.

[Jb1432]

I dont keep DWA but id suggest keeping some animals that cant do you any serious damage first. It all depends on what animals on the DWA you want to keep. Wait for some of the dwa keepers to come online they'll tell you more than i can

[Piraya1]

My first was a white lip viper...i found that snake good to work with and quite a joy. Then I got a pair of adult gaboons that were falsely advertised as rhino vipers, wild caught and wicked as hell. So don't get a gaboon first off.

[Owzy]

If some day I get a DWA snake I would get a arboreal viper first.

Definitely no elapids for me to begin with!

[stacy]

id agree that white lipped are good and i find most ratlers to be pretty good on hook and that. . but id stay away from saw sclaed and puff adders tho

[Al Hyde]

Originally Posted by Piraya1

My first was a white lip viper...i found that snake good to work with and quite a joy. Then I got a pair of adult gaboons that were falsely advertised as rhino vipers, wild caught and wicked as hell. So don't get a gaboon first off.

Western Gabs have been renamed . The western is now b.rhinocerous and has the common name Rhino Viper. The Eastern Gab is b.gabonica and is called Gaboon viper.

We've discussed this name change on another forum and I think I can safely say that most are not happy with it.

The original Rhino viper (b.nasicornis) is supposed to be called Swampjack or Riverjack, which is absolute toss as, they're rarely if ever found near or in rivers. Put a nasicornis in water and it hates the experience.

Anyway, I for one will still call nasicornis the rhino viper, and western gabs are still western gabs as far as i'm concerned.

[trueviper]

Originally Posted by Al Hyde

Anyway, I for one will still call nasicornis the rhino viper, and western gabs are still western gabs as far as i'm concerned.

Couldn't agree more mate although this is the first I'm hearing about any name change with Gaboons. Daft if you ask me

Anyway some might dissagree with what you could consider "first hots" but personally I did ok keeping a very young juvenile European Nose-Horned Viper ( Vipera ammodytes) as my first DWA.

She behaved very well when hooked,and still does at well over 2' long, and has never shown too much aggression. As long as your gentle with them and observe the "strike-distance perimeter rule" they are quite easy to work with. I have kept 3 so far in the last 3 years since I've had my licence and have never had any problems.

Keeping most vipers is pretty straight forward however as already mentioned there are exceptions and some species tend to behave alot more defensively and aggressively than others and as a result are more difficult to work with.

[Piraya1]

Thats true, each individual of each species has a different disposition, gaboons get a disposition thats maybe more mellow and passive but mine has proven that wrong by tossing herself at me by about 8-10ft like a sidewinder when I took her out.
That's one reason they get called crazy dangerous.
As for the rhino viper thing, that got me annoyed because recently I had an argument with someone over the name and was full blown right about it I thought.
Best thing maybe to start with is something small and always stay a distance away like the length of the snakes body out of strike range. Make sure you get a good feeder so that you don't have to force feed,
As for a gaboon...better off running, I'd recommend it.

[louodge]

ive always tought if i was to get my DWAL i would probly start off with Akistrodon contortrix laticincus (broad banded coperhead) as the broad banded is imo the best looking and quite a realitvly easy snake to keep (going off what information i have read/been given)

[Agkistrodon]

Originally Posted by louodge

ive always tought if i was to get my DWAL i would probly start off with Akistrodon contortrix laticincus (broad banded coperhead) as the broad banded is imo the best looking and quite a realitvly easy snake to keep (going off what information i have read/been given)

I rarely post anymore, but I had to come out of the woodwork to say no it's really not. Copperheads are absolutely FOUL, and will do their utmost to bite you. They're quite simple in terms of environment, but really not in terms of handling.