2.5K views · 757 reactions | Slow motion action on Gaboon Vipers....

This is a short clip that can show a little bit of what Gaboon Vipers are truly capable of. Anytime you are holding a Gaboon with a hand you are in range. Luckily, most snakes will give you plenty of warning before they strike. This is why there are snake handlers as if snakes wanted to bite people there would be no such thing as snake handler. A good example is a Cobra chasing rodents out of burrows with insane speed vs standing and spreading a hood with slow, predictable strikes. Snakes move w

Violet, one of my many Gaboon Vipers is extremely defensive and although she doesn't really strike out this is really borderline posturing. Good to note body posturing with this species as well as this little tip. Ambush predatory snakes (often easy to distinguish by their heavy bodied build), don't really have a smell. If they did, this would give them away to predators and prey. So if a snake has dedicated and is stuck around its smell it can become very agitated, especially in a captive situa