Size and Description

The Gaboon Viper is a short and very heavy snake. They are very round in comparison to their body length. The average grown Gaboon will weigh about 18-20 pounds while it may be just four or six feet long.  The Gaboon Viper is very heavy bodied. It is excellently camouflaged with  a black or dark brown body and brown markings that run the length of its body. The head is triangular, said to be shaped like the leaves on a tree.

The Gaboon Viper has the longest fangs of any venomous snake and also makes the most venom of any other venomous snake. It is a good thing that the snake is known for being more placid since the venom is also particularly toxic. They can be very harmful if not fatal to adult humans, but they have often been said to be so placid that they can be handled by experts with nearly as much ease as handling a non toxic snake

What they Eat

The Gaboon viper is nocturnal, meaning that it hunts at night. It is not limited to the rainforests and are often seen on the roadways or logging paths. They will eat small mammals, as well as birds, frogs, and other amphibians. The Gaboon Viper is an ambush hunter, who will lie in wait on a well camouflaged area and wait for prey.

Habitat and Location
The Gaboon Viper is found in the rainforests and other moist lowlands of the  Africa. It is also found  living in or near the cacao plantations in West Africa and has been noted to be found near the  coffee plantations in East Africa. In addition they seem to be prolific in the evergreen forests that are part of Zambia.

Breeding

Gaboon Viper males engage in some very odd “wrestling” matches or combats to gain the attention of the female. The victor is the breeder.

Gaboon Vipers give birth to live babies rather than laying eggs. The term for this is that they are viviparous.  They will give birth to anywhere from 25 babies up to fifty or more per breeding, but the average is about twenty or twenty five.
The Gaboon Viper babies take nearly a year to be born. The breeding cycle for these big snakes is thought to be about every 2 or 3 years.

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Physical Characteristics

The average size for a full grown Reticulated Python is about 25 feet. They will grow to between 15 and 25 feet and may at times be longer than 30 feet long. This makes the Reticulated Python the longest snake in the world today. Most Reticulated Pythons are about 300 pounds or a little more. They are beautiful snakes with broad lovely markings the full length of their body.

Habitat and Location: Reticulated Pythons live in the South Eastern portions of Asia. They live in countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, the Phillipines, as well as Indonesia. The Reticulated Python will most often be found near the water. They enjoy swimming and moist air that is found near rivers, lakes, pond and in the rainforest areas of Asia.

Reticulated Pythons, oddly enough, will very frequently be found where there is human interaction. They seem to have tendencies to live near areas where humans are active.

What Do They Eat

The diet of the Reticulated Python is widely ranging and diverse. They like birds as well as mammals. They will eat larger prey such as deer and pigs when they can get it. Being very large they will also eat whole animals that are several times around larger than they are. It appears to be possible that the Reticulated python has also very rarely ingested humans.

The python is an ambush hunter that lies in wait for their prey,and will grasp it very quickly with a strike before winding around and suffocating the prey. They swallow their prey whole, wriggling down over it.

Breeding and Reproduction

Unlike many other constrictors, the Python females do not bear live young, but lay eggs. The female python will breed and then may lay as few as 20 eggs but can lay as many as 100 at a time. The mother coils around the eggs and actually keeps them warm as many birds do. She quivers in a certain way, and the contractions or vibrations of her muscles will cause the temperature of the eggs to actually rise.

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