Echis pyramidum (Leakey's saw scale viper)

Will0W783 · 08-10-14, 08:03 PM

My friend Ryan needed to make some room, so I took this trio of adorable little saw scales off his hands.
Leakey's sawscale viper is a small (12-14 inches max) Middle Eastern viper native to semi-arid and arid areas. They are not shy snakes and won't hesitate to defend themselves- they grind their heavily keeled side scales against each other to make a loud rasping hiss sound. They do not hiss in order to avoid moisture loss through the mouth and nasal cavities. These tiny little snakes have very large round eyes and blunted snouts, giving them a somewhat "cute" appearance, but don't be mistaken- they can absolutely ruin your day. And week... month.....year....even life. Their venom is very necrotic and will eat right through bone tissue. Survivors very often end up losing the bitten extremity.

I've always been fascinated with sawscale vipers. I think they are adorable, have very neat patterns and their behavior is interesting. They are a communal snake, and seem to fare better in captivity when housed in small groups. My group consists of a large male, a medium-sized mature female and a small male. They usually curl up together on the cage rock decorations. They live in a 3' X 2' cage, but are almost always together.
Here they are:

SnoopySnake · 08-10-14, 08:10 PM

Congrats on the new additions! They're cute-It's crazy to think that something so small can be so deadly.

SSSSnakes · 08-10-14, 08:30 PM

Nice pick up. I used to have saw scaled, they are neat snakes.

CosmicOwl · 08-10-14, 09:30 PM

The communal aspect is very interesting to me. I've watched many Viperkeeper videos and he always seems to have his echis in groups. Do yours ever appear to interact or socialize?

Will0W783 · 08-11-14, 09:43 AM

Thanks guys. I love these little snakes.

CosmicOwl, yes they appear to be quite social. They have a huge enclosure with multiple hides and perching areas. Despite this, I almost always find them all resting in a cluster on a rock sculpture. They do move around, but spend the majority of their time in the group it seems.

**Aaron_S** · 08-11-14, 09:59 AM

Balls Kim. You've got them. Huge ones.

sharthun · 08-11-14, 10:36 AM

Cool additions! Congrats!

Will0W783 · 08-11-14, 10:55 AM

Haha Aaron_S! I guess so......I don't really think of myself as overly brave, I just like the venomous species. There's probably something wrong with my head, but I think saw scales are absolutely precious little things! They've got those huge eyes and rounded faces.....
I also think Gaboons, especially baby Gaboons, are insanely cute too.

alessia55 · 08-11-14, 01:16 PM

Congrats on the new additions, Kim.

**millertime89** · 08-11-14, 01:20 PM

Very cool species. Congrats on the additions. Think you could get a video of them rubbing their scales against each other?

Will0W783 · 08-12-14, 02:18 PM

I can try to get video of them sawscaling, but I really don't like to induce it. They seem fairly calm. My desert horned vipers (Cerastes cerastes) will sawscale at the slightest provocation.

Next time I am cleaning or feeding, I will see if I can get some footage for you guys. It's quite a LOUD noise.

NewSAHSnakeMom · 08-13-14, 06:58 AM

All women have balls! Our are bigger and we keep them on our chest! That's why we get to have the the the children, cause we're tougher! Lmao!