Om nom nom- Gaboon feeding, and a few others

[Will0W783]

I got some great shots of my WA Gaboons feeding last night, so I thought I'd share them. I love watching these guys eat; the fangs are just massive.

After eating, they always yawn and stretch their fangs a few times. It's very impressive to see, but hard to catch on camera. The buggers seem to wait and shut their mouths every time they see the camera flash.

Darth Vader:






Queen Amadallah:

[Will0W783]

And my male Cryptelytrops macrops, who was showing off for the camera with his mouthful:

[pdomensis]

Too cool! As always thanks for posting such neat pics.

[sharthun]

Awesome shots!

[kelzerman]

very cool! Did you scorch the pvc to give more grip for the snake?

[Will0W783]

Yep, it's scorched PVC to provide grip and a more natural look. It works really well.

[thinkbig317]

I can look at Gaboons all day long!!!! Great shots!

[kelzerman]

Originally Posted by Will0W783

Yep, it's scorched PVC to provide grip and a more natural look. It works really well.

That's a good idea! I would have never thought of that..... Great specimens once again

[psychocircus]

man, I love gaboon vipers.
nice shots.

[Starbuck]

how do you estimate prey size on something like a gaboon? I know the arboreal vipers tend to have very slow metabolisms, and eat relatively small prey, but i would have a hard time estimating for a gaboon, with such a chunky body and wide head..? Very stunning though!

[CosmicOwl]

Gaboon's have such goofy looking faces. I don't think I'd keep hots, but they'd be at the top of my wish list if I did.

[SnoopySnake]

Awesome pictures! I love the second one haha, his face looks so derpy.

[Will0W783]

Gaboons need to eat sizable meals, and can actually eat weekly if given smaller meals. I did find that they handle less than one would expect. When I first got my little male only several months old, I gave him adult mice weekly. He regurged the third one; it might have been because I had a problem with my hotspot and didn't realize it wasn't on for a few days, or it might have been because it was too much food.
Either way, he got a 14-day break and now he is fed two hoppers every 7-9 days.
My female is fed 3 mice every 7 days. I plan to bump her up to 1 small rat after she next sheds.
My good friend has been keeping Gaboons for years and says they do better with smaller meals more frequently. I've only had these two since December (male) and January 1 (female), so I'm still learning.

[Hurrok]

I see Darth is settling in nicely! Thanks for sharing these awesome photos

[Jinxygirl]

That's awesome! They are so beautiful.