Turning Japanese.....Sakishima Habus!

[Will0W783]

Well, this was an incredibly exciting weekend for me. My mentor has some pink/orange phase Sakishima Habu females (Protobothrops elegans), and I've worked with them a few times and absolutely love them! He told me last weekend about his friend who was selling some Habus, and got me in touch with him.
Saturday morning I drove to meet him and take possession of my new 1.1 breeding pair of pink/orange phase P. elegans. These are some incredibly interesting, alert, and curious vipers. They are native to the Ryukyu Islands in Japan, resting under rocks and in fallen longs, but occasionally taking to the trees. They are long, slender snakes, reaching 2-3 feet in length with heads that closely resemble those of the Bothrops genus...the lancehead vipers. They prefer cool temperatures, often showing the greatest activity when ambient temperatures hit the low 70's or even high 60s (Fahrenheit). They are commonly kept in Europe but almost impossible to find in the USA.
Protobothrops are one of the few viper genera that are oviparous, laying eggs that do best incubated in the mid-70s with moderate humidity, probably representing one of the earlier viperine genera to evolve. Sakishima Habus can be very laid-back, but other specimens can be extremely defensive, not hesitating at all to strike repeatedly and quickly. Venom is largely hemotoxic, resulting in coagulopathy that requires antivenin treatment to reverse; necrosis and tissue destruction is rare, but can be severe in cases where it does occur. Deaths are rare but have been reported.

My pair currently has a bit of stuck shed on them (they went into shed two days before I picked them up and the guy's house was dry from heating), but I am misting them thoroughly twice a day and providing soaks in Shed-Ease to help them loosen the skin. The camera washed them out a bit...the male actually has almost glowing orange-red skin between his scales and copper eyes. The female is a bit longer and duller and has silver eyes. She is the one in the log hide in the pictures, while the male is up top.



female exploring:


Male hanging out: