To Ease The Pain...

[kevyn]

These are 2 month old Malaysian Wagler's Temple Pitvipers. They were bred by my friend in Malaysia. I'm looking forward to seeing their colour change.

female

Male

 

[Greebo]

They are stunning creatures. What colour do they change to?

 

[Tommo]

are you getting them?

 

[kevyn]

The male will stay pretty much the same colour and won't get very big. The female will get much larger and change colour. He's a shot of an adult pair of Malaysian Temple vipers.

 

[kevyn]

are you getting them?

They will be shipped once the weather is clear on my end. Can't wait.

 

[Greebo]

It's hard to believe they are a pair.
I've never seen or heard anything about this snake. How toxic are they?

 

[Tommo]

are they the same age? that female is huge next to the male. nice colours

 

[kevyn]

Males get are only about 25% the size of the females( talk about sexually dimorphic). There has never been a recorded human fatality from a temple viper. Here's the link where I got the pic of the adult pair. Great information...

http://www.kingsnake.com/viper/

 

[Greebo]

Thanks for the link Kevyn. They don't eat very often apparently.
Nothing on toxin levels though.

 

[kevyn]

No there's not. I was talking with Dr. Fry on his forums about the venom of these animals not that long ago and he confirmed what I have said that there has never been a human fatality from a T. wagleri bite. Their venom is very distictive (one of the reasons it was removed from the Trimerserus genus) large amounts of small neurotoxic peptides called waglerins. Waglerins are also found in the venom of Fea's vipers. They are primitive as far as pitvipers go, sitting around the base of the pitviper tree.

 

[Adam]

The male looks a bit like a Green Tree Snake with attitude! Awesome looking snakes though. Aren't you glad we aren't that poorly done by fella's!!! :twisted:

 

[kevyn]

I should mention that their temerment is comparable to a ball python or a spotted python. In fact I've encountered more aggressive from spotteds than from wagleri. They are a joy to work with and their husbandry is similar to a Green Tree Python's.

 

[Guest]

there got giant heads can they eat massive prey cause of the size of there head

 

[kevyn]

there got giant heads can they eat massive prey cause of the size of there head

In captivity they can be fed adult mice once mature. In the wild their main prey is small birds (quail) and geckos with some rodents. They tend to only eat relatively small prey due to their extremely slow metabolisms. Another point of interest is that water dosen't bead on their scales. Their scales feel totally different from all other snakes I have ever encountered. Their scales are slightly keeled but you'd never know.

 

[Guest]

how big r these things

 

[BROWNS]

They're nice looking animals Kevyn,can you get the yellow eyelash vipers :?:

 

[Tommo]

if their not that venomous would you handle it? its different in australia. its either non venomous, slightly venoumous or really venomous

 

[kevyn]

They're nice looking animals Kevyn,can you get the yellow eyelash vipers

I am trying like you wouldn't believe to get eyelash vipers. Especially the yellow ones. Hard to come by in Canada.

if their not that venomous would you handle it? its different in australia. its either non venomous, slightly venoumous or really venomous

NO. I never free handle any hots. Just because there has never been a recorded death doesn't mean they can't kill. What if I have an allergy to the venom? I can think of other ways to be #1 than dying from a snake bite.

how big r these things

They are very small as babies, only a few inches. Adult females can get 4ft. (1.3m) but the males get only around 2ft. . The phase from the Phillipines are also known as a dwarf phase, they only get about 20inches or so.

 

[NCHERPS]

Kevyn,
I have had my photo taken with these at the snake temple in Penang, they are very variable in colour and very placid.
I have imported them before when I lived in the UK, but the wild caught animals don't seem to do too well in captivity, I think personally that people used to keep them too warm, I believe they do best at a slightly cooler temps than say the white lipped pit viper.
One of my fav vipers to be sure!

Neil

 

[kevyn]

I agree that the wild ones don't do too well, though most specimens available are wild caught from either Malaysia or Sumatra. The main problem is parasites and diet. In the wild they mainly feed on geckos and native birds, that are almost impossible to get anywhere else. Dehydration is also a killer for this species, and impactions can be fatal aswell. They are awsome to keep and I'm glad to have a source for captive bred ones, and can't wait to start producing them. BTW I have never been to Malaysia, but am hoping to in the near future. How is it? I've heard that the snake temple isn't the best interms of care for the snakes.