Description
Bitis Gabonica Venom | Gaboon Adder Venom:
Bitis Gabonica Venom | Gaboon Adder Venom is extracted from a snake called Bitis Gabonica.
More details about Bitis Gabonica Venom | Gaboon Adder Venom:
| Purity | > 99 % |
| Form | Lyophilized Powder |
| Packaging | In vacuum sealed glass vials, in secured parcel. |
Taxonomic Classification:
| Name | Bitis Gabonica |
| Common Name(s) | Gaboon Adder |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Squamata |
| Suborder | Serpentes |
| Family | Viperidae |
| Genus | Bitis |
| Species | B. gabonica |
About Bitis Gabonica Snake:
The Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica), also called the Gaboon adder, is a viper species found in the rainforests and savannas of sub-Saharan Africa. Like all other vipers, it is venomous.
It is the largest member of the genus Bitis, and it has the longest fangs of any venomous snake – up to 2 inches (5 cm) in length – and the highest venom yield of any snake. No subspecies are recognized.
Taxonomy:
Lenk et al. (1999) discovered genetic differences between the two conventionally recognized subspecies of B. g. gabonica and B. g. rhinoceros.
According to their research, these two subspecies are as genetically different from each other as they are from B. nasicornis. Consequently, they regard the western form as a separate species, B. rhinoceros.
Description:
Adults are typically 125–155 cm (4 to 5 ft) in total length (body and tail) with a maximum total length of 205 cm (81 in) for a specimen collected in Sierra Leone.
The sexes may be distinguished by the length of the tail in relation to the total length of the body: around 12% for males and 6% for females.
Adults, especially females, are very heavy and stout. One female had these dimensions:
| Total length | 174 cm (69 in) |
| Head width | 12 cm (4.20 in) |
| Girth size (circumference) | 37 cm (14.65 in) |
| Weight (empty stomach) | 8.5 kg (19 lb) |
Distribution and habitat:
This species can be found in Guinea, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the DR Congo, northern Angola, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, eastern Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, eastern Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and northeast KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa. Mallow et al. (2003) also list Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Liberia in West Africa.
The type locality is given as “Gabon” (Africa).
Behavior:
Primarily nocturnal, Gaboon vipers have a reputation for being slow-moving and placid.
They usually hunt by ambush, often spending long periods motionless, waiting for suitable prey to pass by, though they have been known to hunt actively, mostly during the first six hours of the night.
In Kumasi, Ghana, they were regularly killed by ranch hands around some stables in an open field with the forest some 500 meters away—a sign that they were hunting rats in the grassland.
They are usually very tolerant snakes, even when handled, and rarely bite or hiss, unlike most vipers. However, bites by bad-tempered individuals do occur.
Feeding:
Because of their large, heavy body size, the adults have no trouble eating prey as large as fully grown rabbits. When prey happens by, they strike from any angle.
They can quickly reposition their fangs if they happen to miss or strike an unsuitable area of their prey.
Once they strike their prey, they hang on to it with their large fangs rather than letting it go and waiting for it to die.
This behaviour is very different from that of other species of vipers.
These snakes feed on a variety of birds, mammals, and amphibians such as doves, guineafowl, francolins, and many different species of rodents, including field mice and rats, as well as hares, rabbits, frogs, and toads.
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