Angry Atheris Squamigera

After almost a year, the largest female started attacking the other three squams (2 females, one male) yesterday. She got one female in the eye and drew blood from the top of her head. I removed her from the others, but what would cause her to go on a rampage like that?

It's hard to say what caused it but I think it's generally considered a bad idea to house Atheris together. I've talked to one Atheris breeder and have heard from others who have had personal experiences with the female killing the male when they are introduced for breeding. This usually occurs when they've been together a little too long and the female is no longer in a "breeding mood".

I house my pair of squams seperately and did not have any problems when I introduced them for a few weeks last year to breed. Housing them together long term seems too risky to me though.

If you have 4 squams housed together the agression may be due to cage crowding. What size cage are they in?
Chris

The enclosure is 20 inches by 20 inches by 5 feet high. It may be the case that regardless of the size, they will eventually prefer being alone, I don't know. The breeder I got two of mine from housed four together for years without incident. Right now I have three together with the aggressive female in solitary...