Assorted elapids and vipers to proven good homes only

I am considering selling, trading or loaning the following animals to known good quality homes only. Willing to actually sell: 1.2 juvenile Bothrops asper, 1.1 juvenile Deinagkistrodon acutus, 1.1 adult Atheris ceratophorus, 1.1 juvenile Bitis gabonica, 0.0.1 good sized adult WC Micrurus fulvius (not feeding, in good condition but needs support care), 1.0 evil tempered captive bred adult Sistrurus miliarius barbouri, 2.0 adult Dendroaspis angusticeps, 1.0 very nice adult Dendroaspis polylepis.

I may need to find a temporary home for 1.1 magnificent Dendroaspis angusticeps that I won't give up or sell - if a trusted facility wants to house all four green mambas they may keep (but not sell) the rehabilitated wild caught green mambas in exchange for room and board for the two animals I don't want to give up but do need a place to park for the next year or so. I love these two, raised one of them right from the egg, and they are my personal pets. The captive bred animal is *extremely* dangerous due to an insane feeding response; it will follow a keeper for food very aggressively. This is a useful response when setting up photography or film situations, but it makes this particular animal much more dangerous to maintain for routine husbandry.

There are a few other animals I may need to put out on breeding loan as well, so ask if you need to pair something up. Some friends of mine are getting first dibs so I need to find out what they're taking.

I will not sell any animals to keepers who cannot convince me that they can offer a good quality of care including veterinary care when necessary. Most of these animals have vet records, x-rays, repeated fecal checks, etc. The mambas are long term rehab animals that are now in excellent condition after many months of care. The black in particular has become calm and habituated to handling. He is literally "hand fed". He is being target trained to take his food from an extended gloved hand, and after months of habituation his table manners are excellent. His coloring is very nice, with "tiger bars" of lighter color on his sides. His body condition is just average now; he came in very skinny and emaciated, and I would like to see him continue to put on more weight. This should not be too difficult as he accepts f/t jumbo mice any time they are offered. He prefers live mice and has a stronger feeding response to them, but he has been successfully weaned onto f/t. Note: unless you're actively working in behavioral management, I don't recommend continuing the glove feeding practice. He'll do fine if you toss his dead mice into the cage.

The greens are still flighty and prefer live food, but both have eaten f/t as well when tease fed from tongs. They are slightly scarred but generally look quite good. I'd like to see all the rehab mambas go to a home where they can continue to get routine examinations to make sure they are doing well.

To get loaner animals your collection must either be very small or routinely screened for OMPV. Prices are totally negotiable to the right home. I can ship but I'd rather not. I would like to continue providing veterinary care to these animals if they can be brought back to me in the event of illness or injury.

Email atheris a^t usa d0t net if you are interested and if you can show a high quality standard of care for these species. I will give these animals away to local trusted keepers before shipping them to someone I don't know who cannot prove a high quality standard of care. Absolutely NO dealers or resellers, and especially no venomoid hackers.

If you are not interested in these animals to personally keep for the long term, please don't bother inquiring. I'd like to be able to check back in with you in a few years and hear how they are doing. I'd also like the chance to buy them back if you ever do want to sell them.

I'm interested in your Gaboons, I'm in Pa. What can we work out?

Thanks to all the quality people who are now giving good homes to my babies. What's left: a CB baby Taylor's cantil, a male Eastern green mamba, and the "glove trained" adult male black mamba. Need to find long term temporary parking (breeding loan anyone?) for a spectacular pair of Eastern green mambas that are my personal pets. The CB adult male is an unusual lime-yellow-orange color with pinkish shades and has an incredibly dangerous feeding response. He is scarier to work with than any wild caught mamba. The female is well over 6', deep emerald green and very gentle. I'll pay or trade for their room and board with the right home only.

Apologies to the folks who sent only brief inquiries and didn't get an answer. I am moving and my life is hell right now. I do not have time to chase down people for all the information that I asked for in the original ad. Basically if you didn't introduce yourself and explain how you could offer a high standard of care including veterinary care for these animals, you might not have gotten any response. My stock reply to a one-line inquiry as "How much are your Gaboon vipers" goes like this.

Please re-read the original ad carefully. I am not a dealer and these snakes are not for sale to the highest bidder. I am seeking high quality long term homes with well known and trustworthy keepers who are willing to check back in with me in a few years and chat about how these animals are doing, maybe pass me back some offspring. If you tend to buy and sell a lot of snakes and get tired of them in a few months, please don't ask to buy mine.

Prices are completely negotiable to the right home, and in some cases there might not need to be any money involved. The important thing is the qualifications of the person asking to give the animals a home, not how much they are. To the right home under the right circumstances several of them have been adopted for free. I would rather give snakes to the right home than sell them for a lot of money to the wrong home. So if you are not willing to introduce yourself and discuss your qualifications, the animals are not for sale. Thanks for understanding and respecting my concern for the welfare of the animals.