Gaboon Viper Bite: All You Need To Know About This Venomous Snake

The Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica) is one of the deadliest animals in the world, and holds the world record of being the snake with the longest fangs!

Generally found in the forests and woodlands of western and central Africa, it is the heaviest venomous snake on the continent. This snake grows to be around 7 ft (2 m) long and weighs almost 18 lb (8 kg)!

Its long body is covered with a pattern comprising purple, brown, and buff-colored shapes, which helps it to camouflage itself among the leaves and dirt of the forest floor. In fact, these amazing camouflaging skills are what cause unsuspecting humans to step on this type of snake.

This causes this snake to lash out and administer painful bites with its deadly fangs!

The Gaboon viper tends to latch onto any humans it bites instead of letting go immediately, which can cause a large amount of venom to enter their bodies.

This snake is usually quite gentle, and gives out a warning hiss if agitated, before rearing its head and striking. In fact, most bites recorded are from captive snakes rather than wild ones!

Does a Gaboon viper bite pain?

It is quite rare to be bitten by one of these snakes because they are not very aggressive and calm in nature, only striking when they feel severely threatened or are accidentally stepped on the forest floor.

These vipers are usually found in rainforests or woodlands on the continent of Africa and are commonly found in the countries of Guinea, the Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Gabon, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, Cameroon, Togo, and Mozambique.

Gaboon vipers rarely bite, which is quite fortunate for us humans as they are highly venomous snakes and their bite can be fatal! The survival rate for people bitten by these reptiles is very low, and the venom can drain the victim of life in just two to four hours if left untreated, slowly killing them from the inside.

The level of pain accompanied by one of these snake's bites is quite intense, with rapid blistering, swelling, and bruising of the wound being very common.

The amount of pain can be so intense that it has caused people to go into shock, lose consciousness, and even have convulsions. The venom itself is very potent and can mess up the coagulating properties of the blood inside a human body, leading to excessive bleeding and internal hemorrhaging.

It may also destroy internal tissue and muscles, which may require surgery or amputation to fix. In terms of deadliness, this viper is quite high up on the list.

What does a Gaboon viper bite wound look like?

The site of a Gaboon viper bite looks similar to any bite caused by a venomous snake.

A venomous snake bite leaves behind two distinct puncture holes whereas a non-venomous snake bite will leave behind four holes. The bite will turn red and will swell up which will be accompanied by extreme pain.

Gaboon Viper Venom Effects

If bitten by one of these vipers, you may feel extreme nausea and may struggle to breathe. Other effects include feeling extremely numb and losing control of your limbs and your bladder, vision becoming blurry, uncontrollable salivating, or sweating, and extreme weakness.

A Gaboon viper bite can also cause eyelids and the tongue to swell up, making it difficult to see and speak. Bite victims may go into shock because of the drop of the blood flow, or start convulsing.

Since the concentration of venom in a single Gaboon viper bite is quite high, Gaboon viper bites can cause death if proper clinical attention is not given and the correct antidote is not administered in time.

The venom can start showing its effects immediately, causing complete system failure within two to four hours. The venom in the bite causes more internal damage than external.

What should you do if you get bitten by a Gaboon viper?

If someone is bitten by a Gaboon viper, then immediate medical attention is required as the venom takes effect quite quickly.

The chance of surviving depends on many factors including the victim's age, weight, site and size of the bite, the size of the snake, and if the victim has any underlying health conditions. However, the most important factor is how long it takes to get the person to a hospital and administer the antidote.

The first, and most important step to take is to make sure the person bitten remains calm.

Panicking can lead to a rise in blood pressure, which can contribute to the rapid flow of venom throughout the body. Make sure that the victim lies flat on the ground and remains like this, making no unnecessary movements.

It is important to not try and squeeze or suck the venom out. Instead, try to bind the site of the wound tightly, as it will help to slow the movement of the poison.

Fortify the bandage with a splint, which will keep the affected limb stiff and in place. Make sure it remains like this until the victim reaches the hospital and has been administered with a powerful anti-venom.

Once the doctors give the required dose of antivenom to the patient, they must be observed for at least 24 hours to make sure that they are free from the painful symptoms caused by the bite, and to keep their cardiac status in check.

Blood may be taken from an arm to perform tests, and determine whether the patient is still in any danger. If these steps are taken immediately, then the chances of the bite being fatal decrease drastically, and it is possible to save the bitten limb from amputation.

Checking on the status of the wound every few hours is very important when treating a Gaboon viper bite.

Did You Know...

The Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica) belongs to the genus Bitis, containing both the largest and smallest vipers in the world. The animals in this genus are African adders, puff adders, or African vipers. These vipers are part of the animal family Viperidae.

These vipers feed on small to medium mammals, birds, and insects. They are fond of birds like doves, monkeys, rodents, frogs, rabbits, and mongooses. They use their long, powerful fangs to inject venom into their prey before eating them.

This snake has a triangular-shaped head that is quite wide. It has slits for pupils and the scales on its nose have a distinct horn-shaped pattern.

These animals are nocturnal in nature!

These reptiles are quite common in Africa, with their current conservation status being Least Concern.

When threatened, this snake's body goes still and it lets out a loud hiss as a warning, before bearing its fangs.