Darth Vader Strikes!

[dalekie89]

@viperkeeper what kind of time span is it from initial bite from a gaboon viper to death?

[BlackFalcon16]

Shit made me nervous and im behind a monitor!!!!!!!!! Im going to stick with cats and dogs.

[ImMommy100]

wow dude give the snake some time dude it might eat you instead not to be mean bro XD 

[FeralFresse]

goddamn..much respect. you're a cool dude

i got reptiles since im 5 years old but you're cold as ice how you handle snakes.

sry if my english is bad

[viperkeeper]

@FeralFresse Thanks, they can sense your emotions, so best to be under complete control of them.

[TheAdefioye1]

maybe he needs life rats instead of the frozen ones or did you warm the rat or not



[viperkeeper]

@TheAdefioye1 Please read the other posts in this thread. I've answered this comment about 50 times already.

[LATINOLOCO187]

ok darth varder, I understand right now. That's the perfect name!

[lovemyboa]

Awww I hate this is happening. What kind of snake is he. Keep us updated hopefully he starts eating soon!

[viperkeeper]

@lovemyboa He's been dead for years.

[lovemyboa]

@viperkeeper After I read this comment I looked at the date. WOW Im a bit slow haha. Well sorry to hear that. You did what you could and thats all that matters

[tier88]

@viperkeeper sry to hear that . :(

[TheGhostScorpion]

im so sorry to hear that man, you tried your best and sometimes it just happens.

[TheGhostScorpion]

did you get him to feed after?

[viperkeeper]

@TheGhostScorpion No he died of a Pestomid (paracitic) infection.

[Yeabaysie]

@viperkeeper What is Pestomid infection? Can't find anything about it.

[viperkeeper]

@Yeabaysie

Pentastomes: Respiratory Parasites of Reptiles

Holly Frisby, DVM, MS

Veterinary Services Department, Drs. Foster & Smith, Inc.

What Are Pentastomes?

[viperkeeper]

@viperkeeper

Pentastomes, also called "tongue worms," look like small conical-shaped worms, but are actually are arthropods, related to spiders and mites. Unlike their relatives, however, pentastomes are internal parasites, generally living in the lungs and respiratory tract of reptiles. The adults range in size from 0.8 to 4.5 inches. There are over 70 different species of pentastomes and they commonly infect snakes, lizards, and crocodilians.

[viperkeeper]

@viperkeeper The most common species in reptiles include:

Armillifer in pythons and vipers

Porocephalus in boas and rattlesnakes

Kiricephalus in colubrid snakes

Sebekia in crocodilians

Raillietiella in lizards and snakes

[sonogigs]

he's hissing and puffying like my mom when i don't clean up my room...

[ThyrmBloodaxe]

oh damn, the gaboon was intelligent enough to strike at YOU rather than the rat/tongs?

[POdXXvv]

veaahh this is MR  Darth Vader :-))

[GhildedGharden]

Ten years ago I lived in Huntsville, Alabama. There was a big news story on TV one night about a teenage kid who turned a gabboon viper and a black mamba loose in a local residential creek. That's what got me started looking for hot keepers on the Internet. Newspaper excerpts here:

forum(dot)kingsnake(dot)com(sl­ash)venom(slash)messages(slash­)24935(dot)html

Turned out the story was true. Police finally (and carefully) raided the apartment of the guy who sold the snakes to the kid.

[GhildedGharden]

When I tell people about how I like to watch your videos on YouTube this is one of the examples I show them. Another one is Kermit raiding the chick bucket on the table.

[CynicallyObnoxious]

Ok idk if its the snake or the name of the snake but when i seen darth vader and a massive deadly animal imma have to watch

[AdrenalineDye]

in situations like this do you ship him to another feeder? or let him into the wild?

[viperkeeper]

@AdrenalineDye No to both.

[AdrenalineDye]

wow thats a beast 

[ThePigBlimp]

Beautiful snake I'm glad you got him to eat

[Carnuss]

He nearly tagged you.

[viperkeeper]

@Carnuss Was not even close.

[GrogTheRed]

Do you have a particular preference to frozen over live feeding?

I tried frozen and my Dumerill's just didn't like it but he had a hard time at first with live so I had to stun the mice at first and then feed him. Now he's a live bait killing machine putting Jumbo's in with him three times his head size which shocks my supplier but he loves those big black and whites

[viperkeeper]

@GrogTheRed Been through this conversation 100's of times. He would not eat live either.

[idis91]

Oh Dart Vader surely knows how to be noisy!! but if hes not eating he will die :(

force feeding seems to be the only way.

[seanacker21]

DAMN!!!!!!!!!!

[Cortake]

Psssshhhhh ... viperkeeper, I'm your dad 

[LetsDanceGermany]

Thats one mean Beauty...She turned Super Saiyan

[Afrikitty]

You say in your description that he hasn't eaten in a year. You also say he has not adapted to cages very well. I was wondering if this particular snake would prefer it if you put live food in his cage? I have a friend who had a similar problem with his Gaboon Adder, so he stunned the mice before he put them in the cage. Then left them in the cage alive. Within a very short period of time, he had a feeding Adder.

We Africans don't like being kept in cages. LOL

He sure does put on quite a show!

[viperkeeper]

@Afrikitty Tried that too....

[Afrikitty]

@viperkeeper Well, thank you - and good luck to you with this snake. He certainly is your star performer. (*_*)

[albinoserpent1]

@viperkeeper i dont know much about hot snakes but i have snakes i was wondering why do u feed them alot smaller prey item bcuz they look like they can take alot bigger rat by there thickness i was just curious

[gwar10]

lol viper was like ill take the fn rat just let me go back in my home.

[HillBillyF100]

A doe doe headed gaboon.. :)

[mowehner]

snakes are not dumb by any means they learn things just like us. He's waiting for you to fuck up.

[Kingcobrasaurus]

That is cool! I never knew snakes were so noisy.

[FILMMAKERCHAP]

the snake seems rather scared

[jp151100]

gaboon viper is a stalking snake. it wants to stalk its prey. lying motionless up to hours at a time and then exploding into action to eat. this is the basic fundamentals of feeding this snake. for you not to know this, shows me that you shouldnt be keeping this type of snake or any type of snake for that matter, it was very sad to watch you piss off and stress out a snake to try to get it to eat.

[Aerox196]

when I saw it was a gaboon Viper I though "oh fuck thats frightening"

when I heard that his name is darth vader i though " oh fuck thats more frightening"

[jmp17x]

Simply amazing the way gaboons can strike. He turned his head almost 90 degrees back from the forward motion to get the rat. Beautiful

[GreenDay10x]

YOU SIR HAVE BALLS.

[thedanimator]

Have you seen the late Bill Haast videos? He would extract venom (not milk), then he fed the snakes with a high-protein liquid via caulk-gun-and-surgical-tube-th­ingy. But I understand you want to let Darth eat naturally ... makes sense...

[chrisgriffin22]

I think its crazy how when he hisses his entire body shrinks thats just amazing. One of them many reasons I love snakes. Everything about them is fascinating.

[jla2358]

Give that snake a breathe-right strip!

[Thedragonlover95]

Why do you call him darth vader?

[AtarahDerek]

I think I can guess why you called him Darth Vader. What kind of snake is he? Besides a grouchy, inflatable one.

[viperkeeper]

@AtarahDerek East African Gaboon Viper.

[hahaha4282]

that snake is bad ass!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sharkclubpenguin3000]

why didnt you just force fed mr darth

[ffmdude]

Some pretty good reflexes at 12:10 Al !!!

and @mmay6298

I think it takes "a bit more" to bite someone with Al´s experience.

[2ndRCHAret]

Sorry to hear Darth has not survived Al. It must be heartbreaking to do all that work with them. Then have a damn parasite kill them. I expect it is hard not to become attatched to your snakes (hopefully never by their fangs). I enjoy all of the DBZ videos. Once again thanks for your time and effort.

[mmay6298]

That was pretty intense....I really expected you to get tagged.  Sorry to hear he died.

[mlmxl1674]

I like all snakes no matter how venomous. YOU ROCK VIPERKEEPER !!!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK !!!!!!!

[timberland1108]

the sound of that snake is just awesome. when he breaths why does his body expand like that?

[timberland1108]

the sound of that snake is just awesome

[MrTomTom10OPM]

XD at 1:48 it inflates like a baloon. incredibel how big they can get forn just inflating like 4 times as big nice snake

[Truthseeker4449]

If I was being made to eat in front of a camra and being takin out of my home, I would be pissed and not want to eat too.

[tpmease13]

how did he end up taking the rat??? did you go through this every feeding time?

[viperkeeper]

@tpmease13 He ended up eating the rat. This was the only time I needed to do this. He died about 6 months later with a serious Pestomid infestation, from which there is no treatment/cure.

[motorgirl85]

@viperkeeper Sorry to hear that. You think the infestation made him acted like that?

[viperkeeper]

@motorgirl85 I'm sure he was not feeling well, he was just a foul dude.

[viperkeeper]

@tpmease13 He ended up eating the rat. This was the only time I needed to do this. He died about 6 months later with a serious Pestomid infestation, from which there is no treatment/cure.

[babeslayer117]

@viperkeeper i have a jungle carpet python and im wondering how your snake got this infestation? is there anything i should avoid to keep my guy healthy? jus wondering

[viperkeeper]

@babeslayer117 It's from being wild caught.

[tpmease13]

sounds like he had you frustrated.. what was the last resort to feeding this big guy?

[johna0408]

that thing is bad ass

[2lostangels]

do you ever tink they get sick of stabing there face with those steel thongs fuck off and feed them live!!!

[xXhotshot55Xx]

how to feed a snake step 1 rub food against snake step 2 run away

[obrad79]

use force young padawan

[snoopval]

he must be really nice not to bite, now does he know that, that is just food, or would he be like that with a person just bothering him?

[Codegirl96]

Damn, Darth gets pissed fast

[Codegirl96]

Darth sould really pissed

[BackGroundism]

pump it up^^

[ethankage18]

heh, love ur videos, i've had a profound love for snakes since very young and i've had them in my life since, wether it be, respectively, catching venomous ones, or just catching whichever ones i find, though i have one at home with me now that i've had for 3 years now, beautiful 3 year old ball python, male, wanna buy another soon to breed them, i'd oneday, like to have sumthing like wat u have going, but a mix of non venomous and venomous, huge lover of reptiles.

[cheapshotchubs]

You have the nicest snake in the world here sir.

[connjamm]

you said in one of your videos that the people on youtube harass you, but I think you harass the people on youtube more than they harass you, lol I don't mind

[connjamm]

what part of a snakes body do pestomids parasatise on? I looked on google but there is nothing about pestomids.

[viperkeeper]

@connjamm It took me over an hour to find this reference for you.... Thry this word in Google. Nasty bugs!!

Pentastomes

[RideBikesDaily]

You: Handling deadly venomous snake

Me: Shi77ing my pants

Me: Behind a computer screen

You: Have balls of steel

[bludgeon213]

Shame he died, Gaboon's are some of the nicest looking snakes in the world.

[EchoFiveHotel]

Were you alone with this guy?

[post8jrman]

I have a w.a rhino that has these problems every once in a while.

[tylerwortman]

Seems to me it was not so smart to be on your knees while pulling Darth out of the cage. Gaboons may be fat but they are very quick and he could have easily tagged you.....

[xZxmusicADDICTxZx]

he inflates like a balloon with every inhale <3 cute

[Sithisnight]

It was grossing him out. I wouldn't wanna eat that sucker either, that face was nasty

[xknockoutx]

"You are unwise to lower your defenses!"

-Darth Vader

[buhrrito]

darth is a beautiful snake

props/respect

[kltequila]

He's like a long balloon. LOL

[POLOGOD123]

How about feeding him a live one...

[viperkeeper]

@POLOGOD123 Tried that...no go

[daydream91]

I bet he's dizzy from all that breething...

[xxxdoc]

lol classic..."he shot his load"lol

[hamstergirl4444]

Why do you only use dead rodents? None of my snakes would eat anything that wasn't warm and breathing, but they weren't venomous...

[snoopval]

He must have been pretty docile though if he didn't strike the rat, or would he have struck if that was a hand?

[Blackleaftips]

so i have been thinking about getting a venomous snake for some time now and have been reading a lot but still not to sure about witch type to keep i am fond of the gaboon but it would be my first venomous snake and not sure if it would be the best to start out with just wanting to ask for you what you think

[hongkongluna]

Wow, that guy was being difficult. Too bad they cant talk and tell you what they want and don't want. That might backfire though. All these little voices saying, "I want to kill you" all day :)

[shussey100]

I'm from Africa and the behaviour of whites amaze me. How can you keep something so dangerous like that.

[Heyde1979]

@shussey100 he knows what he is doing he has over thirty years experience dealing with and handling venomous snakes and watch you what you write your comment sounded racist

[nikesk8er10]

its like hyper ventilating lol

[mreg09]

damn HES PISSED! 

[HanakoFujita]

Inhale... Exhale... Gawd Darth Vader is LOUD! ><

[IsInTFbAwEsOmE]

did darth die from stress in cage life? just wondering because you said in the caption that he never really adapted well....

[viperkeeper]

@IsInTFbAwEsOmE He had Pestomids, very nasty paracite that there is not treatment.

[SupraJulie]

@viperkeeper I used to work in a museum herpaterrium and we had a snake with those that was always in a horrible mood.

[paintballkicksass]

sorry to hear about darth and gabby but what are pestomids?

[viperkeeper]

@paintballkicksass google it...

[paintballkicksass]

@viperkeeper cant find it, just tell me

[paintballkicksass]

whats the most docile venomous snake?

[viperkeeper]

@paintballkicksass A dead one

[paintballkicksass]

@viperkeeper LOL

[riggerz1000]

@viperkeeper best response ever

[viperkeeper]

@riggerz1000 Thanks, It happens to be factual too

[Iraniancommunist777]

@viperkeeper

WRONG!

A gaboon viper!

[Banic666]

@viperkeeper have you ever been bit by one of your snakes if so which one or ones

[18thebeast18]

@viperkeeper does he have a certin time to eat or do you just do that because he HAS to eat?

[viperkeeper]

@18thebeast18 He just doesn't want to eat period.

[minnesotajz]

Vader is dead too?

My heart hurts, so sorry VK.

[theADVENTUREkids333]

oh lawd!!!!! vaders not alive? fawk!!!!!

[theADVENTUREkids333]

is vader still alive? and sorry to hear about gabby

[viperkeeper]

@theADVENTUREkids333 no

[uromastyxrock2010]

to deal with that you must have balls of steel dude and you have em gees id crap my self

[23derekh]

i see y u call him darth vador

[jordanisamazing11]

gaboon vipers have one of the fastest strikes of all snake and this guy is pissing it off. He did not look very smart

[2ndRCHAret]

Always a pleasure to watch you at work Al. Sorry to hear Darth didn't make it. I did a call with the O.P.P. bomb squad. It didn't make me as nervous as watching you with Gabby and Darth. Always a pleasure to see a professional like yourself at work.

[viperkeeper]

Was a terrible way to go for them both..Pestomids... Don't look them up or you may not be able to eat certain foods again.

[monkeyfinger6]

hey there al, im new to the youtube scene but keeping herps is my life long hobby, and is turning out that way for my four year old son also, just wanted to say thanks for all of your great vids! my son and i watch 'em together. i have posted several vids of my boy catching wild non-venomous species, if you get the time check them out -monkeyfinger6- i was also wondering if you are from Pa i heard you mention tne hamburg show in one of your vids?

[viperkeeper]

Hi: Thanks! When I heard that parents & kids watch the videos it makes my day. I am not from PA but currently live there and regularly attend the Hamburg show.

[thathowmygirlzroll]

Poor guy/: but still such an amazing snake...... Ivv got a question is the black momba the most feared snake bc of its venom and agression or is he not up on the list as feared?

[viperkeeper]

Snakes are seldom aggressive. they are defensive in nature. Mambas are very nervous snakes with highly toxic venom. When cornered or suprised they can be quite dangerous.

[leanna913]

how is he doing now? is he gaining any more weight?

he is absolutely beautiful !! i have snakes of my own and a few times they can get pretty pissy at me haha

[viperkeeper]

He didn't make it.

[teslapower220]

Is it a gaboon viper?

[viperkeeper]

Yes

[teslapower220]

@viperkeeper did u name him darth vader cuz his hissing sounds like vader's breathing ? :P

[viperkeeper]

exactly

[shelly129]

wow, is that just something with the camera, is it me, or can you see the snake inhaling/exhaling??? huge breaths! compared to my ball python. maybe because he's so agitated.

[viperkeeper]

That's why they are also known as "adders" because of that extream "huffing & puffing"

[ToonandBBfan]

Its incredible that such a thick bodied snake can strike so quickly

[viperkeeper]

The never cease to stun me with how quick & agile they are.

[TheInuyashaluver112]

thts one pissed of snake o3o

[streetracer155]

big strike range at 6.27min !!!

[sk8zero14]

he got really pissed off lolz. hope my snkaes never do that

[krrrruptidsoless]

Maybe he's turning vegetarian and just wants some warm porridge. Love those markings beautiful snake The heavy breathing makes the markings light up..

[nerxboy]

"oh noes, he shot his load" xD

[kujofox]

he's pretty reluctant to strike.

[22reTOYOTA]

Pretty insane. Seems even the best handlers get bit once in their life. Hope you live thru it.

[gionel11]

wow hes a really mean snake.hes more evil then darth vador

[smithNwesson1991]

theres a big ass viper at the indianapolis zoo with a head the size of ur hands if u made a heart shape it was huge i would not want to piss that thing off

[ls04hby]

When Darth striked the first time, how far did the strike miss you by?

[xXNickBDangerXx]

how do you get vader back in his habitat after he slithers out, do you have a handling stick

[viperkeeper]

I use chop sticks

[MintyModF1]

LOL.....Noodles included?

[MintyModF1]

Gently hook the animal under the belly, and place them back into the cage.

Gaboons often require two hooks if I am correct.

[geffrod]

It's like you should just dump some of the foul ones into a bin filled with food. ''It sound like like we slithering on rats, Dr. Jones".

[killerbanshe3]

itslike watching a baloon inflate and deflate

[noxep]

Watching this - and hearing it - gave me impression I could actually feel the draft....scary

[TJsHerps]

I see why his name is Darth Vader...

[Wyokingpen]

It's amazing how enlarged the body gets for that defensive hiss!!!

[edaj84]

ROFL, "anyone want a slightly used rat with some big holes in it"

[edaj84]

what sort of snake was he?

[viperkeeper]

Foul

[rallisonsreptiles]

is darth vader eatn now

[viperkeeper]

No, he's dead, so he no longer has to worry about eating.

[adamtylermiller]

Good lord i've never HEARD a snake that pissed off before.

[MrIAMpeanut]

hey viperkeeper you know how you can swallow venom and not die would you die if a venomous snake bit your tongue ?

[DKURevan]

That is one of the most idiotic things I've ever heard.