Four years of searching and Eventually paid off [B. atropos]

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Four years of searching and Eventually paid off [B. atropos]

Postby Adriaan » Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:25 pm

Bitis atropos.jpg

I Finally found an isolated population of Bitis atropos after 4 years of Intense searching, and boy are they pretty :D
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby Adriaan » Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:30 pm

Bitis atropos.jpg
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby armata » Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:37 pm

Very interesting, at what altitude is this population, and what makes you think it is isolated.
You can PM me with details if you like.
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby Wvipera » Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:53 pm

Wow, first pic looks amazing! always great to see atropos, what a long wait but at least it paid off.
What length were they?
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby Fooble » Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:27 pm

NICE!
If it's so isolated keep it tight lipped except to armata that is :)
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby mgiddings » Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:29 pm

Agree with fooble, I say pm armata with the details.
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby Copperbob » Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:38 pm

Very nice find Adriaan.
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby Quintin » Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:37 pm

Brilliant find... Congrats! I am also still waiting to find one of these beauties one day.
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby armata » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:05 pm

Good opportunity for Adriaan to do some nice study here, we have already PMd.
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby Archie Bottoms » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:24 pm

This is one of the things I live for!!!!! Your effort has paid off.I had discovered a new species of spider in 99 and after years of searching this year my son found the second spcimen.There are new discoveries out there .We as a group have the responcibility to disclose the find but not always the location lest collectors distroy the find.YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby eyelash viper » Fri Oct 23, 2009 12:19 am

Wow good on you bud . Hope they are all in good shape . Good on you
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby Bushviper » Fri Oct 23, 2009 8:40 am

Very nice going. At the right time of the year you will find high concentrations.

The population can be wiped out over a long weekend by a group of herpers (and I saw this happen) so please dont divulge this info.

Contrary to popular belief they do not do well in captivity and very few are actually bred to a second generation.
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off.

Postby warbot » Fri Oct 23, 2009 10:01 am

Very nice find ! keep location to yourself!
and send us some more pics :D
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off [B. atropos]

Postby gaboon69 » Fri Oct 23, 2009 10:48 am

Whatever you do, do NOT share the locality or any other information with your best friends even. The reason for this is that B. atropos is known to occur in isolated 'pockets' thus making the species a lot more prone to complete localized extinctions. @ BV: From experienced keepers' feedback I do believe that KZN atropos does have a bad track record in captivity.
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Re: Four years of searching and Eventually paid off [B. atropos]

Postby armata » Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:44 am

Yes Adriaan do not divulge the location. All I want to do is help and advise. It is true that B.atropos seems to prefer a certain kind of habitat structure, and thats what I am interested in. Also climatic influences. I have seen this adder moving around on grey drizzly days at around 12degC!
The fact that they seem to occur in isolated pockets, and as BV has stated, makes them vulnerable. I think, fairly sure, that most SA herpers know they are tricky and short-lived in captivity, but the European and US collectors are a different story.

We have a problem in the W.Cape in that some of the bergie sites are very well known and are hit regularly. Which is a great pain as it includes two of my study sites. Plus we have had some bad fires in recent years.

The most intersting sites are where you can get B.atropos/cornuta/rubida living side by side. Luckily these areas are not so well known (I hope!!). My other sites have atropos/rubida together.

You have a good opportunity to do a nice mark and recapture study here and I am only too happy to help and advise.
Yes, more pics would be nice, but just the animals, not the habitat!!!! although you can send me the latter, it would help.
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