Description

Crotalus Durissus Venom Online, The Cascavel (Crotalus durissus Linnaeus, 1758), known in Spanish as Casabel, Cascavel, Vibora de cascabel, Cascabela, Serpiente de cascabel; in Portuguese as Cascavel de quatro ventas; in English as Tropical or South American rattlesnake; in Aymaran as Saqapani katari; in German as Schauer Klapperschlange and in French as Crotale cascabelle, is one of the most feared reptilians of the New World, Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop

protagonist of local legends, terrifying tales and of real sagas. And not entirely wrong: as almost always is the case, at the base of the legends, whatever extortionate they are, there is a kernel of truth, even if distorted, enlarged and made resounding by the popular fantasy. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop

Crotalus durissus is one of the most dangerous poisoners of Central and Southern America, for its great diffusion range as well as for the nervous and aggressive temperament and, even more, due to its venom which, as we shall see, stands among the most active and dangerous in the world of the American and world viperids. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop

It is not astonishing, therefore, it has risen, in the collective imagination, to the throne of king of the cool-blooded killers, sharing such aura of menace and power with the Bushmaster, or Woods terror, or also Surucucu (Lachesis muta), the greatest American viperid and by sure the longest in the whole world (up to 350 cm). Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online

In reality, however, the bad reputation of the Crotalus durissus is well more deserved than that of Lachesis muta, by sure an impressive serpent for what the size is concerned, but less easy to meet, less aggressive and endowed of a venom which, even if produced in big quantity, is less active than that of the Cascavel and, as a result, responsible of a quite minor number of serious accidents. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online

Several subspecies of this viperid (Viperidae) belonging to the subfamily of the crotalines (Crotalinae) are described:

Crotalus durissus durissus or Serpente de cascabel: present in Surinam, Guyana and French Guyana.

Crotalus durissus terrificus or Cascavel: the species typical of the Amazon forest, especially in its southern part, which reaches south-eastern Peru, the northern part of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop

Crotalus durissus cumanensis or Venezuelan cascavel : Venezuela.

Crotalus durissus ruruima or Cascavel de Monte Roraima: sighted in Brazil (Roraima), in part of Venezuela (Bolivàr) and Mount Cariman in Peru. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop

Crotalus durissus marajoensis or Cascabel de Marajo: in Marajo island.

Crotalus durissus maricelae or Cascavel de Merida : in Venezuela.

Crotalus durissus unicolor or Cascabel de Aruba: typical of the island having the same name in the Dutch Antilles.

Crotalus durissus trigonicus or Vibore de cascabel de Guyana: present in the inland areas of Guayana.

Crotalus durissus vegrandis or Serpiente de cascavel de Uracoa : also described in Venezuela (Monagas).

This reptilian is also the only one, in South America, really deserving the name of rattlesnake, because the other viperids of that part of the New World do not have that characteristic note as “rattle”, as is quite well described by the scientific name of its direct competitor to the title of king serpent, the Lachesis muta, reptilian who, like the moccasins and the North-American copperheads, vibrates the tail, when upset, but does not produce the typical rattling, unless it does not clashes against the surrounding vegetation. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop

The Cascavel is a robust reptilian, which reaches remarkable dimensions (up to 180 cm, but, as an average, around the 120-150 cm and up to 4 kg of weight), with a remarkable diameter, its body has an almost triangular section, which reminds me a little the harmless file-snakes, or African file snakes (genus Mehelya), is covered by strongly keeled scales, especially on the back, where they get the look of true and proper tubercules, in particular on the sides of the “vertebral” line, whilst, while going down towards the lateral parts or “sides”, the roughness diminishes progressively. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop

The background colours vary remarkably depending on the zones, ranging from the pale (ash grey, beige, pale brown) to the dark (chestnut, anthracite and even black) and on them stand out (more or less evident depending on the intensity of the background) darker patterns shaped like lozenges, at times surrounded by pale or white borders and often containing inside some spots of different hue. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop

Specimens showing unusual tints, like shades of green (especially in forest), of yellow and even of orange, are not rare. The head is flattened and triangular, the apex of the snout appears relatively “snub”, with the eyes placed much ahead, close to the opening of the thermoreceptor dimples, and, in the whole, the head reminds me, in a larger scale, that of some African and Asian echis (see texts), viperids which, however, do not have the typical dimples of the viperids of the New World. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop

The eyes do have elliptic and vertical pupil, which reveal its habits, often crepuscular and nocturne, even if, especially in the zones at high altitude (we can meet it also at more than 2500 metres above the sea level) or in the less warm periods, it can be very active in broad daylight. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop

When it is upset or when feeling menaced, it gets the typical defensive and dehortatory posture of the North American rattlers, wrapping in a heap of cols and rapidly vibrating the tail, in way that the corneous rings of the rattle produce the very recognizable buzz, while the head moves back, like a spring ready to shoot the intruder. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop

Unfortunately, this performance is not always able to warn the one who is walking in the tall grass or in the bush: the serpent may have not realized in time of the approach of an intruder, or the noise produced by somebody moving in the thicket cover the crackling produced by the reptilian or more, simply, the cascavel on that day does not want to emit sounds because in bad mood, and in such case the outcome means a too close encounter which may result in a nice bite. Buy Crotalus Durissus Venom Online – Reptile Venom Shop