Field’s Horned Viper

🔤 Taxonomy

Pseudocerastes fieldi is currently treated as a species. Older accounts often use Pseudocerastes persicus fieldi. The horn above each eye consists of several small scales; it should not be confused with the single elongated horn scale of some Cerastes.

📌 Description

A stout, roughly 50-80 cm desert viper with short supraocular horns and a short tail. Gravel, firm sand and shelter are important; a bare dune display ignores the hard-ground component of its habitat. Published longevity information is insufficient for a reliable estimate.

The active-season values below are provisional management starting points, not demonstrated physiological optima or safety limits. Enclosure dimensions are practical recommendations for one adult; increase them for a larger individual. Confirm the plan with an experienced reptile veterinarian and retain locality records.

📋 Quick reference

Care point	Provisional active-season target
Adult length	50-80 cm
Enclosure, one adult	120 × 60 × 60 cm
Ambient air	24-28°C
Basking surface	32-35°C
Cool retreat	21-24°C
Night air	18-22°C
Relative humidity	30-50%
Adult meals	14-21 days

☠️ Venom

Laboratory work identifies powerful presynaptic neurotoxicity, creating concern for weakness, paralysis and breathing failure. Limited local swelling would not rule out dangerous envenoming. Human clinical data are sparse and antivenom effectiveness must be assessed by a poison centre; do not extrapolate from P. persicus.

Treat every bite as an emergency, including an apparently dry bite. Move away, call emergency services, keep the person still, remove rings and support the limb without compression. Do not cut, suck, ice or tourniquet the wound, and do not catch the snake. Follow poison-centre instructions. Agree a receiving hospital and antivenom access before acquisition; treatment belongs in hospital.

🌍 Distribution

Israel, Egypt’s Sinai, Jordan, southwestern Iraq, southwestern Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria, according to the current taxonomic account. An old Lebanon record is rejected there. Provenance matters across this broad, discontinuous arid range. The Azraq-area climate point is regional context rather than an exact collecting site.

Native-range context; shaded countries do not imply continuous occupation

🌡 Climate across the native range

Regional outdoor normals show seasonality, not enclosure settings. These representative settlement coordinates are not exact snake localities.

Azraq region — Jordan

View location on Google Maps

Month	Min °C	Mean °C	Max °C	RH %
January	3.3	8.8	14.3	67
February	4.5	10.6	16.6	59
March	7.6	14.7	21.2	49
April	11.6	19.5	26.5	38
May	16	24.3	31.5	33
June	18.8	27.2	34.9	33
July	20.8	29	36.7	36
August	21.1	29	36.7	38
September	19.2	26.9	34.2	39
October	15.5	22.6	29.1	43
November	9.3	15.3	21.2	55
December	4.7	10.3	15.8	64

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com · CC BY 4.0 · Monthly normals calculated by Herpeton Academy from daily archive values.

⚖️ Legal status

No CITES listing was found, but EU Annex D covers Pseudocerastes species not already in Annex B. EU entry can therefore require an import notification even though CITES does not list this species. Confirm current paperwork before shipment.

The Bern Convention is not the principal trade framework for this wholly Asian native range; do not infer exemption from national protection.

Legal review: 17 September 2026. National capture, possession, registration, breeding, sale and transport rules may be stricter. Verify permits before transfer and keep invoices, breeder identity, parentage and import records. Trade status does not itself authorize keeping a venomous snake.

🤌 Husbandry

Keep Pseudocerastes fieldi individually in a locked enclosure within an access-controlled venomous-reptile room. Secondary containment and a lockable shift compartment should permit water changes and cleaning only after the animal has been isolated and visually accounted for. Free-handling is unacceptable. Prepare written bite and escape plans, trained backup cover and a veterinary arrangement before acquisition.

Quarantine for at least 90 days as a working minimum, longer when the veterinarian advises. Use separate tools and a simple enclosure; record feeding, sheds, faeces and body condition. Arrange parasite screening for uncertain-origin animals or abnormal stools. Weigh only through an established protected-contact procedure.

💡 Lighting

Provide about 12-14 hours of visible light during the active season, with darkness at night and shaded retreats. A species-specific UVB requirement has not been demonstrated. If low-level UVB is used, measure exposure and retain complete shade; do not infer lamp strength from desert photographs. Guard lamps and wiring against contact.

🌡 Heating and temperature

Begin with air at 24-28°C, a local basking surface at 32-35°C, a cool retreat at 21-24°C and night air at 18-22°C. These are cautious working bands, not tolerance limits. Measure air, surface and cool-hide temperatures separately. Thermostat-control heating; check the room during summer because a thermostat cannot cool hot air.

Seasonal cooling requires a documented, locality-specific plan for healthy, established adults. Do not cool new arrivals, thin, sick or gravid animals, or copy an adult breeding cycle onto juveniles. Outdoor monthly normals are not brumation instructions.

💧 Humidity and water

Use 30-50% relative humidity as an initial management band, with ventilation and a mostly dry resting surface. Provide a small locally moist retreat during shedding without wetting the whole enclosure. Offer clean drinking water continuously in a stable, shallow bowl, serviced through the protected system. Dry habitat does not mean absence of water. Persistent condensation or repeated retained sheds needs review; never peel skin or force soaking.

🌿 Enclosure and decoration

Use at least the practical 120 × 60 × 60 cm layout in the table and allow the snake to stretch fully. Check door gaps, vents and cable holes against the smallest animal housed. Fix rocks directly to the enclosure base so excavation cannot undermine them; retain clear sightlines to shift doors. Avoid sharp gravel, aromatic wood and unstable piles. Remove waste after securing the snake.

Use about 5-8 cm of firm soil mixed with washed sand and fixed, smooth stones. Retain dry cover and a small humid retreat. Loose dune sand alone is a poor match for the firm desert surfaces used by this species. Paper simplifies initial quarantine.

🐁 Feeding

Use thawed whole mice for an established rodent-feeding animal, with prey no wider than the body. Juveniles may be difficult to establish; obtain records of independent meals before transfer. A small meal every 7-10 days is a provisional juvenile schedule. Persistent refusal with weight loss requires a specialist, not home restraint or force-feeding.

The table gives an initial adult feeding interval of 14-21 days; adjust portions and timing to weight trend and condition. Deliver food through the collection’s protected feeding system. Avoid live rodents and substrate-coated food; dehydration, low temperatures and oversized meals increase regurgitation and impaction concerns. Whole prey normally needs no routine calcium or vitamin dusting. Do not improvise supplementation or force-feeding.

🥚 Breeding

This species lays eggs. No verified incubation schedule was located in the reviewed sources; obtain the source breeder’s successful temperature, substrate and hatching records before attempting reproduction. Have sex and reproductive readiness assessed professionally.

Breeding adds exposure risk. Prepare separate, escape-proof neonatal housing before pairing, avoid permanent cohabitation, and retain parentage, dates, meals and transfer records. Only breed when lawful placements and competent staff are available.

🩺 Common problems

Overheating: repeated escape attempts or unusual exposed resting require immediate measurement of the cool retreat.
Dysecdysis and dehydration: review drinking access and the moist refuge; repeated problems need veterinary assessment.
Respiratory infection or stomatitis: wheezing, bubbles or oral discharge require prompt professional care.
Dermatitis, impaction, obesity and parasites: dirty wet bedding, substrate ingestion, excessive feeding or persistent weight loss need correction and diagnosis. Do not use automatic deworming or home restraint.

📌 Conclusion

With Field’s viper, potentially neurotoxic envenoming and an easily overlooked EU Annex D entry are central acquisition decisions. A firm desert floor and established independent feeding should be ready before transfer.

📚 Sources and further reading

ReptiFiles was checked first on 17 September 2026; no species-specific guide was found. Numerical recommendations are separated from directly reported breeding outcomes. Historical care reports are not current medical instructions.