Mount Rungwe Bush Viper — Fact Sheet

Atheris rungweensis · Mount Rungwe Bush Viper

Full care guide

Provisional care starting points, not measured tolerance limits. The full guide explains habitat, feeding history and emergency preparation.

The Atheris squamigera guide offers a comparison for perching, ventilation and hydration. The provisional numerical targets here are adjusted to this species’ documented habitat; they are not a tested species-specific protocol or measured tolerance limits. Broadley’s review supports the natural-history rationale, not validation of these terrarium values.

📋 Quick reference

🌿 Enclosure and decoration

Combine low and middle-height branches with a sheltered floor route and leafy resting pockets. Streamside ecology supports access to drinking droplets and ventilation, not a waterfall that keeps every support wet. Keep drainage accessible after isolating the snake, so a hidden sump cannot become a persistent hygiene problem.

Keep one animal per locked enclosure inside a locked, access-controlled room with secondary containment. Use a shift compartment that permits isolation and visual confirmation before servicing; never free-handle. Written bite and escape plans, trained backup staff and a reptile veterinarian are prerequisites.

🐁 Feeding

Frogs are documented in the natural diet, and published data are too sparse to assume every animal readily takes rodents. Obtain a proven feeding history and reliable prey supply before transfer. An established mouse-feeding adult can start with small thawed whole meals every 14–21 days; juveniles may need smaller meals every 7–10 days. Any prey transition needs an experienced collection plan, not force-feeding by the new keeper.

⚖️ Legal status

Checked 17 September 2026: the reviewed official CITES Appendices and EU wildlife-trade annexes do not list this species. Bern is not relevant to its native African range. Non-listing does not authorize capture, export or ownership: check national wildlife controls in the country of origin and local rules at the destination for dangerous animals, import, registration, breeding, transport and sale. Retain breeder identity, invoice, parentage and any export/import documents.

☠️ Venom

Direct species-specific clinical evidence is limited. The warning here uses Atheris evidence cautiously; it does not claim that rungweensis was tested in the cited 2022 comparison.

A bite is a medical emergency. Severity varies between bites. Pain, swelling, tissue injury and serious clotting disturbance or bleeding are possible; a small snake or an apparently dry bite is not reassuring. No Atheris-specific antivenom was identified in the reviewed clinical literature. Products for other vipers cannot be assumed effective.

Move away, call emergency services, remove tight items, keep the patient still and support the limb without compression. Do not cut, suck, ice or tourniquet the wound, or delay transport to capture the snake. Agree a receiving hospital and poison-centre pathway before acquisition; treatment decisions belong to those clinicians.

🩺 Common problems

• Overheating: unusual exposed resting or repeated escape attempts warrant immediate checks of the cool hide and room.
• Respiratory infection: bubbles, wheezing or open-mouth breathing need prompt reptile-veterinary assessment.
• Dysecdysis, dehydration and dermatitis: check water access, refuge moisture and wet dirty substrate; do not manually strip skin.
• Obesity, impaction or parasites: track meals, stools and body condition; persistent change needs diagnosis.
• Reproductive problems: prolonged abnormal swelling, weakness or unsuccessful birth requires urgent veterinary advice.