Like silkworm rearing, businesses with vipers are becoming increasingly popular because of the profit obtained by those practicing them. In Europe, there are three types of vipers: the mountain, the steppe and the horn. For some time, the snakes have been under the law protection because their number is very low. Moreover, the vipers have been declared endangered species. It’s important to know that, although many people fear them, these reptiles attack only when attacked.
The gram of venom can be sold between 1000 and 2000 euros. For those interested in the first steps for starting such a business, they must know some essential aspects. Firstly, ask for an opinion on the morphological features of the specimens you want to raise in captivity. Get informed about their feeding, reproduction and hibernation. After that, be sure that you can ensure them the natural life conditions they need, meaning you are capable to imitate their natural habitat. Regarding the process of obtaining an operation permit, you need to get the environmental approval. How can you purchase vipers?
In order to buy them, you need an agreement, this time an agreement of importation. Moreover, a special commission will have to verify and evaluate the possible ecological risks that these animals can present if they are included in that particular territory. In order to receive the authorization, the applicant will demonstrate he has the necessary technology to raise captive viperas. Last but not least, he needs a plot, with appropriate arrangements that could meet the standards related to animals’ rights. A viper’s price isn’t very high, being estimated to a few tens of euros, and maybe one hundred. Be sure that the seller also gives you the acts showing the provenience. In this way, you’ll see whether he’s an authorized dealer or not.
Any vipers loft must have at least three sectors, divided as follows: one for the proper animal raising of animals, the second for raising mice that viper’s food and the last one for venom extraction and processing. The vipers room must be well lit. The temperature is not so important, but it’s preferable to be somewhere between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius. In exchange, the humidity should be between 65 and 80%. The vipers can be kept in terrariums or large glass or plastic containers. The viper’s venom can be collected every 30 days. Each creature reaches 1.5 grams of venom every year. This substance will be kept in special, closed cases, because the venom conserves its features only this way. The storage temperature should be somewhere around 0 degrees Celsius.
After you manage to collect a larger amount of venom, you can ask a special organization to certify and seal the venom. Thus, using the latest equipment, the venom obtained from your viper raising will have a better quality. You need the local permit to trade the venom and if necessary, the export permit. Even if there shouldn’t be cases in which one is bitten by vipers, you should know what you have to do if this still happens. Firstly, try not to panic and not disturb too much your body. Afterwards, apply a compress on the infected spot in order to prevent the rapid dissemination of venom through the whole body. Next, make a small cut where you were bitten and try to remove the venom by squeezing.
The disinfection is made with a gauze where you can apply more chemicals (including calcium hypochlorite). Finally, take a vial of 10 ml of antiviperine serum. You can do this both intramuscularly but also subcutaneously. After maximum two hours, you can try a new doses, but inject it into the buttocks or subcutaneously, and not in the bitten area. You’ll need more than an antivenom dose only in the most severe cases, but usually it isn’t the case for something like that. Overall, although involving some risks, a business with vipers is worth trying if you dispose of some thousands of euro and you think of trying something interesting, that, in most cases, has good chances to bring you medium and long term profit.