Desert Horned Viper

Cerastes cerastes

### Regions

Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea, Israel, Yemen, Syria

## Habitat

### Humidity

23‒31 ℃
60‒80%

## Social

### Sterility

2 years
Death

### Interbirth

3 months
12 months

## Taxonomy

### Order

Reptilia
Squamata

### Genus

Viperidae
Cerastes

The **Desert Horned Viper** (*Cerastes cerastes*) is mid-sized Afro-Asiatic snake featured in the Arid Animal Pack DLC for *Planet Zoo*.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population In Wild:** Unknown

The desert horned viper (or Cerastes cerastes) is a venomous snake native to the deserts and semi-deserts of Northern Africa and the Middle East. It is also known as the Saharan horned viper. The body of the desert horned viper is colored, often with a paler underside. They may have slightly darker brown mottling on their scales as camouflage. The head is large and triangular. Most notably, they may have distinctive, pointed horns above their eyes, from which they get their name. Males and females look alike, although females tend to be slightly larger. Their body length varies from 11.8in to 23.6in long.

Desert horned vipers are a species of Least Concern and are not endangered. Their population in widespread and remains stable.

### Social

Desert horned vipers are solitary. They only interact with other individuals to mate.

### Reproduction

Breeding in desert horned vipers takes place while buried in sand, so very little is known about it. Mating events appear to take place in April, when a male and female viper meet. It is assumed they locate each other through pheromones. Copulation may last 3 to 4 days, after which the snakes part ways again.

Soon after mating, the female viper lays a clutch of 8 to 23 eggs underneath rocks or in an abandoned burrow. She does not stay with the eggs and no parental care is provided. The eggs hatch after an incubation period of 50 to 80 days.

Hatchlings are independent from birth and reach sexual maturity at around 2 years old.

## Animal Care

 HABITAT ENRICHMENT
Hiding Place A  · Hiding Place B  · Hiding Place C  · Camouflage Ground A · Camouflage Ground B · Camouflage Ground C  · High Basking Lamp  · Mid-height Basking Lamp  · Low Basking Lamp

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Trivia

* The desert horned viper's venom causes swelling, bleeding, necrosis, nausea and vomiting in humans, but is rarely fatal.
* The desert horned viper moves quickly and easily across the sand by sidewinding.
* The desert horned viper has specially adapted sharp-edged scales on its underside that allow it to grip to loose sand.
* The desert horned viper is an ambush predator, meaning it lies hidden and then lunges quickly to grab prey as it passes by the snake's hiding spot.
* The horns of the desert horned viper are specially adapted scales that help protect the snake's eyes from sand. However, only 50% of desert horned vipers actually exhibit this feature.

### Other Trivia

* The Desert Horned Viper is the first snake to be added since the launch of *Planet Zoo*.
* It is also the first DLC exhibit animal not to have all of its animations be unique, with it sharing animations with the Common Death Adder and the Puff Adder.