Plzen Zoo raised four spider-tailed horned vipers again

Plzen Zoo has again raised spider-tailed horned vipers, a snake from Iran with a tail tip that looks like a spider. Novinky reported the breeding on October 30, 2026. Curator Karel Kodejš said a repeated success matters more than a first one, because it shows the zoo's conditions are working and the earlier birth was not a one-time piece of luck. Last year the zoo hatched six, which it called the first breeding of the species in any zoo, and that litter won the White Elephant award given to zoos in Czechia and Slovakia.

Keepers did not see the pair mate this year either. The female then laid five eggs. About forty days later the young were looking out of the eggs in an incubator. Four survived. A month on, Kodejš said they are stable and eating geckos. They still ignore young mice, which he said is typical. They usually switch after about six months of coaxing. Adults in the wild hunt mostly birds, luring them with the spider-like tail. The zoo keeps the snakes in its Kingdom of Venom exhibit. The news is these four hatchlings. It is not a census of the species in Iran.