Know What Your Snake is Packing

[Skiploder]

Having witnessed the evolution of the reptile marketplace over the past three decades, I can say that the it has definitely made animals available to hobbyists faster than we can accurately learn about them.

I was one of those kids who was lucky/unlucky enough to purchase a Rhabdophis Tigrinus as a pet. Back in those heady days, they were just another brightly colored snake that was prominently displayed at the funky old reptile/aquarium store in the closest big city.

I blissfully kept that animal into it’s old age without knowing that it was almost every bit as deadly as a Dispholidus Typus (boomslang) until I was rearing it’s offspring. My mother had tangentially heard about a death attributed to tigrinus bite from overseas, but the story was fractured. Furthermore, without the convenience of today's electronic media, any further investigation was near impossible.

Within the ever growing circle of opistoglyph afficionados, the Rhabdophis Tigrinus (and to a similar degree the Subminiatus) have achieved a level of mythical respect. In fact, when I bring them out to meet people, hands get shaky, lips quickly dry and chap and then get re-wetted, voices get slightly tremulous – the works.

It is fairly well known now that these snakes pack a potent venom that induces a fatal coagulopathy, which results in extensive hemorrhaging.

Today we know of a couple of opistoglyphous snakes that can pack a fatal punch (Dispholidus Typus, Thelatornis, Rhabdophis).

We also suspect that there are some that could potentially cause a serious, perhaps even life threatening envenomation (Select members of Philodryas, Macrophistodon, and select members of Psammophidae).

Now I often caution that information is a dangerous thing. Statements are incorrectly and vociferously stated, blogs read and the bad information is often gobbled up, and summarily absorbed in a manner that suits the fancy of the reader.

Philodryas Baroni and Heterodon Nasicus are examples of commonly kept opistoglyphs and the former belongs to the same family in which the Patagoniensis and Olfersii belong to. An Olfersii bite can be potentially life threatening……..while a Baroni bite will not. But do not tell that to the Baroni owner who is a careless reader, or who is trying to improve his cred on the net.

Same with the dispholidine family. Boomslangs and Twig snakes can kill, other members, Rhamnophis and Thrasops have not and probably will not. Yes, they pack a similar if not same venom, but the delivery system is worth about as much as a fart in a noisemaker. Just because you have a .45 caliber bullet in your pocket doesn’t mean you can kill someone with it. That bullet needs a delivery system.

I brought up Rhabdophis for a reason. I unknowingly was keeping an animal that could have perhaps killed me under the right circumstances. That was real.

I have kept other opistoglyphs over the years, wherein I was not spinning that same roulette wheel……Thrasops, Clelia, Rhamnophis, Hydrodynastes, other Philodryas species. etc.

I have kept some in which the jury is out – namely Rhamphiophis.

But one thing I do know, is that neither I nor the people I sold a Thrasops, Baroni, Hydrodynastes, Rhamnophis or Boiga to will become the next Karl Schmidt or Robert Mertens.

The notion is romantic enough, the photos of swollen hands and fingers is compelling. The idea that many of us are flirting with death by either envenomation or an almost unheard of and undocumented case of spontaneous opistoglyphous venom allergy on a daily basis is tempting……….and to some, perhaps romantic.

But once we get beyond the guessing and the what if’s, the research is not there. The history is not there. Where Mertens and Schmidt were pioneers in keeping (at the time) uncommon species, the keeper of a Boiruna Maculata is not. The bite accounts are often anecdotal and the claims of fatalities are the result of misinformation passed down from internet reader to internet reader.

The risk from this talk should be obvious. The practice of keeping captive reptile has been under threat from various special interests groups who have substantial pull with our legislatures on both the State and Federal levels. While you are not going to convince me that your hognose, mussurana or falsie can kill you, you may convince someone who will use that misinformation in a way that will put our freedoms as keepers at risk.

Know what your snake is packing, represent and discuss it in an ethical and responsible manner. It’s as much a part of being a responsible keeper as providing proper husbandry and veterinary care.