Which would you rather get bit by?

I have never been bitten yet, notice I say yet because sooner or later its going to happen. Im sure more than once, although I have been bitten by snapping turtles, red eared sliders, and tortoises and believe me it did not feel good:( But if I had to pick from the three, I would say the emerald. Soon after I would go into shock and have a heart attack, lol.:D

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

YouTube - Moray Eel eats Thumb

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That is truly an oddity:puke:

Emerald-Hurt really bad
Moray-Bye bye finger
Large Python-REALLY HURT, possibly death if constriction
So, emerald

I think that if you are going to include large boids in the poll then the eel should be at least be a large species. Here in South Florida the green moray eel is the biggest and baddest eel around and they can inflict some VERY nasty bites. I catch wild burms here locally and have been bitten before by 11' and 12' animals and while not exactly huge snakes they did weigh in at about 35 and 40 pounds and they never really caused much damage because I fought the urge to pull back while they were "chewing" on me and the fact that they were not huge. I have never been bit by a etb or a gtp but I have been told that they can pack a punch for such a small snake.

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Originally Posted by CeraDigital

As for the unhinging of their jaws...they don't unhinge them. They have elastic ligaments in their jaws that allow them to stretch their jaws to a very wide size/odd angle. They yawn, stretch to realign, and reposition their jaw after consuming meals.

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I know they don't unhinge them... The lower jawbone is connected to a specialized bone called the quadrant bone, that acts as a double hinge held together by ligaments that allow over 150 degrees of movement. Ever try exerting large, single direction forces through a double hinged system? Maintaining proper alignment for optimum bite force is impossible. Even the weak jaw forces of a snake (I've read uncomfirmed reports of 37 psi in the afrock) lead to misalignment. In fact, they were designed for that purpose, so their jaws can "walk" down the prey while swallowing, and allow greater range of movement.

HOWEVER a jaw structure with very powerful muscles would require a rigid system to as not to break the joints during a crushing bite. But snakes have a very intricate/delicate/specialized jaw structure designed not for chomping, but swallowing whole foods. If you were to put those strong jaw muscles on a snake, the jaws would shatter when clinched tight.

I am not saying that a bite from a 20 ft retic isn't a horrid experience... but choosing that over a full grown green moray or tessalata eel eems rediculous. those are limb removing bite/twisting forces. After further research, it seems it was a National Geograghic episode, although I can't seem to find the results of their test.

whew... being a biomedical science major pays off for once!!! all that money was worth something right?

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Originally Posted by Gooseman

I know they don't unhinge them... The lower jawbone is connected to a specialized bone called the quadrant bone, that acts as a double hinge held together by ligaments that allow over 150 degrees of movement. Ever try exerting large, single direction forces through a double hinged system? Maintaining proper alignment for optimum bite force is impossible. Even the weak jaw forces of a snake (I've read uncomfirmed reports of 37 psi in the afrock) lead to misalignment. In fact, they were designed for that purpose, so their jaws can "walk" down the prey while swallowing, and allow greater range of movement.

HOWEVER a jaw structure with very powerful muscles would require a rigid system to as not to break the joints during a crushing bite. But snakes have a very intricate/delicate/specialized jaw structure designed not for chomping, but swallowing whole foods. If you were to put those strong jaw muscles on a snake, the jaws would shatter when clinched tight.

I am not saying that a bite from a 20 ft retic isn't a horrid experience... but choosing that over a full grown green moray or tessalata eel eems rediculous. those are limb removing bite/twisting forces. After further research, it seems it was a National Geograghic episode, although I can't seem to find the results of their test.

whew... being a biomedical science major pays off for once!!! all that money was worth something right?

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Its not exactly the "bite" that kills with the boids though ;) They may not remove digits such as a finger or a hand, but they will kill you in my opinion, faster than an eel would, and that grasping bite "is" what seals the deal.

True, but this thread is about the bite... not what happens after. ;)

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Originally Posted by Gooseman

True, but this thread is about the bite... not what happens after. ;)

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He speaks the truth.
I chose the Enchelycore species for the fact that they have the largest teeth but I guess the Gymnothorax species has the largest morays, so I don't know.

When i was scuba diving in Okinawa i was bit on the arm by a small eel. Not sure what kind it was only that it was black and blue. Really pretty eel. It was about 3 feet long and it grabbed my arm and shook the heck out of me. I have a new respect for eels now.
I voted for the emerald tree boa because i owned 3 of them a few years ago and my female bit me while i was trying to unwrap her from her favorite branch. The bite was more of a warning not an actual attack but she did leave a piece of her tooth in my hand. And it was dug out with a pair of tweezers by my wife.
The biggest snake ive ever been bitten by was my adult female redtailed boa.
It was an accedent. She dropped the rat and lost track of it and i stuck my hand in to help. Big mistake. She grabbed my hand while in feeding mode and proceded to coil. After a few minutes she let lose the death grip and began to swallow my hand. I saw this as an oppertunity to remove her. When i tried to peel back her upper jaw she would tighten her grip on my arm then just bite hard and freeze.
The whole ordeal took 30 minutes. I finally got ahold oh my weight lifting gloves and forced them in her mouth and she let go.
She is not aggressive at all and i even let my 3 year old hold her. But accedents happen and i i stuck my hand where i shouldn't have. But the damage she did far outweighed that of an emerald tree boa.
So in conclusion i prefere to get bitten by an emerald tree boa. In my experiance it was the least damaging.

The tree boa has some HUGE teeth!!!!!