Stupid "How to tell if a Snake is Venomous" Trick

[Tim Mead]

The term for vertical pupils is "Elliptical" it is common of nocturnal creatures, Those that stay out late,lol, your cat should have elliptical pupils..The round pupils are of Diurnial animals or the day timers..Pupils as you've seen have nothing to do with venomous..

[Teclis]

Get bit and see if you live?

[Dragoon]

Get bit and see if you live?

even if this trick works for North America, i dare anyone to get close enough to a viper to check its pupils and not get bit.

[Snakes Incorporated]

Here in South Africa it’s no trick. Either you know or you don’t. If you are unsure then leave it well alone.

[ahunt037]

i agree with the people on here who said simply check some sort of website or field guide that lists the snake species in your State Arizona is real easy only venomous snakes i know of have Rattles or have a color pattern that has a lil rhyme to go with it so u know if its poisonous or not... if only i could remember how the rhyme goes...hmmm something bout red on yellow ur dead or something and red on black friend of jack hahaha

[JLC]

Yeah...I'm thinking if you're close enough to clearly see the shape of a snake's pupils, it's probably too late to care.

Best bet is to KNOW your snakes...or just leave them alone.

BTW:
"Red and yellow, kill a fellow.
Red and black, a friend to Jack."

But that rhyme, while true for most common species, is still not true for all of them. Again...best to know all the native snakes wherever you are.

[ahunt037]

ya thats how it goes but ya this thread got me thinking so i went and looked at the website i use for identifying snakes and i looked at them all to see wat was Venomous, Non-Venomous, Mildly Venomous, and Toxic Salivia and i came up with a pretty good list that i didnt even think half of these snakes were venomous like the Mexican Hognose or the Brown Vinesnake i realize these snakes wont waste their venom on an item too large and i think most of these snakes have the same issue that Daddy Long Leg Spiders have their bite isnt enough to deliver the venom to our blood stream or something idk maybe someone else knows

[tylersweeney22]

ok so i should put my face right in front of the snake and look very close to see if his eyes are a certain way sounds interesting lol .is this coming from the same billy the exterminator that picked up a corn or king snake up with tongs and called it a copper head i cant remember wich one it was but not even close to copper head. lol that guys a hehaw.

[dembonez]

the best trick to see if the snake is venomous would be, Get bit by it....wait by it, if you die it was venomous!

LOL im kidding tho but uhm im not sure other than just reading up on snakes and trying to remember key signs on the snakes body

[1stpalindrone]

The saying is true when your talking about native snakes in the US.. That does not include any imports. There are hundreds of snakes that could go either way as far as the eyes go but NOT in the US..

It is a good general rule of thumb, but IT DOES NOT APPLY TO EXOTICS~
Hope this helps