Quote Originally Posted by olstyn View Post
(Somewhat) with you there, mommanessy - my GF is the type who's allergic to just about everything, and is deathly afraid of bee stings as a result. Given that, it's pretty likely she'd be one of the people who have a severe reaction to hognose venom. Because of that, she's gone from "oh, they're cute, why don't you want one of them instead of a carpet python," to "*sigh*, I guess they're off the list..."
This ongoing fallacy about allergies and snake venom persists despite the fact that it's been rebutted just about everywhere. Snake venom allergies take place when people are exposed to (1) either repeated bites (2) repeated doses of antivenin or (3) frequent inhalation of dried venom .

Having an allergy to peanut butter, bee stings or silk underwear is in no way a predictor of a reaction to snake venom.

The swelling, pain and discoloration some people get when bitten by hognoses is a by-product of the venom - not an allergy.