Overkill?

[Bogertophis]

Wow, thanks for sharing this story Bogertophis! That poor snake who had his venom glands removed It's so cruel that anyone would do that especially since venom is essential for the snake's digestion.

It's fascinating that the donated venom made such a big difference in the Eastern rattlesnake's digestion (even though it was a Western's venom), great job finding a creative fix to the problem with that very eager donor snake! It's pretty funny imagining the disgruntled Western watching you take back the prey that he "killed." Glad you were able to get the skinny Eastern back on track with this method...

Actually, I've worked with some others (also turned over to me) that were "venomoid" & most had no problem with digestion- only that one Eastern Diamondback, but that doesn't mean I approve of anyone doing this to venomous snakes...I don't. It's along the same lines as declawing cats,"de-barking" dogs, removing tails & docking ears...it's a lousy thing to do, IMO.

It was a unique problem for sure & I had no one to ask. While there's always a risk of letting any snake bite prey & then feeding that prey to another snake (potential transfer of pathogens), the Eastern's more immediate problem was starvation so I took the chance. I was so glad that it worked & that my feisty "venom donor" was a healthy beast.
He must have thought I had some nerve eating his rodents though? I correctly figured that their venom was "close enough" to work, even though not identical, since the same anti-venin is used for either.