I have no idea what forum to post in, so....

[brylecc1989]

Wow that's interesting

[Amadeus]

I think most snakes do have a sort of venom, for example I got bit by a 4ft nerodia last summer and it would just keep on bleeding and bleeding, obviously it has an anticoagulant.

So I'm assuming it's only something minor like this in regards to the python, but still not good for our hobby.

Oh well still interesting.

[Mikoh4792]

Originally Posted by Amadeus

I think most snakes do have a sort of venom, for example I got bit by a 4ft nerodia last summer and it would just keep on bleeding and bleeding, obviously it has an anticoagulant.

So I'm assuming it's only something minor like this in regards to the python, but still not good for our hobby.

Oh well still interesting.

Same thing happened when I got bit by a 7 foot bci. Or maybe it just hit a vein. Wasn't a pleasant experience.

[millertime89]

Every individual is going to react differently to the different chemicals in a snake's saliva, when I've been bit I stop bleeding rather quickly, even when I got bit by an 7ish ft retic.

[MDT]

Originally Posted by millertime89

Every individual is going to react differently to the different chemicals in a snake's saliva, when I've been bit I stop bleeding rather quickly, even when I got bit by an 7ish ft retic.

Yep, unless you're bitten by something that injects an anticoagulant (ticks, mosquitos, etc), your clotting factors will determine your "stopping time". Having said that, I have zero idea if nonvenomous snakes (and I will lump pythons in here since the research is suggesting minuscule amounts of venom) have any type of anticoagulant properties to their saliva. It would not seem needed from an evolutionary standpoint, whereas venomous snakes would need that component to help incapacitate their prey.

I'll wait on the research....and try not to get bitten

[guyabano]

I recall following a link from a thread in these forums that led to an article similar to this one by National Geographic. It's pretty cool to think that soon, this will be common knowledge.

[Starbuck]

i thought it was really neat that he described 'all snakes having evolved from a venomous lizard'. i'll be honest, one of my first thoughts was 'maybe some bacteria living in the snakes mouth are producing some low-grade toxin, that to humans reads like a venom (like a cat bite, or maybe a komodo dragon (which also maybe has venom i've learned?))?'

But now i'm not so sure. Very neat, to be sure

[Derek Roddy]

BHPs actually have vemon glads but, no way to deliver the venom.

So, this begs the question....are they gaining the ability or losing it?

D