>>Now mind you that i'm not criticizing anyone for their work but just curious as to the toxicity of the venom from 2 completely different species,or 2 of the same species/subspecies with slightly different toxins.The reason i ask is this,Lets say you take an eastern diamond back and breed it with say a canebrake,Still rattlers but different species of rattler (if i'm wrong please correct me,just a scenario).Anyway if the breeding was successful would the babies not have the mixture of venom from both adults and would it be possible for it to be more toxic than either of the parents?



Unlikely but possible, if there is any interaction of effects between the toxins of the parental species. On the other hand, disruption of a co-evolved venom by hybridisation might also disrupt some synergistic effects between toxins, and result in a less toxic venom. Certainly, you might get a combination of effects if the venoms of the parental species are very different.





>> A couple other ?s if you will.How would you treat the venom bite if it was 2 different types of venom mixed to create one very toxic dose?How many vials would you know to use?



Every bite is different - in all cases, antivenom is given on the basis of need, evidenced by progression of symptoms. There is no fixed dose for antivenom. Obviously, if you hybridised species that have very different venoms, and they are not both covered by a polyvalent antivenom, then you might be in for some trouble, in that no single antivenom would cover you against that hybrid. Fortunately, in a N. American pitviper scnario, there is only one antivenom that covers all species, so that should not be a problem.



> How would you know if you were going to have an allergic reaction to either of the venoms mixed?



Chances are that if you are alleric to one snake venom, you will be allergic to most or all.



Cheers,



Wolfgang
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• A ? about the hybridization between hot species>>>>more - Highlander1, Wed Nov 12 22:14:45 2003
• RE: A ? about the hybridization between hot species>>>>more - WW, Thu Nov 13 04:54:00 2003
• RE: A ? about the hybridization between hot species>>>>more - tj, Thu Nov 13 05:53:41 2003
• RE: A ? about the hybridization between hot species>>>>more - crotalus75, Fri Nov 14 00:32:27 2003