I fed a Texas patchnose (Salvadora grahamiae lineata) a lizard yesterday...and I swear he paralyzed it with his bite only! He latched on the lizard just above it's tail, no contriction was involved and he CHEWED on it for several minutes (reminded me of the way a coral snake "chews". Then he LET GO and slithered about a bit, then went back to the lizard WHICH WAS MOTIONLESS, NOT BREATHING AND APPEARED DEAD! He then ate it head first and the lizard did not move AT ALL. I was stunned! I have searched the web for any mention of patchnoses being rear-fanged, or having toxic saliva, etc. and came upon a site that said that ALL colubrids have some form of a Duvernoy's Gland! WHAT?!? I knew that hognose and some garters had this but ALL colubrids? Somebody in the know PLEASE give me a head's up on this because I am finding this hard to believe. Although that patchnosed experience was quite convincing!

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