Posted by:
chris_harper2
at Sun Oct 9 17:27:55 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by chris_harper2 ]
Sometimes it takes time for scientific interpretations of venomous to trickle down into hobbyist and popular press literature, even field guides. I think this is what you are noticing with the disagreement among different sources.
Also, defining objective criteria to classify colubrids as venomous or non-venomous can be difficult. Also, whether a colubrid is rear-fanged is not necessarily a criteria for identifying a snake as venomous or not. Rhabdophis, for example, has not apparent venom delivery system yet has caused human fatalities.
>>Could you tell me what corns, rats, and waters are venomous? Thanks, bye.
North American cornsnakes/ratsnakes are non-venomous. Asian Ratsnakes are a much more tricky bunch. I think Bryan Greg Fry considers many of them to be technically venomous, albeit completely harmless, save for the rare severe allergic reaction.
>>I had no idea that most colubrids were venomous, I thought they were all harmless unless water mocussins is classified as colubrid.
Most of the venomous colubrids are harmless. But that does not mean they are not venomous. The common honey bee is venomous but is hardly dangerous, again save for the occasional allergic reaction.
I would not hesitate to keep a North American Watersnake or Gartersnake, even though both are technically venomous. The Asian Keelbacks (Rhabdophis) that were imported in the 80's are another story. Some of those things pack a punch even though there is still a lot of books that list them as non-venomous.
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