Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wandered if any herpetologist / scientist have done any research to find out whats in a kingsnakes blood that makes them immune to venomous snakes in the u.s? i am patiently waiting for my female cali king 03 het for albino and albino lavender. She will be shipped monday. So I will post a pic her soon as I can after she settles in some.

thanks,
ebc

You know that is actualy a verry interesting question I cant wait for somone to answer it
RR

I think its cool that they are immune to the venom of vemous snakes in the us. Your website would not work. I have seen pics of a california kingsnake devouring a rattlesnake. If someone ever done research it would provide a bettter understanding of the toxins and it would probably save more lives.

laterz,
jc

I'd imagine that whatever makes them immune to snake venom is the same thing that makes venomous snakes immune to their OWN venom. If a venomous snake accidentally bites itself (it happens) it does not envenomate itself. This is probably along the lines of antibodies, which are already used in the production of antivenom and wouldn't be anything new. In fact, some people self-immunize themselves against snake venom and create their own antibodies, although this is a controversial practice. I also kind of doubt that, say, an Eastern kingsnake would be completely immune to a mojave rattler, or a Cal king to an Eastern diamondback.

I don't belive that a venomous snake is immune to its own venom.
I have heard before that if a rattlesnake strikes at prey and misses and strikes itself that it will die. Alot of people that eat them won't eat them unless they capture themselves and make sure they have not bitten themselves cuz it will ruin the meat.
I for one have not tried it and I don't know if I ever would.
I have a great respect for all snakes and snakes being a food item does not appeal to me.

peace,
ebc

I've seen pics of snakes that had self-injected and just had 'sterile abcesses'. Think... venom glands are not made out of any magic material. They have blood vessels in them. A snake's own venom would kill it in minutes if it were not immune to it.
"A prerequisite for venom evolution might have been the presence of circulating inhibitors against toxins. Pancreatic enzymes, likely precursors of some venom components in view of their structural similarities, are indeed associated with natural inhibitors, and teh two could have converted in parallel to toxins and toxin inhibitors"-
Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature, Pg. 92
This passage is discussing something else, but it mentions that venomous snakes have substances in their bodies that inhibit the action of their venoms... guess it wasn't antibodies like I though... my darn memory...

its defitnitly some interesting stuff wish someone would research it. it could help ppl better understand how the venom works better.

laterz,
jc

Well... maybe Brian Greg Fry knows something... he's a very famous venom researcher and posts under the name BGF in the venomous forum... he'd probably be able to tell you all about that sort of thing.

cool i will try to get in touch and ask him. Alot of ppl have probably wandered whats in a kingsnakes blood.

this is still a hot topic in the herp world but heres a link i found on ask jeeves

http://www.smuggled.com/snaven2.htm

years ago I collected a black king from Ky and brought it back to Az. Weeks later I offered it a C atrox that I found on the road, it had been hit and obviously wasn't going to make it.
The atrox embedded a fang in the king and left it there for the duration of the struggle. The king was none the worse for the wear, and had himself quite a meal.
I had wondered the same thing as you. In this case at least, it didn't seem to matter.
Bill

i think it would not hurt to some research on this subject but without having the snakes acutally together. that would be safer for both of them. i just wander whats in kingsnakes blood thats so different from other snakes blood. if i was a toxicologist i would research it but I am not so I will leave up to the professional scientist

laterz,
john

Interesting... I wouldn't think the KS would be immune from the atrox. That's awesome
For electricbluescat- Kingsnakes are by far not the only snakes that eat venomous snakes, so whatever they have is possesed by lots of other snakes too.