Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have kept these guys in the past and will be getting more shortly. I have always treated them as "venomous" since BGF's ld50 list has them ranked very high etc. BUT what is the relative risk of being envenomated by this species? What kind of effects would be common?
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Jeff West
www.westreptiles.com

I believe they have killed people

So have boiga irregularis but those were under extraordinary conditions and i wanted to see if rhabdophis was similar but with a more potent venom.
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Jeff West
www.westreptiles.com

I would rate them as a snake to treat with extreme respect. There have been confirmed fatalaties and these were not flukes. Further, the only antivenom made is for Japanese domestic use and it is not exported. I managed to get some for our research collection but this was an exception.

Cheers
Bryan
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Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
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Australian Venom Research Unit,
University of Melbourne
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Population and Evolutionary Genetics Unit,
Museum Victoria
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.venomdoc.com

Thanks BGF. Another question, are their fangs better suited for delivering the venom quickly than Boiga species? Is the only reason they are so dangerous the potency of their venom? Would a typical grab and release bite result in envenomation? I have read that their most dangerous bites would be "hunger bites" as opposed to a defensive strikes and that may be why "locals" see them as harmless and don't suffer ill effects from bites.
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Jeff West
www.westreptiles.com

They do have quite reasonably sized fangs, certainly much larger than Boiga. However, Macropisthodon have much much larger fangs. Which is why I rate Macropisthodon as a very dangerous genus and I have already consulted on one very severe bite by M. rudis that resulted in paralysis and bleeding.

As for why the locals don't get many severe bites, this is due to a couple reason. Cerrtainly they are much less likely to get a prolonged bite, as opposed to a keeper that is feeding. Second, a funny thing about coagulopathy is that you feel fine... until you get the shocking hospital laboratory tests back. So, unless they seek medical care they may not know that their blood chemistry has been hit for six. Only way they'd know is in an extremely severe bite where they are bleeding out of their bum.

Cheers
B
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Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Australian Venom Research Unit,
University of Melbourne
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Population and Evolutionary Genetics Unit,
Museum Victoria
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.venomdoc.com

Thanks for the info Bryan!
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Jeff West
www.westreptiles.com

there is only one recorded death by this snake, I think it was more of a alergic effect cause by the bite the the actual bite itself, what are you feeding yours?