Reptile & Amphibian Forums

as a vet tech i see owners telling us there cat/dog was bit by a snake alllllll the time! i usually say its not a snake bite by the way the bite looks, if it was 2 puncture wounds it was a venomous bite and would be showing dammage (unless it was a dry bite, i know) if it was non ven it would leave a row of small marks (ive been bitten by plenty) but now ive got a doc i work with saying there are non-vens with fangs, he thinks its milksnakes, anyone know of a non-ven with fangs?? i posted here cuz most of the time you know the most of all the forums. any idea where to find dental models of various snakes?
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

The only truly nonvenomous snake you could make an argument for it to have 'fangs' is the emerald tree boa (Corallus caninus - note the species name). Most arboreal boids have large teeth in general, but these guys take the cake. Their front four teeth - two on top and two on bottom - are enlarged for making it easier to capture birds, bats, etc. They are impressive to say the least, and a snake you want to avoid being bitten by.

As for native colubrids, none have fangs.
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Chance Duncan
www.rivervalleyexotics.com

No nonvenomous snakes will have "fangs" quite like a venomous snake... Some are rearfanged, but that isn't likely to leave an impression on the bite victim (it can, but not likely on a dog etc that has fur). Chance mentioned emerald tree boas having very fang-like teeth and that is true. As mentioned, there are no North American reptiles that are nonvenomous that have anything close to "fangs" in the proper place for them to leave puncture wounds on dogs etc. I'd say you're more likely to have two spider bites or other injuries close together than as many "dogs bitten by snakes" that I hear about.

Your vet needs to revisit snake info before making such diagnoses. I'm not knocking the guy, there is a lot of info that vets have to keep up with, he just needs to double check things before thinking that milksnakes have "fangs".

A lot of colubrids have what may technically be called fangs. The Boomslang is a prime example. In this country Hognose have them as do Lyre snakes and Cat snakes. These of course are (though basically harmless) rearfanged. Bites from these (and I have had quite a few) frequently show where the back fang goes in.

Milk Snakes are a kind of kingsnake and as such are a member of on of the few groups of snakes that DO NOT HAVE VENOM GLANDS. Rat Snakes, Bull Snakes, Long Nosed snakes etc... fall into this group.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

There is really no need for a snake to have fangs to leave one or two punctures and give the appearance of "fang marks" and lead someone to the conclusion that it is a venomous snake bite (albeit a small venomous snake). I have photos of a few such bites (two "fang marks"caused by a red rat snake, a yellow rat snake, a black racer, etc. These were taken for the express purpose of illustrating that "fang marks" alone are not truly indicative of a bite from a venomous snake. I have seen quite a few misidentifications of animals that are harmless, but to the unfamiliar they appear to be a dangerous species (i.e. red rat snakes thought to be coral snakes - no, I am not kidding). Without a positive identification, it might be prudent to observe the bitten animal (or human) for the development of signs and symptoms of an envenomation - pain, swelling, bullae, ecchymosis, etc. It is possible that some or many of the dry bites are from species that are non-venomous, but have been misidentified. I guess it is possible.