Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The posts below bring up an interesting question. This will be a tough list to put together. Forget the LD50's and the reputations. What would be the 10 snakes you would most not like to be tagged by. For me the worst looking bites I've ever seen pics of were the Spitting Cobras. For me the Spitters are the number one snake I would'nt want to be tagged by.

Dan

Hmmm...in no particular order...

1) Echis....the thought of bleeding from my gums and orifices just isn't appealing

2) Bitis...seen pics of a puff adder bite, and it is most unpleasant

3) Dendroaspis...the idea of suffocating while trying desperately to breathe is something I could do without...

4) Naja...Necrosis AND neurotoxic symptoms?!? No thanks!

5) Bothrops...the thought of my tissues being turned to jelly isn't something I'm looking forward to.

6) Agkistrodon piscivorous...having a nasty secondary infection and losing an appendage isn't fun I'm sure

7) Crotalus adamanteus/atrox...See Bothrops...yikes!

8) Tapian....perhaps this should have been at the top of the list, but again...no particular order here....

9) King cobra...I'm sure it's not pleasant...the upside is I don't have very long to worry about it!

10) Daboia russelii...beautiful serpent, but I imagine my opinion might change once I was "kissed"...

-AzAtrox

Maybe any snake that can kill an elephant?!
I don’t know how to answer about the spitting cobra, but any of the very necrotic type venoms would be worse in my opinion. You are talking some very major permanent horrific loss of tissue, and in some cases entire extremities or limbs if you do survive the bite.

Do you really need a top ten?

DO NOT get bit!

I've got to agree with upscale. It's like making a list of 10 guns you wouldn't want to get shot with. All of them really should be the answer.

You definitely have a point. However, I much rather loose a finger or hand then be bit by a Taipan. Having ones blood turns to the consistency of mashed potatoes doesn’t sound like too much fun LOL Not to mention the Pre-synaptic neurotoxins which are very hard to reverse, bleeding from the eyes, internal bleeding, renal failure etc...

In the end the most dangerous snake is the one that bit you but talking purely of which venom I would least like to have flowing through my blood stream, my vote goes to the genus Oxyuranus all the way

Out of curiousity, what snakes are those bites from?

I almost wanted to apologize for posting those- they were pretty sickening. I did a quick Google search for snake bite images and quickly took the grossest and most horrendous ones to make the point. I could probably do a little hunting and tell you exactly, but you could too. You would find a lot of really bad pictures come from Central and South America, where the Bothrops are common, and people walk around barefoot a long way from a treatment facility of any kind. For the venomous keeper, you should always have a protocol in place for rapid medical attention. We have the luxury in this country of having antivenom flown into any facility in a few hours time, or very excellent treatment right away. These examples of extreme tissue loss are very rare when antivenom and prompt medical attention are available. Not to take away from the need to be careful and avoid bites, but you could almost say that type of thing is not going to happen to you. It’s almost a problem itself, where you have some guys getting nailed multiple times and brushing the whole thing off because prompt medical treatment makes it “no big deal”. Makes the hobby look really bad, though...