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im up for a little debate. i want to know what all you guys think the most venomous snake is in the world. there is a few ways to look at this. you could say that if the same amount of venom of was injected at the same site, i would say the taipan would win the prize. if you go natural then you would have to think how much the snake injected, how big the snake is, and where it was injected. if we are looking at these things, i would say the king cobra takes the cake on that one. let me know what you guys think, besides, im in the mood for a good argument.
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Aspen

Dead is dead. Anything that is in the list of debatable within the top x venomous list is more than enough deadly to kill. Everything else is just speculation and there is no real definite answer.

i guess your right. i was just bored and my little wheels got clicking. im sure that will stay on my mind for a few days and then it will be gone.

When I was a kid, 25 years ago, the topic of discussion about venomous snakes was "which is the deadliest?" (how ironic it still is). I found the answer in a Guinness world records book. Of course it was a sea snake. For years I believed that and I guess everyone else did too because if you take a survey at least 15 out of 20 people asked will tell you it's some sea snake with a name about 50 letters long. Somewhere in time someone came up with an idea to test the venoms toxicity on laboratory mice and rats. They came up with the LD50 (Lethal Dose of 50% of test subjects) scale. The number representing how many mg. of venom per g. of body weight. Smaller number means less venom proving more toxic. Their tests proved the Oxyuranus microlepidotus (Inland Taipan)was in fact the most toxic at 0.025 LD50. They also proved Aipysurus duboisii (Dubois's sea snake) was the most toxic sea snake with a 0.044 LD50. That proving that the land snake Taipan was more toxic having a smaller number (I'd like to know what proof was submitted to Mr. Guinness to convince him the sea snake is the most toxic?) It's been proven cut and dry with the LD50 tests now we know.

Wait a minute, they did the tests on mice and rats. That only proves the snakes toxicity on them not humans. "A rodents body will react to the venom differently then a humans" (people say). So it still must be the sea snake that Guinness claimed was. Who can argue with Guinness, he knows everything right? I understand that the tests can't be all inclusive, but if it's all the proof we have USE IT until it can be proven somehow with humans. Lets clean out our prisons then we'd know . Recently Dr. Jamie Seymour of Australia has started testing venom toxicity on live human heart cell cultures and from his tests he claims that the Oxyuranus microlepidotus (Inland Taipan) having destroyed over 60% of all heart cells within ten minutes proves it to be most toxic in humans. I can understand how this proves the toxicity of the cytotoxic or myotoxic venoms beings their effect is to destroy tissue and muscle. I can't for the life of me figure out how this assessment proves toxicity levels or comparison to neurotoxic venoms and their effects on the human body as a whole.

I still find myself arguing about this subject with very educated herpers that still claim the sea snakes reign of supremacy. If we are going to just guess which should win this contest so to speak just from assumptions what happened to the others? Ophiophagus hanna (king cobra) LD50 1.7, this snake can look a 6 foot man in the eye, and is one of the four with the highest venom yield (which by the way is most important when considering what's most venomous), has to be the most deadly. Dendroaspis polylepsis (Black Mamba) LD50 0.32, this is the fastest and known as the most aggressive snake in the world, it has to be the most deadly snake in the world. Daboia russelli (Russels viper) LD50 0.75-1.37, is responsible for more deaths then any other snake world wide, how could that not be the most toxic in the world? I could go on with many other possibilities (without any tests or proof). I realize this thread is about the most venomous but to ask the actual question of what is the most deadly? Lets just sway away from toxins all together for a moment. Eunectes murinus (Green Anaconda) LD50 0.00, with a crushing strength of up to 90 psi 18 feet long with a contact area of about 6 inches by about 10 feet. You do the math that’s a lot of pressure. After as little as 45 seconds and no more then 2 minutes you have 0.0% chance of survival give or take ohhhh about 0.0%. Death is imminent sending its victim into cardiac arrest by restricting the heart from beating. No amount of medical treatment moments after an attack will save you. In my opinion that's the snake that deserves the crown as potentially the most deadly snake in the world. Hah!!! Even though the number of recorded deaths by the massive snake are nil. Just for the record I used the Anaconda as an example, I could include all/any of the worlds huge snakes.

The long dispute about what’s the most deadly. It’s not difficult to determine if you specify exactly what you mean by “most deadly”. According to Bryan Grieg Fry one of the worlds leading venom researchers "The most deadly is the one that just bit you. The debate of what are the most venomous snakes is one that occupies a disproportionate amount of time, it is of course purely academic... dead is dead." , seems most logical to me. What is your opinion? What other snakes would you submit as the most deadly without proof? Tell me what you say when someone tells you, or asks you (the most deadly snake)?

i like what you said. and in my opinion the taipan doesn't prove much of a threat even with its venom because it is relatively shy and rare. the king cobra i think would be the most venomous, because with evidence, it is known as the brains of the snake world and isn't afraid to back down from a fight. and it can choose to bite you where it chooses. a 12 ft. snake could bite you strait smack in the chest and you would be dead in a short time without medical help. i agree with you on how dangerous it is according to its size, aggressiveness, how much venom it injects, the physical condition of the victim, and the point of entry of the venom. and of course the toxcitity of the venom. so the question is, if you take different types of venom, injected the same amount at the same location, with the victim in the same physical shape. which would be the most effective? of course you would have to use the different types of toxin for a complete study, however i don't think that kind of experiment will ever happen so im just going to go along with the saying: the most venomous snake is the one that just bit you. in that case, i hope i never have to know which snake is the most venomous.
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Aspen

Not only do rodents and humans react completely differently to snake venoms (LD50's), the reaction to the exact same envenomation from one person to the next can be considerably different as well. Additionally, the organic chemical composition and toxicity of the venom of any one snake can vary from bite to bite, making comparisons even more difficult. You may just have to settle with what group of snakes are potentially the more dangerous.

Kelly

Q: the most venomous?...A: HUMAN BEINGS
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2 tham radix
1 Chicago Tham s. semifasciatus
2 elaphe vulpina
1 gray tiger salamander
4 Aphonopelma hentzi
1 G rosea
1 Haplo minax
1 Brachy angustum
1 Brachy sabulosum
1 Brachy vagans
1 Cent. hentzi scorp

I’m old school, so I would give the title to the King cobra. The combination of sheer size and elephant-killing power, come on, it’s the KING!

The way you asked the question- which is the most venomous-
the answer would be:

Largest venom yield ever recorded:
Bothrops Jarararcussu (1530mg)

The most potent venom:
Belcher's Sea Snake

The most potent of all land snakes:
Inland Taipan (Fierce snake)

Snake that kills the most people:
Saw Scale Viper

Fastest snake bite fatality:
Black Mamba (2.5 minutes)

50% fatality even with treatment:
The Malayan Krait

very very common question... I wrote this and so I stand by most of the info but some of it has been 'enhanced' for dramatic purposes by others than myself... Still, I think it is by far the best explanation out there for average folk..
Cheers!
Terry

http://www.reptilegardens.com/learning-pages/snakes/deadliest-snakes/

Link

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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry Phillip
Curator of Reptiles
Black Hills Reptile Gardens
Rapid City, SD.

www.reptilegardens.com

Yield record is 1900 mg from a Crotalus adamanteus extracted from here at the zoo. The animal is just under 5 ft and has a very large head/venom glands.

Kristen

Has Jim had a chance to milk any large adult Naja ashei yet? From what I understand a real yield hasn't been measured yet, but they have been documented to give as much as 6.2ml of wet venom with a mass of 7.1 grams. If the wet venom to dry mass ratio holds true for this species of cobra as it does for the others it could be pushing some crazy dry yields.

Not yet. He has milked most of the other species of spitters and got 1100 mg from a large Naja nigricollis.

Kristen

Crotalus adamanteus would have been a guess of mine for a snake with a very high yield. I know there are recorded fatalities within one hour, also.
After checking out the post below, I wonder what the yield would be from a really large bushmaster?
It would also seem that some spitters never really run out of venom, wouldn’t some of them have a really high yield if they were milked for a few minutes and “spit” like crazy?

I need to know where everyone gets their proof that some sea snake has the most toxic venom or potent. As I mentioned in my earlier post there has only been two clinical tests done on venom to scientificly measure the toxicity. The recent tests Jamie Seymour has been conducting on human heart cell cultures and the older LD50's. Neither can be used as gospel for all the variables and differences that any snake bite can truly be measured as fact. Although both tests still claim the (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) Inland Taipan 0.025 is most toxic land or sea. The LD50's even crown the (Pseudonaja textilis) Eastern brown 0.0365 as being more toxic than any sea snake. Then the most toxic sea snake being (Aipysurus duboisii) Dubois's sea snake 0.044 . These being the only scientific tests done on venoms it's the only academic proof we have. Unless someone knows of another test with solid results being documented their claims of anything opposing is purly speculation.

i appreciate your guys input on this. i would have to say the king cobra would have to be the most deadly because of its size and temper. not to mention the high venom yeild. but you cant argue with 2 minutes and your dead with the black mamba. so in closing, i guess we will never know what snake happens to be most venomous. it lays down to the physical condition of the victim, the venom yeild, and the location of the bite.

Why go on with the drama of the "deadliest" snake? This is just the sort of thing that continues to promote killing snakes, including the fact we still have "rattlesnake roundups" in this country. ALL VENOMOUS SNAKES CAN BE LETHAL! The question for general purposes should be what snake is the most dangerous. That too holds differentials. IE...snake condition, person bit, type of snake, health of person, available antivenom, knowlege of healthcare staff..etc.
You could have a sick Ophiophagus that will give you less then optimum venom yields, and an extremely healthy Agkistrodon ssp that blows the toxcicty level off the charts. It is all about variables. True, Oxuranus, Dendraspis, even Bitis have exremely toxic venom, but what is the chance of true envenomation if the animal is handled properly.
The talk of how deadly snakes are only serves the purpose to those who wish to end our research and passion with these unique and beautiful creatures.
If you're asking this question because you think you may get bit, then, try keeping lizards, (barring heloderma}..maybe geckos. Have you seen the GEICO commercials...Phelsuma may be the answer.
Just my 5 cents!

your rigtht, but i don't think anybody reading these posts are planning to go out and kill rattlesnakes, or join a roundup. so lets just say this is an unsolvable mystery and stop arguing.

This subject matter of this thread is "most venomous" not "most deadly". Alot of people replying have used the term "most deadly". The curiosity of reputable herpetologists and herpeteculturists has raised this question since there has been millions of dollars spent in research trying to figure out the answer to this question. It is a reasonable question for people to ask without malice to the snakes themselves. Of course everyone knows that's studied this subject there are alot of variables to take into consideration that's why this question always raises such debate. As well it's normally a nice subject to debate because everyone knows that giving all the variables this is a debate that there is no definitive answer to. That's what these forums are for is to discuss subjects just like these. Those interested that don't know actually can learn from threads like this there are alot of variables to take into consideration.

There is actually a simple test.

You get 1000 allergy PETA members and divide them into 10 groups of 100. Get your top 10 list of most venomous and do LD50 tests on your human subjects. By this, we can easily figure out the most venomous against H.sapiens, which is the answer we seek anyway.

This controlled experiment will also solve half of the PETA problem this planet faces.
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We are the best GALATASARAY

Meant to write "1000, allergy free".
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We are the best GALATASARAY

while we are on the subject of venom and the effects of it on the body, lucky me i have a report to do in school about the effects of snake venom on the body. i have to quote all this crap and cite different works and thought i would turn to kingsnake for a few interviews. if any of you guys out there have been bitten by any venomous snake, please post something about how your body took the venom, the effects of it on your body, the long term effects, the type of snake, or anything like that. any posts will be greatly appreciated. thanks
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Aspen

I would have to say that the Inland Taipan would take the lead in the most toxic venom of any venomous land snake. The Inland Taipan has a presynatic Neurotoxin. This means that Anti-Venom(Anti-Venin)
Will not help destroying the venom. This means that you will have to go on a respirator. I would agree though that the King Cobra can Enject a bunch of venom with makes it very dangerous. I still think in all the Inland Taipan will take the lead.

Kyle

if your looking for the ultimate venomous cross then i would mix the size, aggresion, and venom capasity of the king cobra and the toxitity of the inland tipan. that would be one mean snake!