Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been away for a few years but still watch about any tv show about snakes.

I saw one about dangerous animals of Brazil. "Experts" claimed the Bushmaster could kill in 30 minutes as it's neurotoxic venom is that potent.

I had always believed Lachesis Muta was considered a hemotoxic snake and that death would take many hours? Did something change while I have been away?

Greg

Remember the term EXPERT here means anyone that thinks they are.
Even guys that fail miserably are given expert status.
just look up the list of bad bites lately and you will see a bunch of so called Experts!
so if you can clean your snake cage you got it you are a expert.
or you can make up a albino morph name
like sunglow or somthing interesting but not real.
then you can be a expert too.
so if you want to say bushmasters are neurotoxic go ahead.
but only a few actual experts care about it any way.
one real fact is that the venom targets primate systems.
oh yea I am a expert too!
hahahah
-----
Bud

Could not have said it better Bud.

So many TV buffoons are considered experts; so many forum gurus are considered experts. Anyone can make themselves appear to be an expert; the ones that really are never have to prove it.

Jeremy

Bushmaster venom is a combination of things but primarily neurotoxic . I took this pic. at the St Louis zoo back in the early ninety's . They had a bunch of bushmasters off exhibit that they were trying to breed. At that time their big reptile projects were bushmasters and tuataras. I don`t know if anything ever came out of ether of these projects.

Ernie Eison
WESTWOOD ACRES REPTILE FARM INC.

Plenty of ingredients for drama on this one (and please everyone, keep your fangs sheathed; I'm just the reporter here even if I am able to understand most of the vocabulary. And I'm unscrupulous enough to use a search engine on the rest).

This one is doubtless popular here on Planet Utah (the multi-level marketing capital of the Western Hemisphere). It's allegedly bushmaster venom available as a homeopathic remedy (blame the availability of stuff like this on Senator Hatch).

http://www.brighthub.com/health/alternative-medicine/articles/24440.aspx

"Lachesis Mutus is a homeopathic remedy that comes from the venom of the bushmaster snake. It offers powerful effects on the blood and the central nervous system. While the snake and the venom is extremely poisonous, homeopathic remedies are so diluted that . . . It is often prescribed for depression, migraines, tonsillitis, hemorrhoids, poor circulation, skin wounds, menopausal symptoms and blood thinning.

Wanna by some? Here you go . . . No Polish jokes, please . . . Stories about snake oil salesman are permitted . . .

http://www.drkowalski.com/lac30c25ozhy.html

Okay, I figured it might be best to get everyone relaxed with some humor (and I'm no expert on venom, but I am reasonably competent describing the psychopathology of the homeopathic hillbillies south of here--of course it might be extracted elsewhere, but sooner or later the Happy Valley vitamin crowd is probably going to get involved if they haven't already).

For the hemotoxin corner . . .

http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/bushmaster-snake.cfm

"Snake venom delivered by the Bushmaster has powerful Hemotoxic properties affecting the circulatory system destroying red blood cells causing organ degeneration and generalized tissue damage which can be fatal if left untreated."

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0104-79301997000200023&script=sci_arttext

This one really bothers me with that "longest of all venomous snakes" howler. I know the king cobra isn't extinct.

http://www.biomedexperts.com/Abstract.bme/17208264/Cytotoxicity_of_Lachesis_muta_muta_snake_bushmaster_venom_and_its_purified_basic_phospholipase_A2_LmTX-I_in_cultured

It's noted here that the crude venom has a toxic effect on cultured kidney cells from dogs . . .

http://www.cababstractsplus.org/abstracts/Abstract.aspx?AcNo=20043205277

Envenomation apparently does cause a serious and significant drop in blood pressure . . .

Ah, eat your heart out Austin Stevens. It's Da Bushmaster Man . . .

http://www.capefearserpentarium.com/about2.html

"Prior to Ripa's work, bushmaster venom was thought to have a strongly tissue destructive effect in human beings. Ripa's own bites revealed the unexpected: that although edema and inflammation are severe, the venom causes little or no hemorrhage or necrosis (unlike rattlesnakes, lanceheads, puff adders, etc.,), instead producing dramatic systemic alterations that kill the victim quickly rather than slowly."

"Dean Ripa's work has not been without hazard. He has survived an amazing four envenomings by bushmasters, making him 'the most bushmaster bitten person of all time'."

Whoops, make that five bites . . .

http://www.bushmasterbook.com/bushbook-new3.htm

"Survivor of five bushmaster bites, and the first person in the world to reproduce two species of bushmaster in captivity, he has the rare qualifications necessary to tell the life story of these fascinating and frightening snakes."

Well, his qualifications for selling a book are readily apparent . . .

Okay guys, I just wrote and edited the program and outlined the plot. You get to provide the dialogue . . .

Reporting from Sandy, Utah . . .
CC1

Ah, hahahahahahahahaha!

Randal