Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If a venomous snake were to bite themselves, would they already have an immunity to their own venom? I was going to assume that yes since they are producing the venom then they are already immune to it, but just wanted other people's answers.

No,...ironically they are NOT immune to their own venom. They can INGEST their own venom,which they certainly do every time they eat a meal they have killed, but the stomach acids tend to quickly neutralize it along in conjuntion with the lining of the stomach being impervious to it as well. A human can also ingest venom into the stomach, and nothing much will happen unless you have a stomach ulcer or cavity, or any other similar type of soar the venom can invade from, then you would indeed be in some serious trouble. Keep in mind, this all depends on the AMOUNT of venom that is delivered too. So if it grazes itself, it probably won't do a whole lot of harm, or if it was just caught by one fang and just a very small anmount was administered. But their venom would indeed cause necrosis because of the hemotoxic qualities of their venom (for vipers), and neurotoxic qualities from elapids(coral snakes, cobras, etc...).

If a venomous snake bites itself, or is bitten by another venomous snake and the venom is injected into the tissue itself, it will suffer the same consiquences of the invenomation just like any other animal would be that was bitten by it.

Kingsnakes on the other hand, show little if any effects of being bitten by any type of North American crotalid(vipers) which they frequently consume along with many other animals too. Which is why they are called "king"snake in the first place. Because they can overpower just about any other N.A. snake, with the possible exception of the very large and powerful Indigo snake.

best regards, ~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

THAT is an awesome picture! GREAT SHOT!

Thanks!,........that is one of my favorite "portrait" floridana shots as well.

Glad to see your future herper daughter is enjoying snakes too. Young people are the future of our loved and dedicated hobby.

Here is a nice "extreme" hypo Honduran I produced this year.

best regards, ~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I've noticed you post some of the best pics on this entire site (the portrait of the Floridana, for instance). Do you mind if I ask if these are all your own photos of your own snakes, or if there is a site you get most of them from?

Once again, great pics.

Thanks

Thank you for the kind words on the photos!

Yes, the floridana and 99% of the other stuff I ever post are all my own animals as well.

Once in a great while for identification purposes on the "what kind" forum I'll use a photo from the internet to portray what type of snake someone might be asking about to show them a comparison pic or something, but I have thousands of pics of my own snakes on my computer and Photobucket from several decades of owning and working with many diferent kinds.

thanks again for the nice compliment!

best regards, ~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

Wow thanks for that answer, really informative!

n/p
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Beautiful florida king Doug. Love the yellow on that one. Steve

Thanks buddy!.....

He fathered some KILLER high-red pure brooksi offspring that I posted on the "king" forum too. All nine of them are very exceptional to say the least, but one of the hatchlings is DEFINITELY a "one-of-a-kind" bizarre freak, and there is no doubt it is the only one known to exist anywhere. This thing is weirdly unique for SURE!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"