Reptile & Amphibian Forums

LAS VEGAS SUN (Nevada) 16 January 10 Animal Planet host plans 10-day stay with snakes on Strip (Amanda Finnegan - Courtesy of Discovery Channel)
"Wild Recon" host Donald Schultz will be spending 10 days in a glass box filled with 100 snakes outside O'Shea's from Jan. 17-26.
As if O'Shea's wasn’t bizarre enough with its attractions like hypnotist Luke Jermay, its former “Freaks” show and the leprechaun that runs around the casino floor, the property will be adding another sideshow attraction beginning Sunday.
Animal Planet’s Donald Schultz, host of the channel's “Wild Recon” program, will spend 10 days in a glass box filled with 100 snakes.
The spectacle is being filmed for a TV special called “Venom in Vegas,” set to air Feb. 9 on Animal Planet. Harrah’s Entertainment, which owns O’Shea’s, said Schultz is doing the stunt to raise awareness for snakebite victims around the globe.
Animal Planet is partnering with the University of Arizona’s Venom Immunochemistry, Pharmacology and Emergency Response Institute for the event and will be on hand in case anything goes wrong.
The 16-foot by 20-foot glass box will have a bed and bathroom. He’ll eat, sleep and do everything else alongside snakes such as pythons, rattlesnakes and cobras, Harrah’s said.
Schultz will start with 50 snakes and have five new ones added each day. Sounds like Indiana Jones’ worst nightmare.
Animal Planet host plans 10-day stay with snakes on Strip

THE NEWS (Lahore, Pakistan) 12 January 10 A man who sleeps, eats with snakes (Khalid Iqbal)
Snakes are dangerous. But Muhammad Rasool Jahangir has been sleeping and eating with snakes for last thirty years. He has more than 100 snakes in his house.
Muhammad Rasool Jahangir of Takht Bhai, Mardan, organises shows of dangerous snakes at the Ayub National Park every day for visitors.
He told ‘The News’ here on Monday that there are more than 120 kinds of snakes in the world.
According to him, several kinds of snakes are also present in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. He said that snakes bite him on hands, arms, legs and even on the face and some snakes suck their poison after biting him. There are around 100 kinds of snakes in his house, which he caught from different parts of the country. He had performed snake shows in India, the US and the UK and received applause from crowds.
Jahangir, aged 54, is fond of snakes. “My children play with snakes at home,” he said. He said that no doubt snakes are not pets but his snakes are living like pets. Small snakes take milk, eggs and bread but large snakes hunt for rats, lizards, chickens and insects. Female snakes give hundreds of eggs but they eat up 90% of them, he said.
He said that he has snakes of different colours, including black, brown, green, yellow and red. Snakes could sleep and hear and see but all snakes are not poisonous, he added. He said that he has snakes from 13 inches to 3 metres. He earns a reasonable amount of money every day by performing snake shows. Sometimes he earns Rs1,200 and sometimes Rs2,000.
The taste of snake poison is not bitter but sweet, contrary to what most people think, he said. He said that he calls all his snakes with their nicknames like ‘Shero’, ‘Kajla’ and ‘Billa’.
A man who sleeps, eats with snakes

DAILY NEWS (Durban, S Africa) 12 January 10 Boy survives after snake bite (Irene Kuppan)
A day after he was bitten by a snake, a three-year-old boy was still being treated with anti-venom in hospital.
The boy, from Kelso on the South Coast, apparently fell off his bicycle and onto the snake, which bit him.
Yesterday the boy's father, who was named only as Mr Schaefer, said his son was in a stable condition.
After being treated at Kingsway Hospital, the boy was taken to St Augustine's Hospital and later to Parklands Hospital, where he is now being treated.
Schaefer was still uncertain what type of snake had bitten his son, but suspected it was a Mozambique spitting cobra.
Arno Naude, a snake expert and the chairman of the Transvaal Herpetological Association, said the cobra's venom destroys cell tissue and breaks down muscle, making its bite very dangerous.
Bite symptoms include an immediate burning sensation in the affected area, a metallic taste in the mouth and dizziness, which follows about 15 minutes after being bitten. Swelling occurs and blisters form.
"One of the dangers with the Mozambique spitting cobra is that it also has neuro-toxic venom, which affects the nervous system and could slow down breathing."
Naude said this type of cobra was very common in southern Africa, especially in wet areas, and was found in KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland and Mozambique.
"It is probably the snake that people are most often bitten by in Swaziland," he said.
At an average length of 1 to 1,2 metres, the cobra is also able to spit its venom, which could cause blindness if it enters the eyes of its victims, Naude said.
However, if the venom is rinsed out immediately and the eyes treated correctly, blindness would not be permanent.
Boy survives after snake bite