Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i know that they are SPITTING cobras, but if they were to bite bite, what effects would their venom have?

As with all true Naja, envenomation could very possibly lead to a fatality. While it is true that N. pallida is considered to be one of the less toxic cobras, a cobra is a cobra is a cobra and they can all cause death. A bite from a small baby may not be terribly bad though. That N. pallida is an adept spitter also suggests the great probability of local and even spread necrosis. They didn't evolve over the past few millions of years to develop a venom that affects cells of the eye and only the eye. It must have a decent amount of hemorrhagin (cell destroying) component for it to effect the eye. Because of this, it will affect cells around the bite as well. Even N. kaouthia, a technically "non-spitting" (used loosely, maybe a better term would be "incompletely evolved spitter) cobra, causes horrendous necrosis. N. kaouthia bites are some of the worst I've seen pictures of, right up there with the nastiest Bitis and Crotalids you can find. Go to venomousreptiles.org and take a look at their bite shots if you're interested. However, even after all of that, if I were to be forced to take a full on bite from and adult of any of the true Naja, N. pallida would likely be my choice.
-Chance

I will go out on a limb here and point out that spitting cobras are not known for killing their prey by spitting in their eyes and waiting for it to die.
In other words, cobras bite things and then those things die.
How quickly those things which get bitten die, depends on a large number of factors (just as with any venomous snake bite).
As to LD50, etc - ask a specific question directed to Dr. Frye or Dr. Wuster (sorry can't seem to find my umlauts).
Good luck and remember that spitter or not - it is still a cobra!
Karl

>>i know that they are SPITTING cobras, but if they were to bite bite, what effects would their venom have?

Naja pallida is actually surprisingly poorly documented in the literature. What little is known (and extrapolating from other related African spitting cobras) suggests that the effects of the venom will consist primarily of local tissue necrosis (loss of skin - half of the skin of your arm for instance - you may be spending a few months having skin grafts etc.), whereas neurotoxicity is unlikely (but possible).

In other words, chances are you won't die, but you may find yourself wishing you would.

Cheers,

Wolfgang
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WW Home

A co-worker of mine got nailed by one a few years back, he didn't lose any skin or muscle, but from the looks of the pic of the bite(~1hr postbite), there was massive edema, ecchymoses and of course it put him in the hospital for a few days. I'll pick his brain a little more to get some more details, and post again tomorrow.

creep

thanks a lot for all the input guys!