Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was at the Baltimore zoo, and saw this awesome green vine snake. A guy next to me was bragging to his friends about owning one. He said they are venomous, but not that venomous. He said it was like getting stung by a bee if you got bit. He said one wouldn't even try to bite you because they scare easy and will just try to get away and hide.

Whats the truth to this? I love snakes, but i am no where near ready to keep venomous, but this snake kept my attention for like 20 minutes, it was AWESOME to watch. Very interesting reptile. Im not thinking about getting one but is the "Bee Sting" comment truthful?

What would really happen if bitten? thanks.

-----
0.0.2 RES's (The Boondock Saints)
0.0.1 Common Snapping Turtle (Aggro)
0.0.1 Eastern Red Bellie (Jake)
0.0.1 Map Turtle (Mappy)
0.2.0 Bearded Dragon (Yeungling,Killian)

The snake you have pictured is the green vinesnake that hails from Central and South America, Oxybelis fuldigus. These are rear-fanged venomous snakes, however, they are not known to be particularly toxic. Dr. Bryan Fry (BGF on the forums) could go much further in depth than myself. In all likelihood, if you were to be bitten by one, no symptoms would appear unless you let it hold on a little while and chew. If you have a bit of sensitivity to the venom, symptoms could be as mild as light local irritation to as severe as anaphylactic shock, which could kill in minutes. Most likely though, you are in the same group as the majority of people who would have little to no reaction from a quick bite. If you allowed chewing, even if you weren't at all overly-sensitive to the venom, you may expect local irritation, headache, maybe a bit of nausea. They are truly beutiful snakes though, and IMHO make much better captives than their Asian cousins, the Ahaetulla vinesnakes. Oxybelis tends to take to rodents more readily in captivity, whereas Ahaetulla are nearly always lizard feeders. Oxybelis also attains much larger, more girthy sizes than Ahaetulla. I was down in Belize back in May and hoped to come across one of these snakes while treking through the jungle at night, but seeing one would have been all but impossible, and I more than likely did come close to at least one. The camouflage is amazing and the growth is so thick down there that spotting them becomes a chore, at best. Anyway, I hope this was somewhat helpful.
-Chance

that explains why it died, the stupid petstore lady told me to feed it crix. reatard petstore person! i was like, seven or something back then. the crix ate through its head.

thats what i owned! whoever was curious. they are rear fanged, right?

Yes they are Opistoglyh (rear fanged). While some specimens can be shy, others will strike defensively...and they have a good strike range!

The statement above on venom was basicly correct, but you would have to be very sensitive to venom to hit the extreme. Most likely is some pain and local swelling (minor)but if you don't know how you react, caution advised.

They do extremely well on mice and like daily misting. Large cage a must.

Frank
-----
"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

A pet store sold me one when I was only 8 years old or so. It never tried to bite me.
-----
CB