Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been thinking about S I for a while but dony know if it would work for the snakes i deal with everyday. I have a southern tibber rattlesnake, 2 copperheads, and an eastern diamond back rattlesnake. If S I is posslible for these sankes i also need to know how to do the S I safely and the correct way.Anyone with any info plz help.

Thank You
reptle2

Since all the snakes you have are local to the US and there is a readily available, quite effective antivenom, its really not worth you going through the risk. The only time SI *might* be necessary is if you were regularly milking large numbers of snaks for which there is no effective antivenom (ie some species of Echis). However, even then things have to be very careful considered.

All the best
Bryan
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Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Australian Venom Research Unit,
University of Melbourne
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Population and Evolutionary Genetics Unit,
Museum Victoria
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http://www.venomdoc.com

Thank you Dr. Fry for your replay. I was uncertain if S I was viable for the speices of snakes I have. I have just ventured into the "hot" world in the last year. I have owned and breed non-venomous snakes now for 10 years and finaly feel comfortable to handle some hots. If there is any other info you could give to a new HOT owner I would be very greatfull.

Thank You for your time.

C. Stutz

Best advice I can give is before you purchase any species is to read everything you can find as well talk to people who already have it and if possible volunteer working with their animals.

All the best
Bryan
-----
Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Australian Venom Research Unit,
University of Melbourne
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Population and Evolutionary Genetics Unit,
Museum Victoria
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.venomdoc.com