Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was wondering about the mangrove snakes venom. am i correct in that it is not potent enough to kill a human?
what about small kids?
what would somone expect with a bite from a mangrove snake?
front fang or rear fang?
I have no plans on getting one i just saw somthing on tv about them briefly the other day and was looking for a little more information.

Thanks Jason

They are rear fanged I belive.

Yes, they are opistoglyphous colubrids. I dan't know of any fatalities. They do get large enough to have the potential for an uncomfortable bite.

~~Greg~~

what about a child? could it be deadly for a small child to get bit? I just saw corwin with one on tv the other day...he was holding it but did say it would be a bad bite but not deadly...just kind made me interested a little bit

If a child were to be bit, it would definitely be more serious, though still very unlikely to be fatal.

Some species of Boiga like Boiga irregularis (brown tree snake) have caused serious (though I don't know about fatal) bites to children in Guam.

I have heard anecdotal remarks from one keeper who's friend suffered permanent damage in his hand (don't know the degree of this permanent damage, but it involved pain) from a bite from an adult mangrove on the knuckle.

The saving grace is that they have to get a real good chew on to give you a serious envenomation, so if you can get em off quickly, you shouldn't be in too much trouble.

In summary, a mangrove bite (or any rear-fanged colubrid) is best to be avoided...using proper handling techniques goes and protocols goes a long way. I have a big female who is very aggressive sometimes, but hook and tailing her and only handling when absolutely neccesary has spared me any bites.

Thanks for all who replied...It was very helpful

We've done quite a bit of work on their venom. Have a look at the publications section of my webpage.

They are venomous, the venom is very potent but produced in small quantities and delivered inefficiently. So, they are typically of trivial medical consequence.

Cheers
Bryan
Snake venom papers

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