Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,

Well it is a on going debate it seems. Are hognose snakes and/or ring neck snakes venomous? Do they actually have venom glands, or is swelling from bits just a bacterial reaction?

Thanks,
Chris

All colubrids are venomous. The gland they have, formerly termed duvernoy's gland, is the exact same gland as found in atractaspidid, elapids or viperids. There are even ten toxin types (and counting) shared between all the advanced snakes. However, the relative danger posed by most (such as hognosed and ringnecks) is trivial.

The link below to the publications section of my webpage has our papers put out to date. More in the pipeline.

Cheers
Bryan
Papers

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

You forgot the American Kingsnake/Ratsnake/Bullsnake complex, Mate-Not venomous.

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

>>You forgot the American Kingsnake/Ratsnake/Bullsnake complex, Mate-Not venomous.
>>

Oops. Mia culpa. Yes, that clade has recently reverted back to the more primative constricting condition and consequently the secretion of toxic proteins has been replaced by mucous secretion. The Asian true ratsnakes appear to be similar in this regard. This is in contrast to species such as the radiated ratsnake which is actually genetically much closer to racers and still has the venom.

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

Interesting report.
Shane
nasicus bite link

Nice write-up. It has been my theory for years that the North American colubrids that have enlarged rear teeth use them to deflate toads & frogs, which inflate themselves as a defensive mechanism. Heterodon & Thamnophis are primarily amphibian eaters.

~~Greg~~

Greg:

Dr. Joe Gennaro reported on a component of Cottonmouth venom that caused the lungs to collapse in frogs & toads to defeat this defense strategy too.

Al
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Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.

Specifically targeting the lungs?
Shane

I'm sure glad it just targets amhibian lungs. I never had any trouble breathing.

~~Greg~~