Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone got any decent info on toxicity, or cases of bites from H. gigas.

I found a couple of cases of bites in some old journals, which were not very informative, apart from that bites resulted in excessive bleeding.
An article in a reptile magazine suggested venom was comparable to that of C. horridus! But produced in smaller quantities. Does this mean the venom has a haemotoxic component?
It was also stated that venom yeild was higher than for other rear-fangs.
Does anyone know how Hydrodynastes compares to other opistoglyphs such as Boiga sp.?

www.venomdoc.com

I was envenomated by a three footer. Burned like hell for about 15 min. No other effects.

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

Cheers for reply, glad you were ok.
How bad was the bite?
did it chew on you?
any scarring?

I've heard reports the venom is similar in effect to Crotalus as well, though I heard atrox. Not sure how true this is, but since the venom yield is so low (and delivery innefficient), bites are unlikely to get ugly. Always best to err on the side of caution though and not get bitten.

Yeah I thought it was interesting the venom was similar to Crotalids. Could they share a common ancestor or is it parallel evolution?
I read Boiga venom is neurotoxic. Could they share ancestry with elapids?

Getting nailed by my FWC is not on my list of things to do!
Although it doesn't stop him trying! He's about 6.5feet and quite a handfull. Sometimes when I tail him, if he turns his head and encounters his body, he bites himself!

Absolutely THE finest serpent i've had the pleasure of maintaining.

Yes, the toxicity (drop for drop) is similar to that of some Crotalus (I also vaguely recall WDB). However, funnily enough, WDB venom is actually quite weak as far as lethality goes, compared to many other snakes. It's just that a WDB has LOTS of it. Since Hydrodynastes carries 20-50 times less venom than a WDB, and would have to give you a nice long chew to get it into you, the comparison is utterly meaningless.

The only relevant measure of a snake's danger is clinical experience. There have been some fairly unpleasant Hydrodynastes bites, involving swelling of entire limbs, and I have heard of one case of long term muscle damage. There has also been one report of a bite causing repeated attacks of paralysis and collapse, which is quite wqorrying, although the nature of the attacks seems somewhat odd for something caused by a snakebite.

Against that background, these are commonly kept snakes, and many bites are totally without symptoms (I have been bitten twice without any symptoms).

Basically, treat it with care and try to avoid bites, but don't worry too much about it.

Cheers,

WW
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WW Home

Sorry to be late in replying...

The FWC did chew on me for several seconds. Aside from the sympoms described; An intense burning (which confirmed envenomation), there was no discoloration or any sign of necrosis or any other result that was not consistent with a non venomous bite by a snake of similar size and power.

Once the burning feeling subsided there was no further sign of envenomation.

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