Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have heard alot of tales and cannot glue down any facts. Can anyone help me? What are the top 10 most deadly? Which are the top killers? How many does the top killer kill per year on average? Thanks for any info.

I AM NO EXPERT THIS IS NOT MY LIST I FOUND IT ON THE WEB A WEEK OR 2 AGO PLEASE NO BACK LASH. THIS IS JUST WHAT I FOUND...haha

every list i look at for the top 10 is diffrent but the last list i looked at had this to say:
(But first, the disclaimer: Every venom expert has a different top 10 list. Ours is based on discussions with several of the leading experts in the field as well as reliable published material.)

1) Fierce Snake or Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus ), Australia. The most toxic venom of any snake. Maximum yield recorded (for one bite) is 110mg. That would probably be enough to kill over 100 people or 250,000 mice. These rare snakes are virtually unknown in collections outside of Australia.

2) Australian Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis ), Australia. One 1/14,000 of an ounce of this venom is enough to kill a person. *On exhibit at Reptile Gardens

3) Malayan Krait (Bungarus candidus ), Southeast Asia and Indonesia. 50% of the bites from this snake are fatal even with the use of antivenin treatment. *On exhibit at Reptile Gardens

4) Taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus ), Australia. The venom delivered in a single Taipan bite is enough to kill up to 12,000 guinea pigs. *On exhibit at Reptile Gardens

5) Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus ), Australia. The Tiger snake is a very aggressive snake that kills more people in Australia that any other snake on that continent. *On exhibit at Reptile Gardens

6) Beaked Sea Snake (Enhydrina schistosa ), South Asian waters Arabian Sea to Coral Sea..

7) Saw Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus ), Middle East Asia. Saw Scaled Vipers kill more people in Africa that all the other venomous African snakes combined. Its venom is 5 times more toxic than that of the cobra and 16 more toxic than the Russell's Viper. *On exhibit at Reptile Gardens

8) Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius ), North America. Coral Snakes have a very potent venom but many are too small to deliver enough venom to kill a human. This is the only elapid (relative of the cobras and mambas) in the US.*On exhibit at Reptile Gardens

9) Boomslang (Dispholidus typus ), Africa. The Boomslang is the most seriously venomous rear-fanged snake in the world. They have very long fangs and can open their mouths a full 180 degrees to bite. Famous herpetologist Karl P. Schmidt died 28 hours after a Boomslang bite. The day after the bite, he called in to say he felt well and would be in to work...2 hours before he literally dropped dead from the bite. *On exhibit at Reptile Gardens

10) Death Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus ), Australia and New Guinea. The Death Adder looks like a viper but is more closely related to the cobras. A dosage of 10mg of Death Adder venom is enough to kill a human. A good sized Death Adder can deliver up to 180mg in a single bite. *On exhibit at Reptile Gardens

Other snakes that are tied in the #10 position include the Black Mamba, both species of Green Mambas, and the Mojave Rattlesnake.

Snakes with much lower toxicity but which are quite deadly because of the tremendous venom they are capable of injecting are the Gaboon Viper and the King Cobra.
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1 Burmese python
1 savu python
1 blood python
2 Uromastyx mali, Nigerian
2 savannah monitors
2 pacman frogs
1 scalata tortoises

That website and info is a little outdated and in need of a facelift...Which we are in process of doing.
There are numerous changes going to be made to that...

If you would like some info and good discussions of this subject, try
www.venomdoc.com

As far as a partial answer to your question...Dead is Dead. Whether it is a Taipan or a rattlesnake...

One of my favorite questions from people is "which would you rather get bitten by a Taipan or a Mamba?" (or pick your two snakes) The answer is which would you prefer to get hit by at 40 mph...A Ford or a Chevy.. Dead is Dead.

Regards,

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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry Phillip
Curator of Reptiles
Black Hills Reptile Gardens
Rapid City, SD.

www.reptilegardens.com

I don't have a decent list for you off the top of my head, but I'll just point out that the above list is CLEARLY geared towards the snakes that this particular place has on exhibit. Note that they have the North American coral snake on the list, but not the PNG taipan or any of the mambas, which I think everyone here will agree all rank above the coral in almost every category (angisticeps may have slightly lower toxicity than the coral, but the glands are 4 times the size).

There are many variables to consider when determining how "dangerous" a specified snake is.

1. Toxicity
2. Volume of venom capable of being delivered
3. delivery apparatus
4. availability of AV

to mention a few....

Also keep in mind that in order to be compared, all venoms must be injected in the same manner. A fer-de-lance's venom is going to work differently than a coral snake's venom, primarly neurotoxic venom works better if injected near the surface of the skin while heamotoxic venom is better deeply injected. So when veiwing a "10 most venomous" type chart be sure to take it with a grain of salt.

There's a difference whether you're talking 'deadliest', or most toxic...The snakes topping the list of most toxic, dont kill as many people annually, as some others, lower on that list. According to annual deaths, the world's two deadliest snakes, are the Russell's Viper (Daboia russelli), and the Saw Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus), both of these animals kill upwards of 10,000 people a year each, sometimes more. These animals are common in rural farming areas, and villages, with relatively high contact with humans, and little, if any access to proper medical facilities, or anti venom. Listed below, is a list of the 10 most toxic snakes according to the most recent subcutaneous LD50 numbers...Subcutaneous is considered to be the most applicable LD50 measurement, to actual bites.

1. Oxyuranus microlepidotus (Inland Taipan/Fierce Snake)
2. Pseudonaja textilis (Eastern Brown Snake)
3. Aipysurus duboisii (Dubois's Sea Snake)
4. Pelamis platurus (Yellow Bellied Sea Snake)
5. Acalyptophis peronii (Horned Sea Snake)
6. Oxyuranus scutellatus (Coastal Taipan)
7. Bungarus multicinctus (Many Banded Krait)
8. Hydrophis melanosoma (Black Banded Sea Snake)
9. Enhydrina schistosa (Beaked Sea Snake)
10. Boulengeria christyi (Congo Water Cobra)

That list was written over 12 years ago. It is outdated. It was compiled from conversations with several leading toxicologist and herpetologist.. Information was taken from text, research and from conversation. At the time it was one of only a few such lists readily available. Toxicity was a primary focus. The LD50's of several different researchers from all the different routes of injection available for the listed species were 'averaged' together in order to compile the list.
Talk was given to listing the PNG Taipan as well as the Coastal but in some opinions one Taipan was enough. However there was enough of a difference from the Inland to the Coastal that they both were listed. Yet no sub-specific listing for Notechis, Micrurus, Acanthophis or Echis were given.
It was not and is not by any means a scientific evaluation. However, it gets a general point across. There is a discussion with much detail provided with that list at the site explaining that toxicity is a very senseless discussion.
It was not listed that way because of those animals being there at Reptile Gardens. We just so happen to be able to fill that list as well as most any others that one might find. We simply have an extremely large venomous collection.
That website is also used as an advertisement and seeing as the most common email I get from the general public has a subject line of "how many deadly snakes do you have" or something similar, so next to the listing of the species we also list that we have it on exhibit, however it is outdated as you can see that we have the Inland Taipans as well, though it doesn't state that there.
I used to answer that common question with " we don't have any 'deadly snakes' here as none of the ones we have ever killed anyone"
But that point was lost on most people. haha
The discussion of the 'deadliest' snake in the world has been discussed to death...
I personally hate such lists and feel that in order to contrive a 'real' list of relavance one would have to look at the percentage of death from envenomation by an adult snake to an adult human, untreated. Even within that, there are hundreds of variables available. It really boils down to being dead is dead.

Oh well, the director was hounding me just today about finishing our online inventory and re-writing 'the list'
So hopefully soon that will be finished.
Best Regards,

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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry Phillip
Curator of Reptiles
Black Hills Reptile Gardens
Rapid City, SD.

www.reptilegardens.com

See, in any discussion of the "most deadly" snakes, toxicity does factor in, but to me a factor with even more relevance is how likely one is to be bitten by the animal as well as medical facilites (or lack thereof) where the snake occurs....It's all well and good to list any of the various sea snakes as being some of the deadliest in terms of toxicity, but the likelihood of people being bitten is small for obvious reasons....

For my money, I'd have to say that the three deadliest snakes are the saw-scaled viper, the puff adder and the monocled cobra...(but not necessarily in that order). All three species occur in areas of high human population densities. Additionally, all three have adapted to living within these areas, preying on the rodents that seem to follow human habitation. Medical facilities in the areas where these snakes occur are sub-par at best, and considering how toxic the venoms are, it's no big surprise that these snakes claim many lives every year. Residents in areas where these snakes occur certainly don't help their cause any as traveling barefoot is common in these areas.
These animals appear to be at least locally common where they occur and in terms of human/snake interaction, this isn't good news for the barefoot resident walking around at night....

Yes, other snakes may be more toxic in terms of venom potency, but as far as the "fatality factor", I'd have to go with these three species. Of course, all this is a matter of conjecture, because how one conceptualizes "most deadly" is highly subjective.

Just my .02....

-AzAtrox

I agree with AzAtrox..the top three seem valid as do his reasons for that. I found the first list to be amusing for a few reasons. First, the Eastern Coral is not even the most dangerous snake in Florida. That title is owned hands down by the eastern diamondback rattlesnake for several reasons, size, venom capacity & likelihood of human contact being among them.
Having any opistoglyphous snake in a top ten list is absurd. The puffadder kills more people on the African continent than any other snakes..not Echis.

~~Greg~~

I believe the first list, even if outdated, was in reference to pure venom potency, rather than overall dangerous aspect of the individual snakes. Yes, hands down, eastern diamondbacks are far more dangerous than corals given those factors you mentioned. But drop for drop, the coral is far more toxic on an LD50 scale. Same for the boomslang. Even if it is an opistoglyph, that doesn't discount the fact that it is insanely potent, and in fact quite capable, for a rear-fang, to give a nice envenomation pretty easily. So yes, if you were just looking for a top ten list of "most dangerous" snakes looking at factors other than just venom potency, then this list would certainly be absurd. However, if you were to put each snake on the same level and just look at venom potency, it probably makes a lot more sense.

In my experience, generally when people, at least novices, ask the question "What is the most deadly snake(s)?", he/she is asking which snake species is the most potent. Most laypeople don't take into account which species kill more people annually, are found in more populated areas, are found in less medically-advanced areas, etc.
-Chance
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Chance Duncan
www.rivervalleyexotics.com

Thanks alot for your info.