Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What is the most venomous snake in the world? Pretty simple, right? Well if I just typed that there would be so many posts about venomous, and dangerous that this forum would explode, then get fed to a gator. So, what is the most VENOMOUS snake in the world? I thought it was Fear snake. I have seen the brown snake being the most, which I thought was 3rd, and the king brown, which I thought 2nd, and I have also seen the tiger snake being the most venomous. Which is right? Thanks, bye.

i've heard the black mamba is up there on the list. also the gaboon viper but not sure.

Oh man if you guys were really snake people than you would have saw the 2 hour (well really 2 shows) snake special on animal planet. They showed the most extreme snakes (venemous), I cant remember all 10 but I remember the last five they were, 5.Gaboon viper,4.tiger snake,3.black mamba,2.Taipan,1.King cobra

i got to see parts of those shows. just so you know i'm not a guy and i LOVE snakes. i watch every show i can about snakes but that don't mean i know everything. i mentioned 2 of the same snakes you did.
by the way, aren't you the one that wants to use parakeets for snake food??

I am almost 95% sure that it is the Inland Taipan

What parameters do you want to use? You need to get more specific with your criteria.

-What snake has the most potent venom for an equal comparative amount?
-What snake has the most potent venom regardless of volume?
-What snake is most dangerous to humans because of larger volume to potency ratio?
-What species is credited with the most human fatalities?
-What species has the highest ratio of fatalities to bites?
-What snake possesses the fastest acting venom due to most efficient injection, type of venom (hemotoxic/ neurotoxic, both) etc.?
-What species produces the most sever and frequent morbidity?

There are other criteria I am sure. This is why lists do not often agree about what snakes are most “venomous”.
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Randy Hallman

Oh so your trying to put dirt on me janome? LoL I just was answering his question, I wasn't trying to say your answered was uninformed or direct that last post to you in anyway, I was just excited to answer his question because I saw a snake special about venemous snakes 24 hours ago sheesh. Im Only 15 give me a break... Anyway Rhallman (sorry if I spelled your name wrong) the show was describing everything like that, The taipan has the power to kill 140 men and about a quarter of a million rats, but the king cobra came in first even though ten percent of its victems ever die it will repeatedly bite and bite delivering large quantities of venom. The show did everything you just about the catergories thing but they took the best snake that one in that catergory and made a top 10 special. I dont know if you understood that but yeah.

My point is there is no one definitive final answer to a question like “What is the most venomous snake in the world”. There are too many academic variables. The question is an interesting one but as worded it is unanswerable. It is worthy of discussion.
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Randy Hallman

I think the Bushmaster is under rated.....

Everything you see on television..

I believe Dr. Bryan Grieg Frye has summed this often asked question best, when he said “The debate of what are the most venomous snakes occupies a disproportionate amount of time, as it is of course purely academic… dead is dead.”
I believe the words of the good Dr. ring true and there are several factors to consider, when trying to identify which venomous snake harbors the greatest threat to human life.
The LD50 (Lethal dose 50%) chart is not and “exact” measurement of the potency of a toxin in regards to humans, since mice and rats are generally used and I doubt there are any folks out there willing to partake in such a study, as the LD50 is the amount or dosage mg/kg of a toxin necessary to kill 50% of the experimental subjects within 24 hours of delivery.
Once again, the LD50 is not indicative of the effects an envenomation would have on a human subject, but it does give us a guage of measurement, by which we can make repeated and accurate comparisons.
For better information regarding LD50 in regards to venom, you may wish to check out the link at the following URL and take a look: http://www.venomdoc.com/

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

It is hard for me to narrow it down. I don't think I mean potency, amount of rats killed, whether it can kill an elephant, or any of those. The fear snake is placid but I think that it is the most venomous, hard for me to explain what I mean. I too like to watch the most extreme, however I have found there information incorrect. I know for sure that the king isn't the most venomous, but I'm sure its up there. If it is not first then what # is the fear snake?

I heard somewhere the most venomous was some species of sea snake, not sure exactly which one...possibly the banded sea snake?
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-Ryan

"Are you feeling stupid? I know I sure am."
-Homer Simpson

np
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Jenea

1:3 Eastern Hognose
0:0:1 Florida Redbelly Snake
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:1 Red-eared Slider
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

Laticauda spp. and Hydrophiinae spp. with both families harboring a very potent neurotoxic venom, though not quite as toxic as that of Oxyuranus microlepidotus (Inland Taipan), formerly known as the Fierce snake or small scaled snake.
In comparison, O. microlepidotus (Inland Taipan) venom demonstrates a lethal dose 50% of just 0.025 mg/kg, while Laticauda semifasciata (Broad Banded Sea Krait) demonstrates a lethal dose 50% of .273 mg/kg. Between these two, it is quite obvious, the more potent venom belongs to the Inland Taipan, which is believed to habor the most toxic venom of the genus Oxyuranus.
As has already been mentioned, there is much debate regarding what species harbors the most toxic venom, but ml for ml, the potency of the venom harbored by the Inland Taipan is difficult to beat, especially when one considers the amount of venom a single bite can deliver, combined with the quickness such specimens are willing to deliver a defensive bite...

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

So I tried to find the one I was thinking of, and Aipysurus duboisi (Dubois' sea snake) popped up. It has an LD50 of .o44 which is very close to that of O. microlepidotus. That may put it in "2nd place". The reason I brought sea snakes up is that they seem to always get overlooked when this subject is brought up.
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-Ryan

"Are you feeling stupid? I know I sure am."
-Homer Simpson

Like I said The Inland Taipan came up #2 on the list because I believe (if I can remember correctly) they said about 60% of people will die from him and also they call this snake "the atom bomb of the mice world". But The REASON why the King cobra came up as number 1 is because even though only 10% of victems die it delivers an astonishing quantity of venom to anything it bites, its not uncommon for a king cobra to strike up to 10 times on a single target, plus they are not occasional venom givers like some snakes because they have a large quantity that they make. The sea kraite was #6 on the countdown because it does have very very toxic venom but many people will seldomly see the snake much less get bitten. I think the most extreme is informative, even though it doesnt go into every single detail but because its there to tell you about something but not for a science report.

The 10 most venomous snakes in the world live in Australia. The Australia Zoo houses five of them, including the four deadliest: the fierce, the eastern brown, the coastal taipan and the eastern tiger.

The fierce snake, or inland taipan, is the world's most venomous snake; its toxin is more than 50 times as potent as an Indian cobra's!

Many other sources say the fierce snake is the world's most venomous.