Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know aspidelaps species are not known to be all that toxic, but yesterday, I watched my female A. Cowlesi bite a rather large adult mouse on the tip of its tail. The mouse was dead within two minutes. That is pretty impressive. She didn't even hold on and chew, rather, it was more of a bite and release. This is not the first time I have seen her kill mice quickly either. I usually feed FT, but every time i feed live, they are usually dead in a matter of minutes. It just got my attention because recently I have seen a lot of videos online of people free handling aspidelaps like they were ball pythons. I don't know, just seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading.

Small elapids have been under-estimated with lethal results.

Sinomicrurus macclellandi was similary thought to be harmless until one killed a herpetologist. Six hours post bite he started to feel a bit ill, two hours after that he was dead.

These small elapids are typically within the same toxicity range as their larger cousins. So it comes down to a simple factor of how much venom is injected.

Thus free-handling any elapid is a recipe for disaster.
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Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Venomics Research Laboratory,
Department of Biochemistry,
Bio21 Institute,
University of Melbourne
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http://www.venomdoc.com

..... and lethal Aspidelaps envenomations are on record.
-----
Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Venomics Research Laboratory,
Department of Biochemistry,
Bio21 Institute,
University of Melbourne
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.venomdoc.com

Sure right about that Bryan! We fed our Aspidelaps lubricus a large adult mouse on several occasions; once, it struck and we though he missed the mouse. One minute later, the mouse was dead. The other times, the mice were dead w/in a couple of minutes. That's impressive!

>>..... and lethal Aspidelaps envenomations are on record.
>>-----
>>Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>Venomics Research Laboratory,
>>Department of Biochemistry,
>>Bio21 Institute,
>>University of Melbourne
>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>http://www.venomdoc.com
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Take it from the "pros" (as listed above,kiddies...do NOT handle venomous, of ANY kind, at ANY age (like those neonates still in the egg) with your hands. Getting bitten, by doing stupid things, is part of the reason the venomous community is having more and more trouble with credibillity; and more and more laws are being made and enforced!