BradG wrote:They looked quite healthy and they were probably done before it was banned for anything other than therapeutic reasons several years ago. I realise that is it a controversial topic, but there is no data available on the digestive efficiency of a snake that eats an envenomed prey, as opposed to those who don't. The only thing that is recommended is that they are fed dead prey only, to reduce the chance of being injured, but it's been noted that when presented with dead prey, some snakes don't choose to inject it. In any case, devenomed snakes have no problems digesting their food.
Hahahahaha Brad you crack me up
I can see this is gonna be a long post but it's for your own benefit. So tell me again, how many years experience do you have keeping reptiles mate? I'm tipping didly freakin squat. Once again, do you actually know what the purpose is of the venom apart from killing the prey item? By the look of it, not a freakin clue. As someone that has been keeping reptiles for quite some time, who was mentored by the late Graeme Gow and have a few mates that have been keeping them even longer, I feel I can speak on the subject with just a little bit of authority. So I'll educate you so that you don't make silly comments like the ones you have recently, point by point. Now I don't claim to be an expert or a vet, but as I have mentioned I do have the runs on the board and know a little about the subject. If you have any other questions let me know. If I don't know I'll find out for you. 1/ They looked quite healthy
Now that really is such a rookie error but understandable. Can you tell if a person is healthy just by looking at them? So how does one tell if a snake is healthy? Yes you can look at the snake in general but it doesn't really tell you much. Next time you want to "SEE" if a snake is healthy try looking in it's mouth. Let's take my pythons for instance. When they are healthy they have a bluish tinge to their mouths. Me and my mates use this as a very good indicator of the health of the reptile. The lack of swelling especially around the teeth, no abnormalities and cleanliness are all signs that things are going well. Behavior of the animal is another indicator. Now snakes don't do a whole lot but there are signs to look out for. If they are laying in their water bowl constantly, not feeding like normal and acting more aggressively than usual (bit hard to tell this on a Eastern Brown though. They're just psycho bastards naturally) are just a few such behaviors that could indicate somethings up. 1 behavior I never want to see with my guys is them laying upside down. Snakes just don't do this normally. Generally it means there's some issue with their nervous system and normally means that it's time to put them down as they are basically gonna die anyway.
2/there is no data available on the digestive efficiency of a snake that eats an envenomed prey, as opposed to those who don't.
Now that statement right there shows your lack of knowledge on the subject and one of the MAIN uses of venom, not just in snakes but quite a lot of venomous animals. First of all, snake venom is just modified saliva that generally screws with you if you get tagged. Everyone knows that most venomous animals use their venom to kill/immobilise their prey. Depending on the particular venom that a snake has depends on how it works. Some venoms attack the nervous system leading to paralysis and death. Others affect the clotting of the blood or destruction of red blood cells leading to death. The Inland Taipan or Fierce Snake is THE deadliest snake in the world. This particular animal has venom components that contains neurotoxins (nervous system), procoagulants (affects blood clotting) and myotoxins (damage tissue). I suggest you don't get tagged by one of these animals because even if you get the anti-venom, you will most probably have major, life long effects from this venom. How do I know this? I have a mate that got tagged by a Taipan. He was lucky that it was through the snake bag which absorbed most of the venom before it got to him. Now I mentioned that snakes don't do a whole lot. This is because they don't derive a lot of energy from their food. Much like a Koala that spends 23 out of 24 hours a day asleep. Now if you have very restricted levels of available energy, the last thing you want to do is use more than you have to. So by removing the venom from a snake you remove an important step in digestion and increase the energy and stress required to digest its food. The venom starts to digest the prey item from the inside before it gets to the stomach. Remember those myotoxins? They break down tissue at a rapid rate thereby saving the snake from using excess energy and stress digesting it's dinner. So as you can see, the venom DOES play a huge part in digestion.
3/The only thing that is recommended is that they are fed dead prey only, to reduce the chance of being injured What you said is partly true but not the whole story. Yes you shouldn't feed snakes live prey because of the risk of injury to a possibly quite expensive animal. But it's also cruel to the prey item. In the wild the prey would have a fighting chance to get away from the snake whereas in a cage it's got nowhere to run.
4/it's been noted that when presented with dead prey, some snakes don't choose to inject it.That comment made me chuckle . If the snake is hungry it WILL inject venom regardless of whether the prey is alive or dead because that's how it's programmed naturally. Please refer to the previous paragraph re digestion. Now if you're walking around the bush and disturb a snake it has a choice if it feels threatened. Remember that snakes don't have a lot of energy and producing venom takes energy. So therefore the snake has to make said choice. If he doesn't feel too threatened but still wants to warn you, he can choose to give you a dry bite which means you get a lovely set of holes in you but you don't receive any venom. Now if you don't take said warning seriously or he thinks you're gonna harm him, the snake can then say "screw you dickhead" and give you a lovely dose of pain and potential death to make you change your mind. It must be noted that most snake bites occur when some idiot is trying to kill the snake. Don't be an idiot.
5/In any case, devenomed snakes have no problems digesting their food. I guess after you've read everything here you can see that this statement is sooooooo incorrect it's not funny. If you disagree please go to the top of this post and start reading again.
You know the snake charmers you see in various countries "charming" their Cobras. Those poor things have been defanged and have a long, slow death to look forward to. So as you can see there's absolutely no reason to carry out this disgusting practice ever. Have a nice snake bite free day. Now I'd better go and change the water in my pythons cages. Let's hope I have a snake bite free day too
hold me back