spitting cobras

[crocsnhots]

Although I have no intentions of working with these for years, I was wondering how those who keep them safely work with individuals who are prone to repeated spitting? When working with them, do you wear goggles, a welders mask or? or do you use nothing?

Just curious here... o>

[Crotalus75]

Goggles or a face shield are a MUST. Certain species can cause permanent eye damage and even blindness.

[Matt]

my recommendation is a full clear plastic shield.
while goggles are good to protect your eyes, they dont protect your mouth if you get some venom spit onto your face.

[psilocybe]

The one time you approach a spitter without some sort of face protection (goggles, face shield) is the time it's gonna nail you in the eyes with twin streams of neurotoxic venom. I've never had first hand experience, but have heard it's like sandpaper being vigorously rubbed on your eyeballs. Not fun. Permanent damage i.e. blindness can result if immediate action is not taken like flushing the eyes for many hours until all the venom is washed out. Another annoying aspect to spitters is that due to their nasty habit of spraying venom all over the place (cage, hooks, you), when the venom dries and aerosolizes, you are faced with the very real possiblity of developing an allergy to the venom. Everytime you clean the cage glass which, with an eager spitter will regularly be caked with dried venom, you will be inhaling particles of venom. In the event you take a bite, not only will you be faced with an envenomation, but an allergic reaction (anaphlactic shock) can occur. This can be fatal in minutes, much faster than the actual venom can kill you. An epipen (adrenaline) shot should be in your first aid kit in case you go into anaphlaxis. You should be well versed in this condition and it's seriousness before you expose yourself to such dangers. Hope this helps.

AP

[Mustangrde1]

Cobra Venom is not tasty. And let us not forget if you have an open wound and get sprayed in it you might as well have been bit. because now your envenomated. Spitters are nice but deffinately present a ton of interesting situations when working with them.

[Jeremy]

Hey psilocybe,
I belive damge caused to the eye by spitting cobra venom is more a result of its hemotoxicity as opposed to the neuros. If you look at the known sp of spitters you can see a trend. All are very hemotoxic and their envenomations cause massive localized damage. To my knowledge none are even close to being primarily neurotoxic like N.nevia or N.haje. Most are like N.kaouthia in having sever toxcity in both areas and some like N.nigricollis seem almost exclusivly hemotoxic(though they do have neurotoxins present in their venom as in most venomous sp).

Also, the reaction to the eyes is about the same as when hemos are injected intro the underlying tissue of a bite victim. Maybe not as severe but definately destructive. The potential for cornia damage is charcteristic of hemos. Had they been neuros then perhaps ytour eyes would only numb up a bit:-) Hey, maybe that a new effective treatment. Get hit in the eyes by a nigricollis and then take some nevia venom for the pain!:-) Ok, that was stupid.

Anyway, thats my opinion on the matter. I have never heard any research on this topic so I have no studies to back it up but based on what I do know of hemotoxic reaction first hand(being bit by a copperhead anit no fun!!!) this would seem to logical cause of truama.

Just my 2 pennies.

Best Regards,
J

[psilocybe]

Jeremy,

You're right, I had a long day yesterday Need to proofread better. I am well aware (though not firsthand, thankfully) of the hemotoxic nature of most spitters venom. The necrosis caused by N.nigricollis can be devastating! However, I'm sure there are neurotoxic components in spitter venom as well. Overall though, the function and results of spitter venom seem to suggest a strong hemotoxic composition.

I don't currently work with elapids, though I hope to make them the focus of my collection eventually, but I'm actually excited to work with spitters. Most people aren't...probably because spitting is a pretty unattractive feature in a venomous snake, at least as far as most keepers are concerned, and of course there is the whole "exposure to aerosolized venom" thing as well...going into anaphalaxis right after a bite and dying three minutes later could ruin anyones day (or week, or month, or year...) However, I still would like to work with a few species, probably N. pallida first. From there we'll see how much I really want to work with them

AP

[crocsnhots]

Thanks for everyone's responses.

Jeremy, that is a gorgeous specimen, what species is it? I'm not too familiar with many of the elapids yet as I have primarily focused on viperidae thus far.

Thanks~