venom production questions

dragunov.762 · 04-23-10, 11:21 AM

Hi all,
I was wondering how fast rattle snakes produce venom and how much they use on a prey item. I ask this because i had an Idea about feild herping and finding a venomous snake. the idea is if I bring a rat or two with me and happen to find a rattler and get it to strike the rat (using tongs or the like so i am far away from the snake) would it have enough venom left to tag me with (assuming i even want to try and pick it up which is still a long way off if ever at all) it was just an idea for a safety precaution and was wondering it anyone knew if it would be effective at all.

infernalis · 04-23-10, 01:06 PM

I gave your concept some thought and I highly doubt that this idea will help you out.

marvelfreak · 04-23-10, 02:50 PM

Won't help. They still have enough to kill you. By the way hello and welcome to the forum. I'am not trying to sound mean, but just a STUPID,STUPID idea. You should never handle any venomous with out years of training IMO. Do you have any reptiles? And what's you experience with handleing snakes?

dragunov.762 · 04-23-10, 03:02 PM

I have a Mexican Black King Snake and a little over a year and a half of experience (albeit not all good. my first snake got loose and we never found her, she was a striped cal king) but i have since learned and invested in a better cage (an exo-terra) for the snake i now have. I wasn't planning on trying to handle a rattler in the wild any time soon (there really not too common in ohio) just was wondering if that would help decrease the likelihood of envenomation.

dragunov.762 · 04-23-10, 03:08 PM

i have handle more snakes that that. A friend of mines parent breed corn snakes and i was a frequent visitor at my local reptile store and handles just about everything there (biggest was about a 7' boa). Not a lot of handling experience i know but I handle snakes whenever i get the chance, and mine all the time.

marvelfreak · 04-23-10, 03:59 PM

I have over 15 years handleing snakes and i still don't feel like i am ready to try anything venomous. I have come across water moccaisn and copperhead before in the wild. The Water Moccaisn was a baby i use a really long stick (10 foot long) to carefully move to a safe place by a creek. It was on a bike path. The copperhead, i was crossing a fence and step on it. Just as i went to lift my foot my brother (Jack) seen it. So my other brother (Curtis) grab a stick and pin what he thought was the head down. Then Jack grab me under the arms and pull me back over the fence. The copperhead shot up an just missed my foot by a inch or two. Then it took off. Curtis had pinned the tail down. Scared the s--t out of us. It was easily a 4 footer. All snake should be treated with the same respect as a loaded gun. And all venomous snakes should be treated with the same respect as a ticking time bomb.

dragunov.762 · 04-23-10, 05:34 PM

that was the whole point. to make a safer way to handle them. and was wondering how much venom they use in one strike and how long it takes they to remake the venom they lost. i really had no intention of trying it. i am really new to field herping and know my limitations. i am trying to gain as much experience as possible but where i live it is really hard unless you do field herp (petsmart and jacks are not the best places to gain experience with reptiles) and i have 2 younger children so there is no hot herps for me for at lest 12 or 13 years.

Will0W783 · 04-23-10, 07:58 PM

They have way more than enough to strike and inject it a few times. You really should not mess with any venomous snake without having had a mentor teach you proper handling/safety techniques. While I love venomous snakes and think they are beautiful, I simply do not trust myself not to get bitten at some point, and all it takes is once. There are so very many amazing and wonderful non-venomous snakes, why take such a chance IMO?
But asking questions is always good. There are no stupid questions, just people who stupidly don't ask.

If you are interested in learning field techniques for dealing with venomous snakes, ask around on forums and do an internet search to look for a mentor- I would think that would be how to find one, being as I have never looked for one, there may be other ways one goes about it.

percey39 · 04-23-10, 11:47 PM

All venomous snakes have enough venom to share in a few strikes. Remember it only takes such a minute amount of venom to kill. I would suggest some courses for safe handling of venomous snakes and also someone else to teach you with captive snakes before going any where near wild ones. I keep a lot of hots myself and do some relocation work, i still have moments that scare the hell out of me. There are many ways to stuff up catching a wild snake and all are very costly mistakes.

infernalis · 04-24-10, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by percey39

All venomous snakes have enough venom to share in a few strikes. Remember it only takes such a minute amount of venom to kill. I would suggest some courses for safe handling of venomous snakes and also someone else to teach you with captive snakes before going any where near wild ones. I keep a lot of hots myself and do some relocation work, i still have moments that scare the hell out of me. There are many ways to stuff up catching a wild snake and all are very costly mistakes.

Well said! Cheers.