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Venomoids - A Practitioner's View
Reproduced with permission of Raymond Hoser
PREPARING FOR VENOMOID SURGERY
As I did, it is important for whoever contemplates this procedure to gain full experience before doing their first "live" operation.
A checklist of materials needed for the operation includes the following:
- Surgical instruments (sterilized)
- Betadine
- Appropriate antibiotic (with known benefits in terms of reptile pathogens)
- Wood plank to affix snake, with several strategically placed nails to anchor twist ties or wire (at all necessary points).
- The nails should be put in far enough to be secure, but bendable so as to allow hard wire to be squeezed on if needed.
- Affixing material - twist ties (for the head and mouth), tape (for the head (initially) and then the upper body)
- Means to sedate the snake
- Thermometer as required.
- Sterile cage (no loose substrate, water, hide, temperature gradient and nothing else).
- Floodlight on a tripod, or other means to properly illuminate the operating table.
- Head Magnifying glass (at least as a standby).
- Suture materials (must have an oversupply to cover all contingencies).
- The twist tie used should be that bought from gardening suppliers that comes in lengths of at least a foot (30 cm) so that pieces can be cut long enough to properly restrain the snake. Smaller "twist ties" as used to secure sandwich bags may not be long enough.
PREOPERATION
The target snake should only be a well-adjusted captive.
Common sense dictates what should be done with the snake both pre and post operation. It should not be operated on with food in it's stomach. However if food has passed through the stomach and is in the intestines or bowel then it is perfectly OK to operate. All operating materials should be ready well before the snake is sedated.
In terms of planning, a first off operation may take anything up to four hours from start to finish in terms of preparation, sedation, operation and then clean up.
Later operations generally are quicker, but it is fair to assume that three hours is a good time estimate for the whole process. If doing several snakes at once (recommended when many have to be done), then add an hour for each extra snake.
THE OPERATION ITSELF
In terms of the actual operation itself, it is remarkably quick. Assuming everything is immediately adjacent (as it should be), the following times are guidelines for experienced practitioners.
Sedation - up to an hour
In terms of the operation, the following time lines are reasonable estimates for experienced practitioners.
Affixing snake to plank, with tape and wire and positioning body in towels to prepare for operation - 2 minutes.
Removal of both venom glands - 10 minutes
Suturing wounds - 10 minutes
Application of Betadine and anti-biotics - 1 minute
Measuring snake (s-v and tail) - 1 minute
Removal restraining material, cutting free snake and placement in cage - 1 minute.
In other words 20 minutes is a reasonable estimate of the time taken to conduct the operation. Most operations are completed in under this time.
Some snakes I operated on had other health issues of note that were dealt with at the time of the operation. One large female Tiger Snake had five ticks on it's body. These were left on the snake for some weeks and until the venom gland removal operation, because it was deemed easiest to remove them at the same time. One of the ticks was on the back of the head.
Another snake had skin worms which were cut out at the same time as it's venom gland removal operation. As a matter of procedure, the moment was seized upon to accurately weigh and measure all snakes.
Weighing was done by placing the snake in a container (pre-operation) and weighing it, while measuring was done at the termination of the surgery and immediately before releasing the snake and placement in the cage.
POST OPERATION
Again common sense is the rule of note.
Post operated on snakes are best left alone to heal.
As a rule, they should be kept in cages on their own and not fed for some time. I violated these rules on well-adjusted Tiger Snakes and the said snakes still healed without problem.
Feeding is an important issue as it is generally agreed that if a snake feeds and digests it's food post operation, then the operation has been a success. Snakes of all species operated on would feed voluntarily within days of surgery, including on amazingly large food items. Included here are Brown, Tiger and Copperhead.
Some sense here is required as if food items too large are fed, then the healing wounds may be damaged. As to why I rushed to offer food to recently operated on snakes, it was to establish the level of pain and discomfort felt by the snakes from this operation. It was deemed that if the operation caused undue pain and undue ongoing pain, then the snakes would refuse food. That they took food so shortly after the operation implied that the pain was neither terribly acute or debilitating.
That so many snakes of so many taxa took food so shortly after the operation, showed that my results weren't just a "one off" from some mad voracious snake, but actually reflected the minor nature of the operation.
Putting it in perspective, most snake keepers know that ailments as "minor" as mouth rot and mite infestations will put snakes off their food, so a snake three days after a (dual) venom gland removal operation is already well ahead of these others.
Healing is so rapid that sutures removed six days after the operation have left the mouth apparently healed and without sign of open wound. In such cases, the only evidence of wound is minor scabs around the suture material itself.
I have preferred to leave the sutures in for ten to 14 days post operation before removal and then not to feed the said snakes for at least three days thereafter.
This non-feeding is to allow the sutured gap further time to heal. Food sizes should be kept small post operation so as to prevent reopening of the wounds, although this has never occurred in cases involving myself. I have fed snakes before removal of sutures, the only guideline I have run on being not to sedate snakes for suture removal while food remains in the stomach (usually within about 3 days of feeding).
TESTING THE SUCCESS OF THE FINAL PRODUCT
The final "product" in this case is a non-venomous snake. The means of choice to test is a live rodent or similar.
As I don't have ready access to them as a matter of course (I get my rodents frozen), I used live Indian Mynah Birds (Acridotheres tristis) (a feral species here in Australia) that are trapped in a specially made bird trap in my back yard. The snake is made to bite into the flesh of the bird and if the bird doesn?t die then the snake is presumed harmless. The test is repeated three times on three different birds to confirm the result.
THE NET RESULT
In terms of the operated on snakes, they have presumably gained as a result of the operation. Instead of being handled like "deadly" snakes, they have been able to be handled more like harmless pythons.
Those operated on were already tractable and docile and had been selected for operation on that basis. However based on their deadly nature, their handling had still been constrained despite their tractability.
For those unaware of what I am getting at, put it this way.
A relatively docile python pinned by the head with a snake stick and then grabbed by the neck is likely to be more agitated than if it is picked up calmly and handled mid body. For the operated on snakes, this means that their handling in public displays for many years to come can be less stressful for them and they are unlikely to be unduly agitated by repeated pinning and neck grabbing.
For myself and the watching public, the risk of deadly bite is greatly reduced.
An obvious question readers may have is, that if the operation to make Australian elapids "venomoid" is now so simple and easy, have I made all my elapids venomoid? The answer is "no".
Most snakes in my collection remain "dangerous" and have not been operated on.
Put simply there was no need to operate on them. The snakes were not being used in public displays and at my own facility there is no risk of me or anyone else getting bitten.
The fact is that any half decent snake-keeper can use basic common sense and avoid a bite. Notwithstanding this, I have no doubt that using the simple method outlined here, other keepers of deadly snakes will now avail themselves of the means to make their deadly snakes harmless.
FINAL NOTE
Critics may accuse me of writing a "pro-venomoid" paper and/or other claims may be made. This paper is NOT "pro-venomoid", but reproduction of the fairly typical comments as posted on the internet and shown below under the heading "common misinformation" do show the sort of misinformation that abounds (this not being an attack on Jeff Barringer or Kingsnake.com itself, which is generally a very good forum).
This paper does however set out the facts in terms of a simple operation to make snakes venomoid, mainly so that others inclined to do such operations have a safe and reasonable template to operate under.
Yes, the operation is simple and claims to the contrary are simply not true. It does not result in deaths and mass mortality as may be asserted by some (see below)
I have laid out a template for the venomoid operation so as to avoid butchering of snakes by persons who may otherwise not have knowledge of such procedures and inadvertently cause undue harm to snakes. The venomoid procedure should not however be used by egomaniacs and other "tough-guys" who want an easy means to big-note themselves by supposedly taking risks handling deadly snakes that while apparently normal, are in fact harmless.
COMMON MISINFORMATION
The unedited posts below, illustrate the emotive misinformation that commonly occurs when venomoids are discussed in public forums.
Two posts (the entire thread) are printed below in unedited form to show how the information posted is contrary to the facts as detailed in this paper.
Whats up with Venomoids?
Posted by: palex134 at Sun Jan 25 14:51:58 2004
Can someone please give me some information on Venomoids.
Peter Alexander
Coastal Herps Inc.
AND THEN
RE: Whats up with Venomoids?
Posted by: calsnakes at Mon Jan 26 10:27:46 2004
As far as what?, what it entails mutilating a perfectly healthy creature because you cannot take the time to learn to handle them right. It most likely kills more than survive.
REFERENCES CITED
Frye, F. F. 1991. Reptile Care: An atlas of Diseases and Treatments. TFH books (2 vols) 637 pp. and appendices.
Mader, D. R. (ed.) 1996. Reptile Medicine and Surgery. W. B. Saunders Company, USA. 512 pp.
Millar, D. 1976. Observations regarding the surgical removal of the venom glands of an elapid. Herpetofauna 8(1):8-9.
A GENERAL AND A SPECIFIC WARNING
Handling venomous snakes carries risks, including when doing medical procedures. Furthermore, improperly performed venomoid operations may leave snakes potentially dangerous. If any person should use this paper or part thereof as a template for any operation, activity or whatever, no liability on the part of myself or the publisher of this article is given or conceded. Any person who handles venomous reptiles (including what's identified here as "venomoid") or does anything with them is solely responsible for their own actions. Put another way, if after reading this article a person chooses to deal with any kind of venomous reptile including venomous, venomoid, doing surgery or anything else, they are legally on their own.