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Venomoids - A Practitioner's View
Reproduced with permission of Raymond Hoser
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.