How's this for venom yield?

[WW]

All the venom was from that one snake. You would not be too happy after getting all that injected s.c. .....

Cheers,

WW

[mm069]

Snouted Cobra?

[Pythonodipsas]

Massive N. nigricollis?

[froot]

Interesting, that venom has some head, not used to seeing venom froth like that. Looks like a good 5ml.

[Bushviper]

A teaspoon is 5 ml I would say that is a good 10 ml at least. Any idea of the eventual volume?

What snake is that because I would like to add it to the list of snakes I do not want to get bitten by.

If the guy doing the milking was nervous and chewed his nails before this I would hate to see what his nails look like after the milking!

[mm069]

I almost looks like a beer... A cobra beer...

[armata]

Only Ophiophagus could produce that amount!!!!

No wonder they can knock down an elephant in 2hrs!!

[mm069]

Oh, a King Cobra. Can they really knock an elephant doen in 2 hours?

[dave]

would not want this hanging onto me

[WW]

And the species involved was:



Here is the specimen that provided that venom sample:



No, it's not a king cobra, it's an African spitting cobra - pythonodipsas was on the mark - well, almost - for the full story, click HERE

:wink:

The amount of venom was 6.2 ml (it actually looked like a lot more in the collecting glass), weighing in at 7.1 g wet weight. The interesting aspect is that a recent study by Peter Mirtschin and colleagues found that cobra venom is actually higher in proteins than most other snake venoms - the ratio wet weight:dry weight being 0.34 - 0.41. If that also applies to this species, then the 7.1 g wet venom would work out as 2400-2900 mg of dry venom!!!

Unfortunately, we did not have the time to dry and weigh that load of venom, but I was assured by Royjan Taylor, who did the extraction, from a fairly randomly chosen adult at the Bio-Ken facility in Kenya, that that particular yield was nothing special.

BV: you are quite right: I would try not to get bitten by this species, it might sting a little.

Cheers,

WW

[snakepeter]

Whouuu, that`s very interesting article... I am going to read it right away... Thanks for posting a link, WW...

[Bushviper]

Has anyone done subsequent research to determine if the SAVP antivenom covers this species?

I take it this snake is a tribute to James Ashe?

You mention that it is a "giant" spitting cobra. How big have these been recorded at? If an average snake with an average yield produces that much venom what would the record be, I shudder to imagine?

[Quintin]

I was looking at the document that was provided and jeeeezz did you guys see those venom glands??? i'm not surprised at all with this yield!!

[WW]

BV: no, no research done yet on whether SAVP covers it. At a guess I'd say it probably does (it's closely related to other spitters, especially N. mossambica).

The name is a tribute to James Ashe, one of the grand names of East African herpetology. He knew of this project and had supported it. Sadly, he died just one week before my visit to Kenya in 2004 to collect samples and sort out a holotype.

Maximum recorded size is 274 cm (9 feet). Most of the specimens at Bio-Ken were approx 2 metres, so in terms of average size, this is a very big cobra indeed - large specimens are seriously impressive. However, there are some massive nigricollis in northern and northeastern Tanzania as well which could give ashei a run for its money.

Cheers,

Wolfgang

[Rob]

2.7m? My goodness imagine how far/much that snake could spit. You would look as if you just dived in the pool.