are garters poisonous ??

[gazzamann]

hello i was just woundering if anyone could let me no if garters are mildly poisinous just out of curosity. i have read a part on wikipedia which says they are mildly venomous but no harm to human. can anyone confirm this ?? cheers gaz

[guidofatherof5]

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/5277-duvernoy-gland.html

[gregmonsta]

hello i was just woundering if anyone could let me no if garters are mildly poisinous just out of curosity.

I haven't eaten one :rolleyes: ... but they are said to accumulate toxins in their liver from toxic newts and other amphibians.


i have read a part on wikipedia which says they are mildly venomous but no harm to human. can anyone confirm this ?? cheers gaz

They are and reactions vary. For the majority it isn't an issue but some have worse effects than others. As a general rule though - there's nothing to worry about.

[gazzamann]

cheers gregmonsta and steve i found tht article very intresting cheers

[gregmonsta]

Some more 'light' reading -

http://www.llu.edu/pages/faculty/whayes/documents/1985_hayes_toxicon_human_envenomation_garter_snake .pdf

http://www.unco.edu/nhs/biology/faculty_staff/mackessy/2000%20Toxicon%20Hill%20and%20Mackessy.pdf

http://www.wms.org/magazine/264.pdf

[kibakiba]

I'm pretty sensitive to their venom, but it seems most people get by with just a little bit of itchiness and redness. My hand swells up and feels numb with little needle like feelings. I haven't heard of anyone else getting that reaction, though. My body is pretty stupid ;)

[wolfpacksved]

Never had any issues w/ garter or Nerodia bites. The saliva is supposed to contain toxic properties. Venom research has a long way to go. Only recently did they figure out that Komodo dragon and other monitors have a toxic saliva and not simply a bacteria infested mouth as the belief was for eons. An interesting topic for sure.

[Didymus20X6]

As one person alluded, there is a distinction between "poisonous" and "venomous". Something that is poisonous is something that can affect you through consumption (you eat it) or through handling (you touch it and the poison seeps into your skin - certain amphibians are dangerous this way). But something venomous is dangerous if it bites you. Poison is primarily a defensive toxin, whereas venom is mostly modified digestive juice.

[guidofatherof5]

I've been bitten a couple hundred times by garters.
Twice I've had a mild reaction. Both times I was bitten in thin skin areas(between fingers).
Itching, redness and minor swelling for about 15 minutes.

[Didymus20X6]

But if you're worried about bites, you can always get yourself a nice thick set of PVC gloves. They're about $8 at the hardware store, and have quite a variety of uses. Mine, I can stick my hand in boiling water and barely feel anything.

I was glad I had them once. I was feeding Little Dude some fish - back before I got my forceps - and she mistook one of my fingers for a piece of fish. And she didn't let go! But I was wearing some PVC gloves at the time, and didn't feel a thing.

[chris-uk]

Never had any issues w/ garter or Nerodia bites. The saliva is supposed to contain toxic properties. Venom research has a long way to go. Only recently did they figure out that Komodo dragon and other monitors have a toxic saliva and not simply a bacteria infested mouth as the belief was for eons. An interesting topic for sure.

There was a very good documentary shown over here (I think it was a David Attenborough one) which showed how Komodo dragons would work together around a water hole with some of them distracting a water buffalo and one of them finally getting a superficial bite on its leg. Then they stalked the buffalo for weeks until it was weak enough to subdue.

Not that garters venom is in the same league, or they hunt in packs. :)

I have quite a lot of allergies, so far I've just had a quick bite (no chewing) but had no reaction at all. I'll wait for a proper bite before deciding I don't react to them.

[guidofatherof5]

Komodo Dragons Kill With Venom, Researchers Find (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090518-komodo-dragon-venom.html)

[ShadowBeast]

From what i've read Garter snakes are rear-fanged with the fans underneath a think layer of gum, so they would have to chew to envenom the victum.

[guidofatherof5]

Where did you read that?

[ShadowBeast]

Where did you read that?
I read it in one of my snake books(strangely I can't find the venom part) but if you search about garter snakes being rear fanged there's some results about it.

[guidofatherof5]

Garters are not considered rear-fanged. True, rear-fanged snakes have a enlarged set of rear teeth.(Opisthoglyphous snakes)

Garters are considered (Aglyphous snakes) No specialized teeth.

[d_virginiana]

I'm pretty sure I react badly to garter bites..
I've never had one of my garters bite hard enough to draw blood, but Houdini bit me on the pad of my thumb when he was going blind. He let go the second he realized it wasn't a worm, so the skin was just roughed up a little, but it still itched for a day or two. Once I got nicked by a water snake (barely half a centimeter scratch) and it bled all over my hand, and the area got swollen and itched for a day or two.


There was a very good documentary shown over here (I think it was a David Attenborough one)

David Attenborough is the MAN.

[guidofatherof5]

Are you talking about "Life in Cold Blood"?

[chris-uk]

Are you talking about "Life in Cold Blood"?

Could have been one of those episodes. Although it may have been a documentary called "Dragons of Komodo".