Garters do produce venom

[Natrix]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...nake_tooth.jpg

[chris-uk]

Hope things settle down soon

Esme has settled down already. I just made a point of taking her out. She's as sweet as pie when she's not in full-on feeding mode. I will be more cautious feeding her in the future.

After about 18 hours I've nearly got full flexibility back in my finger. There's definitely a dark red and blue colouring down my finger and a little way onto my hand, but I'm putting that down to bruising caused by me trying to flex my swollen finger.

[chris-uk]

So we're about 46h post-bite and the there's still enough swelling that I can't quite bend my finger all the way but it's only about 2mm short of fully flexed.
The bruising has become darker so it's clearly extending down the side of my finger and onto my hand. The bruise couldn't have been caused by the force of the bite, Esme's jaws aren't that strong. So I'm sure the bruise is just a result of the swelling going down.
As for discomfort, it feels bruised when I touch press on it or force it to a full flex. And it's a bit itchy.
No sign of infection, so letting it bleed a bit before cleaning and applying antibiotic cream dealt with any nasty bacteria that got into the bite. There's surprisingly little inflammation, just a little pinkness on the edges where the skin is knitting back together.

[Varanus]

My little checkered boys have never tried to bite me, and hopefully they'll stay so well-behaved even full grown (they're about fourteen inches long or so now). Maybe its because when I feed them I pick them out from their hide and it takes them a bit to wake up and realize the scent of food is around (though they normally grab something in less than thirty seconds).

I also wash my hands of dirt and worm slime before picking them up, and when feeding frozen food I thaw it in the feeding container so some time has passed between when I handle the food and when I pick up the garters, which I suppose could mitigate the scent.

Anyway, it is interesting how widespread "weak" venom is among the non-dangerous snakes. It makes sense though for the many species that have to overpower fairly large prey without the benefit of constriction to have enough of a venom to weaken if not kill the prey.

[guidofatherof5]

My little checkered boys have never tried to bite me, and hopefully they'll stay so well-behaved even full grown (they're about fourteen inches long or so now). Maybe its because when I feed them I pick them out from their hide and it takes them a bit to wake up and realize the scent of food is around (though they normally grab something in less than thirty seconds).

I also wash my hands of dirt and worm slime before picking them up, and when feeding frozen food I thaw it in the feeding container so some time has past since I handled the food and when I pick up the garters.

Anyway, it is interesting how widespread "weak" venom is among the non-dangerous snakes. It makes sense though for the many species that have to overpower fairly large prey without the benefit of constriction to have enough of a venom to weaken if not kill the prey.

You're taking all the fun out of feeding time.

[chris-uk]

Varanus, it mostly comes down to personality. To be honest I was complacent with this new girl, my others are all fine and I can read them pretty well. This girl probably hasn't been handled often in the past and possibly just had food dropped in for her rather than being tong fed. And the practicalities of feeding 15 garters means that my hands will normally have some food smell on them.

You're right that it's interesting to read more about venom in non-venomous snakes.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

If you just look at a garter snake as they are chewing on you... you can very clearly see the enlarged teeth at the back of their mouth as they puncture you and work them further in. Those teeth are there for a reason... to puncture deeper, making deeper, bigger holes for the secretions to get into.

[chris-uk]

If you just look at a garter snake as they are chewing on you... you can very clearly see the enlarged teeth at the back of their mouth as they puncture you and work them further in. Those teeth are there for a reason... to puncture deeper, making deeper, bigger holes for the secretions to get into.

Oh yes. And I could distinctly feel those enlarged teeth when they made a deep puncture. The other teeth felt like velcro or maybe a wire brush pressed against the skin, those big teeth felt like a jab from a needle.
I got a very clear view of the independent action of the lower jaw, it's a wonderful adaption to be able to work one side while the other keeps the grip on the prey.

[Varanus]

Varanus, it mostly comes down to personality. To be honest I was complacent with this new girl, my others are all fine and I can read them pretty well. This girl probably hasn't been handled often in the past and possibly just had food dropped in for her rather than being tong fed. And the practicalities of feeding 15 garters means that my hands will normally have some food smell on them.

You're right that it's interesting to read more about venom in non-venomous snakes.

Oh, to be clear I am placing no fault on you for how you feed. Basically I was pondering why I haven't been bitten before. It may just be their personalities. Mine feed well but I've never seen a particularly aggressive feeding response where they try to race at the food. It's more like I put them down in front of the food, they look at it and go "oh, food, yay!" and chow down at leisure. They rarely do so much as a partial strike.

You're taking all the fun out of feeding time.

I'm just happy seeing them eat so well.

[Natrix]

Hi! Varanus, For the record, I too have two snakes from the same place that Chris obtained his. All are re-homes after the original owner passed away. It would appear that none of these snakes have had much if any handling? The Albino T marcianus is friendly but very skittish, and the flame is unpredictable to say the least, to the point she was trying to 'eat' me through the glass and i was at least a foot away from the front of the Viv. It will only be a matter of time before the same happens to me as, as happened to Chris. To date I have only ever been tagged once and that was by the new flame. She's the largest in my small collection and will no doubt make her presence felt.