Few Questions on Snakes and Spiders

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davo

davo

Aimara
MFK Member
Jan 9, 2006
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England
1. Kinda stupid, but when a snake sheds, the full skin it leaves, what happens with it in time... does it kinda decompose or does it have to be moist for that, or will it just turn to dust due to brittleness. or.... is there a easy way to keep a skin if you can? how would you do it.

2. Watched a documentary a few years ago and basically to show the effects of the venom from ?snake he took literally a drop of the venom and added it to a wine glass filled with goats blood. he swirled it for a couple of seconds and basically the blood thickened to a really thick jelly (is congeal the right word). anyway i thought it was amazing, just wondered if anyone else has heard of it, and what species of snake/s can do this?

3. Some south african guy i met mentioned that the daddy longlegs is the most poisonous spider in the world (or something along those lines) and ive heard that before. is that actually a myth or is it true? is it true that it just cannot bite you due to a lack of fangs or similar problem? also, if this is so poisonous, if you consumed the spider, surely you would be feeling the effects of its venom, or do spiders literally "create" venom when needed, and not store in fangs... im not sure.

hope the questions are clear, just wanted to do a multiple thread instead of lots. cheers guys
 
1.) The skin would probably become more and more brittle and fragile with time, and eventually fall apart. As for preserving it well, you could just tack it to a plaque or something. I knew a guy who kept every shed his boa had over the years, tacked them up where you could see the progression. If you wanted something more neat and might last longer, might get it lamenated (probably didn't spell that right).

2.) Yes, congeal is the word. I'm no venom expert, but snakes with hemotoxins (predominately the vipers and pit-vipers) in their venom would do this kind of damage. FYI, the other main type of venom consists of neurotoxins, which targest the nervous system. Most elapids (cobras, kraits, coral snakes, mambas, etc) have this venom. But there are snakes in both families that can have either or worse, both.

3.) I've heard this daddy-longlegs urban legend, too, and also have no idea how valid it is. I'm gonna google into it right now.
 
Sheds stay pretty solid over time, I've got all of my snakes "perfect" sheds in a box.
 
3) the daddy long legs urban legend is false.

They expiremented with this on MYTHBUSTERS on the discovery channel and proved it
to be false.
 
SimonL;491426; said:
Sheds stay pretty solid over time, I've got all of my snakes "perfect" sheds in a box.
Click to expand...

I was implying they probably wouldn't stay intact very long in the wild. Also, having them tacked up on the wall could be risky 'cuz anything could brush by them and tear them.
 
hey thanks guys i learned a lot. im still interested in the snake venom though. i never really understand how its produced, different types, effects and whyr etc. i might just google it
 
venomdoc.com
An interesting thing about venom is that it has to be introduced to the blood stream to effect you, or through mucus membranes in the case of spititng cobras. It is actualy posible to drink snake venom with little to no ill effect. (unless you have ulcers) Snakes produce the venom in a modified saliva gland.
I posted some articles in this thread:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36989
that talk about all colubrids producing somthing similar components to venom, as well as Varanids and some Iguanids.
 
pete620;492108; said:
venomdoc.com
An interesting thing about venom is that it has to be introduced to the blood stream to effect you, or through mucus membranes in the case of spititng cobras. It is actualy posible to drink snake venom with little to no ill effect. (unless you have ulcers) Snakes produce the venom in a modified saliva gland.
I posted some articles in this thread:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36989
that talk about all colubrids producing somthing similar components to venom, as well as Varanids and some Iguanids.
Click to expand...

VenomDoc is a good site.
 
if you want to keep the shedding,you could fold it up and put it in a small box.or if you wanted to show it off,you could frame it.i personaly have never gotten a full shedding from my python(is that normal),it has always come off in peices
 
i heard thats not a particularly good thing in snakes. maybe needs to be in a moister environment to help shed?
 
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