Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: thedoc on 01/10/2013 16:03:52

Title: Can snakes die of their own venom?
Post by: thedoc on 01/10/2013 16:03:52

After watching the TV series “Life in Cold Blood” I was wondering how the venomous snakes didn’t poison themselves when they ate their prey. I know they’re not immune to their poison because they don’t use it on each other when they fight for their territory battles for example. I know if animals like ourselves ate food that had been poisoned it would have an adverse effect on us but it doesn’t seem to on snakes. I just wondered why that was, really.
Asked by Beth


                                        Visit the webpage for the podcast in which this question is answered. (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/naked-scientists/show/2008.04.06/)

[chapter podcast=961 track=08.04.06/Naked_Scientists_Show_08.04.06_1221.mp3](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenakedscientists.com%2FHTML%2Ftypo3conf%2Fext%2Fnaksci_podcast%2Fgnome-settings-sound.gif&hash=f2b0d108dc173aeaa367f8db2e2171bd)  ...or Listen to the Answer[/chapter] or [download as MP3] (http://nakeddiscovery.com/downloads/split_podcasts/08.04.06/Naked_Scientists_Show_08.04.06_1221.mp3)

Title: Can snakes die of their own venom?
Post by: thedoc on 01/10/2013 16:03:52

We answered this question on the show...

The reason is that the venom snakes use is a protein. Proteins are made up of building blocks of what’s called amino acids. (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F%2Fforum%2Fcopies%2FRTEmagicC_snake_02.jpg.jpg&hash=8eb8bc4cedeb95040bae995c2855939f)They’re the same stuff, effectively, as your Sunday roast

Title: None
Post by: Kofi on 28/07/2015 16:56:22

Probably not, no. In venomous snakes, injecting venom into a victim is a two-step process. First, obviously, the fangs must make contact. Then, since the venom is stored in glands, it must be excreted by the snake. Thus, it seems highly unlikely that a snake would inject its own venom into itself, unless it's recently gone through a bad break-up or something.

Also, it varies from snake-to-snake, but many species are able to produce their own anti-venom, able to counter any accidents they may encounter.