The glands (one on each side of the head) are sited under the rear head shields and surrounded by muscle tissue. They sit outside the jawline and with the surrounding muscle tissue form a major part of the flesh in the posterior dorsal head region around the back of the skull. The exact size and positioning of the venom glands varies from snake to snake, but appears to be larger (and reaching further back) in larger snakes of a given species. To the rear, the gland has a rounded end, while anteriorly it narrows to form a vessel or duct that runs under the jaw and into the fang. The length of the venom duct in terms of it’s run from the venom gland to the fang tooth also varies from snake to snake. It is not always distinct, in that the narrowing may be fairly rapid, or in some snakes more gradual and this variation appears to even occur within a given species and even with age or size.

In some snakes the duct is up to 1 cm in length and very obvious as a duct, while in some snakes it appears to be almost indistinct with the venom gland almost appearing to narrow and run into the fang.

While more-or-less pointed at one end and with a blunt end at the posterior end, the glands are more-or less rectangular and encased with muscle tissue which appear to help push the venom to the fang. This muscle tissue is fairly easy to separate from the venom glands along the length of the glands, but at the rear, both gland and muscle is affixed to the rear of the head or the flesh of the neck. To separate this, one must cut it. At the anterior end of the gland, the venom duct must also be cut to remove the gland, and when doing so, it is important to cut the duct and not the anterior part of the gland (otherwise leaving part in the snake).

While a number of texts detail the structure of venom glands in snakes, preceding surgery it was essential for me to dissect snakes and look at these structures for myself. Initially it was envisaged that I’d dissect dead captive snakes as "test runs" for surgery", but in late 2003, I was fortunate to find several road-killed Tiger Snakes in order to inspect them.

While some corpses were quite decayed and smelly, they were still adequate for me to inspect the venom glands and test means of conducting surgery, instruments to be used and even refine the means by which I eventually immobilized the snakes in surgery. Tested were both the "external excision" method, by going through the side of the head, and the "internal excision" method, of going through the roof of the mouth, which was ultimately decided to be the preferred method.

It was only after all aspects of surgery had been addressed and tested as best as possible on dead snakes that an operation was conducted on a live snake, which had already been immobilized and kept so for a period equal to or longer than an operation would take and recovered without incident.

THE FIRST VENOMOID OPERATION

The method used for this operation was the same as that used for all others and minor refinements to the means of restraining the reptiles.

The venom glands were removed by an operation into the roof of the mouth to remove them internally, the result being no cutting to the external surfaces or scales of the head.

The subject was a half-grown Tiger Snake. It was placed upside down on a 60 cm long wooden plank (removed from the fridge) and then by it’s head and snout sticky taped down to the wood, with the snout and neck at a predetermined spot and held down.

The tape ran over the head only.

The following section of the neck was quickly sticky-taped down to the wood (with the tape running around the board in full circles), with the rest of the snake then being unrestrained but placed over an adjacent towel. The area near the heart (about 1/8 of the way down a snake’s total length) was not restrained in any way, (nor was lower down the snake’s body in this operation, but for later operations lower down was restrained as well).

The tape over the snake’s head and snout was then removed (having been in place for only a few seconds), with the snake itself opening it’s mouth to breath. (For those unaware, the glottis, or windpipe of a snake is not always open. It opens and shuts periodically and a momentary blockage is not a fatal condition, so long as it is kept just that, momentary).

The lower jaw and upper jaw were then fixed in a position to allow surgery to start. Veterinary surgeons suggested using string, sutures and other materials to affix the snake’s jaws during surgery, but after some previous testing on the snake (without actually doing surgery), it had been established that the best means to affix the jaws and head in place was as follows.

The neck region had already been fixed flat and in a straight line with sticky tape. By it’s nature, this effectively prevented the snake from any means to squirm loose, even if it were to regain consciousness or an ability to move during the operation, which may occur if the snake were insufficiently sedated.

No other effective way was found to properly restrain the snake.

To either side of the head and neck region of the snake and already affixed to the wood plank, were nails. These had been affixed as contact points for so-called "twist ties". These are thin metal strips that can be easily bent and twisted to form a tight line or knot. A long strip was used to affix the lower jaw to the wood, while a second strip was used to do the same to the upper jaw, making sure that the glottis (windpipe) remained clear.

In a breathing snake, this periodically opens and shuts and this remains the case in the snake as it is operated on. A hard-wire frame was set between two nails to hold up the lower jaw (on top) to keep the mouth open for the operation. The nails were set (slightly in facing) to make the frame naturally rise and fix in position, thereby holding the upper jaw in place and fixed.

Nails on the board (several on each side) were spaced apart to allow for any snake to the size of a three-metre elapid and to allow fixing of more than one wire to hold the lower jaw down, so that the fixing wire could be moved if needed if cutting was needed where the wire crossed the snake’s mouth.

Due to the lifting of the mouth, twist ties ran through the nails on either side and (after the first operation) on to other nails placed on the sides of the plank (as opposed to the top side where the snake lay). This means that the wire twist ties could be also affixed to these lower nails and hence pull down the mouth (upper jaw on bottom) to be fixed to the board.

Once affixed securely and so that there was no possible movement of the snake, surgery began. For the record, most movement seems to be in the caudal region in the form of undefined coiling and movement.

In terms of the head, the only possible movement is the windpipe opening and closing and the flickering of the tongue, which also gives a good indicator of the level of consciousness of the snake. If one looks, one sees the glottis opening and closing throughout the operation.

Using standard surgical instruments (scalpel, tweezers, etc) sterilized in (continually) boiling water, for at least ten minutes (before the commencement of the surgery and allowed to cool to room temperature), the venom glands are separated from adjacent tissues and then cut loose from the ends where they are affixed to the venom duct (anteriorly) and the rear of the head.

It goes without saying that the anterior cut includes as much of the venom duct as possible. The limiting factor is where the duct enters the jaw line and the fang structure. That part of the duct cannot be cut. The procedure followed was to remove both venom glands first. The result was the same for each side of the head.

This was a (relatively) large gaping hole between the side of the head and the rear of the upper jaw, heading from about the region of the eye to the rear of the head (and in larger snakes operated on later, the cavity ran almost to the upper neck). This hole was then sutured up with (fairly standard) Polyamide monofilament non-dissolving sutures. (In the first snake I used assunyl USP/30 - EP2 75 cm TS-24.3mm).

This snake had three sutures on each side and the result was that the (elongate) hole was effectively closed. The whole lower mouth area was then irrigated liberally with Povodine Iodine (Betadine) and Neosporin (Antibiotic).

Because I had complete control over the snake’s state of consciousness, I was also able to accurately measure the snake and photograph it in it’s operational state before terminating the procedure.

I next commenced removing the tape holding down the snake. This is merely cut next to the snake and then carefully peeled from the snake’s scales. No damage is caused to the snake’s scales.

The final section of tape (about 3-5 cm) is not cut until after the head is unsecured. The twist ties are merely released and then the head is held down while the final piece of tape is cut and carefully separated from the snake. It was then placed back into it’s (immediately adjacent) cage. The cage was typical of what I keep most elapids in. This is a clear plastic tub with nothing more than a newspaper substrate, sealed upturned pot as a hide and a water bowl, with a heat mat at one end of the cage (underneath it and radiating up).

 

The ’sterile’ nature of the cage is important so as to prevent dust and other material finding it’s way into the wounded area. Within minutes the snake had recovered and save for bits of betadine and perhaps coagulated blood giving the head a bloodied appearance, as well as the ends of some sutures hanging down the sides of the scales, there was no evidence of the operation.

The snake moved about normally and flicked out it’s tongue properly. The snake appeared to recover without incident and daily inspections showed a linear recovery. No further treatments with anything was done. The sutures were removed 9 days later (later snakes were left with their sutures longer, usually about 14 days). At this point there were a few uninfected scabs visible on parts of the affected regions, but the snake appeared healthy. Three days later the snake had no signs of wounds at all and was fed two mouse tails. The very small feed was deliberate so as not to adversely affect the healing wounds.

In terms of the snake’s behaviour, it was completely normal and there was no outward sign that the snake was venomoid.

FURTHER NOTES ON THE FIRST VENOMOID OPERATION AND LATER ONES

During the operation, bleeding of the cut areas led to the tissues being obscured in blood, momentarily stopping the progress of the surgery. To remove the blood a 5 ml syringe with chilled (near freezing) water was used to squirt out the blood. The blood tended to coagulate almost instantly and the operation was not impeded.

It was suggested that a soldering iron be used to cauterize wounds and stop bleeding, but due to the effectiveness of the syringe method, I never bothered testing the alternative.

It was also deemed that the syringe method had less risks associated with it. Blood loss is not an issue in terms of this operation as no major arteries run near the operation area and hence in terms of the mass of the snake, blood loss is minor.

Due to the small size of the first snake and the lack of tissue left between the side of the head and the hole, sutures were placed through the labial scales. After their removal, the labials healed perfectly and there was no external evidence of the operation. In larger snakes, it wasn’t always necessary to suture through the labial scales (depending on how I cut to get the venom glands out).

In the first operation I used a head magnifying glass to be able to better see the area operated on. In larger snakes (such as 1. 5 metre ones), this wasn’t needed. The naked eye was sufficient to see what was necessary. Some snakes operated on later did not have any antibiotic applied to the wounds. They merely had betadine applied. This was an inadvertent error at the time, but the snakes still healed rapidly and without incident.

THE FINAL RESULT

While there are many claims by critics of venomoid surgery about disfigurement of snakes by venomoid surgery, the reality (in these cases) is actually quite different.

Based on the size and placement of the venom glands, it stands to reason that the result is a slight narrowing of the head in the relevant region. However due to the variation in head size within species, this tends not to be noticeable, at least in terms of the Australian elapids operated on.

This lack of noticeability is further exemplified by the fact that the snake’s skull is fairly flexible (unlike humans) and due to the original bone structure, scale placement and so on, as not removed in the operation, the head and skull tend to sit in a manner essentially the same as before the operation. The difference is almost undetectable.

To a person who has actually done the surgery on a known snake and who has similar unoperated on snakes of the same species in their collection (as I did), it is possible to notice a lack of rigidity and hardness of the posterior of the head when handling snakes by the head and neck. That is perhaps the most noticeable trait of venomoid elapids and still one that few persons would ever notice. To put the final result in perspective, after the success of the first operation, several other snakes were operated on via the same or similar procedure.

While still carrying sutures, several experienced (and well-known) reptile keepers came and looked at my snakes and not one noticed any difference in the snakes or even their sutures. As for the snakes with sutures removed, well, these same keepers (and others) never had any idea that they were looking at venomoid snakes.

To them the snakes appeared normal in every way!

SUTURE TYPES

After the first operation’s success, several more were planned, this time on several species, although it was mainly Tiger Snakes that were first in line to be operated on. The first seven operations all went perfectly, with four done in immediate succession on one day.

Different sized sutures were tested and I had a preference for the original (large) size as opposed to the smaller ones, which I found harder to use and hence extended the time taken to perform the surgery. It was also suggested that dissolvable ones be used, but based on the ease of removing the non-dissolving ones, this wasn’t an issue and so they weren’t tested on the first snakes (but have been used since and with equal final success). As with all other aspects of the procedure, suture types should be tested well before the first operation if there is doubt as to whether or not you will be able to work with one or other type of suture or needle. In line with most surgeons, I preferred curved needles to straight ones.

SPEED OF SUCCESS

While I may perhaps be criticized for my next comment, I will make it nonetheless.

Notwithstanding the precautions taken for the first operation, there was always deemed to be an element of risk and hence the snake operated on was that deemed most ’expendable’, although in my collection, no snakes really fitted the category of ’expendable’. I also exercised perhaps the greatest degree of precaution in terms of what I did and didn’t do before, during and after the operation on the first snake rather than the later ones, due in part to my familiarity with what the snakes would do and how they’d respond.

One of these things I was cautious about was in terms of offering food.

While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to others, I have offered food to snakes (of several species) just three days after being operated on and they have eagerly grabbed food and eaten it. This is mentioned here merely to show how rapid recovery is, so as to point out that the surgery is very minor in terms of potential things that may occur in the mouth of a snake, including in terms of alleged pain and suffering.

By way of comparison, mouth-rot (canker) infections in snakes typically manifest in hard bone tissue and even a mild case of this disease would cause a snake far more pain and discomfort than a venom gland removal operation as performed in the manner outlined here.

An example of the discomfort caused by mouth rot was seen in a Death Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) in my collection that had a serious case in 2003.

That mouth rot case (associated with a reovirus infection) came twice (as in the mouth rot appeared, seemed to heal and then relapsed) and the final result was loss of a bone in the lower jaw. It literally rotted and fell away.

Eventually the infection healed and the snake recovered, but minus the lower jaw bone (on one side).

That the snake was able to carry on as normal with this impediment is testimony to what a snake can live without. Yes, the snake is alive and well at the time of writing this paper. More importantly is that during the weeks of infection, this snake refused to eat.

Based on the speed of recovery from the venomoid operation by venomoid snakes, and when they will eat, it can only be assumed that the operation (if performed correctly) is neither particularly painful or particularly damaging for snakes. Now recall, that snakes don’t get morphine and other painkillers after operations. It would also be safe to infer that a snake in pain won’t eat and if snakes are eating within days of being operated on (in the mouth no less) then clearly the pain cannot be that great. Hence allegations of cruelty to snakes in terms of venomoid surgery performed correctly do not have a basis of evidence.

EXTERNAL VERSUS INTERNAL INCISIONS

In the operations I conducted, the incisions were in the muscle tissue lining the mouth between the jaw line and the labials. The underlying venom gland/s were then removed.

For those unaware, the venom gland/s are readily detectable as an elongate ’organ’ of different structure to the muscle or ’meat’ that surrounds it (and is the same as other muscle or ’meat). The elongate hole was sealed and when healed was hard to notice on the snake. As one who performed the surgery, I noticed the fact that this part of the mouth was narrower, including as compared with un-operated specimens of the same species.

However I did dummy runs on other reptile keepers and asked them if they noticed any differences (without telling them what it was) and none did. No doubt this was due in part to the healing process leaving no distinct scars.

In terms of external incisions, if that method were to be used, the cuts should be along the scale lines, rather than across the scales.

This presents some difficulty in terms of the shape of the scales themselves and to avoid a scar it would also be necessary to cut in a flap, separate it from the underlying tissue before going further and then to sew the scale back into the same shape after the venom gland has been removed.

Noting the lack of tissue underneath the excision (after the removal of the venom gland), cratering of the scales would be an almost unavoidable effect.

Another issue of note is that the skin (scales) on the side of the head form a considerably harder thicker and impenetrable skin than any of the other tissue that needs to be cut in the snake’s head for the venom gland removal operation. By virtue of the thickness and rigidity of this tissue, it stands to reason that it’d take longer to properly heal than the soft tissue inside the mouth.

Hence the external excision method of venom gland removal was deemed inferior to the method I used. There are other disadvantages of the external incision method. As a snake moves about it will automatically get dust and dirt into any external wound, even if covered with a dressing of sorts. It has no means by which to clean the wound (on an ongoing basis), save for when it sloughs which is not a regular occurrence.

Furthermore, any keeper will know that sites of cuts and wounds often don’t shed properly and in the captive situation a keeper may intervene to get the adjacent skin removed. The situation for the mouth is radically different.

In fact every aspect of the snake’s mouth serves to make internal excision the preferred method of surgery to remove venom glands. Snakes have no arms or legs and must (in the wild) grab struggling prey by their mouths. They are hence pre-adapted to deal with the regular mouth wounds and injuries that occur when restraining struggling prey in their mouths.

In other words, the mouth is set-up to deal with the open bleeding wounds that arise.

The mouth’s lining is not hard scale tissue, but rather soft tissue. Hence, once the incisions to remove the venom glands stop bleeding, they present a similar face to the already existing and untouched surrounding tissue. The mouth is generally kept closed (and safe from dust and debris) and the snake’s tongue also assists in keeping dust out of the way.

Gravity also assists, in that due to the fact that excisions are to the roof of the mouth, pus, debris and scab material will naturally fall down and away from the lesions, hence allowing them to remain clean and heal. To the contrary, gravity would work against healing in terms of external and/or semi-dorsal excisions.

Proof that gravity (and the other factors) works in favour of healing of the internal excision wounds also comes in the form of the known statistics for mouth rot infections in snakes. These predominate in the lower jaw and snout regions, NOT the rear upper mouth. In that part of a snake’s mouth, infections (at least in the early phase of mouth rot) are virtually unknown.

This is for several reasons, but also means that the inherent risk of infection of a snake’s mouth following venomoid surgery as outlined in this paper is so remote as to be almost insignificant.

Another point of note is as follows.

In the wild state, snakes grab and hold struggling prey in their mouth. As a result, mouth injury must be particularly common for snakes (and far more so than for mammals such as humans), and as a result it’d be reasonable to infer that they are pre-adapted for rapid healing of such wounds. This inference certainly holds true in terms of the venomoid surgery detailed here.

Most snakes show no evidence at all of wound or lesion within 20 days of surgery and if sutures are removed earlier rather than later, it is possible for the wounds to have effectively disappeared within 14 days (in most cases).

In the case of the first venomoid operations, the speed of healing was so fast as to be mind-boggling. After several operations, this ’novelty’ wore off, but the normalcy of the high rate of healing showed that the operation is in the normal course of events a minor concern to the snakes themselves. Nothing happened to indicate that the snake’s long term health or welfare was in any way at risk, either at the time of operation or after.

SUTURING THE WOUNDS

My aim was to merely close the elongate hole I had made by removing the venom glands. In most cases two or three stitches on either side were sufficient. Rarely one or four on each side was required (or done).

In terms of the suture material used, one, or sometimes two packs of "ready to go" suture needle and material was sufficient. However it is always essential to have more than required in case of unforeseen need (even though this never occurred in my cases). While it may be argued that more stitches are better, I kept numbers to a level sufficient to close the wounds and bearing in mind the fact that I had to remove them about 10-14 days later.

Fortunately, even after cutting out the venom glands, the natural position of the wound I’d made was to be closed. Hence the sutures, didn’t so much as hold the wound closed as to stop the sides from rubbing or moving against one another as was would occur if unsutured. Removal of sutures was easy. The snake would be simply sedated as for the main operation, the sutures cut and removed with forceps and then the snake placed back in it’s cage where it would recover. This was however far quicker than the main operation.

PREPARING FOR VENOMOID SURGERY

As I did, it is important for whoever contemplates this procedure to gain full experience before doing their first "live" operation.

A checklist of materials needed for the operation includes the following:

Surgical instruments (sterilized)

Betadine

Appropriate antibiotic (with known benefits in terms of reptile pathogens)

Wood plank to affix snake, with several strategically placed nails to anchor twist ties or wire (at all necessary points).

The nails should be put in far enough to be secure, but bendable so as to allow hard wire to be squeezed on if needed.

Affixing material - twist ties (for the head and mouth), tape (for the head (initially) and then the upper body)

Means to sedate the snake

Thermometer as required.

Sterile cage (no loose substrate, water, hide, temperature gradient and nothing else).

Floodlight on a tripod, or other means to properly illuminate the operating table.

Head Magnifying glass (at least as a standby).

Suture materials (must have an oversupply to cover all contingencies).

The twist tie used should be that bought from gardening suppliers that comes in lengths of at least a foot (30 cm) so that pieces can be cut long enough to properly restrain the snake. Smaller "twist ties" as used to secure sandwich bags may not be long enough.

PREOPERATION

The target snake should only be a well-adjusted captive.

Common sense dictates what should be done with the snake both pre and post operation. It should not be operated on with food in it’s stomach. However if food has passed through the stomach and is in the intestines or bowel then it is perfectly OK to operate. All operating materials should be ready well before the snake is sedated.

In terms of planning, a first off operation may take anything up to four hours from start to finish in terms of preparation, sedation, operation and then clean up.

Later operations generally are quicker, but it is fair to assume that three hours is a good time estimate for the whole process. If doing several snakes at once (recommended when many have to be done), then add an hour for each extra snake.

THE OPERATION ITSELF

In terms of the actual operation itself, it is remarkably quick. Assuming everything is immediately adjacent (as it should be), the following times are guidelines for experienced practitioners.

Sedation - up to an hour

In terms of the operation, the following time lines are reasonable estimates for experienced practitioners.

Affixing snake to plank, with tape and wire and positioning body in towels to prepare for operation - 2 minutes.

Removal of both venom glands - 10 minutes

Suturing wounds - 10 minutes

Application of Betadine and anti-biotics - 1 minute

Measuring snake (s-v and tail) - 1 minute

Removal restraining material, cutting free snake and placement in cage - 1 minute.

In other words 20 minutes is a reasonable estimate of the time taken to conduct the operation. Most operations are completed in under this time.

Some snakes I operated on had other health issues of note that were dealt with at the time of the operation. One large female Tiger Snake had five ticks on it’s body. These were left on the snake for some weeks and until the venom gland removal operation, because it was deemed easiest to remove them at the same time. One of the ticks was on the back of the head.

Another snake had skin worms which were cut out at the same time as it’s venom gland removal operation. As a matter of procedure, the moment was seized upon to accurately weigh and measure all snakes.

Weighing was done by placing the snake in a container (pre-operation) and weighing it, while measuring was done at the termination of the surgery and immediately before releasing the snake and placement in the cage.

POST OPERATION

Again common sense is the rule of note.

Post operated on snakes are best left alone to heal.

As a rule, they should be kept in cages on their own and not fed for some time. I violated these rules on well-adjusted Tiger Snakes and the said snakes still healed without problem.

Feeding is an important issue as it is generally agreed that if a snake feeds and digests it’s food post operation, then the operation has been a success. Snakes of all species operated on would feed voluntarily within days of surgery, including on amazingly large food items. Included here are Brown, Tiger and Copperhead.

Some sense here is required as if food items too large are fed, then the healing wounds may be damaged. As to why I rushed to offer food to recently operated on snakes, it was to establish the level of pain and discomfort felt by the snakes from this operation. It was deemed that if the operation caused undue pain and undue ongoing pain, then the snakes would refuse food. That they took food so shortly after the operation implied that the pain was neither terribly acute or debilitating.

That so many snakes of so many taxa took food so shortly after the operation, showed that my results weren’t just a "one off" from some mad voracious snake, but actually reflected the minor nature of the operation.

Putting it in perspective, most snake keepers know that ailments as "minor" as mouth rot and mite infestations will put snakes off their food, so a snake three days after a (dual) venom gland removal operation is already well ahead of these others.

Healing is so rapid that sutures removed six days after the operation have left the mouth apparently healed and without sign of open wound. In such cases, the only evidence of wound is minor scabs around the suture material itself.

I have preferred to leave the sutures in for ten to 14 days post operation before removal and then not to feed the said snakes for at least three days thereafter.

This non-feeding is to allow the sutured gap further time to heal. Food sizes should be kept small post operation so as to prevent reopening of the wounds, although this has never occurred in cases involving myself. I have fed snakes before removal of sutures, the only guideline I have run on being not to sedate snakes for suture removal while food remains in the stomach (usually within about 3 days of feeding).

TESTING THE SUCCESS OF THE FINAL PRODUCT

The final ’product’ in this case is a non-venomous snake. The means of choice to test is a live rodent or similar.

As I don’t have ready access to them as a matter of course (I get my rodents frozen), I used live Indian Mynah Birds (Acridotheres tristis) (a feral species here in Australia) that are trapped in a specially made bird trap in my back yard. The snake is made to bite into the flesh of the bird and if the bird doesn’t die then the snake is presumed harmless. The test is repeated three times on three different birds to confirm the result.

THE NET RESULT

In terms of the operated on snakes, they have presumably gained as a result of the operation. Instead of being handled like "deadly" snakes, they have been able to be handled more like harmless pythons.

Those operated on were already tractable and docile and had been selected for operation on that basis. However based on their deadly nature, their handling had still been constrained despite their tractability.

For those unaware of what I am getting at, put it this way.

A relatively docile python pinned by the head with a snake stick and then grabbed by the neck is likely to be more agitated than if it is picked up calmly and handled mid body. For the operated on snakes, this means that their handling in public displays for many years to come can be less stressful for them and they are unlikely to be unduly agitated by repeated pinning and neck grabbing.

For myself and the watching public, the risk of deadly bite is greatly reduced.

An obvious question readers may have is, that if the operation to make Australian elapids "venomoid" is now so simple and easy, have I made all my elapids venomoid? The answer is "no".

Most snakes in my collection remain "dangerous" and have not been operated on.

Put simply there was no need to operate on them. The snakes were not being used in public displays and at my own facility there is no risk of me or anyone else getting bitten.

The fact is that any half decent snake-keeper can use basic common sense and avoid a bite. Notwithstanding this, I have no doubt that using the simple method outlined here, other keepers of deadly snakes will now avail themselves of the means to make their deadly snakes harmless.

FINAL NOTE

Critics may accuse me of writing a "pro-venomoid" paper and/or other claims may be made. This paper is NOT "pro-venomoid", but reproduction of the fairly typical comments as posted on the internet and shown below under the heading "common misinformation" do show the sort of misinformation that abounds (this not being an attack on Jeff Barringer or Kingsnake.com itself, which is generally a very good forum).

This paper does however set out the facts in terms of a simple operation to make snakes venomoid, mainly so that others inclined to do such operations have a safe and reasonable template to operate under.

Yes, the operation is simple and claims to the contrary are simply not true. It does not result in deaths and mass mortality as may be asserted by some (see below)

I have laid out a template for the venomoid operation so as to avoid butchering of snakes by persons who may otherwise not have knowledge of such procedures and inadvertently cause undue harm to snakes. The venomoid procedure should not however be used by egomaniacs and other "tough-guys" who want an easy means to big-note themselves by supposedly taking risks handling deadly snakes that while apparently normal, are in fact harmless.

COMMON MISINFORMATION

The unedited posts below, illustrate the emotive misinformation that commonly occurs when venomoids are discussed in public forums.

Two posts (the entire thread) are printed below in unedited form to show how the information posted is contrary to the facts as detailed in this paper.

Whats up with Venomoids?

Posted by: palex134 at Sun Jan 25 14:51:58 2004

Can someone please give me some information on Venomoids.

Peter Alexander

Coastal Herps Inc.

AND THEN

RE: Whats up with Venomoids?

Posted by: calsnakes at Mon Jan 26 10:27:46 2004

As far as what? what it entails? it entails mutilating a perfectly healthy creature because you cannot take the time to learn to handle them right. It most likely kills more than survive.

REFERENCES CITED

Frye, F. F. 1991. Reptile Care: An atlas of Diseases and Treatments. TFH books (2 vols) 637 pp. and appendices.

Mader, D. R. (ed.) 1996. Reptile Medicine and Surgery. W. B. Saunders Company, USA. 512 pp.

Millar, D. 1976. Observations regarding the surgical removal of the venom glands of an elapid. Herpetofauna 8(1):8-9.

A GENERAL AND A SPECIFIC WARNING

Handling venomous snakes carries risks, including when doing medical procedures. Furthermore, improperly performed venomoid operations may leave snakes potentially dangerous. If any person should use this paper or part thereof as a template for any operation, activity or whatever, no liability on the part of myself or the publisher of this article is given or conceded. Any person who handles venomous reptiles (including what's identified here as "venomoid") or does anything with them is solely responsible for their own actions. Put another way, if after reading this article a person chooses to deal with any kind of venomous reptile including venomous, venomoid, doing surgery or anything else, they are legally on their own.

Photos published with the paper.

Later article - Silicone snakes cause sensation in Australia and elsewhere (Hard Evidence November 2004).

Later article - Surgically enhanced venomous snakes. Venom glands out, silicone implants in! The creation of perfect exhibition snakes in the post HIH era. (Crocodilian May, Aug, Nov 2005 in three parts).

Venomoid snakes - Frequently asked questions (FAQ).

Lies, false allegations of superglue and the online anti-Venomoid petition by Shane Hunter and other enemies of wildlife conservation.

Corruption websites front page.

Herpetology papers index.

Non-urgent email inquiries via the Snakebusters bookings page at:
http://www.snakebusters.com.au/sbsboo1.htm

Urgent inquiries phone:
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