The mysterious Gaboon viper, very good at hiding and very accurate.

A man from North Carolina was attacked by a gaboon snake that he kept in his home last year. Doctors who treated him said they had never seen anyone else live through a bite from such a poisonous snake. The victim had to get 44 doses of anti-venom to get better. This was the most doses that the doctors in charge of his case had ever needed to use. The gaboon viper is one of the most poisonous snakes in the world. During the process, he lost two fingers, but nothing else bad happened.

“Gabon Viper” is one of the world’s most poisonous snakes.

Gabolon vipers are usually calm and don’t bite people very often, but their bites can be deadly. And that’s a good thing, because their fangs are 2 inches (5 centimetres) long, making them the biggest sharp snake teeth. Also, in their home continent of Africa, they are the biggest vipers. At full grown, they can be more than 6 feet tall and weigh more than 45 pounds (20 kg). Big ones can have heads that are almost 6 inches (15 cm) big.

All over Africa, they live in jungles and other wet places and hunt by slithering across the forest floor. They mostly eat birds and small to medium-sized animals. But they don’t go out and kill. Instead, they wait in secret, using their natural brown, pink, purple, and diamond-shaped stripes and spots to blend in with their surroundings. Their patterns can make them look like leaves that have fallen, which helps them hide among the leaves that are lying around on the ground. When its food gets close, the viper strikes and holds it down until it dies.

Snakes only bite people very rarely, and that’s usually when someone steps on them before they can get away. If they think they are in danger, they will lift their heads and hiss before they attack. They hunt alone at night, and they’re most busy right before sunset.

Vipers can also decide how much venom to inject into a target, so some bites may not hurt at all and others may kill the person quickly. They can attack almost any action when they are very hungry, which is another time when they might accidentally attack a person. These vipers have babies by giving birth, and they often have 50 to 60 kids at once. Most snakes lay eggs. They can also live for about 20 years, which is a pretty long time.

Pet Snakes from Far Away Can Be Dangerous

Not long after the man in North Carolina was bitten, another man in Virginia was bitten by his pet gaboon snake. Besides getting anti-venom from the Smithsonian National Zoo, the cops had to ask for “expedited delivery” of anti-venom from the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Centre. “The concern with these snakes that are not endemic to our area—are not native to our area—is that if these patients need anti-venom treatment, it will be hard to find the anti-venom and get it to the hospital,” said Natasha Tobarran, D.O., with the Virginia Poison Centre.

Zoos and aquariums keep these unusual antivenins on hand to protect the staff who care for the non-native animals. “The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Centre gave 35 doses of anti-venom to the VCU Medical Centre so that state police could take the person there in an emergency,” aquarium worker Mackenzie Di Nardo said.

Good news: getting bitten by a snake in the wild is pretty rare. The vast majority of snakes you see, especially in your garden, crawlspace, or anywhere else; some even get into people’s garages. are completely harmless. “The other important thing is that snakes are not usually mean animals,” said Kortney Jaworski, Curator of Herpetology at the Virginia Living Museum.

Also, if someone does get bitten by a snake, the hospitals in the area have antivenin for snakes that live in the area. “None of those old wives’ tales are true.” Don’t try to get the poison out. Do not cut it. Do not apply a clip to it. “Especially don’t put a tourniquet on it, because all you’re doing is isolating the poison,” Jaworski said. She also said that having an exotic pet requires a special pass and that getting emergency medical care may be impossible or very hard to get.