Texas coral snake eating a Texas ratsnake

[CarlJFranklin]

@nerblebun Nope. This is a Texas coral snake, we could not sample venom from a false coral snake. Carl J. Franklin Biological Curator Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center The University of Texas at Arlington Dept. of Biology Box 19498 501 South Nedderman. Rm 337 Arlington, Tx 76019 Tel: (817) 272-3615

[R3ptileRob3rt]

i still want to see a king snake and coral and see who will be the victor

i say kingsnakes because i have them and cause they are very high tollernet to venom(immune)

[rattlingtotheend]

@R3ptileRob3rt they are tolerant to rattlesnake venom, perhaps the neurotoxins of the coral snake (which predates mainly on other snakes) could cause some effect on the king snake, still, the coral snake, being much smaller, would be constricted and eaten much before it's venom takes effect.

[CarlJFranklin]

@rattlingtotheend There is no garuantee that rattlesnake venom will not kill a kingsnake. I have seen instances where the bite of one venomous snake killed another venomous snake of the same species. In fact the symptoms exhibited by the bitten snake indicated that he venom had taken effect. A rattlesnake could potentially kill a kingsnake by trauma alone. A fang puncturing the liver, spine or other vital organ could prove fatal.

[jxz107]

@CarlJFranklin Are Kingsnakes only *mostly* immune to North American pit viper venom, or all snakes in the genus "crotalus" and "agkistrodon"? The venomous snakes here in Korea are mostly Gloydis/Agkistrodon(the taxonomy is a bit messy); if they were the same genus as copperheads would Kingsnakes not be affected by their venom?

[rattlingtotheend]

@CarlJFranklin I did not say they were immune, I said "tolerant" and did not mention trauma... of course, I could kill you with an envenomated sword without the venom, that's obvious!!! And yeah, between species, even within the same bloodline or animal, venom inyected can cause from mild to serious damage.

[pleepotnl]

Poor ratsnake ;( i got one

[capricorn4003]

@pleepotnl i had one, too. :(

[xXHellomeowmeowXx]

this is actually interesting...

i like it:]

[jxz107]

Woah that was cool, it doesn't seem the same as a king cobra feeding. I didn't know corals got that big though, or is that a neonate rat? because I thought they get too big for corals to eat. They are awesome animals.

[CarlJFranklin]

@jxz107 Texas coral snakes can get up to 3 feet.

Carl J. Franklin Biological Curator Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center The University of Texas at Arlington Dept. of Biology Box 19498 501 South Nedderman. Rm 337 Arlington, Tx 76019 Tel: (817) 272-3615