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Many pet snakes are venomous!

August 25, 2003

Big trouble for the European and US pet snake trade

Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry of the Australian Venom Research Unit at the University of Melbourne has discovered that the number of venomous snakes in the world is not around 250 but actually closer to 2700.

In his research into the evolution of snake venom, he discovered that venom goes back much further than previously thought. "Snake venom developed only one time in evolution, a few hundred million years ago," he says.

"The first venomous snake evolved from the heavy bodied swamp monsters similar to the anacondas of today. They needed a new tool to kill their prey since they were trading in the heavy muscle in order to become quicker and more athletic. Enter venom. They used this venom to feed on the cute little furry rodents that eventually became us."

"This origin of venom is so far back, that it occurred before the snake we commonly think of as 'non-venomous' even showed up on the tree of life. I realised that some of the ancient venom may still be produced by them today. So I started looking at non-venomous snakes. And when I looked at a ratsnake, the archetypal non-venomous snake, I isolated typical cobra-style toxin."

It's a stunning discovery that will send shockwaves through the international pet snake trade. Some non-venomous snakes have been previously thought to have only mild 'toxic saliva' but Dr. Fry has shown that it is a true venom. Dr. Fry's research has shown that some of the snakes common in the overseas pet market actually produce highly potent venoms.

The pet trade has had problems with non-venomous snakes actually turning out to be highly venomous.

In the late-70s/early 80s, some of the most popular snakes in the US pet trade were the Asian keelback snakes. These snakes turned out to be highly venomous. Several children were bitten and became severely ill.

"My research now shows that the vast majority of the snakes commonly kept as pets are actually venomous.

"Are all these species dangerous? Certainly not," Bryan says.

"Are there highly venomous species lurking in the petshops that we don't know about? Definitely. I've consulted to two US petshops where employees were paralysed after being bitten snakes thought to be totally harmless."

It's not a big issue for petshops in Australian where the trade is well regulated, and we know that most Australian snakes are deadly. But the discovery will cause shockwaves and a legislative storm in the United States and Europe.

In the search for further evidence, Bryan has scoured the world for these unique venom samples. "In 2002 alone, I milked over 2,000 snakes from quite a few countries. I caught them by exploring caves, climbing trees and doing ultra-deep scuba dives. It was extreme science at its best and I had a complete blast doing it," he says.

However, this dark storm cloud over the pet trade actually has a silver lining - a new resource for biotechnology. The ratsnake venom is an excellent candidate for use as a laboratory tool or even as a scaffold for use in drug design and development.

Bryan presented his research to the public for the first time thanks to Fresh Science, an Australian program to bring public attention to the remarkable unsung achievements of young Australian scientists.

The best Fresh Science presenter wins a study tour to the United Kingdom courtesy of the British Council.

Science in Public