Duvernoy's....

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Posted by dryguy on March 08, 2003 at 16:55:53:

In Reply to: Drybites...& mebbe not so dry.... posted by regalringneck on March 08, 2003 at 15:22:26:

Duvernoy's glands, in the vast majority of Colubrids, are the equivalent of "tits on a boar hog"...

Bubba had a full mouth grip, with excellent purchase with his teeth, for at least 15 seconds, on the below said thumb....No evidence of anything other than the bite...No swelling, erythema, or any other sign of toxic substance...A series of "one" does not a scientific case make, but if his saliva had any toxicity, it should have been apparent on me!!

I doubt they have the "selectivity" of "dry"(Gee, sometimes I crack myself up!) vs envemonating bites as do the advanced killing apparatti of Vipers and some Elapids...

Perhaps WW would chime in on this subject?...Nice thought and interesting subject material, dude...'Que bueno...CG

:Since no-ones brought it up, & we might have a lad willing to push the frontiers of science...let us not forget...the guardians have a nasty modified salivary gland known as the Duvernoys gland. Many but not all, colubrids do. The secretions of said gland are what give the various rear-fangs their ability to kill. The Duvernoys gland on the guardian is likely proportional to the size of its head. I for one would be most interested in any case histories where a guardian was allowed to chew an owner or perhaps a live prey item that was not immediately devoured.
:A defensive bite; no problemo
:A feeding bite; quien sabe...

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::Can they be "serious"?...No, just painful, unless you let them get infected...

::Can they be "serious"? You're Dang Right!!! My only "serious" bite was from Bubba my monster TX boar...True story, told before, but worth repeating... He had an ocular infection..Getting daily injections of antibiotics..My wife, a nurse, had to administer the shot while I held him...After about the 3rd day, he was tired of the game...I was holding him with about 6 or 8 inches of his neck and head free....JUST as the needle went in, he deliberately and slowly, turned his head and locked on to my thumb...He let go as soon as the needle came out!! No chewing, just a bite that felt like PLIERS with cutting edges on my finger!! His teeth almost PIERCED my finger nail!! I bled like the proverbial stuck pig from my thumb pad...He was SERIOUS!!!!

::The beast is shown above!!! Hope he and Rose's eggs stay good!!! Carl

:::Can these bites be serious? Dry's got a pretty hefty feeding response to say the least. i was just curious if a full grown dry would be able to cause a serious bite?? just wondering...
:::Travis.

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Follow Ups:

Chiming in ;-) WW 03/10/03 (1)
- Re: Chiming in ;-)...theres an interesting factoid.... regalringneck 03/10/03 (0)
Re: Duvernoy's....& moe regalringneck 03/08/03 (1)
- Nah, it wasn't a defensive bite... dryguy 03/09/03 (0)