1-5 of 5 messages
|
Page 1 of 1
|
span between puncture marks
|
Reply
|
by ZAX on January 24, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
If the span between puncture marks is 2.75 inches, how large was the snake? Does it depend on the type of snake? If so, assume it was a Copperhead... Thanks.
|
|
RE: span between puncture marks
|
Reply
|
by BobH on January 24, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Yes, the distance between fangs is a measure of the snakes head morphology. Over a 2" span would have to be a really big snake. I would guess maybe a 15 ft copperhead might have fangs that far apart. I measured a 3.5 ft Eastern Diamondback and the fangs were less than an inch apart. A 30" copperhead was less than 0.5 inches.
|
|
RE: span between puncture marks
|
Reply
|
by MattHarris on January 24, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
keep in mind that the fang separation distance during a strike can be over 200% of the at rest sepatation distance between fangs when folded back in the mouth. This was from a study done by Kelly Zamudio and Harry Greene. I forget which year, but it seems it was around 2000, that it was published. So for that distance, you could imagine a snake with fangs about 1 3/8" apart at rest....a large diamondback, or (possibly) a cottonmouth.
MCH
|
|
RE: span between puncture marks
|
Reply
|
by LarryDFishel on January 24, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
The distance between the puncture marks depends on (at least) the type of snake and the size and can probably vary quite a bit from one byte to the next from the same snake. (viper fangs can swing quite a bit from side to side.) That being said, I would be very surprised if there is ANY snake that could produce punctures 2.75 inches apart, let alone a copperhead. Maybe a full grown bushmaster, but I doubt it.
Can you give us some context for the question? If you got the nuber from something you read, is it possible it said 2.75 centimeters? If you're trying to identify a bite on someone you know, I'd suggest it was either two separate bites or something other than a snake...
|
|
RE: span between puncture marks
|
Reply
|
by sceniccityreptiles on January 27, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I was performing a venom extraction on a female edb last week. First time I have extracted from her. The receiver I was using was 2” in diameter at the top. On the first hit, her right fang penetrated on the far right side of the receiver and the left completely hung over the opposite side. At that point she was producing a span of probably 2.25 to 2.50”. She spayed venom from both fangs. It went all over my shirt and the table. On a side note, what I collected from the right fang on that hit and two more hits after measured about ¾ of a cc. I have never had a snake that was capable of producing over a cc at a single extraction, but I think this one will be able to.
|
|
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|