CHAPTEE XX 



PECULIARITIES OF POISONOUS SNAKES THE AET OF 



HANDLING VENOMOUS REPTILES — GILA MONSTERS 



EXPERIMENTING WITH SNAKE POISON — SHEDDING 

 OF THE POISON-FANGS — CONCERNING THE HOSTILITY 



OF POISONOUS REPTILES SURGICAL OPERATION ON 



A COBRA. — COMPOSITION OF SNAKE POISON: ITS EF- 

 FECTS —ANTITOXIN 



In captivity, poisonous serpents seldom adapt 

 themselves so readily to tlieir surroundings as do the 

 harmless reptiles. Venomous snakes generally re- 

 tain tlieir wild disposition and can never be trusted. 

 While most harmless serpents submit to handling 

 after a few weeks in captivity, tlieir poisonous rela- 

 tives resent the least attempt at familiarity by the use 

 of their formidable fangs. For the most part these 

 reptiles are high-strung and nervous ; many feed 

 irregularly or refuse food altogether ; with the excep- 

 tion of those species which resemble in foi'm the 

 harmless serpents, like the cobras and closely related 

 snakes, the life of the captive poisonous reptile is 

 generally of short duration. Few of the viperine 

 snakes live more than two or, possibly, three years, 

 unless thev be reared from an earlv ao-e. In the 



latter case many delicate species live iiidetinitely. 



189 



