Small-scaled Burrowing Asp - Venom/Envenomation

Venom/Envenomation

The majority of research pertaining to Atractaspis microlepidota is about their venom, because they have been observed and studied only a few times in their natural habitat. The venom is viscid and slightly "milky" in appearance. The way they use their long, hollow fangs is very interesting, and the length of the fangs allows them to inject their venom more deeply into their prey. These fangs share some similarities with those of Viperidae, but also are unique. They do not have to open their mouths to use their fangs; instead they typically use only one fang, which is still not completely understood. There have been assumptions as to why this developed. One hypothesis is that most of their prey also burrows; so the majority of their "strikes" are underground with limited room for movement. So the theory is that they developed this in order to still successfully bite their prey without having to open their mouth all the way. To "strike", they come up along the side of their prey and use only one fang to stab the prey. The term "strike", in quotation marks, is used, because Atractaspis do not attack from a distance, as boids, vipers and some colubrids do. The fangs are also used for manipulating the prey, in order to maneuver and position it for more efficient prey transport. Another interesting observation was that when Atractaspis were presented with more than one prey (in the experiment’s case they were mice), the snakes envenomated all the mice before going back to consume them. One hypothesis about this is that it is a defensive strategy against multiple adult rodents, or other adult prey. The actual venom of Atractaspis microlepidota is also interesting. When the venom was injected into animals, the subjects showed immediate signs of moderate irritation, with some hyperactivity and scratching. In human cases, Atractaspis microlepidota venom is not incredibly lethal; however there have been fatal cases among younger children. The venom may initially cause pain near the bite area, which is followed by numbness and swelling, also near the bite area. As also stated above, the venom of Atractaspis microlepidota appears to be related to the venom of the elapids, rather than the venom of Viperidae, as was originally believed.