Yahoo story about a snake charmer

[RedRaydin]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061007/ap_on_fe_st/kissing_cobras;_ylt=Apbk_EEHUCc9J8n.Qm2FKX2s0NUE;_ ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

A snake charmer kissed 12 king cobras in order to set a guiness world record. Crazy guy, there is a picture with the story on yahoo's news page today. What I wanna know is are those genuine cobras based off the picture? How can any cobra snake like that be tamed and have someone kiss it without the snake flipping out. How do you even get into snake charming? I don't think I believe in all that nonsense. Anyone else ever seen one of these crazy things or heard these types of stories?

[rushrulz]

There's an annual ceremony performed...I don't remember, some country...where a woman kisses a king cobra. These women have basically immunized themselves against the venom by scratching themselves and putting tiny amounts of venom in the scratches. One woman was bitten during the ceremony and suffered no ill effects. And I suspect they "train" the snakes, insofar as one can. Snake charmers use a few tricks to make it work out--overfeeding and such to keep the snake docile, etc.

[corns are cool]

i think its crue my sellf

[chibitamalove]

I don't think it's cruel, unless I'm missing some info about snake charmers. From what I know, they just get it to come up from a basket or something, and by swaying and moving the flute, they get the snake to "dance" with them. It's not hurting the snake, so I doubt it's cruel.

As for the kissing... Well, I doubt the snakes like it, but I really don't think it's "abuse". I think it's pretty cool. The cobra in the picture is practically bowing its head to be kissed. It's really cute. I kiss my snakes all the time (I know, bad idea, but if they had salmonella, I'd be dead years ago. :rolleyes: ) but they absolutely hate being touched on the head, especially my ball python. She practically has a seizure whenever something touches her head. :shrugs:

[RedRaydin]

I've seen that kinda stuff on tv, the snakes being like hypnotized by the flute. I think it's pretty cool. I don't see any animal cruelty here... It's just weird and crazy. One of the previous posters talking about how these women put like drops of venom in their blood to become immune to bites and all? I don't think that could be true because I watch tons of discovery and national geographic and stuff. Lots of shows on black mambas and cobras and pit vipers and all and I've seen people get bit and that venom can kill a person in like hours. How does that venom they put in not affect them or cause damage to their bodies?
I do think that overfeeding to make the snake more docile would be dangerous though... at least in my opinion. It's like the more you feed it, the bigger it gets, the harder the bite, the more it punctures the skin and allows venom to travel easier. Also if the snakes are constantly being fed arent they going to have a natural tendency to bite more or be hungry for food? Thats why I don't know how these guys pull this kind of crazy stuff off. Unreal.

[t3ch]

If I'm not mistaken, they remove the snakes fangs.

[chibitamalove]

Ah, that would make sense.

I'm not sure about putting venom in little cuts, either. I think that the women would just have some medical people on hand to inject an antidote as soon as the snake bites, like the guy in the Yahoo! article. Eventually, they would become immune. The happens to plenty of venomous snake keepers, not just the ones in India.

[SnakeAround]

If I'm not mistaken, they remove the snakes fangs.

They do, and I have heard of project running to get these charmers to change their jobs to be snake venom collectors, both to provide scientists and anti serum producers with venom, and to protect these snakes from having their fangs removed.

[MegF.]

Ah, that would make sense.

I'm not sure about putting venom in little cuts, either. I think that the women would just have some medical people on hand to inject an antidote as soon as the snake bites, like the guy in the Yahoo! article. Eventually, they would become immune. The happens to plenty of venomous snake keepers, not just the ones in India.
Antivenom does not produce immunity to snake bites. On the contrary, it can produce serious sensitivity to the antivenin and lead to the person being unable to receive any in the event of another bite. This happened to my friend.

[Plissken]

It's not hurting the snake, so I doubt it's cruel.


An act does not have to cause physical harm to be considered cruel or abusive.

I'm not saying snake charming is cruel by the way... just making a point.

Cool pictures.

[Sisuitl]

I did see one special on National Geographic or something, it wasn't about snake charmers specifically. It was about some tribe that had "magic" tatoos to make people immune to snakes. They mixed venom with the ink. It leached into the person's body in tiny amounts over time, and did a pretty god job of producing immunity. That was the only time I really seriously considered getting a tatoo. :)

On the subject of defanging, it's pretty bad. Lower Ground Reptiles has a rescued king cobra that was defanged in someone's garage. It's so sad. His mouth/jaw is all mutilated so that he can't even really close his mouth right. Judging by his angry attitude, he's probably in pain still even though it was years ago. I remember Kat was having her vet work with that guy, though she said the snake is permanently retired in his fancy viv, so that was good to hear.

[corns are cool]

i think its crul becuse they take the venom glands and the fangs out of the snake......

[chibitamalove]

I agree. Taking the fangs out is definitely cruel. I just meant that the acutal snake charming act was not. Mhmm. :)

That poor cobra! If people don't want a snake to kill them, get a different kind of snake. Like a corn snake. :)

Plissken, you're right. But don't think that snakes will hear you calling it names. :rolleyes: So to a snake, it's probably only physical abuse that would hurt it.

[LowerGround]

Just an FYI... I found this post by accident about my "King Cobra" and I don't know who got the idea it was a King, but he is NOT a King Cobra. I do not own any King cobras.

The snake Sisuitl mentions is actually an albino Monocled cobra, who did NOT have his fangs removed, rather someone removed his venom glands in a horrible "home surgery" when he was a baby, which left his jaw curved and scars on his face. A small infection also attributed to the problem, but he DID NOT lose his fangs!

Contrary to what Sisuitl says, he can close his mouth just fine, his upper jaw is slightly curved inward and his face has since filled out. He looked like hell when I got him, was very skinny and sunken in, and has since recovered very well. He is dwarfed from not being fed enough as a baby and is now 4' long and 2" thick and doing fine.

As for his "angry attitude", he is a Monocled cobra, and Monocleds are well known for being grumpy. He's not grumpy because of his unorthodox surgery, merely because that is typical for his species.

I do not condone "home done" venomoid surgeries, nor do I condone any surgical procedure of any type being done at home by an untrained or unlicensed professional. In my experience, venomoid surgeries have a 50/50 chance of regenerating! I also believe they are not safe because people insist on trusting the once-venomous animal too well, forget/ignore that the surgeries can regenerate and there is always, always a chance the snake is venomous.

I do own other venomous species (yes, all were purchased well before the venomous ban here in WA) and I will not have any of them 'voided. Ever. I prefer to leave them in their natural state, even if I cannot "handle" them as they were never meant to be freehandled in the first place.

Regardless, the albino monocle is still here with me, doing fine, and so far he has not regenerated to my knowledge. However, I still do NOT trust him 100% and treat him just like the hot snake he could be, no matter what! I do not plan on ever having another surgery performed on him, either.

Just had to chime in to correct some incorrect information.

Clara/"Cat" @ LGR

[Ginafish]

While some snake charmers do remove the cobras' fangs, I've also read that some individuals will actually sew their snakes' mouths shut. Eventually the animals just end up dying of starvation. :cry: The snakes that recieve this treatment usually only live six or eight months.

The art of snake charming (when it doesn't involve de-fanging, removing venom glands, or sewing the snake's mouth shut) is actually fairly interesting. However, I don't think I'd ever want to kiss a hot on the head, or get close enough to do such. :sidestep:

[Spork]

I've seen that kinda stuff on tv, the snakes being like hypnotized by the flute. I think it's pretty cool. I don't see any animal cruelty here... It's just weird and crazy. One of the previous posters talking about how these women put like drops of venom in their blood to become immune to bites and all? I don't think that could be true because I watch tons of discovery and national geographic and stuff. Lots of shows on black mambas and cobras and pit vipers and all and I've seen people get bit and that venom can kill a person in like hours. How does that venom they put in not affect them or cause damage to their bodies?
I forgot the mans name but there is this old man who is about 80 and he has been injecting himself with cobra venom since he was 28ish and he is completely immune to it now. Although his hands have been bitten severely buy the snakes so he has nubs.

[Nanci]

Antivenom does not produce immunity to snake bites. On the contrary, it can produce serious sensitivity to the antivenin and lead to the person being unable to receive any in the event of another bite. This happened to my friend.

Want to know why? Vaccines and antivenins are made by injecting horses until they build immunity. So we all get various vaccines as children, and have horse serum antibodies. When you get treated with antivenin, it's not just one shot, you may get 30 or more doses, and since we are all sensitized to horse serum from childhood vaccinations, it can cause a very serious hypersensitivity reaction. You have over a 50% chance of developing serum sickness if you are treated with antivenin.

Nanci

[hartsock]

If I'm not mistaken, they remove the snakes fangs.

Yep many do, plus some of the ones here in the states actually sew the mouth of the snake shut. You add voided snakes into the mix and there are just a whole lot of sick people out there. You don't want bit by a hot, then leave it alone.

(yes the ones with their mouths sewed shut end up starving, but it can take months and months for that to happen, in the meantime, they get their little show and money for it)

[Kilala]

I don't think it's cruel, unless I'm missing some info about snake charmers. From what I know, they just get it to come up from a basket or something, and by swaying and moving the flute, they get the snake to "dance" with them. It's not hurting the snake, so I doubt it's cruel.

my friend, you'd best do a bit of research on snake charming before you say that. the methods snake charmers use to protect themselves are barbaric, and they often involve a lot of behind-the-scenes abuse to the snake.

[Sisuitl]

My apologies Kat! I don't know how I got the story and even his species so mangled up. :eek: Thank you for clearing his story up. I must have seen him pretty soon after you got him since he did look like he was in pretty sad shape. I'm really glad he's with you and well taken care of now.