In november 2023 i went to the reptile discovery centre in De Land (Florida) for witnessing their daily venom extraction program of venomous snakes. Thanks to Coyote Peterson of the Brave Wilderness channel i found this location and i was going to Florida anyway so i had to make a stop here.
Anyway
The venom extraction is the process of obtaining venom from a variety of venomous snake species by capturing and then allowing the snake to bite into a collecting receptacle in order to harvest the snake's venom. At the Reptile Discovery Center and Medtoxin Venom Laboratories a large number of snakes are handled each week for the purpose of venom collection.
The venoms collected are used in a host of research and pharmaceutical applications. Anti-venom, the medication used to treat snake bite victims, veterinary anti-venom and a dog vaccine against rattlesnake bites are all made initially using whole venom in part of the process. A wide variety of research is going on with snake venoms or certain components found in venoms, cancer research, viral research, AIDS, rabies, pain medications, diabetes, neurological and circulatory disorders, immunological and transplant research are just a few of the areas where venoms or venom components are being looked at.
Snakes Species in the video
Coral Snake
Copperhead Snake
Cottonmouth Snake
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Monocled Cobra
Special thanks to the crew of the Reptile Discovery Centre & Medtoxin Laboratories.
www.reptilediscoverycenter.com/