Snake produces ‘massive yields’ of venom
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A venomous snake with three sharp fangs has been found in an unprecedented discovery in Australia.
The death adder with a rare mutation was spotted during a venom milking programme at the Australian Reptile Park.
“The Australian Reptile Park has no record of a three-fanged snake in the collection for at least 20 years. In that time, we have housed thousands of snakes and done hundreds of thousands of milkings,” the park told The Independent in a statement.
The death adder is one of the most dangerous reptiles, with likely the fastest strike of any snake in the world.
The snake typically has only two fangs.
It is found across Australia’s Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia, preying on frogs, lizards and birds.
Unlike most other Australian venomous snakes that actively search for prey, the death adder sits inconspicuously concealed in leaves, sand or gravel and ambushes prey that come to it.
Three-fanged death adder found in Australian Reptile Parkopen image in gallery
Three-fanged death adder found in Australian Reptile Park (Australian Reptile Park)
Before antivenom programmes began, the adders were so deadly that 60 per cent of their bites to humans were fatal.
Their large fangs, 6-8mm in length, stand out as they are more mobile than those of other venomous snakes.
One death adder that has been part of the Australian Reptile Park’s venom extraction programme for about seven years has now been found to have an extremely rare third fang.
It was found next to one of the other fangs on the left side of the snake's mouth, park manager Billy Collett told Live Science.
Three-fanged death adder milked for venom at Australian Reptile Parkopen image in gallery
Three-fanged death adder milked for venom at Australian Reptile Park (Australian Reptile Park)
The park shared a video of the ultra-rare reptile being milked for its venom, revealing the third fang.
“I was milking it one day and noticed it had two fangs on one side,” Mr Collett said.
Venomous snakes are known to constantly replace their fangs, and it was initially expected that the death adder too might drop its third fang at some point.
“Then I noticed that when milking, venom comes out of both those fangs. It is bizarre,” Mr Collett said.
“This is very rare. I have never seen a functioning third fang like that,” he added. “It actually makes me really nervous milking this girl.”
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The third fang appears to enable the rare snake to produce "massive yields" of venom per bite than usual, making it even more deadly, the manager said.
"Unfortunately, we don't actually know what has caused the third fang to develop and don't currently have the facilities to run any tests,” a spokesperson for the park told Live Science.
The snake’s high venom yield is “actually helping us save lives”, Mr Collett added, even though it "might actually be the most dangerous death adder in the world".
Visitors can spot the rare snake at the Australian Reptile Park at Somersby on the Central Coast of New South Wales. The park is home to 250 venomous snakes that are milked on a fortnightly basis as part of its venom programme.