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Gaboon Viper/King Cobra predators as adults?; Do these Snakes have predators?
Topic Started: Feb 3 2017, 06:05 AM (622 Views)
SquamataOrthoptera
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15 year old keyboard warrior!
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I notice that King Cobras are rarely killed by natural causes when adults, excluding cannibalism, and herbavours steping on them, and I rarely if ever here anything kill Gaboon Vipers when fully grown. So my question here is, are their predators for fully grown and large King Cobras/Gaboon Vipers?
Edited by SquamataOrthoptera, Feb 3 2017, 06:15 AM.
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M4A2E4
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I bet big crocodiles would get the job done.

Other than that, not really. Most animals, even species that specialize in venomous snakes, are generally going to leave an 18ft cobra or 40lb viper alone.
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tigerburningbright
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Snake Venom is not an instant killer for large animals....For example, a study of 29 Dogs who were forcibly bitten by Indian Cobras found they all died and the average time until death was 2 hours 42 minutes....Another study of 31 dogs forcibly bitten by Tiger Snakes found that 27 died and 4 recovered and the average time until death was 2 hours and 2 minutes.....


That means Snake Venom is not a very good "defense mechanism" (because by the time the venom takes effect the Snake is already long dead and the fight long over)....It would have to be instantaneous or extremely quick acting on Large animals for snake venom to be a good defense mechanism...

So technically any Medium/Large animal can kill/prey on venomous Snakes....Whether or not that animal gets an unpleasant/fatal surprise later on obviously depends on a variety of factors (if it gets bitten or not, if it has resistance to Snake venom like Ratels/Mongooses etc etc etc)
Edited by tigerburningbright, Feb 3 2017, 08:50 AM.
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SquamataOrthoptera
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tigerburningbright
Feb 3 2017, 08:49 AM
Snake Venom is not an instant killer for large animals....For example, a study of 29 Dogs who were forcibly bitten by Cobras found they all died and the average time until death was 2 hours 42 minutes....Another study of 31 dogs forcibly bitten by Tiger Snakes found that 27 died and 4 recovered and the average time until death was 2 hours and 2 minutes.....


That means Snake Venom is not a very good "defense mechanism" (because by the time the venom takes effect the Snake is already long dead and the fight long over)....It would have to be instantaneous or extremely quick acting on Large animals for snake venom to be a good defense mechanism...

So technically any Medium/Large animal can kill/prey on venomous Snakes....Whether or not that animal gets an unpleasant/fatal surprise later on obviously depends on a variety of factors (if it gets bitten, if it has resistance to Snake venom like Ratels etc etc etc)
Im not asking whether King Cobras/Gaboon Vipers can have predators. Obviously numerous Animals that live alongside them can kill them before vice versa. Im asking if Animals acctually do hunt them. And Animals are normally wary of venemous Snakes.
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Ceratodromeus
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M4A2E4
Feb 3 2017, 07:04 AM
I bet big crocodiles would get the job done.

Other than that, not really. Most animals, even species that specialize in venomous snakes, are generally going to leave an 18ft cobra or 40lb viper alone.
Neither species gets that big on an average basis but they are generally too big when they're adults any way.

answering the OP, i don't know any individual cases to post but snake eagles, adult crocodiles probably take one from time to time.
Edited by Ceratodromeus, Feb 3 2017, 10:15 AM.
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Vodmeister
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tigerburningbright
Feb 3 2017, 08:49 AM
Snake Venom is not an instant killer for large animals....For example, a study of 29 Dogs who were forcibly bitten by Indian Cobras found they all died and the average time until death was 2 hours 42 minutes....Another study of 31 dogs forcibly bitten by Tiger Snakes found that 27 died and 4 recovered and the average time until death was 2 hours and 2 minutes.....


That means Snake Venom is not a very good "defense mechanism" (because by the time the venom takes effect the Snake is already long dead and the fight long over)....It would have to be instantaneous or extremely quick acting on Large animals for snake venom to be a good defense mechanism...

Venomous snakes rely on predatory animals knowing to avoid it instinctively because of its venom.
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Ceph
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Some venom, though not immediately deadly, does have immediate effects: pain, swelling, shortness of breath, shock, hemorrhage, and even full or partial paralysis. These symptoms likely save the lives of venomous reptiles more often than not. If your paw swells to the size of your head, or you endure so much pain you can't see straight, eradicating the culprit might drop down on your list of priorities.
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