Noxious Serpentes

Serpentes (snakes) are reptiles. Reptiles to distinguish mostly lay eggs, have dry skin or even scales and live in warm climates with their cold-blooded bodies shedding once in a while except some like crocs. Snakes have thin elongated bodies but unlike as they seem they are vertebrates with most of them having about on an average of 350 bones even they are so flexible. These cold-blooded creatures can be found every habitat like on land, in water, on trees and on land. They are dangerously venomous with very few exceptions.

They smell with the aid of their tongues though. Their vertically sliced, forked tongues trap air between and later depositing in their nostril which are actually inside their mouth below their fangs. Like other venomous animals they have sharp but fangs unlike claws or spikes. These fangs are covered in thin coat of (kind of skin) connective tissue called "Fang Sheath".  when the snakes opens it mouth the sheath contracts and slides down revealing a sharp needle ready to devour the prey just by a sharp pierce ejecting venom. A king cobra's venom is enough to kill a full grown Asian elephant in minutes !!! 

Being more clear on how the venom works we must know which one is it 

These are chemicals that damage your nerve tissue. They can cause nervous arrest or even death to nerve cells. Substances like alcohol are great example for partial nervous arrest and even lemon water show such traits but only when consumed in high quantities.

Nervous Arrest :- Stopping or slowing down the firing state of the synapses of the neurons.

This is more like a straight forward attack. They just dissolve or kill all the cells in their path completely killing that part of that body and also sometimes results in cancer.

Hemo (comes from the Greek haîma) stands for blood. These toxin causes internal bleeding, fighting clotting agents like platelets in blood and even cause severe destruction in red blood cells. These toxins can cause quick death. You blink the last in your life lying in a pool of your own blood as your body unable to keep up or clot. Blood flowing unstoppable and the snake already starting it's swallowing. 

Myo-toxic

The points at which the muscles and the neurons touch/Interact with each other are called "Neuro-Muscular Junctions". 

At these points the nerves when delivers a signal it interrupting the net electric charge. The muscles are filled inside with ions and ions covering them outside. when there is an imbalance the ions having positive or negative charges (unlike other normal atoms) move in and out to bring it into an equilibrium.

The neurotoxic polypeptides and phospholipases of venoms cause paralysis by blocking transmission at peripheral neuromuscular junctions. That means it doesn't allow the flow of the charged ions in and out. In simple words your muscle wont move even though how hard you try. You directly fall down still and stiff, paralyzed.

And as per how they move without legs ....................................

Comment below for any suggestion, stay tuned for next blog 😊👍😃.

- Maanavendra Roy -

And follow me on blogger for more !!

Know more !!