In the world there are many reptiles, the bite of which for a person may be the last. Each very poisonous snake of the aspid family can pose a very serious danger to humans.
All members of the family do not seek to be seen, leading mainly a nocturnal lifestyle. They prefer to live in holes, and most often they are found nearby rivers, as they like moisture very much.
You can see them during the day, and even on the surface of the earth, only during the breeding season. Each very poisonous snake of the aspid family at that time is doubly dangerous, as it rushes at a person without hesitation.
It is believed that only coral aspid belongs to this family , but this is not so. The most dangerous representatives are all types of cobras and mambas (much more dangerous than cobras).
Usually these snakes do not grow more than 70 cm, but some species (Naja) grow up to two meters. The head is blunt and slightly flattened. The mouth is stretched weakly, and therefore the main diet consists of mice and small amphibians. The color of these snakes is extremely diverse.
Representatives of the family are not found in our country, but there are many of them in the territory of the former USSR. The same Central Asian cobra (Naja oxiana), this very poisonous snake of the aspid family, causes many problems for the residents of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
It should be noted that cases of human bites are much less common than is commonly thought. Due to the slightly stretched mouth, it often happens that the attack is ineffective: only localized damage to the soft tissues is observed, while in the glands of the snake venom contains so much that it can suffice for the death of several people at once.
But even in such a successful (for a bitten) case of symptomatic therapy, the wound lends itself extremely poorly. The poison acts mainly on the nervous system (which is the cause of paralysis), a hemolytic effect is not observed.
To find out that you were bitten by a very poisonous snake of the aspid family, it is often possible only by incessant and very strong vomiting. Sometimes spasms are such that lead to tears of the insides. Often, vomiting is accompanied by internal bleeding, especially characteristic of a bite of a coral asp.
Often there is a severe headache. If the dose of the poison was not lethal, it still affects the kidneys, as evidenced by the development of proteinuria in all cases. Fatal cases are mostly associated with developing cardiovascular insufficiency, which occurs due to the strong auto-toxicity of the body.
The green mamba, a very poisonous snake of the aspid family, is extremely dangerous for people with a weak heart, since its poison purposefully affects the striated heart muscle. Her insidiousness is that even the smallest bite is mortally dangerous, since the toxic effect of her poison is several times greater than that of a cobra.
As we have already said, lizards, small amphibians, and even insects are included in the diet of these reptiles. In principle, do not disdain birds. When keeping them in captivity, you can use Madagascar cockroaches, earthworms, crickets and small mice. Note that without food they can stay for weeks, but without clean water they can die within five to seven days.
Thus, almost every poisonous snake of the aspid family is well adapted for keeping in terrarium conditions. Another thing is that it is necessary to strictly observe safety precautions.