May 3, 2010 09:33 by
AlanRecently the Live Exhibits Unit had one of our more unusual requests - to supply a research lab in Sydney with Alpine Copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi) venom. Melbourne Museum is one of the few facilities that holds this species so we were happy to help out.
Alpine Copperheads produce extremely toxic venom, but only in relatively small quantities. Combine this with their small fang size and you have a fairly fiddly task. Milking this species required a small pipette tube to be put over each individual fang, and with some gentle massage the venom was expressed into the tube. The venom was then place into a tiny vial, freeze dried, and sent to Sydney for analysis.
Finding the fang with the tiny tube takes a little concentration! Photo: Jessie Sinclair Source: Museum Victoria
The precious golden venom is very visible within the tube. Photo: Jessie Sinclair Source: Museum Victoria
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