What It’s Really Like to Milk Snakes for Venom

Every year, 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes. While not all of these snakes are venomous, nearly half are. Of the 2.7 million people poisoned by venomous snake bites each year, between 81,000 and 138,000 die as a result. To ensure that bite victims have the highest chance of survival, snake milkers work diligently to collect venom that can be turned into an antivenom. These individuals put their lives on the line to help save others in a profession that many are not familiar with. But thanks to Billy Collett, Park Manager and snake milker at the Australian Reptile Park, the curtain has been pushed aside, and what it is really like as a snake milker in the venom vault has been revealed.

What a Snake Milker Does

Snake milking is a fascinating yet dangerous job that has been around for nearly 130 years. First developed by French physician Albert Calmette to treat snake bites in Vietnam, the process of collecting snake venom has changed little over the years. Those who sign up for a career as a snake milker need to have nerves of steel. This is because snake milkers handle some of the most venomous snakes in the world with their bare hands and snake hooks as they transport them to the designated milking area. The snake milker collects venom directly from the snake’s venom glands into a vial. This venom is later used to create antivenom, which saves the lives of those bitten by venomous snakes.

How Snakes Are Milked

Venomous snakes are milked in different facilities around the world. Although each facility uses different equipment to capture snakes for milking, Collett emphasizes that the snake’s head must always be carefully restrained to protect both the snake and the handler.

“The snakes are restrained by the head after pinning them down with custom-made equipment,” Collett explains to A-Z Animals. “Next, the snake is presented with a vial wrapped in thin plastic. The snake instinctively bites the vial, piercing the plastic and releasing its venom inside.”

A demonstration of the impressive skills needed to be a snake milker can be seen on the YouTube channel, Venom Diaries with Bill Collett. Once the snake venom is collected, it is then processed to remove impurities and turned from a liquid into a powder via freeze drying. The powder can then be stored for extended periods without losing its potency. When the antivenom is ready to be made, the snake venom is then rehydrated and injected into horses in small amounts over the course of six to nine months. The horses begin to create “venom-resistant plasma.”

To obtain the plasma from the horses, a liter of blood is drawn from each of them. The plasma is collected and sent off to a lab. The lab produces the antivenom, which is then distributed to hospitals and other facilities throughout the region as needed.

How Long Does It Take to Become a Snake Milker?

The training that snake milkers go through can vary from one individual to the next. In many instances, those in the profession have a background in sciences, be it biology or chemistry, and many pursue degrees in zoology as well. What all snake milkers have in common, however, is a love and obsession for snakes, which is what led Collett to become the snake milker at the only terrestrial snake venom program in Australia, located at the Australian Reptile Park.

“Ever since I was a kid, I was obsessed with snakes and did everything I could to try to work with them,” Collett says. “I ended up volunteering at the Australian Reptile Park as soon as I was old enough, and before you know it, I’m running the only terrestrial snake venom program in Australia.”

Collett goes on to explain, “The training to learn how to milk a snake is slow and requires a lot of care to become comfortable handling venomous snakes. One wrong move could be disastrous, so taking it slow and steady is the only option.”

Why Snakes Are Milked

It is vital that venomous snakes are milked in order to keep thousands of people worldwide from dying from snake bites annually.

The reason that so many people have been able to survive venomous snake bites, including some of the deadliest, has to do with the professionals who put themselves in danger to collect venom from snakes in their care on a bimonthly basis. Because snakes are milked infrequently, handlers must care for many snakes to collect enough venom for a single vial of antivenom.

“It depends on the snake, but it can take 25 to 30 milkings to have enough venom to create just one vial of antivenom,” Collett states.

If venomous snakes were no longer milked, the number of deaths from deadly snake bites would dramatically increase. This is why, when there is only one terrestrial snake venom program—as is the case in Australia—it is imperative not only for the program to continue but also to train new generations of snake milkers to sustain it indefinitely. Additionally, snake venom is not only used for antivenom. It is also used in medical research to treat multiple conditions. Those conditions include:

• Cancer

• Blood disorders

• Heart disease

• Neurological conditions

Studying how snake venom affects the body’s systems is also an important area of research. Consequently, some of the snake venom collected is used in that capacity as well.

Injuries That Come with Being a Snake Milker

Being a snake milker is one of the most dangerous jobs there is. Those in this profession risk their lives to ensure that some of the deadliest snake venom can be turned into a life-saving antidote. Every time a snake milker takes a snake out of its enclosure, there is a risk of getting bitten. While there are no statistics on the number of snake milkers who have been bitten on the job, Collett says he has had some “close calls.”

“Over the years, there have been many close calls,” Collett says, “but luckily nothing major.”

Fortunately, Collett has not been bitten by the same snakes that many Australians try to avoid. It is thanks to people like Collett that those who have had too-close encounters with venomous snakes can live and tell the tale. Without them, the world would be a far scarier place, knowing that one wrong step into the path of a venomous snake would ultimately be a death sentence.

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