Quote Originally Posted by Steven@HumboldtHerps View Post
The "baby rattlesnakes are more dangerous then the adults" myth often permeates through the realm of snakebite stories, however is somewhat of a fallacy. The only truth to it is that in many cases the babies do not know when to withhold venom in a defensive bite. Adult rattlers often often inflict dry bites, not because their venom sacs are necessarily empty, but because a defensive bite isn't really supposed to "digest" a potential enemy! Adults, it appears, can control it. Why waste your predigestive saliva!? (please note that recharging venom banks does not take that long however!) Adults also have the capability of injecting larger amounts of venom (bigger venom sacs!).
There are many different factors that affect the seriousness of a bite, to the point that a "less dangerous" snake could result in a far worse effect than a "very dangerous snake"... or the other way around.

The best quote I ever heard on tv sums it all up. "The most dangerous venomous snake is the one that bites you!"