Siberian Serpentarium or Siberian Herpetological Centre is a serpentine farm producing

snake venom Snake venom is a highly toxic saliva containing zootoxins that facilitates in the immobilization and digestion of prey. This also provides defense against threats. Snake venom is usually injected by unique fangs during a Snakebite, bite, though ...

and snake venom medications. It was founded in 1989 in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. It is the only serpentarium in Russia, and it is the world's largest producer of snake venom.

Activities

The activities conducted by the serpentarium are: * biological research * breeding of vipers * extraction of snake venom The serpentarium initially used common adder found locally in the

Vasyugan Swamp The Vasyugan Swamp (), also the Great Vasyugan Mire The Great Vasyugan Mire
whc.unesco.org ...

. Due to demand for other venoms, it also mass rears and breeds snakes from the Altai, Far East and Central Asian regions, including Halys viper, the short-tailed viper, the Brown

mamushi ''Gloydius blomhoffii'', commonly known as the mamushi,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . Japanese moccasin, Japanese pit viper, Qichun snake, Salmusa or Japanese mamushi,Gumprec ...

, '' Vipera libetina turanika'' and ''

Vipera raddei ''Montivipera raddei'', also known as the Armenian viper and by many other common names, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Viperinae of the Family (biology), family Viperidae. The species is Endemism, endemic to the Zagros Mountain ...

''. Snakes captured from the wild may be kept in the serpentarium for up to ten years, their survival averaging over three and a half years.

Production

The centre produces about 2,000 grams of snake venom in crystal and

lyophilic Freeze drying, also known as lyophilization or cryodesiccation, is a low temperature Food drying, dehydration process that involves freezing the product and lowering pressure, thereby removing the ice by Sublimation (phase transition), sublimat ...

forms each year. It also produces snake venom medications (anti-inflammatory ointment).

References

Bibliography

External links

Snake venom research. Science Photo Library.

Snake venom research. Science Photo Library.

* * Manufacturing companies based in Novosibirsk Herpetology organizations Companies established in 1989 1989 establishments in the Soviet Union Companies of the Soviet Union {{snake-stub