Pit of full of Snakes?

Question

I saw a movie tonight where a guy fell into a pit full of snakes, which I'm assuming is poisonous. But as we all know, some snakes eat other snakes when they're hungry so two questions:

Q1) Is it possible to have a pit full of poisonous snakes? Or will some of them eat each other while you're waiting for some poor fellow to "drop in" and you end up with only one or two well fed snakes after some time?

Q2) Snakes rarely bite people as we're too large to digest except for the largest of constrictor snakes. Most poisonous snakes I would say couldn't eat a man. Would the snakes bit the poor fellow if he fell in but didn't make any threatening moves. Or would they just leave him alone? Any snake experts can answer these questions? Just curious, you can have fun with the answers.

Answer 1

1) Some venomous snakes do eat other snakes ie king cobras. Most snakes tend to prefer specific types of food and probably wouldn't be interested in other snakes. I would bet that the main goal of a bunch of snakes in a pit would be to get out or mate if they were the same type of snake.

2) Venomous snakes will & do strike animals larger than those they would eat. It is an act of self-protection. If given a chance most snakes including venomous ones will try to run away rather than strike.
An interesting fact is that many venomous snakes do not always inject venom whan they bite! "Dry strikes" are especially common with some types of rattlesnakes.
If a man fell into a pit full of venomous snakes many would strike.
Any strike by a venomous snake should be considered dangerous & you should identify the snake if possible & see a doctor immediately.

Answer 2

A1) It's highly unlikely that a pit full of snakes, venomous or not, will actually eat each other. Bite, most likely... not not eat.

A2) Even the largest snake ever recorded isn't big enough to actually eat a full grown human. There have been reports that a snake has eaten a young child, but those reports were never confirmed. And yes, the chances of a venomous snake attacking a man that happened to 'drop in' are very high, no matter if he made a threatening move or not. They are very territorial...

Answer 3

1.) Yes, I suppose you could have a pit of venomous snakes... I doubt they'd eat each other... at first. Some snakes such as king cobras will eat other snakes, but most don't. A lot of snakes are used to being in fairly dense populations, like in rattlesnake dens, you'd probably just end up with a lot of cramped, cranky snakes. Though if you left them for like, 2 years, you'd probably see some cannibalism.
2.) Venomous snakes use their venom primarily for hunting, but secondarily as defense. If you have a bunch of cramped, angry snakes, and drop a large potential predator directly on top of them, yes they'd probably bite. especially if the "pit" is full enough that you can't go anywhere without stepping on one...

Answer 4

It's impossible to have a pit full of poisonous snakes because snakes are venomous, not poisonous. Venom is injected into the body and poison is ingested. Since snakes inject their venom into you, they are venomous.

Answer 5

Gosh they the two incredibly Suck, nicely i think of falling in a Pit of Spiders would be painful cuz they'd all be biting me, and that i think of a gaggle of Snake bites would harm the Worst so i circulate with Spiders.

Answer 6

It is. Not me