New Reptile Discovery Center to open in December

Will be one of only two facilities in the United States where people can come see venom extraction

By Jennifer Horton
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Oct 16, 2008 - 8:45:52am

On the outskirts of DeLand, off a dirt portion of Big John Road, is a nondescript building. It's a peaceful place, with no indication that 800 snakes — more than 50 species and the vast majority venomous — call the building home.

And soon, it will be open to the public.

Carl Barden, owner and director of Medtoxin Venom Laboratories will fulfill a vision when he opens Reptile Discovery Center in December.

For more than 13 years, Barden has collected venom from the world's most dangerous snakes. Because the science behind the snake is fascinating to him, he wants to open the facility, and create a haven of education and conservation.

(Watch video of Barden extracting venom from an Eastern diamondback and a monocled cobra.)

The 3,600-square-foot building will house more than 40 exhibits and static displays. A laboratory will be enclosed by glass, so visitors can watch snakes be milked for venom.

"We'll be open four days a week, Thursday to Saturday, and have venom programs twice a day," Barden said. "There are only two other places in the country, and a half-dozen places in the world you can see venom produced."

In addition to deadly snakes, there will have a quarter-mile-trail loop around the property, where visitors can take an informative nature walk. Along the walk will be animal enclosures with different reptile species: snakes, turtles and alligators.

"It will be a broad overview of the reptile world," he said.

Barden said he had so many visitors come to see his snakes, he decided to make an entire resource center devoted to education.

"We will be open for class tours and field trips, and to the general public," he said. "It's such a unique aspect of science."

Barden has been fascinated with reptiles since he was a wee lad of 6.

While on a class trip from New England to Florida, he watched Bill Haast, a famous venom extractor with Miami Serpentarium Laboratories, collect venom.

"I remember thinking, 'That's the plan,'" Barden said.

He graduated with a bachelor's in biology from the University of Central Florida, and went to work at the Central Florida Zoo. He worked in the zoo's reptile house for six years.

"That's where I learned about husbandry," he said. "It's a trying field. People don't want to talk about it."

Barden began to collect snakes. He had 350 in his house.

"I started producing venom in the early '90s," he said. "My first customer was Bill Haast."

He turned in his office chair and pointed to a framed check and dollar bill from Haast.

"We started selling the venom. We grew a little every year," he said. "Now, we ship all over the world."

In addition to being a venom extractor, Barden is a commercial pilot.

"To keep all this afloat," he said. "I spend half the week flying out of JFK, and the other half working here."

His lead animal technician, Denisse Abreu, came from the Dominican Republic when she was 12 years old.

"I always had an interest in animals," she said.

Her interest in reptiles came later, when a former boyfriend introduced her to a ball python.

After graduating from high school, Abreu took up hiking, and would often encounter reptiles and snakes while on excursions.

"I kept seeing more and more snakes," she said.

A friend of hers had trained with Barden, and she asked for an introduction. Four years later, she now handles Barden's spitting snakes, such as spitting cobras.

The purpose of handling snakes is to collect venom.

Barden explained the antivenin is not made on site.

"We fill a link in a chain," he said. "What we do is very basic protein science. We do not make antivenin.

He continued, "Antivenin is made by taking our venom and injecting it into an animal, such as a horse or a sheep, then separating the antibodies. It's a very long, regulated process."

Some of the venom Medtoxin Venom Laboratories collects goes to create antivenin, and some of it goes to research. Barden said proteins in snake venom are used in cancer research, transplant research, and neurotoxin studies, just to name a few.

Approximately 400 snakes are milked for venom each week at Medtoxin in DeLand.

Most of the native snakes are brought in as nuisance removals.

"We breed many of them, so a lot of our snakes are in-house," he said. "We also get them from zoos, reputable dealers and, occasionally, universities."

Because they produce snakes and harvest venom, Barden's facility is technically a working farm, and the snakes are on a regular schedule.

"We clean them, milk them and feed them every two weeks," he said. "At least the larger snakes. The babies, we have to do more frequently."

The entire building has computerized climate and lighting controls, so the snakes can be kept happy. Warm snakes are active snakes, and better venom-producers. Even in modern accommodations, the snakes can still figure out what season it is.

"The snakes are still well able to sense the environment," Barden said.

He said they do allow the temperature to drop to about 60 degrees in some areas of the building, to give certain species the chance to ovulate.

Barden and Abreu are professionals, and anxious to dispel myths about snakes.

"I always avoid the word aggressive," Barden said. "If they [snakes] have the opportunity to go away, in most cases, they will. The notion of true aggression is a misnomer. They will defend themselves if they are threatened."

He continued, "Snakes are shy, secretive and intensely private."

While Barden intends to expand the community's knowledge about snakes, there is such a thing as too much familiarity. He wants to make sure everyone knows not to run out and pick up the nearest snake hanging out in the yard.

"Snake bite is no joke," he said.

He would know. Barden has been bitten 11 times, by eight of the world's most toxic species — and he's allergic to venom. Seeing as how he handles 300-400 deadly snakes each week, Barden said his bite rate is pretty low.

Abreu was recently bitten for the first time, by a coral snake in the yard. She captured the snake, and they decided it was too small, and should be released back into its environment.

"It was a dry bite," she said. "But that's why you don't pick up snakes in your yard."

A dry bite is when the snake doesn't release any venom into the wound.

If Abreu's bite hadn't been dry, it could have been a long wait for the antivenin, as coral-snake antivenin is no longer produced in the United States.

"The last batch of coral snake antivenin went out this month," Barden said.

A facility in Miami keeps antivenin from a similar species on hand, but you can't walk into Florida Hospital and get it. It has to be transported from facility-to-facility. And, it's made in Mexico or Costa Rica," Barden said. "It's not made in the U.S."

Generally, he said, the incidence of snake bites is low, and the death rate lower in the United States.

"There are about 8,000 bites a year in the United States," Barden said. "About six to eight fatalities. Some are complications. Some are small people and big snake."

But, there really isn't anything to fear, he said.

"They are not aggressive. They are defensive," he emphasized, again. "We work the baddest guys in the world, and we can tell you, they will try to get away from you."

Not on site during the interview was collection manager Mike Turner.

"He's been with me a long time. He was there for a lot of my bad snake bites," Barden said. "We also have a couple of volunteers who come in and clean out the cages. That helps us a lot."

Barden hopes to have the Reptile Discovery Center ready to open in about six weeks. Watch for announcements at his Web site, http://medtoxin.com.

To see video of Barden and Abreu extracting venom from an Eastern diamondback and a monocled cobra, as well as to see what happens to the venom after collection, visit www.beacononlinenews.com and click on videos.

— jen@beacononlinenews.com

Reader Comments

The comments posted below are posted by readers, not by The Beacon staff. These comments express the views and opinions of the authors, and not the administrators, moderators or webmaster. The comments forum is governed by these rules. Please use the report abuse link if you find offensive comments.

Comment on this article

Commenting is closed for this article.

If you would like to contribute a letter to the editor, please click here.

Did you find this story interesting or informative? Subscribe to The DeLand-Deltona Beacon to read more stories by Jennifer Horton, along with others from our award-winning writers. Subscribe now!