Snake charming charmers may also use Russell's vipers. Indian and Burmese pythons, and even mangrove snakes are also encountered, though they are not as popular. In North Africa, the Egyptian cobra, puff adder, carpet viper and horned desert viper are commonly featured in performances. Except for the pythons and mangrove snakes, all of these species are highly venomous. At home, snake charmers keep their animals in containers such as baskets, boxes, pots, or sacks. For safety, some North African snake charmers stitch closed the mouth of their performing snakes, leaving just enough opening for the animal to be able to move its
Many-banded krait the Vietnam War, American soldiers referred to the many-banded krait as the "two-step Charlies," in the mistaken belief that its venom was lethal enough to kill within two steps. The many-banded krait gathered worldwide attention after a juvenile individual bit and killed Dr. Joe Slowinski on September 11, 2001 in Myanmar. He died 29 hours after being bitten. Many-banded krait The many-banded krait ("Bungarus multicinctus"), also known as the Taiwanese krait or the Chinese krait, is a highly venomous species of elapid snake found in much of central and southern China and Southeast Asia. The species was first described by