South Carolina man bitten by world's most venomous snake he kept as a pet

A South Carolina man is fighting for his life in a hospital after being bitten by an inland taipan – the world's most venomous snake – in his home on Friday.

According to Reptile MagazineThe man, known for posting videos featuring the exotic venomous snakes in his collection, had the snake freely in his hand when it bit him. The website said he posted a video earlier in the day of himself holding the snake and claiming he could control its movements.

“I can control his spin,” he said in the video. “There's no reason to be so afraid of him.”

WBTW identified the man as Jeffrey Leibowitzand said that a search of his property later found 14 snakes and a domestic cat. Among the venomous snakes taken from his home were a green mamba, two Gaboon vipers, a spiny-tailed squirrel, a death adder, a diamondback rattlesnake, two other adult rattlesnakes of unknown species, black forest cobras, two neotropical rattlesnakes, a small rattlesnake (species unknown) and the taipan, according to the website.

Jeff Camper, a biologist and snake specialist at Francis Marion University, told the website that the snake has a “very, very dangerous, powerful venom” and that one bite could “kill up to 100 people.”

WBTW said antidote was flown in from Florida to help treat Leibowitz.

“His body is probably going to give out relatively soon,” Camper told the site. “From what I understand, he's on a ventilator, and that's necessary for the patient to continue breathing because his diaphragm is probably paralyzed.”

“He may suffer long-term or permanent damage to various organs.”

“Taipan poisoning is incredibly dangerous and pretty much the worst thing you can be bitten by,” Bryan Fry, associate professor at the University of Queensland in Australia, wrote this on Facebook. “This is because taipans specialize in very dangerous prey such as long-haired rats. Mammals that are quite capable of seriously injuring or even killing a snake. Therefore, they have developed strategies to absolutely destroy their very dangerous prey. This way they have no chance of retaliation.”

WBTW said none of the nearby zoos or reptile enclosures would accept the animals “due to unknown health and environmental concerns, such as their living conditions and possible disease.” It said a family member signed a voluntary surrender form and turned the snakes over to Florence police for euthanasia.