A man is in hospital after what is believed to be the first ever poisonous snakebite in Ireland.
Connolly Hospital in Dublin requested anti-venom from the National Reptile Zoo in Gowran, Kilkenny, after a 22-year-old man was bitten on the thumb by a Puff Adder, which is native to Africa.
The snake is believed to have belonged to the victim.
"With venomous snakebites it's a fairly grey science" said James Hennessy, director of the Zoo.
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"It depends on how much venom the snake injects, and it can depend on the size of the person, how quick their metabolism, the temperature of the person and things like that.
"If you don't get anti-venom, you will die eventually."
