A North Carolina man beat the odds last year after being bitten by his pet gaboon viper, one of the world’s deadliest snakes. Doctors used a record 44 doses of anti-venom to save him. He lost two fingers but survived — something his medical team called “near impossible.”

Native to Africa, gaboon vipers are huge, calm snakes with two-inch fangs and venom strong enough to kill in minutes. They rarely bite people in the wild, but in the U.S., keeping them as pets has led to emergencies. In Virginia, another man’s bite set off a frantic search for anti-venom, which had to be rushed in from zoos and aquariums since local hospitals don’t stock it.

Experts remind the public that most backyard snakes are harmless, but exotic pets are different. Without quick access to the right treatment, one bite can be fatal. As herpetologist Kortney Jaworski warns: “Snakes aren’t naturally aggressive — but keeping a dangerous one at home comes with risks most people don’t realize until it’s too late.”