REXBURG -- When you walk into the room and turn on the lights, the chilling clattering of hundreds of rattles hits your ears first. Venitox Labs in Rexburg is unlike most medical labs in the United States and is a rare find throughout the world. It’s a lab specializing in toxin-ology and venom extractions located on Rob Clark’s Idaho property, and it hosts a variety of deadly snakes.
“Venitox Laboratories is simply my venom production facility. I have about 140 rattlesnakes. I extract the venom and process (it) for pharmaceutical manufacturing,” Clark says.
Venitox is something that came about because of necessity and important changes in Clark’s life. For years, Clark had been in the medical sales industry, but when things got rocky in his previous position, he decided it was time for a change.
“The idea of holding rattlesnakes and getting the venom and everything that goes along with that isn’t something anybody wraps their head around. That was not my plan. It wasn’t something that I had aspired to do,” Clark says. “If somebody asked me (if) I’d be doing that 15 years ago it would have blown my mind.”
When initially transitioning to his own business in 2012 times were tough and money was tight. Clark had to sell his home in Colorado and downsize. For him and his family of five at the time, the unsurety in his professional life became emotionally taxing.
“I knew that if I wasn’t successful at producing the venom and then getting successful samples out, where my customers where happy with it, and then them giving me the thumbs up, and then getting an entire batch sold and then getting paid on that just in time to make that first month’s rent was-- insane. That was far scarier than picking up the first rattlesnake and extracting the first gram of venom,” Clark says.
Clark’s self-training and hunger for knowledge paved the foundation for his success over the last 13 years. He says there isn’t anywhere to go for formal training to run a venom laboratory, and he couldn’t expect his competitors to teach him the trade, so he took it upon himself to learn his newfound craft. Clark considers himself blessed that he’s never been bitten, since he’s started down this path. He says he hopes to keep his non-bitten streak.
“I had to pick up a rattle snake and pin it with the snake hooks, pick it up and extract the venom. The only way I learned was from watching videos of other people doing it. I scoured the internet. I studied every snake bite instance that existed on the internet. I was an internet researcher and scoured all the darkest corners that I could to find out about venom,” Clark says.
Clark says the flexibility of working for himself is one of the most rewarding aspects of his job. Initially, his lab was located in Round Rock, Texas, but has since moved to the Gem State.
“I just set my own pace, and I have a lot of time to think about things and ponder about things and learn about rattlesnakes, learn about venom, learn about biology. There’s a lot to it and I enjoy every minute of it, so it doesn’t feel like a job to me,” Clark says.
Throughout the world least 46 laboratories produce animal-derived antivenoms, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Many of these are located in Asia and the Americas, with fewer in Europe, Africa and Australia. What Clark does is more niche and focused around snake venom. There are a few specialized labs in the United States that work with snakes and reptiles like the Kentucky Reptile Zoo. This organization a non-profit in Slade Kentucky acquires venom from reptiles and studies their behavior. Clark says this is one of the bigger reptile facilities domestically.
Clark says he doesn’t have any naysayers that he can recall—it's been all love and positivity for him growing his own business and doing a risky job that very few can do.
Clark says while his snakes are in captivity, he’s done his best to replicate their needs. As long as they have food, water and warmth, the snakes are safe.
He says if people are concerned about his snakes living in a box, don’t be. From what he’s learned, a snake differs from a human in this way, they like being undisturbed in small spaces. Clark says it’s his priority that the snakes stay healthy, have what they need to thrive and that they don’t hurt themselves.
“It’s interesting to see in the wild how a snake has crammed itself into a space that is literally only the size of the snake itself, and stay there for a very long time. It doesn’t need to go have meetings with its buddies or have a herd,” Clark says.
“It really doesn’t get bored sitting in a box,” Clark says. “It doesn’t make it sad to be in there, quite the opposite. If I open the tub, that makes them nervous ... so them having their privacy and them having a place to hide is very, very good for them.”
Now Clark’s work has him doing some 200 extractions per month. The venom he extracts is critical for cancer studies, and snake bite related products. He says drugs that are from venom research do not require venom to be produced including stroke and high blood pressure medication, and diabetes medication.
Clark loves and respects his snakes. For him, each snake has a story, or life lesson that has added to his perspective of the world.
“Society sees rattle snakes as being the most hideous of all of God’s creatures, yet I get to see a side of them that nobody else sees. I get to see the power that they have. I get to see what a magnificent, glorious creature they are. I think every creature on this planet has a purpose,” Clark says
To learn more about Venitox Laboratories or to schedule a tour go to Venitox.com.