worst bite - Page 2

PDR · #11 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NinjaTurtle

Stung by a wasp

how does it feel getting bitten? is it like a burning sensation? Can you actually feel the venom getting injected?

Ok, if we accept that the longer you work with venomous snakes the higher the chance is that you are going to be bitten at some stage.
As a Professional Herpetologist I am working every day with a large collection of venomous snakes......I work under a code of practise and endeavour to be as safe as possible.... but as you might expect accidents can happen and I have had a bite or two in my time (Crotalus atrox, Crotalus durissus, Naja naja etc.). In comparison to other industrial work place accidents the number of incidents have been very small considering just how many snakes we have here. Accidents are reported through the proper channels and the Health and safety Executive informed. Thankfully no one here has sustained any permanent damage.

My last bite was seven years ago from a young Crotalus atrox – Western Diamondback.

How did it feel?

Well imagine being forcibly stabbed with two sharp needles and that might give you some idea.
Next you feel the venom taking effect and the pain level goes up a notch
You then watch as your hand and arm starts to swell, seems to get hot and the skin becomes taught and the pain goes up another notch.
Your arm continues to swell and you feel like someone has taken a baseball bat and smashed your arm... if you have ever broken a bone you will know what I mean (I broke my collar bone 3 weeks ago crashing a motorbike and yes it hurt just as much).
By this time the doctors have carried out tests and have determined that you need antivenom. You tell them to pre-medicate you before giving you the AV, but they say “lets see how it goes”... then as the cold fluid goes into your vein you feel even worse and before you know it you are vomiting all over the floor trying to avoid splashing the doctors shiny shoes.
I can tolerate pain quite well but by now my friend is telling me not to be silly and asks the nurse to give me some pain killers.
You don’t get any sleep because you feel so ill.
Next morning there is another batch of antivenom to be administered as the circulating venom levels are still high.
Later in the day you start to get the shakes.... your lying there and your body is shaking uncontrollably because of the side effects of the antivenom.
Nurses come round every few hours and stab needles into you to take blood etc. your arms start to look like pincushions.
As time goes by you have one badly swollen arm due to the bite and the other bruised and battered from the needles and the cuff while taking your blood pressure.

After 3 or 4 days and having watched countless DVD’s on your laptop you leave hospital battered, bruised and still in pain.
I had to have 20 plus ampoules of AV for that bite, which is a lot
A week or so later, just when you think you are on the mend something happens and you start to feel unwell again.... your head feels hot, your joints start to ache, your face swells up and your lips feel numb, your voice goes and you find these strange large lumps that come up all over your body... what is happening now? Yes, you have a case of serum sickness (a side effect of the AV). One of our clinicians wanted to re-admit me to hospital be I refused to go.... I promised I would let him know if it got any worse.

For weeks/months later the bite site aches feels strange.

Eventually you might make a full recovery without losing any digits.

So, is it just like a wasp sting? Err no it is NOT

pythondave82 · #12 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDR

Ok, if we accept that the longer you work with venomous snakes the higher the chance is that you are going to be bitten at some stage.
As a Professional Herpetologist I am working every day with a large collection of venomous snakes......I work under a code of practise and endeavour to be as safe as possible.... but as you might expect accidents can happen and I have had a bite or two in my time (Crotalus atrox, Crotalus durissus, Naja naja etc.). In comparison to other industrial work place accidents the number of incidents have been very small considering just how many snakes we have here. Accidents are reported through the proper channels and the Health and safety Executive informed. Thankfully no one here has sustained any permanent damage.

My last bite was seven years ago from a young Crotalus atrox – Western Diamondback.

How did it feel?

Well imagine being forcibly stabbed with two sharp needles and that might give you some idea.
Next you feel the venom taking effect and the pain level goes up a notch
You then watch as your hand and arm starts to swell, seems to get hot and the skin becomes taught and the pain goes up another notch.
Your arm continues to swell and you feel like someone has taken a baseball bat and smashed your arm... if you have ever broken a bone you will know what I mean (I broke my collar bone 3 weeks ago crashing a motorbike and yes it hurt just as much).
By this time the doctors have carried out tests and have determined that you need antivenom. You tell them to pre-medicate you before giving you the AV, but they say “lets see how it goes”... then as the cold fluid goes into your vein you feel even worse and before you know it you are vomiting all over the floor trying to avoid splashing the doctors shiny shoes.
I can tolerate pain quite well but by now my friend is telling me not to be silly and asks the nurse to give me some pain killers.
You don’t get any sleep because you feel so ill.
Next morning there is another batch of antivenom to be administered as the circulating venom levels are still high.
Later in the day you start to get the shakes.... your lying there and your body is shaking uncontrollably because of the side effects of the antivenom.
Nurses come round every few hours and stab needles into you to take blood etc. your arms start to look like pincushions.
As time goes by you have one badly swollen arm due to the bite and the other bruised and battered from the needles and the cuff while taking your blood pressure.

After 3 or 4 days and having watched countless DVD’s on your laptop you leave hospital battered, bruised and still in pain.
I had to have 20 plus ampoules of AV for that bite, which is a lot
A week or so later, just when you think you are on the mend something happens and you start to feel unwell again.... your head feels hot, your joints start to ache, your face swells up and your lips feel numb, your voice goes and you find these strange large lumps that come up all over your body... what is happening now? Yes, you have a case of serum sickness (a side effect of the AV). One of our clinicians wanted to re-admit me to hospital be I refused to go.... I promised I would let him know if it got any worse.

For weeks/months later the bite site aches feels strange.

Eventually you might make a full recovery without losing any digits.

So, is it just like a wasp sting? Err no it is NOT

Paul told me this story in person, but never made it sound so interesting as on paper - I cant believe you nearly splashed-up that kind doctors shoes Paul.........

NinjaTurtle · #13 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 05:10 PM

Thanks PDR, honestly it felt like I was the one was got bitten reading that detail description

You must have a lot of bottle handling snakes, especially after getting bitten.

mrcarlxx · #14 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 05:12 PM

wow thats a sory and a half lol.

i was bit by my 9 foot boa while walking down the staires in my house...i bled loads lol

SiUK · #15 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDR

Ok, if we accept that the longer you work with venomous snakes the higher the chance is that you are going to be bitten at some stage.
As a Professional Herpetologist I am working every day with a large collection of venomous snakes......I work under a code of practise and endeavour to be as safe as possible.... but as you might expect accidents can happen and I have had a bite or two in my time (Crotalus atrox, Crotalus durissus, Naja naja etc.). In comparison to other industrial work place accidents the number of incidents have been very small considering just how many snakes we have here. Accidents are reported through the proper channels and the Health and safety Executive informed. Thankfully no one here has sustained any permanent damage.

My last bite was seven years ago from a young Crotalus atrox – Western Diamondback.

How did it feel?

Well imagine being forcibly stabbed with two sharp needles and that might give you some idea.
Next you feel the venom taking effect and the pain level goes up a notch
You then watch as your hand and arm starts to swell, seems to get hot and the skin becomes taught and the pain goes up another notch.
Your arm continues to swell and you feel like someone has taken a baseball bat and smashed your arm... if you have ever broken a bone you will know what I mean (I broke my collar bone 3 weeks ago crashing a motorbike and yes it hurt just as much).
By this time the doctors have carried out tests and have determined that you need antivenom. You tell them to pre-medicate you before giving you the AV, but they say “lets see how it goes”... then as the cold fluid goes into your vein you feel even worse and before you know it you are vomiting all over the floor trying to avoid splashing the doctors shiny shoes.
I can tolerate pain quite well but by now my friend is telling me not to be silly and asks the nurse to give me some pain killers.
You don’t get any sleep because you feel so ill.
Next morning there is another batch of antivenom to be administered as the circulating venom levels are still high.
Later in the day you start to get the shakes.... your lying there and your body is shaking uncontrollably because of the side effects of the antivenom.
Nurses come round every few hours and stab needles into you to take blood etc. your arms start to look like pincushions.
As time goes by you have one badly swollen arm due to the bite and the other bruised and battered from the needles and the cuff while taking your blood pressure.

After 3 or 4 days and having watched countless DVD’s on your laptop you leave hospital battered, bruised and still in pain.
I had to have 20 plus ampoules of AV for that bite, which is a lot
A week or so later, just when you think you are on the mend something happens and you start to feel unwell again.... your head feels hot, your joints start to ache, your face swells up and your lips feel numb, your voice goes and you find these strange large lumps that come up all over your body... what is happening now? Yes, you have a case of serum sickness (a side effect of the AV). One of our clinicians wanted to re-admit me to hospital be I refused to go.... I promised I would let him know if it got any worse.

For weeks/months later the bite site aches feels strange.

Eventually you might make a full recovery without losing any digits.

So, is it just like a wasp sting? Err no it is NOT

stories like this make me even more careful of my fingers when im around my atrox lol, can I ask though what were the circumstances of the bite, was it during venom extraction?

snakekeeper · #16 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 09:07 PM

While on a herp. hike a friend got tagged by a gravid female vipera ammodytes. We rushed him to hospital where he stayed for 14 days, of those days 7 were critical. He was in intensive care for 10 days. Doctors told us he had suffered an allergic reaction on top of the bite. I have handled these snakes for years and never once did I think that one could do so much damage. I know their venom potential but seeing what I did was quite a shock. I now always hook handle no matter what size the snake is. It sometimes takes bad experiences to learn one's mistakes. Having said all that, I don't think I would want to personally sustain a bite from any of those venomous snakes listed previously. Daily bites from our ETBs, GTPs, boas, burmese and anacondas are more than enough!

PDR · #17 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiUK

stories like this make me even more careful of my fingers when im around my atrox lol, can I ask though what were the circumstances of the bite, was it during venom extraction?

I was moving the snake into a clean cage. I had hooked him and put him into the cage and was just putting the lid back on with my left hand. Unfortunately my fingers where wet and I lost my grip on the small tab of the lid as I was lowering it. The lid did not line up properly and the snake stuck past the lid and bit the side of my left hand.
Bearing in mind that this was a 7 week old baby snake I thought the bite would not be a problem.... I secured the snake in the cage and walked towards the door.... it was then the pain hit and I knew I was dealing with a serious bite (just goes to show you should never underestimate the potency of young snakes). Thankfully I did not have any necrosis or serious tissues damage.

Touch wood, I’ve never come close to being bitten extracting venom.

Gregg M · #18 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 02:41 AM

Wow, 15 plus years of keeping venomous snakes and I have always managed to keep my self out of their mouths... LOL
I will continue to try my best to stay un-tagged...

HABU · #19 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 02:45 AM

a copperhead nailed me years ago... i got lucky... wasn't that bad... bad enough though..

herps06 · #20 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 02:58 PM

I got bitten by a baby rhombic night adder. I was handling some of our hatchlings and the cocky little devil bit my index finger!!!

My finger went a bruised colour and I got a headache. Not too bad when compared with the puff adder.

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