Snake's In Hh

[Cabana]

What's best place to head for in HH centre if it happens (anti-serum available?). I have seen off two on my property in last three months.

[BigA]

Good question, I don't know if San Paulo has it, Petchaburi is awful far if your bit by a deadly snake. Some Thai lady neighbors supposedly saw a cobra in my yard just b4 I cut the tall grass. I would recommend keeping the grass cut short so you can see them. I keep a long hoe handy so I can whack one of I see it. I have these giant size toads and I am worried that they might be a food supply for snakes.

[Cabana]

Yr right Big A prevention is better than cure, cure being miles away it seems and if a bad bite you'd be knackered, especially for me about 30 mins drive to a central area such as Hua Hin. Keeping grass down is good advice plus a lack of large rock structures (landscapes) and water features such as ponds is recommended. Yr right they love the frogs and thats how my last encounter happened i believe it is known as the flying snake or golden tree snake, not that dangerous.

[up2you]

What a load of Sissies! Get a friend to suck out the venom.

My friend once got bit on his penis....I rang the doctor who informed me I should suck out all the poison or he would die!

Poor bastard lasted 10 minutes.

Up2you.

[Cabana]

What a load of Sissies! Get a friend to suck out the venom.

My friend once got bit on his penis....I rang the doctor who informed me I should suck out all the poison or he would die!

Poor bastard lasted 10 minutes.

Up2you.

Thanks for the contribution - very useful.

[PETERTHEEATER]

Come on guys; don't get paranoid. You leave the snakes alone and they will leave you alone. We all have to share this world and even our own gardens.

The risk of getting bitten is small but that risk increases if you don't see them so keeping the garden trimmed and reducing food sources (frogs, toads, chicks etc) is sensible.

What must be understood is, that if you are bitten then you need to know the type of snake that bit you. there is no general purpose anti-venine serum, it is specific to types. That usually means that you - or someone else - needs to catch or kill the reptile and carry it along to the treatment centre.

Don't forget that there are more non-venemous species out there than the venomous and that they all do a good job controlling the rodent population.

Walk softly and carry a big stick.

[sua yai]

Not absolutely sure about availability of anti venoms, but San Paulo would be the first port of call on my list. Then the military hospital in Pranburi - reputedly very good and will admit non army in emergencies.

My understanding is that even if a cobra got you, you don't die in 30 mins. You still have a good amount of time. Thing is to TRY and remain calm so your pulse rate dosn't increase and spread the pison more quickly. The first nasty thing that'll happen is wasting of the muscles that can lead to amputation.

[Darknight]

An international expert on snakebite, the late Dr. Alistair Reid of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine found out that only 10 per cent to 15 per cent of venomous bites end in death. The possibility of survival, even without treatment, is incredibly good. There are many reasons for this. One is that the snake often causes a dry bite. That is, the snake does not always inject venom. Sometimes, it might inject only a tiny bit of venom. The snake can inject the quantity of venom it wants. This is an entirely voluntary process. This I learnt doing thousands of venom extractions. Sometimes the snake will not give any venom at all. But you never know how much venom was injected into you except by the progress of the symptoms.

What is the percentage of venomous snakebites that go untreated?

It is very difficult to say. A cobra bite, a Russell's viper bite and the saw scaled viper bite have all have different symptoms. The Krait bite is much less obvious and it is very difficult for people to know that they have been bitten at all. There may be no pain and no symptoms to be alarmed at; one may not take it seriously and go to hospital, especially in the middle of the night when most of such bites occur. So, unfortunately, the Krait bite is more often fatal than bites from the other three of the "Big Four".

Is it correct to say that if a snake had bitten in the recent past, its poison is less in the subsequent bite?

No. A snake never runs out of venom and it does not inject all the venom from the sac. Those of us who have been extracting venom know this well.

Have you come across any case in which a known venomous snakebite has been countered by traditional medicine?

First of all, many snakebites are by non-venomous snakes. Second, a large percentage of venomous snakebites are dry bites. A cobra had once bitten me and it was a dry bite. I did not develop any symptom of a cobra bite. We know that at least 80 per cent to 90 per cent survival is guaranteed, without any treatment. With that sort of success rate to any healer, whatever method he follows — herbal, "snakestone" or mantra, or plain soda water — most villagers would be happy to go to him, though he is a potential serial killer. If he lost even one patient he is a murderer. He may be successful without other ailments like fever, common cold and whatever. But in a snakebite, you are looking at a person who is lying on the operating table, as it were, with his body cut open ... I mean ... the equivalent to that. And he has to be in the hands of someone who can deal with that and a man who supplies some local medicine who cannot handle it. The Irulas, the traditional snake catcher with their own sophisticated herbal medicine system, have now understood the position. They know that the snake injects you and the venom goes deep into your system and this can be neutralised only by a similar injection, not by oral or locally applied remedies, no matter how famous.

What is the status of venomous snakes in India?

Cobras flourish as long as there are rice fields; there they feed mainly on the mole rat (varapu eli in Tamil), live and lay their eggs in the rat burrow networks. Kraits also get by very well in rice fields because they like the plentiful small rodents such as the field mouse (sundeli in Tamil) and rock mouse (kallu eli in Tamil). We have found a lot of kraits in the mounds of earth and rubble near wells. The Russell's viper lives in the rocky outcrops and hedgerows of cactus and other bush which often form the boundaries of agricultural land. There, on the high ground they have a plentiful supply of common gerbil (velleli in Tamil) which are also attracted to the wealth of food humans provide by their farming activities! But thanks to snakes we are not overrun by rodents (as yet)!

article from:

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2004/06/13/storie...61300400200.htm

[astral]

Snakes are a fact of life here, even in Bangkok.

I remember seeing a snake outside my house, just off Silom Road.

It was small and vivid green. My first reaction was that it was rubber toy. When I looked a second time it had gone.

Definitely not a toy.

Keep the grass down. Keep a cat.

[ProfessorFart]

there is no general purpose anti-venine serum, it is specific to types

Incorrect. You can obtain a polyvalent anti venine from the Thai RC at the Saovbha Institute (BKK Snake Farm). Be warned though it isnt cheap.

Some snake tips;

Never approach the snake. It will try and get away from you in its own time. Its when people start wacking away at snakes that they get bitten.

If the snake is indoors it make sure the snake has a clear route of escape and just let it go.

If you see a snake in your house and it dives for cover DO NOT try and get it out of its cover. Keep a watch and send for help. I reckon virtually every neighbourhood in Thailand wil have some one nearby who has snake handling experience.

Keep lawns, trees, and bushes trimmed so you can easily spot a snake.

When moving around at night clump around. Any snake in the vicinity will be off like a flash.