Snake Bite

[Superskunk]

I live in Bagkok for about 15 month now and I,ve seen a lot of snakes in my garden or in my area here.

Just one month ago I had a small one (with a red tail) here. It was very agressiv but hadn,t poison.

The big green one is actually very afraid of humans, with poison but not deadly. Was eating on of these Tukkaes...

My GF told me when I was back home in Germany for 2 month she found one in our house...

[Sakeopete]

It is very unlikely to get bitten by a snake unless you tries to catch it or handle it. Have had most species in the world except some of the Australian ones. But most sorts of Cobras, Vipers, Rattlers, Adders, Mambas, etc. BTW, a good friend of mine has just been able to breed Black Mamba for the first time ever in Northern Europe. Anyone interested?

Been bitten many, many times but only hospitalized twice. All of the snakebites happened from snakes in collections when I treated them for various reasons. The first one was a Bamboo viper and that was painful...... The other one was a Gaboon viper. Also hurt alot but I was lucky and didn´t get too much venom injected.

In Thailand I have caught Cobras and a few other snakes but never been bitten except from non poisonous ones. I have enclosed some pictures and my point of views about snakes on some of my other threads in this forum. For the ones interested.

I used to captive breed boidae and colubrids for years in Canada in my province venomous snakes are illegal to keep so I didn't work with them. When I first moved to Thailand I tried to continue but as I work offshore it was too difficult. My wife tried her best to help me but she couldn't get over the fear.

[Chinavet]

After being bitten by a snake a couple of days ago, I am re-educating myself on snakebite and would encourage forum members to do the same. It might make a difference one day.

I grew up in central Australia and have lived most of my life in proximity to snakes with plenty of encounters. My recent bite made me realize while I did not have contempt due to familiarity, I have been guilty of complacency. I now live on a few rai of rural land in Surin province surrounded by water and vegetation. It is still great natural habitat and before getting a bunch of dogs (10) and geese, multiple daily sightings were normal. My complacency has been typically getting around the property in flip flops.

On Wednesday I was on day two of cutting grass and weeds with a motorized cutter. I WAS wearing my almost knee high gum boots. My left foot broke through the soft earth into a cavity and went down to about knee level. I instinctively hauled my leg out of the hole (quickly) and a +/- 1.5m snake came out with the leg and went flying through the air. The snake landed in mud/water/grass and immediately took off. Later I was kicking myself for not immediately (that second) going after it with the grass cutter so a 100% ID could be made. Surprisingly, much of what I am reading downplays the need for a dead snake to ID and discourages going after it. So, not sure if that was mistake one or not. Anyway, my quick visual was not going to cut it for a firm ID. All I really saw was a thick green/brown/gray snake body disappearing into the grass.

I did not know I was bitten, I felt nothing. But on inspection there was no denying the two blood droplets at the back of my calf, just above the top of my gum boot. That was time for bit of a reality check and I knew the smart thing to do was proceed as though this was real trouble, not wait to see symptoms.

Called the missus (teaching at the village school) and went and had a shower, because I was hot and filthy. Mistake - I should not have washed the bite area, it could have venom externally that could be used for ID.

The next 40 minutes were the really dangerous part of my day, with the missus driving to a hospital in Surin.

The brother in law is a salt of the earth Isaan rice farmer and bushman. he wanted me to first go to the local 'traditional healer'. I opted for a source of anti venom, but I would be very interested if anyone has information about village traditional treatment.

I bound my calf with a towel and tried to maintain pressure over the area. Try it, it's hard to believe you are achieving anything significant. Anyway, the medical jury seems to be out on pressure bandages. Cutting and sucking are definitely out.

One hour after the bite, a doctor was telling me "no swelling, no venom, no problem". He did say they typically treat 3-4 serious cases each month. So, it was off to the Farang Connection for a feed and a beer.

I don't know if I had a non-venomous bite, a dry bite or a failed bite (barely broke the skin), but I have learned infection is still a serious concern and I am taking my medicine. Tetanus is one issue. Also interesting, fang marks are not always found, even with fatalities, so be aware if you know you may have had contact. Many bites are painless and people do not know they have been bitten (I didn't).

Anaphylaxis can be fatal even from a dry bite, especially for people that have reactions to bee stings, insect bites, medication etc, worth reading up on. It seems panic and fear can play a role in this also. My lifetime familiarity with snakes helped me approach this incident rationally without any great excitement or stupid behavior, my pulse rate stayed normal. So if you are of the group that has great fear of snakes, you might do yourself a big favor by doing whatever it takes to try and get over it.

Hope this is useful information and gets some people to work on their awareness. It could happen to you or anyone around you. The poster who had an encounter on Sukhumvit reminded me of an article telling about the average 5 bites a week on city streets in Shenzhen, China, where I was living.

Finally, as follow up treatment I am consuming lots of bottles of anti-venom from my refrigerator, tastes just like beer.

[tim armstrong]

My father used to say something to me like ' all snakes are dangerous and they're all going to get you' Needless to say its taken me a long time to get over that one. But he was more or less right about our family farm in Oz. My brother was once bitten by a brown snake through the instep of a leather boot! He survived, but was affectedc for some weeks. In Thailand we've had a few rat snakes and others around the house, but nothing really dangerous - yet, but I am eternally vigilant.

[Okidoki]

while in thailand in a trip down some river (walking) saw two different pythons in trees. the thais ran. my (thai( husband and i tried getting closer to photo shot each of them. too dark...

worked with non poisonous and semi poisonous israeli native snakes, also the usual king/corn snakes... ran in to many of our vipers at night while dealing with goats and stuff... very big, but fairly 'JAI YEN' snakes unless stepped on or bothered. after winter 'hibernation' they are particularly nasty and venomous, but can kill a child or small adult all year, and /or cause muscle/nerve damage at best ... had one in our children's amusment park indoors, in the 'plastic balls pool'., the child that got bitten made it cause his mother, our kibbutz nurse, kept him breathing while we rushed to hospital (30 minutes drive on country mountain road), he suffered some damage to muscle tissue but is ok now.

some others here were bitten while walking in our orchards, came back home and drove to hospital. all suffered from terrible pain and tissue damage.

our black snake is aggressive and nasty, will not move away from humans if encountered on a path, and will bite, nasty but not deadly.

several other very nasty bur fortunately rarer and not too aggressive snakes, all th colour of the desert.

anon killed any snake he ever saw here, regardless of my and duaghter telling him that snakes are good, keep away rats, etc...

to thais, a good snake is a dead snake. , other wise i would have some kings as pets.

btw, not all traingular heads mean vipers, and not all poisonous snakes are vipers either. some of our snakes resemble eachother and only the pupil i.e. vertical or horizontal pupil tells u wich snake is which.

i say, if u are close enough to see the pupil, u are a bit too close to the snake in general........

bina

israel

a utube clip in hebrew but shows a beautiful israeli viper, close up of the teeth, the zig zag on the back, the face, and u can also see how slow the snake is to respond to irritation.

The snake in the clip is a Palestine viper. Daboia Palestinae. I breeded them in the beginning of the 90´s.

For being a zoo person, it would be easier if you could use scientific names since "black snake" is a bit... "general."

[GarryP]

I used to know a very nice well educated Thai gentleman who was working in the market in Chong Mek, Ubol. I often wondered what the deal was with him and found out from talking to his son. It turns out that he was a medical doctor by profession. His youngest son was bitten by a cobra and rather than take him to the hospital, he was peruaded by the locals to take him to the local "healer". The long and the short of it was that his son died. His father was so disgusted with himself for not taking him to the hospital, he quit the medical profession and became a market trader. He felt that with all his training, if he wasn't sensible enough to properly care for his own son, he could not be trusted to treat others.

[tim armstrong]

I used to know a very nice well educated Thai gentleman who was working in the market in Chong Mek, Ubol. I often wondered what the deal was with him and found out from talking to his son. It turns out that he was a medical doctor by profession. His youngest son was bitten by a cobra and rather than take him to the hospital, he was peruaded by the locals to take him to the local "healer". The long and the short of it was that his son died. His father was so disgusted with himself for not taking him to the hospital, he quit the medical profession and became a market trader. He felt that with all his training, if he wasn't sensible enough to properly care for his own son, he could not be trusted to treat others.

Sad story, what a loss to the community, especially in rural thailand.

[ozzydom]

I have been bitten twice in the last two years ,both times by keel-backs , had no effects from envenomation but the last one got me on a vein in front of my ankle and I could not stop the bleeding because of the blood thinning medication after my heart op.