# Very Close Call with a Death Adder!



## Najakeeper (Oct 13, 2014)

Hello All,

The risk of keeping venomous snakes is obviously getting bitten and envenomated. With proper handling methods, the risk is low but is always inherent to the hobby. So all of us, who decide to keep these animals accept and live with this risk.

Well, yesterday I have spent a whole day cleaning venomous cages and replacing substrate entirely, which I do at least every six months even though I spot clean everyday. Everything was done to the book and there was no incident. Today, I went into the snake room in my lunch break and noticed that the new substrate I have provided was a bit moist and creating too much humidity especially for my desert dwellers. So I decided to aerate their terrariums and stay in the room to watch them for 15 minutes. At approximately 12.10 CET, I wanted to slide the glass door closed on my young adult Acanthophis sp. Dajarra's terrarium. I approached the cage and moved my left hand from left to right to reach the sliding door but I have seen a blur come flying out of the cage and I felt pain on the upper part of my ring finger. I have immediately pushed the snake in with a hook, closed the terrarium door and locked it. 

Here are the sequence of events after that point:

12.10 CET Blood visible on at least three points. No venom can be seen, only physical pain present, no burning sensation. Seems like fangs scraped close to PIP joint and pierced right on top of DIP joint again. Photo right after the bite:







12.11 Pressure bandage applied all the way up my arm. No itching, no burning sensation, immediate clotting visible, no swelling.

12.15 Folder ready with the information about the snake, the address and phone info of the antivenin bank, emergency bite protocol information, bite record information, venomous snake expert information, house doctor information etc.

12.20 Still no itching, no burning sensation, wounds already clotted, no swelling, no ptosis, no neusea, no slurry speach. Decided to not to alert authorities but instructed my wife to do so if the situation changes. At this point, to me, it is clear that this is a "dry bite" situation but this is a calculated risk on my part. 

13.10 No symptoms aside from numbness on my left hand due to tight pressure bandage on left arm.

13.30 No symptoms aside from extreme numbness on my left hand due to tight pressure bandage on left arm. Can barely move my left hand.

14.10 Decide to reduce the pressure from the bandage to allow some blood flow. Immediate feeling return to left hand. No further symptoms.

Photo of the finger then:







15.10 No further symptoms.

15.40 As I am typing this message, no further symptoms. But I will keep the pressure bandage as it is for another hour just in case.

So it looks like this is a dry Acanthophis bite. I have heard from other keepers that dry bites are quite common with this genus so it seems like my girl also wanted to warn me with a dry bite to get my technique back into shape. Even though it was scary, this will teach me to be careful even if the snake is inside and I am outside. Anything can happen with venomous snakes and complacency is our biggest enemy.

I hope this real life story helps people when they are making a decision about venomous snakes.

Reactions: Like 3


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## freedumbdclxvi (Oct 13, 2014)

Damn.  Hope all remains well.

Did you see where the snake was?  Or was it under substrate?


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## Najakeeper (Oct 13, 2014)

freedumbdclxvi said:


> Damn.  Hope all remains well.
> 
> Did you see where the snake was?  Or was it under substrate?


Thanks.

The tail end was away from the door but head was right at the blind spot between the water dish and the cage door.


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## freedumbdclxvi (Oct 13, 2014)

Gotcha.  As long as everything goes well, update the thread so that we know you weren't envenomated.


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## Najakeeper (Oct 13, 2014)

freedumbdclxvi said:


> Gotcha.  As long as everything goes well, update the thread so that we know you weren't envenomated.


Took the pressure bandage out about half an hour ago, all is well. It was a dry bite.

Reactions: Like 1


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## jbm150 (Oct 13, 2014)

Wow, that's intense.  Definitely a good lesson to you and everyone else to not get complacent or take your animals for granted (not saying you did).  Glad to hear it was a dry bite!


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## jdl (Oct 13, 2014)

I am glad to hear it was a dry bite.  I hope as I type this that all is still well


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## Najakeeper (Oct 13, 2014)

Thanks for the sentiments guys. Definitely a dry bite as no symptoms after ca 7hrs. 

This was bite number 2 in the 11 years of venomous keeping. The first one was full envenomation. Better than a lot of keepers but not a very good score IMO.


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## The Snark (Oct 13, 2014)

Okay. He's alright. No venom. Phew! 
YOU DUMBSNIT! What's the big bright idea of moving your hand through a strike zone? DUMMY DUMMY DUMMY DUMMY! Pfffffftb!

Just too damn easy to miss a simple screw up like that, isn't it? Nice response and trend keeping. I prescribe another 20 years practice before you move on to saw scales/Russells.

I remember first working at the nature center (rattlers). The guy saying, visualize a red ball around every snake as big across as your arm is long. Enter that ball and you're bit.


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## Najakeeper (Oct 14, 2014)

The Snark said:


> Okay. He's alright. No venom. Phew!
> YOU DUMBSNIT! What's the big bright idea of moving your hand through a strike zone? DUMMY DUMMY DUMMY DUMMY!


Yeah, pretty much what I was telling myself after it had happened but it was a complete lack of judgement moment. No one should enter the venomous snake room with a preoccupied mind. Not much different from being drunk or high.

No interest in Echis and Daboia so all is well there .


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## The Snark (Oct 14, 2014)

I honestly feel keeping that strike zone constantly in mind, day after day, week after week, on out for years, is almost beyond human ability. Multiple strike zones mean absolute unwavering focus at all times. And if you are dealing with bite happys like vipers, it's 100% zero tolerance. And should the focus waver for a split second, it's this thread or all those stories you read of an expert handler getting a toes up not so free ride.

I really can't see any difference between vipers, attitude wise. They become aware of you they coil. Enter the zone, they strike, invariably.


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## Najakeeper (Oct 14, 2014)

The Snark said:


> I honestly feel keeping that strike zone constantly in mind, day after day, week after week, on out for years, is almost beyond human ability. Multiple strike zones mean absolute unwavering focus at all times. And if you are dealing with bite happys like vipers, it's 100% zero tolerance. And should the focus waver for a split second, it's this thread or all those stories you read of an expert handler getting a toes up not so free ride.


Exactly. Humans are not built to be 100% focused. Our brains are our biggest enemies in this case as we constantly think on multiple issues. But one has to remember the strike zone reality with some genera and Acanthophis is the most serious example. Especially when they are in their terrariums and when they were not disturbed previously (hence they are in hunting mode), if you move into their strike zone, you *will* get bitten. There is no escape from their .15 second strike and they almost always strike...

The biggest point out of all this is being ready for the worst. Even though I was scared to death, I was ready. I got everything together in a very short time and if it was a wet bite, I would most likely survive it.


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## The Snark (Oct 14, 2014)

I just had one of those major facepalms. I've known the word Daboia, hiding, hidden, for decades and never associated it to the snake: The hidden one.


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## Najakeeper (Oct 14, 2014)

The Snark said:


> I just had one of those major facepalms. I've known the word Daboia, hiding, hidden, for decades and never associated it to the snake: The hidden one.


Cool name then .


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## Nada (Oct 15, 2014)

Glad you're okay. Always humbling to see how quickly they can ruin your day.


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## Akai (Oct 16, 2014)

I'm glad you're OK.  I'd have a long sit down after that and count your lucky stars.


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## Shrike (Oct 16, 2014)

Damn, scary stuff.  And this happens to a guy that knows what he's doing and follows good protocol.  Glad you're ok.


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## catfishrod69 (Oct 16, 2014)

Glad you are still around to tell the story man. Would have been some scary stuff sitting around waiting for the venom to kick in, or not.


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## Najakeeper (Oct 16, 2014)

Akai said:


> I'm glad you're OK.  I'd have a long sit down after that and count your lucky stars.


Yeah, thought about life for a few hours. Near death experiences have an effect on you even though a wet bite would probably not kill me. 



Shrike said:


> Damn, scary stuff.  And this happens to a guy that knows what he's doing and follows good protocol.  Glad you're ok.


Thanks mate. It is a momentary lack of judgement, protocol helps but doesn't eliminate that altogether.



catfishrod69 said:


> Glad you are still around to tell the story man. Would have been some scary stuff sitting around waiting for the venom to kick in, or not.


Thanks. Yeah, all the literature says you should keep your heart rate low but that's one damn hard thing to do under the circumstances. Adrenalin kicks in right away.



Nada said:


> Glad you're okay. Always humbling to see how quickly they can ruin your day.


Thanks. Yup, they are amazing...


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## jigalojey (Oct 16, 2014)

As in the Australian Death Adder?


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## Najakeeper (Oct 17, 2014)

jigalojey said:


> As in the Australian Death Adder?


Yes, the subspecies that comes from the Dajarra desert to be specific.


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## Fyrwulf (Oct 19, 2014)

Oh dear Lord... I'm glad you're okay, man. I thought this was going to be a story about a near miss, but when I saw the puncture wound I just about freaked.


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## jigalojey (Oct 19, 2014)

Najakeeper said:


> Yes, the subspecies that comes from the Dajarra desert to be specific.


 How the hell did you get your hands on a death adder in Europe, a few of my friends have them down here, lighting fast hey :wink: Not surprised people get tagged by this species, if they're hell bent on wanting to bite you then they're going to bite you.


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## Fyrwulf (Oct 19, 2014)

jigalojey said:


> How the hell did you get your hands on a death adder in Europe


I've never heard of the Dajarra Desert subspecies, but Death Adders are dirt common.


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## jigalojey (Oct 19, 2014)

Djarra is up near Mt Isa, never heard of the subspecies either.


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## Najakeeper (Oct 20, 2014)

jigalojey said:


> How the hell did you get your hands on a death adder in Europe, a few of my friends have them down here, lighting fast hey :wink: Not surprised people get tagged by this species, if they're hell bent on wanting to bite you then they're going to bite you.


This species made it to South Africa somehow and they were imported to Europe last 3-4 years from that single source.



Fyrwulf said:


> I've never heard of the Dajarra Desert subspecies, but Death Adders are dirt common.


PNG _Acanthophis_ (_laevis_ and _rugosus_) are very common but real mainland _Acanthophis _are still rare. _A.hawkei _(which I keep) from Northern Floodplains are bit more common these days and _A.antarcticus_ (which I keep as well) are available even though they are expensive. _A.wellsi_ and_ A.pyrrhus _are almost none existent.



jigalojey said:


> Djarra is up near Mt Isa, never heard of the subspecies either.


Djarra adders were classified as a subspecies of A.antarcticus but pretty much everyone agree that they are not. Wolfgang Wuster classifies them as _A.rugosus_ ssp. and Aussie naturalist Hoser classifies them as a new species, _A.woolfi._

Here is the girl that bit me:







Not a good photo that I just took, underlit really... They are very beautiful.

Reactions: Like 2


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## The Snark (Oct 20, 2014)

Just curious. Did the poor gal get her rabies and tetanus shots?

Reactions: Like 1


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## Najakeeper (Oct 20, 2014)

The Snark said:


> Just curious. Did the poor gal get her rabies and tetanus shots?


Nah, she got a mouse instead. Smart thing to reward them after a bite .

Reactions: Like 1


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## jigalojey (Oct 20, 2014)

Encouraging bad behavior.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Entomancer (Oct 30, 2014)

Whoahoho!

Looks like you gave death a handshake and got out alive. 

Interesting to note that Acanthophis sp. tend to give out dry bites in captivity, though.


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