Najakeeper
Arachnoprince
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2010
- Messages
- 1,050
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.
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.
Last edited:
