Learned something about snakebite

[gamedic]

We usually work two or three copperhead bites a year up in the Tallulah Falls area. Usually kids at the camp. The antivennen is called Crofab. It's abput $6000 a vial. Most bites take 3-6 vials. Because of the expense most of the doctors will not give it if the patient is not showing symptoms by the time we reach the hospital. If a snake has ate recently the bite is usually dry. Snakes build up venom as they get hungry. They don't intentionally envenomate when they bite people, but if the snake is hungry your in trouble. They don't bite people to be malicious. but in defense. I think if given a choice to bite or retreat snake will try to get away.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Had that happened to me, I fear I would have soiled my pantaloons.
A good friend's son got whacked on the food by a copperhead. Came out ok. A few years back, another acquaintance's dog got hold of a water moccasin-was shaking it asthe guy tried to get in to protect the dog. Well that dog whipped the snake across the guy's arm and he spent two weeks in the hospital-arm swole up like a balloon
Last time I saw a moccasin, was right before we ran up on it as it lay on the bank. Was like slow motion as in Oh....s......!!! we had no idea how pinned the snake was under the boat, were afraid to get out-the dog was on shore barking and lunging at the snake-The one guy on shoew got the dog off and we had a very careful choreograph getting the boat off the snake and out of the way in enough time to allow the guy on shore to shoot it and not hit anyone else before the snake got away. Was about 3 feet long and as big around as your arm-gawd those are UGLY snakes and they WILL come after you! Bernie I'm so glad your story had a good ending.

 

[LVSteve]

Defensive snake bites usually occur when the snake is threatened by something too big to eat. Humans fall into this category except we usually get envenomated as we have ignored all the previous warnings issued by the snake. Sadly, most of us are too domesticated to notice these warnings any more.

As for snakes pooping as a defence mechanism, the Great Basin Gopher snake has a rep for this, too.

When it comes to detecting nasty animals, few could beat my arachnophobic mother. She could walk into a room, shudder, then leave stating, "There's a big spider in here" without one being immediately visible. Her 90%+ hit rate was downright spooky.

 

[TACC1]

Sure glad Dram is okay. There're enough dangers in this world to
protect our best friends from without that. Good luck in future.
TACC1

 

[ajgibb]

Vets charge reasonable fees for their services, MDs charge like they are some kind of God. Have had work done to a horse for $100 that would have been $75,000 to $100,000 if it had been done to me.

Not saying there are no abuses but the stakes are a bit different in a dog vs a horse vs your kid.. . . or you!

 

[speedyquad]

Not saying there are no abuses but the stakes are a bit different in a dog vs a horse vs your kid.. . . or you!

and the chance of suing for malpractice is higher...as well as a lot less equipment that costs a lot less.

as much as i have loved my dogs in the past. i would never spend that much on one, or have it go through that kind of pain. hopefully your has many years of life without complications.

i've read that the type of snake also determines the cost of antivennen, with the more expensive being the non-indigenous and "non-pet" snakes such as the gaboon viper and various cobras.

i wonder if the initial bite feels like a constrictor bite. i was hit 2 times by my first ball python. both my fault. it didn't really hurt but pulling about 20 teeth out of my hand each time was not fun.

 

[mwtdvm]

Antivenin Crofab

is for our rattlers and their relatives, all North American Crotalid (Copperhead and Cottonmouth/Water moccasin). They use sheep to grow the antibodies which are harvested, purified and standardized. When I was in practice the stuff was grown in horses and it was pretty expensive then. Because it is a biologic, it has a shelf life and the distributors won't give a credit on an out of date bottle. That is standard procedure for biologics. The horse origin had a fairly high rate of allergic reaction to the horse protein.

I have smelled water moccasins and I think they smell more like tom cat urine.

Glad there was a good outcome! I had a patient that got nailed by a "presumed" Eastern Diamondback and he expired with two vials on board. Got hit in the neck next to the jugular and there was 1 3/4" between the fang marks. Cats, if they get any venom, die... Just my experience..

 

[trauma1]

Glad to hear Dram is okay, COL.

I am astonished at how much it costs to treat a snake bite. And I am wondering why it is $6K for a dog and somewhere between $20K and $80K for a person...

And I am also wondering if the people who were bit were covered by insurance... Man, that would be true bite in the rear to be minding your own business, taking a walk, and wham! $80K dent in the bank account...

(And I was reminded of that joke -- "He says you're gonna die!" -- too, Marsh!)

Dog's cant sue! that is why! Plus, why is anti-venom so high? Snake is milked, venom injected into horse/sheep, antibodies form, blood is drawn, serum extracted, spun, antivenom extracted, sterilized, tested, bottled, shipped, etc, etc, etc. Not as easy as cooking up a cake. There are only a handful of people/companies that do this to begin with.

 

[NE450No2]

There is no reason it should cost that much.

It should be about fifteen bucks...

Where is Obama Care when you need it???

Also, IF I knew it cost that much I would net have have pinned the heads, and picked up as many rattlers as I have over the years...

I will never pin and pick up another...

 

[chud333]

Wonder why it costs so Much???
Ever try milkin' a snake???
Takes a mighty small stool to begin with then......



chuck

 

[Duke426]

...the stakes are a bit different in a dog vs a horse vs your kid.. . . or you!

I don't know...the longer I'm around human beings, the better I like my dog...

 

[YogiBear]

Aloha,

Another reason to live in Hawaii in spite of the stupid anti gun laws.

We're tring to change the laws, don't know much about snakes.

My Texas friend says if I met one, I'd most likely Scream like a little girl. Don't think I want to find out.

 

[NE450No2]

Here on my Place the wife and I kill several Diamond Back water snakes over 40" every year.

We have shot several of them with a pretty good sized Catfish in their mouth...

 

[Moonman]

I don't care for snakes PERIOD.

 

[Doug M.]

All this makes me very happy to live in Western Washington.....

*
Yeah, until you evade immigration control and end up on the good side of MP 52. Then we see clowns out walking in the weeds at Winchester Wasteway and Sprague, unaware of the risks ....

 

[Doug M.]

Also: In deference to what I think would be Lee's preferences, I won't link to it, but you can go to YouTube and see my friend Pat talk about saving another instructor's life.

Search for "Death on a Sunny Afternoon Pat Rogers" Pat is not family friendly, so if you have those sensibilities, don't watch any of his videos.

 

[Pasifikawv]

I had a friend bitten by a copperhead last fall. The cost of anti-venom was approximately $18,000. Another guy in a nearby city got bitten by one and his hospital cost was $80,000.

Whoa! I've been bitten by copperhead (twice) and rec'd zero antivenom.

Copperheads are venomous snakes, but rarely deadly to able-bodied folks. The very young, the elderly, and the infirm are most at risk and likely would require antivenom. Most folks from teens thru late-middle age can tolerate copperhead venom and recover fully without antivenom treatments. Of course, some have a non-standard (allergic) reaction to any type of venom and require additional attention/treatment.

In my case, (IIRC) I was given fluids to dilute, antibiotics to address the risk of infection, and pain killers to ease the hurt. I was monitored for a couple days then sent home. I was struck in both feet (one bite in each) and it took about 3 weeks for all of the swelling to subside enough to walk normally.

One odd occurrence: My feet STUNK for about 5 months after the bites. And I mean they were putrid. A few minutes enclosed in any shoe and my feet would reek. I spent much time with shoes off, but they would still smell even after being scrubbed and left in the open air.

I was fortunate that my ER doc had just transferred from TX to VA and was an expert on reptile bites and snake venom.

When I was bit, I freaked out for about 20 seconds before I remembered to stay calm and try to keep my heart rate down. For the first 5 minutes after the bite, it felt like nothing more than any other small puncture wounds and not very painful. After about 10 minutes the pain from the venom set in and it became quite painful. After about 20 minutes, I became a bit drunk and delirious: kinda like a venom-inducted and unpleasant intoxication. I arrived at the ER about 40 minutes after the bite having been driven there by my brother. Once fluids and antibiotics were administered, the drunk-like symptoms subsided, but the pain continued. The medical folks didn't want to knock me out with pain meds as they needed me lucid in order to be monitored properly. Approx 8 hours after the bite I was finally give pain meds and was able to rest. I was monitored for another 24 hrs or so before being released. One quick, cautionary visit about a week after the bite was the only follow up.

 

[RobertJ.]

All this makes me very happy to live in Western Washington.....

No kidding! I saw my first snake of the year yesterday, a garter about 15" long. That's as dangerous as they get here!

Of course, who needs poisonous snakes when they have Bigfoot!

 

[Texas Star]

No kidding! I saw my first snake of the year yesterday, a garter about 15" long. That's as dangerous as they get here!

Of course, who needs poisonous snakes when they have Bigfoot!

Are you sure about the snakes? One variant of the Prairie Rattler is named oreganus as a subspecies, as I recall. That probably refers to its presence there. Perhaps not quite where you live in Oregon, though.

 

[ol' geeser]

George Leonard Herter, the eccentric founder of Heter's, Inc. of Waseca, Minn., claimed in his Professional Guide's Manual
that cottonmouths "have a smell just exactly like fresh cut watermelon."

Of course, Mr. Herter was a man who knew all the answers, and if he didn't he'd make one up.

They do....smell just lke a fresh cut watermelon with a very slight difference....kinda like a meth lab, especially the P2P labs,once you smell it you'll never forget it....the madder they get the more they smell...