Red bellied black snake

[moosenoose]

LMAO, thats a classic Adam!

I gather the venom in a hatchy RBB is of the same potency of an adult, only in smaller quantities? Might seem like a dumber question than Craigs LMAO - sorry Craig mate, you started it!LOL ...but,...here goes....are the hatchies capable of envenomating prey from day one, or is it something that develops as they get older? sorry! - I had to ask!

[Adam]

Are you taking the piss out of me or what??????? Of course they envomate from day one.

[snakehunter]

You must remember, although you are not likely to die if you get to hospital in time, venom is designed to destroy and digest, it starts to digest your insides and may leave you with permanent damage

[Adam]

That's soooooooooo correct.

[moosenoose]

Originally Posted by Adam

Are you taking the urinate out of me or what??????? Of course they envomate from day one.

Haw, Haw, HAw....giggle, giggle...snicker, snicker...(quietly sneaks away........) :wink:

[Alexahnder]

I was speaking to a person at the zoo who said that if he was bitten by a red belly he probably wouldn't seek medical treatment for the bite....but he also said that he probably shouldn't tell me that

I have caught and handled a large wild red belly....it didn't actually strike at me but it bluffed it a couple of times. It was approximatly 1.8 metres long and once i had it it calmed down a lot. It was definatly much calmer compared to the other elapids i've handled.

There have been one or two deaths from the bites of red bellys. These were on young children and it was also before the introduction of antivenom.

Alexahnder

[nuthn2do]

Nobody knows how someone will react to a rbb bite. So many different variables like underlying health problems, medications they take or possibly anaphalactic shock. It would be pretty foolish to let it go untreated.
Craig

[Ricko]

hey craig23 do you free handle all of your elapids? does anyone else free handle dangerous elapids ie. taipans, browns or black snakes? and also do many people have collets if so what is the biggest collet they have seen or heard of?

I have seen it done, and done it... I know think it is stupid and irresponsible and I wouldnt even free handle a BTS if you paid me to do it..... In my limited experience I have found most elapids to be un predictable compared to most pythons, though Wild Darwin carpets can be a bloody big handfull at times.

Just because it probably wont kill doesn't mean it wont. ANything with venom IMO should be treated with respect. I wont mention names but I know of a few people that often free handle coastal taipans and spotted blacks.

[Slateman]

I visited one of our members Westaussie in western Australia and he freehandled 2 wild tiger snakes in same time. Mind you he was kissing them on mouth.
I think that all depends how much you know about the snakes and how you can read they bodylanguage.
I respect Westy, and I could see that time that he new what he is doing.

[Ricko]

yeah i also know people who free handle fiercies and coastal taipans and also spotted blacks but they have had years and years of experience with them but i will just use a hook for the time being. did westy have many bhp's over there?

[Slateman]

I visited him 3 years ago. They was not alowed to keep snakes then. He has 2 tigers there and one dugite. We released dugite that day back to bush. He had permit to catch snakes for relocation that time.

[westaussie]

I have over the years freehandled every species of large elapid in W.A & most of the small ones too. Although I have not had much to do with rbbs I can share my experience of another member of the blacksnake - the Mulga or King brown.

Last month I recieved a love-bite from one of my hatchling K.B's
This baby was only 30 cm's long & I would not consider it to have a lethal bite to an adult human.
Saying that I Cannot describe to you the pain of throwing up for around 3 hours, but take my word for it, there is no fun in that.
I was not able to sleep that night because of the pain in my right hand.
So in the morning I took a trip to royal perth hospital to see the toxicologist there.
3 hours after arriving at hospital I was being operated on. It seems that the fangs had delivered the venom directly into my Knuckle & was starting to break down the cartilidge there, so they had to flush out my knuckle.
after the operation I developed an infection that kept me in hospital for nearly a week.

So, just because a snake is not considered deadly, I would suggest that all our elapids should demand your full respect.

[Slateman]

Oh West How that happened? (the bite)

[peterescue]

I free handle RBBs on a regular basis.
Who has never been bitten by their docile python.
Ive been wacked by my most docile non venemous snakes when I least expected it.
Thats all. Work it out for yourselves.
Peter