tiger snake bite's its self

[elapid@]

My lake alexandra tiger snake had bit its self a couple of weeks ago in the mid body area.
Is there any problems that become of it?
As i thought that all venomous snakes have a immunity to its own venom, or do they still have to fight it off.

After this incident its never been the same as its showing lumps, and i tested it for mites but there were no sign of them, i even gave it mite solution just in case. Yesterday it had a full shed, also its still eating well. May be its missing something in its diet? It gets fed once a week, cage cleaned every second day with out fail, when i got it it was in great health.
Also i was told not to give it any source of heat as they like the cold. could it be something els internal?
cheers steve

[ssssnakeman]

Steve, a snake that bites itself is usually experiencing pain in the area of the bite.,,Maybe it has eaten something which didnt agree with it..
It wont need heat , unless your keeping it in an airconditioned room, and even then i wouldnt give it a lot.
Im pretty sure tigers are immmune to tiger venom, but the jury is still out on weather copperheads are.
You have a pic of your tiger?
Good luck with it.
Baz

[Jonno from ERD]

G'day mate,

Do the lumps correspond with the bite site? Why did it bite itself...did it miss a food item, was it trying to bite you and bit itself, or was there no outside stimulus? As Barry said, they will bite themselves if they feel pain in a certain area.

On the Gold Coast, you will need to work at keeping it cool rather than keeping it warm. Always try and keep ambient well under 30 degrees. I have seen many Tiger Snakes bite themselves and none have ever shown any symptoms.

[elapid@]

Thanks for your reply

yeah it missed its food, and stay'ed on for a short while until i distracted it and it let go.
As it just shed i think i might give it a different mite solution ( orange medic if ok ) as i was told that its best for most elapids but dont use the one that contains tea tree oil. My enclosures are very clean, i use f10 solution and i have never had a problem, i really should have checked before i introduced it to its enclosure as maybe it may have had mites just before i got it. It really looked in great health when i got it. I also was told that mites can be hard to detect with tigers as they can berry deeper than other snakes as there scale's are more open like. Im only going off what i was told so quote me if im wrong. I just hope it will be ok, if it gets worse i will take it to a keen vet . Its eating well and doesn't look like its in pain. im thinking now it may be mites and i just have used a dud solution ( reptivet ) or didn't apply it properly .

cheers steve.

[urodacus_au]

Ive seen tigers bite themselves over here in WA countless times with no obvious effect at all. Could the lumps be an infection from the bite itself opposed to the venom?

Jordan

[ShaneBlack]

Mate, i've seen dozens of tigers/copperheads bite themselves with no ill effect. Your worrying about nothing.

[MrBredli]

Yeah, the bite is nothing to worry about, and i think you might be jumping the gun on the mites too. What exactly is the problem with the snake? It has lumps? Can you post pics of these lumps (or give a very detailed description of them)? It is quite likely to be something completely unrelated.

[elapid@]

hi all
I spoke to the reptile vet yesterday, from what i told him. He said that keep the heat up, such as a basking light. 24 is way to cold, they need to thermoregulate there body temp at 30c. 28c ambient one side of cage. I have done what he told me to do and its looking better as we speak. It went strait onto the heat. Every one told me not to give it heat at all as i live in qld, but apparently no australian snake should be kept cold in captivity as mites, and disease in snake are manly from bad husbandry and low temps.
Until the vet looks at it he could only tell me possibilities like in worse case opmv . but it doesn't look like what he described as opmv . ill just have to wait and see.

Im keeping my tiger way in the next room until 100% just incase.
cheers steve

[jack]

are the lumps at the bite? parasitic worms can live under the skin and form a lump, which is something you see in wild caught snakes...

[Jonno from ERD]

Originally Posted by elapid@

hi all
I spoke to the reptile vet yesterday, from what i told him. He said that keep the heat up, such as a basking light. 24 is way to cold, they need to thermoregulate there body temp at 30c. 28c ambient one side of cage. I have done what he told me to do and its looking better as we speak. It went strait onto the heat. Every one told me not to give it heat at all as i live in qld, but apparently no australian snake should be kept cold in captivity as mites, and disease in snake are manly from bad husbandry and low temps.
Until the vet looks at it he could only tell me possibilities like in worse case opmv . but it doesn't look like what he described as opmv . ill just have to wait and see.

Im keeping my tiger way in the next room until 100% just incase.
cheers steve

What sort of experience does your vet have with Tiger Snakes?

What exactly is the problem with the snake?

[dodgie]

Originally Posted by elapid@

hi all
I spoke to the reptile vet yesterday, from what i told him. He said that keep the heat up, such as a basking light. 24 is way to cold, they need to thermoregulate there body temp at 30c. 28c ambient one side of cage. I have done what he told me to do and its looking better as we speak. It went strait onto the heat. Every one told me not to give it heat at all as i live in qld, but apparently no australian snake should be kept cold in captivity as mites, and disease in snake are manly from bad husbandry and low temps.
Until the vet looks at it he could only tell me possibilities like in worse case opmv . but it doesn't look like what he described as opmv . ill just have to wait and see.

Im keeping my tiger way in the next room until 100% just incase.
cheers steve

Not all vets know what there talking about when it comes to elapids.

Be careful keeping it warm,tigers are a cold climate animals.

[salebrosus]

If your using orang emedic make sure it doesnt have tea tree oil in it. The new version of the stuff does and will burn your snake.

[Pinkenbah]

Some venomous snakes are 'nervous' and seem to bite themselves for no apparent reason. I thought it may be due to hunger. I had a collette's that kept biting its tail. The tail ulcerated, dropped off, bit again, ulcerated, and so on until the tail became quite short. I kept the food up but still kept biting its own tail. It was a nervous snake (particularly for a collettes). This all happened over a couple of years of course. Black snake venom is different to tiger of course, but I thought I would pass it on anyway. By the way, other than the tail problem the snake was in good condition and appeared quite healthy.

I also had coastal taipans where the male decided to bite the femal mid-body, instead of mating with her. She swelled up around that section with a lump around 75-100mm long. She was like that for a few years, then one day it started getting larger. I took her to the vet, who drained the lump. Half hour later the lump increased in size, fluid I suspect, and the next day she was dead. Hopefully someone will learn from this.

[-Peter]

Originally Posted by Jonno from ERD

What sort of experience does your vet have with Tiger Snakes?

What exactly is the problem with the snake?

Its probably dying from overheating. Seriously

The guys been given enough advice by tiger keepers to at least have a hal******** inkling that they dont require hot temps. Tell your vet to contact someone with tiger knowledge. They dont respond like carpets.

[zulu]

They do need heating even around brisbane,just a low wattage heat matt that dont heat up the air much would be OK,plenty of cold country form herps need some heat,blotched bue tongues,copperheads etc,they get plenty of hot weather with sunny opportunitys down south and in the highlands.