Snake bite

[castnet]

Hi all ,I was bitten on my left foot this Friday afternoon after treading on a snake accidently at the back of our yard.I went to hospital and are okay,the bite was very painful but no venom was indicated at the bite sit.I had a quick glimpse of the snake which was black or dark brown and I only saw the back end of him as he went under a retaining wall.The bite marks were approx10/12mm apart ,there are plenty of brown snakes in our area and also a lot of keelbacks.Does a Keelback have front fangs like a brown ? ,what ever it was it hit my foot fairly hard .I think I read some once that keelbacks mostly strike with there mouths closed is this correct ?,if so it may indicate that my snake bite was from a brown .The bite site today (sat afternoon ) is very bruised and swollen and tender to walk on .Any feedback would be appreciated .Thanks

 

[Brodie]

How big do you think the snake was?


Where are you located?

 

[longqi]

if there two puncture wounds it was a front fanged snake like a Brown Snake
as with most venomous snakes in Aus most of their bites on humans are dry bites
ie no venom used by the snake
be happy and smile a lot
lucky day

 

[junglelove]

usually they use a venom detection kit at the hopital and can tell what it was, obviously not if it was a dry bit though. it will be bruised and tender for a while

 

[Monitor_Keeper]

Mic from the reptile park told me that only %15 of V snake bites require anti venom

 

[Renenet]

Mic from the reptile park told me that only  of V snake bites require anti venom

Interesting stat. I didn't know that - and I bet most members of the public don't either. No one should become complacent, of course, but I wonder if general perceptions of snakes would change for the better if this became common knowledge.

 

[longqi]

A few years ago it was 10% in Aus
Im not positive about this but could the short time Aussie snakes have been in contact with humans; 30,000 years
have led to them not yet realising the danger and increasing the wet bites??
In Asia and Africa most bites are 50/50 dry/wet but they have had human contact for much longer

Bit of info for Rerenet
European honey bee causes more deaths in Aus than any other venomous creature 10pa
Most deadly animal in Aus is the horse as it kills 18pa

 

[castnet]

Thanks for your replies ,I live in Yeppoon Central Qld, what I saw of it going under the retainer wall was about 3 ft or so .It all happened very quickly ,and yes I was pretty lucky by the sounds of it.

 

[Firepac]

usually they use a venom detection kit at the hospital and can tell what it was, obviously not if it was a dry bit though. it will be bruised and tender for a while

Actually the venom detection kit does NOT indicate what snake you have been bitten by, but rather which immunotype the snake belongs to. For instance if you got bitten by say a small-eyed snake or a rough-scaled snake the SVDK would show a positive for Tiger Snake indicating Tiger snake antivenom should be used NOT that you have been bitten by a Tiger Snake. This is commonly misunderstood even by health care professionals.

Quote from CSL "The kit detects the common Australian and PNG elapid venoms and categorises them into one of the five main medically important snake immunotypes: Tiger, Brown, Black, Death Adder, and Taipan"

 

[Fantazmic]

if there two puncture wounds it was a front fanged snake like a Brown Snake
as with most venomous snakes in Aus most of their bites on humans are dry bites
ie no venom used by the snake
be happy and smile a lot
lucky day

Hi Longqi

Are you saying that a snake can 'decide' whether to use venom or not ? I didnt know that

Elizabeth

 

[Wookie]

Being predominantly neurotoxic, is pain usually associated with brown snake bites? I've never really spoken to somebody who has suffered an envenomation. I've heard it is relatively painless to the point of not realising you've been bitten.

 

[baxtor]

Being predominantly neurotoxic, is pain usually associated with brown snake bites? I've never really spoken to somebody who has suffered an envenomation. I've heard it is relatively painless to the point of not realising you've been bitten.

I can't speak for brown specifically but each individual snake may have a slightly different effect on each individual victim. Short answer is sometimes there may be local bite site pain sometimes not.

 

[castnet]

My bite initially was like a couple of needle pricks ,probably 30 minutes later it was very painful.The bite marks are still quite tender to touch and the side of the foot has a lot of swelling and bruising .

 

[longqi]

Hi Longqi

Are you saying that a snake can 'decide' whether to use venom or not ? I didnt know that

Elizabeth

I think they must be able to choose
Mainly because an elapid will sometimes hit and hold its prey like a python
But sometimes will hit then pull back and wait

Im no expert on vens but given the huge number of dry bites compared to wet bites I think they just hit to say 'get outta my face you big thing' and dont waste their venom on something they know they cant eat
Exactly the same thing a python does as a defensive tag
Just hits but doesnt grab hold