Rode over an Elapid (maybe Western Brown) on my bike. Bitten? no pain?

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Jdawgg910

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Hey guys I went for a night ride at dusk (perfect time for snakes!) behind the local hospital with a group of 8 through the bush.

Using a Nokia as a torch while riding, I happen to run over a 70cm Elapid, which I only saw, but couldn't stop in time on gravel.

After I ran it over and stopped before it went under my back tyre it did the thing snakes do when they're injured and roll around in pain.

Anyway, I stopped and out of habit put my foot down. (Wearing runners and long socks.) which then it tried striking out of my surprise. Afterwards it just slithered off the track and into the bush.

my question is. What is the best thing to do until emergency help arrives when bitten by a Western brown on the ankle?

i don't think I got bitten, but I feel a little nauseated and vomited a little bit, but I feel fine and it was 6 hours ago. I didn't see it, but my mate behind me said it striked 1 last time at me after I tried riding away, but I didn't feel anything.

anyway, if you don't hear back I'm probably dead, but like I said, it's been 6 hours. :) (I'm typing this, so obviously I must be fine.)


in the end it slithered away without any help and looked fine.
 
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If there's any chance that you have been bitten get yourself to a hospital!
 
Brown snake venom has no pain to it. Since you have already experienced nausea and vomited get yourself to hospital as soon as possible. Brown snake venom is not something to take lightly at all.
Hopefully you are fine.
Cheers Cameron
 
Just read more and found out the possible excess mussel pain and aching may be from a bite. I'll take myself to the hospital now.

Always thought a bite would kill within 30 minutes untreated. (Hope all goes well. :/)


got bitten by Mosquitos, so I can't find any visible markings or swelling, but the symptoms are pretty much there now. Headache, naustiated, light vommiting, muscle aches etc. hope all is well and I'm just a soft Kent from a bike ride.
 
Bites do not always kill quickly. I know one story my boss used to tell at the reptile park I worked at about a gardener that got bit during the day. He felt a bit sick but brushed it off and went home. He was found dead the next day and an autopsy found he was bitten by a brown. Depends on your fitness, size and a couple other factors. Do yourself a favour and stop moving around and call an ambo to take you. Less movement the less slower the venom goes. Good luck with it.
Cheers Cameron
 
i don't think I got bitten, but I feel a little nauseated and vomited a little bit, but I feel fine and it was 6 hours ago. I didn't see it, but my mate behind me said it striked 1 last time at me after I tried riding away, but I didn't feel anything.

Don't be a bloody idiot get yourself into a hospital and STAY there if they tell you to stay for observation until you are discharged, some snake venoms are thought to have caused deaths in excess of 24 hours after the bite... docs will know what to do, so listen to them...
 
All good guys. Spent 9 hours in observation, my blood did clot in the first 11 minutes, but I'm fine now. Turns out it was very minor.

whats ironic is it was behind the hospital. Lol.
 
Your lucky mate lol at least you were intelligent enough to ask here and not act like A "hard" man/woman
 
Glad you're all right. It is still fresh in peoples minds the tragic consequences of not knowing you've been envenomated until its too late to do anything.
 
Geez you're lucky and thank god you were smart enough to go to the hospital.

Sent from my LG-P690f using Tapatalk 2
 
Your lucky mate lol at least you were intelligent enough to ask here and not act like A "hard" man/woman

Haha, I find that hilarious. Intelligent would have been pressure bandaging the site and going to the hospital, not jumping online for the internet experts opinions :lol:
 
lucky man , do yourself a favour and get some good riding boots , knee high ones ( if you dont already have them) and wear them on every ride their not only ankle support/protection for riding but they double as snake bite prevention ;)
 
lucky man , do yourself a favour and get some good riding boots , knee high ones ( if you dont already have them) and wear them on every ride their not only ankle support/protection for riding but they double as snake bite prevention ;)
I am assuming that the poster is talking about riding a pushbike if he had a phone for a torch but I could be wrong.

I saw a taipan bite a rat and apparently the rats usually die almost straight away but this one didn't. The owner assumed that the bite was a dry bite and started nudging the rat to go back near the snake, the rat was running past the snake and it didn't seem interested at all in the rat. It was about five minutes later that the rat started to go funny and I noticed a scratch on the rats tail and it died. It must have been because the strike only produced a scratch that it did not kill the rat straight away, the snake knew that it had tagged the rat and did not waste anymore time , effort or venom on it and ate it once it had died. Maybe this could have been a similar situation but you would expect to see a scratch or red dot if the skin was broken.
 
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Haha, I find that hilarious. Intelligent would have been pressure bandaging the site and going to the hospital, not jumping online for the internet experts opinions :lol:

But its better than doing nothing and thinking "she'll be right"
 
All good guys. Spent 9 hours in observation, my blood did clot in the first 11 minutes, but I'm fine now. Turns out it was very minor.

whats ironic is it was behind the hospital. Lol.
You are very very lucky that it was only minor.
Cheers Cameron
 
Haha, I find that hilarious. Intelligent would have been pressure bandaging the site and going to the hospital, not jumping online for the internet experts opinions :lol:
Did you ever think since the Pressure immobilization technique isn't taught in school or readily known by the general public that he may not have known to do that. At least he asked for advice and is now still alive.

But its better than doing nothing and thinking "she'll be right"
Exactly and in doing what he has done he is still alive to tell his tale
 
I am pleased to know that all is well. That aside, you did everything wrong and were fortunate to escape with your life.

Australian elapids have relatively short fangs. Often a bite through clothing is not even noticed even though envenoming takes place. Any strike from a venomous snake should be treated as a potential envenomation, whether you can locate puncture wounds or not.

Venom mixes with the tissue fluid around cells. Tissue fluid is drained from the cells by a network of super thin vessels with simple one-way valves along the length – the lymph vessels. The vessels depend on body muscle contractions and movements to squeeze the lymph along. The lymph enters the bloodstream via the thoracic duct located in the neck.

Application of elastic bandages flattens the lymph vessels, restricting the flow of lymph accordingly. Immobilising the limb and the person means there is no muscular contraction and movement to move the lymph along. This is designed to buy you time to get to medical assistance before the venom enters the blood stream and has an effect on the body’s systems.

Clearly you were envenomated. Given the delayed onset of systemic symptoms, it likely that the venom was injected cutaneously rather than the more usual subcutaneous i.e. into the skin layers rather than below the skin. You can attribute this to the woolly socks which I reckon saved your life. One more drop of venom into your system and we would be reading your obituary. If you ever get bitten by a snake, get your self to a hospital. If you think you may have been bitten by a snake but cannot find any puncture wounds, get yourself to a hospital. If you have accidentally come in contact with a snake and could possibly have been bitten but don’t think you were, get yourself to a hospital. It is always better to wrong at a hospital than wrong elsewhere.

Blue
 
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