G'day guys,
On the "first elapid" topic, my opinion is everyone should start with either a Red Belly, Collett or Spotted Black. They teach the basics of tailing, head restraints and other problems that arise in captivity such as feeding responses. Adders are fantastic to keep, and would make great first elapids if nothing ever went wrong - unfortunately things do go wrong, and this is when they become very dangerous. Death Adders are probably the hardest species to head restrain correctly, as they have incredibly mobile fangs, are prone to "death rolling" under the pinner and breaking their own necks, and pulling out of a keepers grip thanks to their "flexible" jaw and skull structure. Many a keeper has been bitten while head restraining an Adder.
With regards to the blood thinning/orifice bleeding situation, I know of one famous bite from an Alice Springs Western Brown Snake. The guy who was bitten had had a shave that morning, and actually started to bleed from all the tiny little cuts in his face that you normally wouldn't notice. He also bled from his eyes, ears, nose, gums and everywhere else too.