So with all of this talk of AV

in the private sector of having it on hand either before keeping hots or considering keeping , how many of us actually have it on hand ? Unless you're a bona fide keeper. educator, researcher, zoo keeper/curator, etc. how in the heck can you obtain AV. I understand the venom banks don't hand it out or sell it to the private keepers. I understand ( and know ) that local hospitals are not in the business to supply you with it. So....................

I don't keep any AV. However my situation is perhaps different since I only keep crotalids. Should I be bitten, I would be treated as if it was a timber rattler in the back yard, with CroFab. Being a native snake, you don't have the worry of having to locate AV.
I've never had any desire to keep elapids or anything. Cobras just don't interest me. Even though I love the gaboons I won't keep one, there's just no justification in doing so.
It just works out to my benefit I guess that my venomous interest is our native rattlers. I may keep an eyelash or two one day, but that's as far as it will go.

Just out of curiosity how many of you that keep hots have actually been bitten by one? And if so, do you have personal access to anti venom?

-John

I don't think it is feasible for private keepers to maintain a stock of antivenom. Quite frankly, chances are pretty good (depending on where you live, of course) that if you are bitten, the docs in the local hospitals aren't going to know what they are doing anyway. But, hot keepers should have a written emergency plan which has the essential information...ie. appropriate antivenom for each species, where to go, who to call, etc

I agree with that Harald. I have two envelopes marked Bite Protocols. One stays by the door in th snake room and the other is in the glove compartment of the vehicle.
They contain the information on treatment, symptoms etc. Never assume the ER you visit has ever seen a venomous bite let alone is experienced in treating one. Chances are they'll spend the first half hour on the phone to poison control trying to figure out what to do.
That's a scary enough concept to begin with, but especially so if you're dealing with a species that's immediately life threatening.

In my opinion, for all the preaching you see about keeping a personal stock of AV on hand, I think the number that actually do is very small, and they probably border on not really being a hobbyist anymore due to the collection they have. Some of that stuff is very expensive and it has a shelf life. Over the course of years you could easily invest thousands of dollars in AV that wound up in the sink.

I removed my comments about cost and shelf life before I posted, lol...primarily because I don't know the shelf life (at one point I was told 6 months to 1 year, but I have no idea if that is true). And given the # of vials one would have to maintain in the event of a single bite, the first thousand would go quickly, even for CroFab (again, once upon a time, I was told $250/vial of NA crotalid polyvalent...with an initial dose of 6 vials. And that some AV were $1000/vial. Again, these are things I was quoted some years ago, and I cannot confirm their accuracy...then or now)

antivenin for exotic snakes is hard to get for your own personal use. you half to have a special doctor that will agree to sign for it. than it has to be shipped from the country where it is made. so you half to go through customs and a bunch of other crazy stuff. the curator @ the philla zoo was talking to me about that. since i do own exotic hot's, but thank god he's a good friend, and if i were to be bitten again i would be able to get the AV for that species. but in all honestlly, i do not think if you do not stock your own AV you shouldent have the snake. here in the U.S. CroFab will treat every north american pit-viper except for Crotalus Viridus im not sure why it dosent work for them but it dosent.

one vial of CroFab is $750 now. im not sure about the shelf life but i beleve it's 1 year or less. while i was in the hospital for my eastern bite, i got to meet the representive for crofab and she told me alout about it.

I am just curious if you can legally keep hots do you not milk the snakes. Is it another license or do you not have enough snakes to try.

the only reason to milk a vemomous snake is for scientifical reaserch or to make antivenom. their is no licence to MILK a venomous snake, but i think you should be highly experienced and have a good reason to milk the snake. if the snake is just a "PET" their is no need to milk it, that is just putting your self in the danger zone. so i would not recomend doing it, unless it is for a scientifical purpose...