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Notices

View Poll Results: How did your closest call or bite happen?
Cage or container too small for the snake 11 15.94%
Wrong tool for the job 10 14.49%
Took a careless shortcut 24 34.78%
Distracted, was doing more than one thing 23 33.33%
Bad mental/emotional condition 8 11.59%
Drugs or alcohol (any kind of medicine) 12 17.39%
Showing off for an audience 14 20.29%
Freehandling 12 17.39%
Freak accident, not preventable 14 20.29%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 69. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 10-11-2004, 03:00 PM   #11
snakegetters
Quote:
Originally posted by SCReptiles
I think statistically most bites happen during or in relation to venom extractions. The second highest occurrence of bites is from bagging accidents. There are no hard core numbers on these things, but based on my experience, this is the breakdown. .
Venom extractors do tend to get bitten, some of them more often than others, but given the amount of hands-on work they do their safety record tends to be amazingly good.

Bagging accidents are a good thing to point out. I'd place most of them under the "container too small" category, since snakes tend to bounce back out and tag keepers. I had an interesting time of it when I miscalculated the size of the bag I would need to stuff a 12' king cobra into with nobody to help me. That stupid snake story is here: http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...threadid=39525

Or were you referring to somebody being unwise enough to handle the pillowcase too freely with their hands? Anybody who thinks a snake can't see to bite through a bag is invited to put a standard pillowcase over their own head and see how good the visibility actually is from in there. And of course a bit of cloth doesn't hamper pit vipers a bit; it's not just their eyes they're using to target you.

My guess is that a lot of snake bites are probably proceeded by words to the effect of, "Hey, y'all watch this" or "I bet I could do that." Most common victim profile in North America is a young male in his early 20's, intoxicated.
 
Old 10-11-2004, 03:09 PM   #12
snakegetters
Quote:
Originally posted by Mustangrde1
Secound close Call. I had to share this one as its about what many call a placid snake.

Bitis Gaboonica bitous in circlous: English translation very large Gaboon viper who turned inside itself for an attempted snack on my toe.
Bitis gabonica should be renamed Bitis urassus as a big red warning sign to keepers who think they're placid all the time. LOL I don't think the taxonomists would approve, but anyone who has seen an angry Gaboon turn into a pogo stick and swap ends all over the room would certainly agree.

http://snakegetters.com/demo/gaboons.html
 
Old 10-11-2004, 03:09 PM   #13
Mustangrde1
Ok this is both a Fun and imfomative thread and i damn well know of a few people who frequent this board that need to spit out the close calls. It will help people to think twice. Now I would never name names but ummmm we could guess on who they are lol.
 
Old 10-11-2004, 03:15 PM   #14
Mustangrde1
Oh I have got to bring this up. SPITTING COBRAS. Anyone thinking about keeping these Fire Hose's needs to take extra precautions such as full face shield with glasses under them. You could have a very nasty suprise otherwise. For some reason spitters get left out of many cobra conversations.
 
Old 10-12-2004, 01:52 AM   #15
snakegetters
I like the light, inexpensive full face shields sold through Office Depot catalogs.

I walked in with some spitters while wearing only goggles, and walked back out looking like I'd been on the set of a bad porno movie. My chin was dripping, my hair was dripping, my goggles were crusted....you get the picture. Bukake city. LOL

I prefer not to work with spitters because any exposure to airborne venom can predispose you to allergy and subsequent anaphlylaxis. Bad scenario for a venomous keeper. If a spitter really needs veterinary help I'll go there, but I'd rather not handle them if I don't have to.

My preferred tactic with those guys is to funnel them into an isoflurane chamber or pipe iso directly into the cage so they can take a nice little nap while I am medicating them or pulling ticks or whatever. You can be the most skilled handler in the world, but if a spitter decides to put venom in the air anywhere near you, you're going to rack up an exposure. No escaping that, unless you can gas them down without actually disturbing them or handling them. If I had to keep spitters, I'd need to figure out a way to do routine cage maintenance without handling them at all. Not something I normally do; I really prefer going hands-on with my critters so that I can closely monitor their body condition and habituate them to handling.

I have an anecdotal report that the enzymatic contact lens cleaner fluid designed to break down proteins works very well as an eye wash for spitter venom. No hard medical data on this, but it does seem to make sense and there are two private reports on its use in this manner.
 
Old 10-12-2004, 02:14 PM   #16
psilocybe
Here's one that really wasn't so much my fault, but had I been more aware of my surroundings, I might have avoided...

I was out in the desert herping, just walking around looking. I was focusing on finding C. atrox, but was keeping my eyes peeled for everything. Keep in mind I said I was specifically looking for C. atrox. Well, I'm walking around with my snake hook, muttering something to myself (i was kinda pissed about something else at the time, can't remember what) and all of a sudden I hear a rattle. Woohoo, I found a rattler! Now where is it? Oh, about 10 inches in front of me. And a four foot snake! I jumped backwards, and I swear the snake gave me a funny look. It didn't strike, just kept rattling. I got my wits about me, and posed the snake for a few photographs. Had it not rattled, me, the vigilant snake hunter I was, would have stepped right on it. Probably would have resulted in a rather nasty bite, considering the snake would have felt it's life was in immediate danger. And there I was. In the middle of the desert. About 3 miles from any houses or civilization. Alone. I did have a cell phone though, but no ambulance would have found me, I would have had to be choppered out.

Let's just say I definately watch where I step when I go herping these days.
 
Old 10-12-2004, 02:17 PM   #17
psilocybe
Forgot to mention, the snake I found was an atrox...funny how I was looking for them, and found one, though not in a way I would have preferred!
 
Old 11-22-2004, 09:50 AM   #18
Hammer
Stupid, stupid, stupid...

The other day I was soaking my atheris squamigera because she looked dehydrated. When I went to place her back in the enclosure, because she was wet, she slipped off the hook midway through the transfer. Without thinking (obviously!) I instinctively grabbed her in mid air (good reflexes). It took a milisecond to complete the transfer safely. After the door shut, the heart started pumping loudly and very fast. Fortunately it was an atheris for the simple reason they are not noted strikers; but not so good had she struck!

So I guess this is a real good example of plain stupidity.
 
Old 11-22-2004, 01:30 PM   #19
psilocybe
Yeah, it's a REAL good thing she didn't strike...squams have caused fatalities and with no AV...ugh, not a good situation. Even if you survive the bite, you ain't gonna be lookin' very pretty afterword Glad you are man enough to own up to your mistake and share it with the rest of us...hopefully you learned from it as well!
 
Old 11-22-2004, 05:41 PM   #20
snakegetters
If you get nailed by A. squamiger your best AV bet for cross reactivity is thought to be Echis, made by SAIMR.
 

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