# News: Mystery over boy bitten by Inland Taipan



## moosenoose (Sep 27, 2012)

Mystery over boy bitten by world's most venomous snake



> New South Wales police are trying to ascertain how a 17-year-old boy came to be bitten by the world's most venomous land snake, despite being hundreds of kilometres from its natural habitat.
> 
> Staff from Kurri Kurri Hospital alerted police after the youth went to the emergency unit reporting he’d been bitten on his left hand by a snake. He was taken to the Mater Hospital where he is reported to be in a stable condition.
> 
> Read more: Mystery over boy bitten by world's most venomous snake



Sounds like a lucky kid! No doubt it's someones pet that's escaped...or been stolen.


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## Venomous_RBB (Sep 27, 2012)

I agree Venom00se, I think it is a pet gone wrong or a stolen snake.
I have a feeling they killed the snake which is horrible.
Kind of weird to have an Inland not so far away from me though.


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## Gundeman (Sep 27, 2012)

*Who identified it?*

My faith in the ability of wildlife carers or hospital staff to identify snakes accurately is not great, especially when it comes to something exotic. Unless they did a scale count the kid's condition could be due to the wrong antivenom because of a misidentification. Spotted Blacksnakes can look a lot like Inland Taipans- the locals up my way are always reporting inland Taipans- they're inevitably Spotted Blacks. The worst aspect is that such a misidentification could result in someone's death or long-term illness. 

The fact that he was bitten on the hand indicates that he probably has more than a passing interest in snakes- if that's the case, and the snake was in fact accurately identified, that young fellow is in trouble and not just with regards to his health. We all make mistakes (often stupid ones at that age) but dealing with illegally imported herps opens up a lot of other questions.


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## junglepython2 (Sep 27, 2012)

This is bad bad news for legal ven keepers.


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## -Peter (Sep 27, 2012)

The "wildlife carer" knows her stuff.


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## deebo (Sep 27, 2012)

There was a pic in a link I was emailed and it certainly looked like an inland....


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## deebo (Sep 27, 2012)

Although it could have been a keelback....


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## moosenoose (Sep 27, 2012)

Supposedly the snake is still in one peice. You'd hope they don't put it down. Hell, I'll give it a home 

Boy bitten on hand by taipan at Kurri Kurri | News.com.au

Photo by News.com.au


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## WomaBoy (Sep 27, 2012)

That snake looks soo good ! I would pay to see that ! They better give it to a zoo !


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## shabbyy (Sep 27, 2012)

How is he still alive? How long does it take to kill you after a bite?


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## WomaBoy (Sep 27, 2012)

Sabohan said:


> How is he still alive? How long does it take to kill you after a bite?



Im not sure this is a wild guess coz im 14 and have never held or owened a ven, but could it be because his hand is further away from the spot that the venom needs to get to, too kill him ? I have no idea just a guess aha


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## cathy1986 (Sep 27, 2012)

VenomOOse said:


> Supposedly the snake is still in one peice. You'd hope they don't put it down. Hell, I'll give it a home
> 
> Boy bitten on hand by taipan at Kurri Kurri | News.com.au
> 
> Photo by News.com.au




its so small and can cause so much damage lol


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## shabbyy (Sep 27, 2012)

WomaBoy said:


> Im not sure this is a wild guess coz im 14 and have never held or owened a ven, but could it be because his hand is further away from the spot that the venom needs to get to, too kill him ? I have no idea just a guess aha



I did a bit of reading, it takes less than 45 minutes to kill a man, I don't think it matters if it was in your hand, because the venom gets into your bloodstream...


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## moosenoose (Sep 27, 2012)

cathy1986 said:


> its so small and can cause so much damage lol



Heard that before somewhere :lol: ...I mean........I heard a mate get told that once


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## thomasssss (Sep 27, 2012)

Sabohan said:


> I did a bit of reading, it takes less than 45 minutes to kill a man, I don't think it matters if it was in your hand, because the venom gets into your bloodstream...



I'm not totally sure but i think it moves through muscles in something called the lymphatic system not actually the bloodstream but of coarse if it were to bite directly into a vein then it would be in the blood which is worse , can someone clear this up


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## shabbyy (Sep 27, 2012)

thomasssss said:


> I'm not totally sure but i think it moves through muscles in something called the lymphatic system not actually the bloodstream but of coarse if it were to bite directly into a vein then it would be in the blood which is worse , can someone clear this up



I think it has neurotoxic venom...But I don't really know..


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## snakerelocation (Sep 27, 2012)

Gundeman said:


> My faith in the ability of wildlife carers or hospital staff to identify snakes accurately is not great, especially when it comes to something exotic. Unless they did a scale count the kid's condition could be due to the wrong antivenom because of a misidentification. Spotted Blacksnakes can look a lot like Inland Taipans- the locals up my way are always reporting inland Taipans- they're inevitably Spotted Blacks. The worst aspect is that such a misidentification could result in someone's death or long-term illness.
> 
> The fact that he was bitten on the hand indicates that he probably has more than a passing interest in snakes- if that's the case, and the snake was in fact accurately identified, that young fellow is in trouble and not just with regards to his health. We all make mistakes (often stupid ones at that age) but dealing with illegally imported herps opens up a lot of other questions.




It wouldnt matter if he had not identified it correctly, even as a snake catcher/ remover and having a fairly good knowledge in identifiying our local snakes, if i was bitten the hospital is still legally not alowed to take my word as to the identification of the snake, so a swab test would still be run.

Secondly, Taipans like most other elapids do dry bite, and there is only a 30- 40% chance of getting a full envenomation., not that I would ever take that chance, but oviously this kid got lucky.
imo Inlands are not as aggressive as the coastal-t or the eastern brown, so chances are he just got a warning.


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## thomasssss (Sep 27, 2012)

Sabohan said:


> I think it has neurotoxic venom...But I don't really know..



That's different again mate , that's the type of venom , I'm talking about the way it moves , which from everything I've read in the past and just now as a bit of review it moves through the lymphatic system not the bloodstream


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## snakerelocation (Sep 27, 2012)

thomasssss said:


> That's different again mate , that's the type of venom , I'm talking about the way it moves , which from everything I've read in the past and just now as a bit of review it moves through the lymphatic system not the bloodstream



Yes that is correct most of the time (unless directly into a blood vessel) That is why when you get "tagged" by a snake you restrict movement to the area by way of a compression bandage (but no tighter than that for a sprain) all you are trying to do is restrict movement, not blood flow, the best advice is to lay motionless, that way the venom should not move.


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## thomasssss (Sep 27, 2012)

Cheers snakerelocation , I thought as much , would it be wose if you where bitten directly into a vein , I would imagine so as that would give it an even quicker passage to the vitals ?


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## saximus (Sep 27, 2012)

All Australian snake venom (and, from memory, all "injected" poison) travels through the lymphatic system which is why it's relatively slow acting. A bite directly into a vein would kill you in minutes


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## moosenoose (Sep 27, 2012)

peanut butter is just as deadly...to some people


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## BrownHash (Sep 27, 2012)

VenomOOse said:


> peanut butter is just as deadly...to some people


But there's no antin-venom for peanut butter


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## reptilerescue (Sep 27, 2012)

It is right it moves in the lymph system until it reaches a lymph node that is when the problems start to become more noticable


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## Wally (Sep 27, 2012)

BrownHash said:


> But there's no antin-venom for peanut butter



No, but there is the EpiPen.


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## Darlyn (Sep 27, 2012)

Good to see the youg fella is still alive. 
Oh and the teenager as well.





-Peter said:


> The "wildlife carer" knows her stuff.




Agreed, just saw her on TV. I think she likes snakes : )


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## Fuscus (Sep 27, 2012)

It appears that it was a pet and he, stupidly, took it to hospital with him.


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## Hazordous-Herps (Sep 27, 2012)

Fuscus said:


> It appears that it was a pet and he, stupidly, took it to hospital with him.


If it was a pet, the reptile hobby is going to get so much crap for this.


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## [email protected] (Sep 27, 2012)

i was just told the people that caught it was from reptile rescue Newcastle they identified it as inland tiapan and was taken too Australian reptile park

- - - Updated - - -

i spoke to hunter reptiles rescue thay where very defensive , and said we have no further questions you will have to speak to the police lol


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## damian83 (Sep 27, 2012)

VenomOOse said:


> Heard that before somewhere :lol: ...I mean........I heard a mate get told that once



I'm guessing there not talking bout his ...... ego lol


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## Elapidae1 (Sep 27, 2012)

VenomOOse said:


> Supposedly the snake is still in one peice. You'd hope they don't put it down. Hell, I'll give it a home
> 
> Boy bitten on hand by taipan at Kurri Kurri | News.com.au
> 
> Photo by News.com.au





Hmmm, don't know about them venom gloves, even looks akward in the photograph.


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## moosenoose (Sep 27, 2012)

I thought you had to be over 18 to have a license for that particular species? But really, accidents can happen.


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## reptileKev81 (Sep 27, 2012)

All this speculation about the teen, do they have any reason for it? The media annoys me lol
They dont come out and say that the teen has an unlicensed venomous pet, but they put the ideas in ppls heads haha
Could be somebody elses escaped pet. Or many other possibilities. 
Can the inland taipan survive in that area?

Just wondering, is there any chance at all that this inland taipan is just on "vacation?"
Maybe he's just an ilegal immigrant, send him to villawood detention centre hahah


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## longqi (Sep 28, 2012)

Considering that all the mexicans are on their way home before the wet, it could also just be a hitch hiker that jumped ship???


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## reptileKev81 (Sep 28, 2012)

longqi said:


> Considering that all the mexicans are on their way home before the wet, it could also just be a hitch hiker that jumped ship???



I've heard things like that happen often enough with other species like cane toads. So why are they talking about this kid being in the wrong. 

I never believed the hype about the media being full of **** until it happened to a mate of mine. my mate got raided by customs after he tried ordering a part for a paintball gun from overseas. When they searched his house all his firearms but one were registered. The newspaper made him look like some major gunrunner lol


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## stusnake (Sep 29, 2012)

Sabohan said:


> I did a bit of reading, it takes less than 45 minutes to kill a man, I don't think it matters if it was in your hand, because the venom gets into your bloodstream...



To date there have been no human fatalities from inlan Taipan bites. In general you can not put a number or time frame on how long it takes for a snake bite to kill, because each bite has its own set of variables that make no 2 the same eg. amount of venom involed in the bite, bite location, the bitten persons age, health activity etc. dependent on circumstances envenomation can occur within seconds/ minutes or even hours.


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## mysnakesau (Oct 2, 2012)

Sabohan said:


> I did a bit of reading, it takes less than 45 minutes to kill a man, I don't think it matters if it was in your hand, because the venom gets into your bloodstream...



That is where the first aid comes into play. The venom is not injected directly into the bloodstream. The idea of the pressure bandage is to slow down the lympathic system (I think) so you can get help before it reaches your bloodstream. As well the bandages it is advisable to remain as still as possible. The more you move the more it will trigger things to move faster.


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## Echiopsis (Oct 2, 2012)

reptileKev81 said:


> I've heard things like that happen often enough with other species like cane toads. So why are they talking about this kid being in the wrong.
> 
> I never believed the hype about the media being full of **** until it happened to a mate of mine. my mate got raided by customs after he tried ordering a part for a paintball gun from overseas. When they searched his house all his firearms but one were registered. The newspaper made him look like some major gunrunner lol



No doubt the media are full of crap 99% of the time. That said, any word on how the kid got bitten? The combination of a bite plus the fact its an animal well outside its range point towards an illegal pet. Snakes are everywhere yet bites are relatively uncommon amongst those that dont play with them. Both factors combined are a little hard to ignore.


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## Darlyn (Oct 2, 2012)

I read somewhere that a 27 year old man was being spoken to and a death adder was also found at a property?
Can't find it now, did anyone else see it? The report also said the teen was trying to feed it at the time..


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## longqi (Oct 22, 2012)

Any news on exactly what happened??


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## eipper (Oct 22, 2012)

I agree Steve, a mate of mine got nailed by a Naja kaouthia through a hexarmor glove. Surely it could of been hook and tailed. Ohh well it's their hands not mine.

cheers
scott


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## longqi (Oct 22, 2012)

Eipper
Those types of gloves are straight out dangerous
They dont let you feel anything
Only way to use them is to restrain the snakes head which puts a placid snake into immediate panic mode
same snaked hooked will usually just drop into a bag


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## southy (Oct 22, 2012)

Mystery over boy bitten by world's most venomous snake | Newcastle Herald
Snake-bite victim could have been dead in 45 minutes | Newcastle Herald


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## JasonL (Oct 22, 2012)

Lol @ the 45 minute BS..... if he was bitten directly into a vein he wouldn't of made it out the door, yet as mentioned no one has yet succumbed to the inlands bite despite a few keepers being tagged... they might kill the most rodents per drop of venom but in reality they haven't killed the most humans.


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## Leasdraco (Oct 23, 2012)

Aussie elapids are pretty good at controlling the output of venom, sometimes results in a dry bite.they are smart like that,saving their venom for prey.with taipans no two bites put out exactly the same amount of venom so its really hard to guesstimate how long a person has until effects show.


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