Hospitalized - Bitten By My RBBS

[sockbat]

That sounds so painful. Hope your pain free real soon and you fully recover.

 

[Lovemysnakes]

Hey Lovemysnakes!
Firstly, many thanks to you for sharing your story with the rest of us - it's definitely an eye-opener, and has been a great input for those keeping elapids (of any sort!)... not that I have any, but I have dealt with wild ones before...!
Secondly, HOW THE HECK DID YOU GET STRAIGHT IN TO FLINDERS??? Totally off-topic, when i dislocated and fractured my knee, I sat in the waiting room for over four hours while listening to the doctors having "smoko"...
Anyway, Kudos to you man, for your efforts in putting the story "out there", and still being around to tell the tale!
Hope your recovery is rapid and totally successful!
Best,
Carolyn

Hey Carolyn,
I was waiting in line at the emergency window when a nurse passed. I asked her if I should still be in the queue if I had a snakebite? I got priority! If I had blood spurting out of my neck I proberbly would still be in the queue. I even told the "It's only a Red Belly bite," but they still continued to stick me with needles, heart monitors, drips and even oxygen. Weird eh? It was about eight hours (I think) before my first sign of throw up.

Thanks for your kind words, PM me if you want - you are obviously local. I live 3 mins away from FMC.

Glenn

 

[slimsandy]

Thanks for the story.
Now my wife will never let me get a RBBS....ever!!!
I have to say after finding a Small Eyed Snake the other day while moving some old fence pailings, I was really tempted to keep it. Yes, I know this is illegal and frowned upon but I sure there are hundreds of people that do it. I am proud to say I let him go.
But myself having minimal experience in handling snakes it wouldnt be a great idea.
And as lots of people have said already all snakes need to be treated with the utmost respect.

Now for a stupid question...
Is it part of the licence agreement when keeping Elapids that a snake bite kit is on the property, or is this left up to the keepers common sense??
I wonder how many cowboy elapid keepers dont bother with one?

 

[waruikazi]

In the NT you must have a snake bite kit and a whole lot of other safety equipment and plans for what to do in case of a bite.

 

[moosenoose]

That's a fantastic story! :lol: I've heard their bites are really something else in the pain catagory! So no antivenin then?? I hope you're feeling much better

 

[Lovemysnakes]

That's a fantastic story! :lol: I've heard their bites are really something else in the pain catagory! So no antivenin then?? I hope you're feeling much better

Nope, no antivenom. They only give it to you if it's life or death. Apparently, the antivenom is only used as last resort as it can do you just as much damage. This is the 6th day since the bite and 95% better. Still suffering with localised pain though - not complaining!

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[Lovemysnakes]

In the NT you must have a snake bite kit and a whole lot of other safety equipment and plans for what to do in case of a bite.

Yeah same here in SA. I was utalising the snake bite kit within 30 seconds of the bite and in hospital emergency within 10 mins after the bite - I think!

 

[dpeica]

Watch out for a secondary infection..that's a bitch to deal with.

 

[Lovemysnakes]

Watch out for a secondary infection..that's a bitch to deal with.

Hey Dpeica, They have me on some heavy duty antibiotics at the moment - so far so good, ta.

 

[MoreliaMatt]

Keep us updated Glenn,
Will be interesting to see what side effects appear in say 2 - 6 months.....
All the best,

Matt

 

[Lovemysnakes]

Keep us updated Glenn,
Will be interesting to see what side effects appear in say 2 - 6 months.....
All the best,

Matt

Will do Matt.

However I was back in emergency again last night but was not kept in this time. I had been feeling nauseous all day, pounding headache, temperatures and my bite finger and part of my hand had severely swollen up again (7 days now). I now have another infection that has re-launched itself around my body. I was not kept in but given a saline drip again and injected with morphine and a powerful antibiotic. I am home now but have to take it easy for the next three days. I have a home visit nurse twice a day for this three day period who is injecting antibiotics into the drip thing that is permanently hanging out of my left wrist now. (cant think what its called)

When will it end? Do I really want to keep little Otis? (maybe I'm just on a bit of a downer at the moment?)

Thanks again to all the support I have had from all APS members - much appreciated!

 

[lycanthropica]

Will do Matt.

However I was back in emergency again last night but was not kept in this time. I had been feeling nauseous all day, pounding headache, temperatures and my bite finger and part of my hand had severely swollen up again (7 days now). I now have another infection that has re-launched itself around my body. I was not kept in but given a saline drip again and injected with morphine and a powerful antibiotic. I am home now but have to take it easy for the next three days. I have a home visit nurse twice a day for this three day period who is injecting antibiotics into the drip thing that is permanently hanging out of my left wrist now. (cant think what its called)

When will it end? Do I really want to keep little Otis? (maybe I'm just on a bit of a downer at the moment?)

Thanks again to all the support I have had from all APS members - much appreciated!

It's amazing the effect of the venom! i thought RBB venom wasn't as bad as brown snakes and stuff.

not to sound morbid but do people die from RBB bites?
i think you will be fine if you haven't even had to have anti venom yet.

and you will probably love you snake again after your not on a drip anymore!
good luck

 

[slim6y]

wow

 

[Jonno from ERD]

G'day guys,

Lovemysnakes experience is a great example of the complications that can arise from even the most "insignificant" of bites. A lot of people throw around their opinions like "Red Belly venom is nowhere near as toxic as Brown Snake venom", which is entirely true, but not all that reassuring when you consider how extremely potent Brown Snake venom actually is.

Copping a bit from any venomous snake should be considered as the worst possible outcome, not an acceptable risk that you're willing to take.

 

[Fester]

Hmm, I thought I wouldn't mind getting a RBBS or eventually a Death Adder. Wife said she would leave home if I did, so it does have one advantage!! :lol:
Makes you think to maybe stick with just the bitey/bleed ones and not the bitey/potential death ones!! And I am not as fast as I used to be!

 

[lycanthropica]

G'day guys,

Lovemysnakes experience is a great example of the complications that can arise from even the most "insignificant" of bites. A lot of people throw around their opinions like "Red Belly venom is nowhere near as toxic as Brown Snake venom", which is entirely true, but not all that reassuring when you consider how extremely potent Brown Snake venom actually is.

Copping a bit from any venomous snake should be considered as the worst possible outcome, not an acceptable risk that you're willing to take.

this is a great post

i like most snake newbies thought oh RBB that just makes you sick
i think it's important for snake loves to show people snakes are evil but also to make sure people know that any snake bite is a bad one.

 

[bigguy]

You were correct. At this point in time RBB's have only made people sick. But you still require hospital treatment as we are seeing with this post.

I am amazed the hospital did not administer antivenom. Normally, most hospitals set you up in intensive care, apply a drip, have antivenom ready and then remove the bandage. If you do not show signs of envenomation, they do not give you the antivenom. However, if you do show signs of a major envenomation after the bandage is removed , then the antivenom is normally given to you. I have never heard of a hospital who waits to see if your dying before they treat you with antivenom.

With the case of a RBB's bite, they do not normally give you the more expensive black snake antivenom , but give you the far cheaper tiger snake serum. This works well enough to counter the symptons. If they had given the antivenom, you would not have suffered for days as you are now doing.

 

[moosenoose]

I reckon that Red Belly Skunk used to own was big enough to knock you clean off your perch :lol: That was a big snake!

Neville Burns lost his index finger to the bite of a Red Belly yes?? Their venom isn't the worst, but it's certainly not the best either. Bites from anything venomous, whatever the snake, should be avoided at all costs! (No peeking through my gallery either )

 

[Lovemysnakes]

I reckon that Red Belly Skunk used to own was big enough to knock you clean off your perch :lol: That was a big snake!

Neville Burns lost his index finger to the bite of a Red Belly yes?? Their venom isn't the worst, but it's certainly not the best either. Bites from anything venomous, whatever the snake, should be avoided at all costs! (No peeking through my gallery either )

Hey Moosenoose,
You got me really worried about my finger now - I dont want to lose it! Antibiotics so far have had no affect on it!

 

[Lovemysnakes]

You were correct. At this point in time RBB's have only made people sick. But you still require hospital treatment as we are seeing with this post.

I am amazed the hospital did not administer antivenom. Normally, most hospitals set you up in intensive care, apply a drip, have antivenom ready and then remove the bandage. If you do not show signs of envenomation, they do not give you the antivenom. However, if you do show signs of a major envenomation after the bandage is removed , then the antivenom is normally given to you. I have never heard of a hospital who waits to see if your dying before they treat you with antivenom.

With the case of a RBB's bite, they do not normally give you the more expensive black snake antivenom , but give you the far cheaper tiger snake serum. This works well enough to counter the symptons. If they had given the antivenom, you would not have suffered for days as you are now doing.

Law suit pending bigguy!!!!