Red belly bite

[SteveNT]

When I was a kid ('60s) we were told RBBs were not venemous (or poisonous which is technically correct ). We used to catch large specimens and handle them a lot. We never got bitten. Just dumb luck I suppose. I did get nailed by a small eastern brown though (my own fault). That was very unpleasant.
Good luck with the recovery.

 

[marcus0002]

Thanks everyone for your comments and best wishes. I am happy to update on my recovery and will try to post a photo of my hand when I work out how! One of my main problems was severe muscle wastage, it caused aches all over my body and lasted a couple of days. It also releases muscle cell contents into the blood and this puts pressure on the kidneys. So they wouldn't let me out of hospital until they were sure my kidney function was ok. Seems like I was one of the lucky 10 - 15% who react more severely to RBB venom, although I'm sure the size of the snake and degree of envenomation didn't help.

Did you ever end up working out how to upload photos on here? Still keen to see what your hand looked like. Has your sense of smell returned?

 

[CrystalMoon]

Hmmm a Whip snake tagged my ankle(I was not catching, just poking around where I shouldn't lol)That was bad enough..... I hope all goes well with your recovery I saw the result of a collett's bite on some-one(18 months after the bite) and it was like a section of muscle was removed from under the skin. The Man went through hell and back over a period of 4 days and then took quite awhile to recuperate, the area around the bite is still numb apparently. His bite was from complacency, the Collett's was actually in his collection. He fully admits he was in the wrong and should of been paying more attention. The old saying play with fire and you will get burned rings true, to me handling Vens takes on a whole new meaning of snake handling. It has actually made me a better handler all round and given me a lot of confidence. I would say, Ven's are my favorite even though I don't keep them.
Thank-you for sharing your experience

 

[cement]

Glad to hear your recovering ok.
I dont care for the tough guy attitude towards red belly bites, there are a heap of people around who like to down grade the capacity of their venom, which I think is a joke.
True they may not be fatal, thats the only reason your not a statistic now, but when it involves 4-5 days in hospital, possible kidney failure and muscular atrophy, I don't think they should be taken lightly, especially when we as trainers or teachers are talking to newbies.
Thanks for coming on and explaining your experience, it helps get my message across too!
I did a lot of large black snakes this year too, more then usual, which is great to see them around. There was one in particular that taught me something I had never seen before. It was a hot night and I was getting it out from under a large bbq, and had to continuosly poke it with the hook to get it out. She was in shed cycle too, but after heaps of poking and grabbing, only to have to let her go back in many times before I got her out she finally came out and got into a small garden which had full cover for her albeit only 8-9 inches high. When I walked back past to go and get my hook to get her out of the garden she launched out from under full cover striking at me. She did this twice. I have never seen one do this before.

From one relocator to another, best of luck with the recovery mate.

 

[Pon62]

Hi guys. Had forgotten all about this thread sorry. The recovery has been fine, although there are a couple of on-going issues, the main one being the loss of smell. Still hasn't returned although l seem to have some sensation at times. I am now able to taste a couple of things but the tastes aren't really distinguishable. I get something with chocolate but it is not really the taste of chocolate, weird. I am hopeful that this is a good sign and whatever nerves have been damaged may be re-growing. I'm trying to keep a bit of a diary as to what happens. I reckon it would make an interesting research topic for someone in the venom field. In hospital l signed something for the AVRU to use my data but they haven't contacted me since l left hospital. The only other problem is the area around the bite site is numb, around the knuckle of my index finger, and it has left a good scar!! There may have been some underlying damage to the lymph as well because there is still a little swelling, and that's after nearly 6 months.
Cement, l understand what you mean about snakes sometimes doing totally unexpected things. Like you, and plenty other relocators, l had caught and relocated plenty of snakes of different types, including many RBB's. The behaviour of the snake that tagged me was quite extraordinary. Admittedly this one had been stirred up (by another snake catcher l may add, who had been trying for a couple of hours to get it!!), but it seemed to seek out something to bite and that was my hand. I'm not even sure it knew that what it was biting was the same thing that had its tail. So l hope all other relocators out there who read this learn from my experience, snakes will sometimes behave in a ways you don't expect!!
Marcus0002 i have tried to upload pictures hope they come through OK. First one is a couple hours after bite after bandages were removed, next couple about a week later, last was a couple of mopnths later. That venom does some nasty stuff!! Cheers

 

[marcus0002]

That looks ten kinds of painful

 

[Wywurrie]

Glad you are ok I nearly got tagged a couple of months ago by an eastern but was lucky it hit my watch and snapped one fang off stuck in the link of the band, made me sweat a bit though.

 

[Pon62]

Glad you are ok I nearly got tagged a couple of months ago by an eastern but was lucky it hit my watch and snapped one fang off stuck in the link of the band, made me sweat a bit though.

You don't want to get any closer than that with an eastern, you are very lucky.