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Snake Thread: 2021

350,013 Views | 1753 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by mrsbeer05
Spotted Ag
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SE McLennan County. Not sure what it was. His dad searched for 45 min and didn't find it. Neighbor said he'd killed several copperheads in the last several months. They live close to railroad tracks as well.

He's had 16 vials of antivenom and is doing pretty good. Leg is bruised up pretty bad. And yes, I was thinking that was a big snake.
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P.U.T.U
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Spotted Ag said:

He's had 16 vials of antivenom and is doing pretty good. Leg is bruised up pretty bad. And yes, I was thinking that was a big snake.
Hope they have insurance.

More importantly glad to hear he is doing alright
3 Toed Pete
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Awful story about the 6 year old but I was just thinking about something like this yesterday after seeing that great pic of the juvi cottonmouth.

If you were bitten and only had a glimpse of the snake and weren't sure if it was a juvi water moccasin or a copperhead, does that affect the antivenom or treatment protocol since the venom is different between the 2? I realize that many copperhead bites don't even require antivenom but a cottonmouth would.
Spotted Ag
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Covidians, Communists, CNN, FOX, and all other MSM are enemies of the state and should be treated as such.
vander54
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3 Toed Pete said:

Awful story about the 6 year old but I was just thinking about something like this yesterday after seeing that great pic of the juvi cottonmouth.

If you were bitten and only had a glimpse of the snake and weren't sure if it was a juvi water moccasin or a copperhead, does that affect the antivenom or treatment protocol since the venom is different between the 2? I realize that many copperhead bites don't even require antivenom but a cottonmouth would.


Rattlesnake, copperhead, and cottonmouths are all treated with the same antivenom. Coral snake is the only native snake to have a different treatment
3 Toed Pete
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vander54 said:

3 Toed Pete said:

Awful story about the 6 year old but I was just thinking about something like this yesterday after seeing that great pic of the juvi cottonmouth.

If you were bitten and only had a glimpse of the snake and weren't sure if it was a juvi water moccasin or a copperhead, does that affect the antivenom or treatment protocol since the venom is different between the 2? I realize that many copperhead bites don't even require antivenom but a cottonmouth would.


Rattlesnake, copperhead, and cottonmouths are all treated with the same antivenom. Coral snake is the only native snake to have a different treatment
Thanks for the answer. That's good to know.
zooguy96
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3 Toed Pete said:

Awful story about the 6 year old but I was just thinking about something like this yesterday after seeing that great pic of the juvi cottonmouth.

If you were bitten and only had a glimpse of the snake and weren't sure if it was a juvi water moccasin or a copperhead, does that affect the antivenom or treatment protocol since the venom is different between the 2? I realize that many copperhead bites don't even require antivenom but a cottonmouth would.


Chrofab (synthetic antivenin) is what we used back in the day (when I worked at zoos) for North American pit viper bites (so, rattlers, copperheads, moccasins). It's what is commonly used for your native pit vipers. Of course, something like a coral snake would require a different anti-venom. Of course, coral snake bites are so infrequent that most hospitals don't even keep the antivenin on hand.
Courtesy Flush
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Is it reasonable to expect small hospitals in rural areas will maintain the pit viper anti-venom? I've always wondered if I do get bit If I should stop at my local hospital or just go ahead and drive an additional 45 minutes to a hospital in Sugarland
Texmid
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It looks like he got tagged on the inside of his ankle. Maybe he stepped on the snake?
ttha_aggie_09
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Rufnek said:

Is it reasonable to expect small hospitals in rural areas will maintain the pit viper anti-venom? I've always wondered if I do get bit If I should stop at my local hospital or just go ahead and drive an additional 45 minutes to a hospital in Sugarland
Not a doctor but get to your local hospital first and let them monitor you and worry about getting it. The sooner you can get under medical supervision and get your vitals monitored, the better. Hopefully you or anyone else never has to worry about this...
agcrock2005
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Wow. That's crazy. How is he doing?
FightinTexasAg15
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Mom sent me this earlier. Accidentally closed the garage door on it and squished it lol


Edit - wanna say rat snake?
Spotted Ag
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He's in good spirits and ready to go home.
Covidians, Communists, CNN, FOX, and all other MSM are enemies of the state and should be treated as such.
vander54
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There's actual a Facebook group all about how to handle snakebites. The group has a ton of experts and they are the only ones allowed to comment on active bites. Dr Spencer Greene is one of the experts in there. A lot of great information for anyone interested it's called National Snakebite Support.
Badace52
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Rufnek said:

Is it reasonable to expect small hospitals in rural areas will maintain the pit viper anti-venom? I've always wondered if I do get bit If I should stop at my local hospital or just go ahead and drive an additional 45 minutes to a hospital in Sugarland
ttha gave good advice. Get to your local hospital quickly, if they are a hospital and not a stand-alone ER, they are likely to have crofab but it is not definite. Sometimes the small local hospitals unintentionally let their antivenin expire because they use it so infrequently.
CM
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
Badace52
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Badace52
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We still use crofab for crotalid envenomations. Almost no one has the coral snake antivenin anymore in Texas since Texas Coral Snake bites have never resulted in a recorded death.
CM
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
BCO07
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Rufnek said:

Is it reasonable to expect small hospitals in rural areas will maintain the pit viper anti-venom? I've always wondered if I do get bit If I should stop at my local hospital or just go ahead and drive an additional 45 minutes to a hospital in Sugarland


Really going to vary from place to place. I don't have crofab because I just don't get that many snake bites at my critical access facility and it goes bad before I use it (I get way more sting ray hits than snake bites). In a 45 min radius from Sugarland, El Campo definitely has crofab. Matagorda regional and Wharton should, but I don't know for sure.

Not every bite needs crofab, though it seems like the info from the most recent venom conference is pushing for more aggressive treatment.
HtownAg92
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Rufnek said:

Is it reasonable to expect small hospitals in rural areas will maintain the pit viper anti-venom? I've always wondered if I do get bit If I should stop at my local hospital or just go ahead and drive an additional 45 minutes to a hospital in Sugarland
I'd say it correlates with hunting and recreational opportunities nearby. My home-town rural hospital always had it on hand because the county was big destination for hunters and someone was always getting tagged.

The kid's picture makes me want to get some snake boots.
Spotted Ag
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Just got word that the docs think it was a rattlesnake bc of how low his blood platelet levels got. Down to 3 or 3000 (dad wasn't sure). Docs said he should be in the clear now. Dad has plans to purchase guineas asap
Covidians, Communists, CNN, FOX, and all other MSM are enemies of the state and should be treated as such.
Badace52
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Based on the distance between fang marks and the progression of bruising/swelling, I was also thinking rattlesnake is more likely, but there is really no way to know for sure. If it was a copperhead, that thing was a beast of a copperhead. It would be a large, but not overly impressive, rattlesnake.
CM
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Badace52
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Glad they are doing well. Three is incredibly low on platelets... it was much more likely 3,000 which is still very low. That level of platelets (3,000) comes with a risk of spontaneous bleeding.
CM
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
P.U.T.U
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HtownAg92 said:


The kid's picture makes me want to get some snake boots.
We make the kids on our property wear at least tall rain boots if not snake chaps depending on the time of year. I have walked out on the front porch in the fall a few times and had a few copperheads sunning. Out of the 10 people that go out there I think I am the only one to have seen a rattle snake but everyone has seen plenty of copperheads.
Serious Lee
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how do yall treat sting ray victims?
Copperpot
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Ribbon Snake. Grimes County.

Badace52
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Pain control, inflammation control, sometimes infection control. The venom is painful but not really hemotoxic. Barb removal is indicated and sometimes requires incisional removal. Swelling can be bad enough to limit blood flow in some cases especially if jewelry or clothing remains on affected limbs.

Hot water immersion therapy is also common and can yield very good pain relief.
CM
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
BCO07
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Badace52 said:

Pain control, inflammation control, sometimes infection control. The venom is painful but not really hemotoxic. Barb removal is indicated and sometimes requires incisional removal. Swelling can be bad enough to limit blood flow in some cases especially if jewelry or clothing remains on affected limbs.

Hot water immersion therapy is also common and can yield very good pain relief.


This. Seems like without fail the patient is diabetic, so pain control and antibiotics. Xray to make sure it didn't break off and leave a piece in the wound
muleshoe
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ttha_aggie_09 said:

Sorry to hear that… keep us posted
How is he doing?

Makes me think of Dr. Glass.
W.C. Griffin '09
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Badace52 said:

Based on the distance between fang marks and the progression of bruising/swelling, I was also thinking rattlesnake is more likely, but there is really no way to know for sure. If it was a copperhead, that thing was a beast of a copperhead. It would be a large, but not overly impressive, rattlesnake.


Exactly what I was thinking
W.C. Griffin '09
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Rufnek said:

Is it reasonable to expect small hospitals in rural areas will maintain the pit viper anti-venom? I've always wondered if I do get bit If I should stop at my local hospital or just go ahead and drive an additional 45 minutes to a hospital in Sugarland


Rural doc here. We keep enough in our hospital to initiate the treatment and then transfer you out to San Angelo. We have had it for a long time but I don't think our neighboring hospitals do. It expires far more often than we use it but we prefer to have it on hand. We worked out a deal with the hospital we transfer to trade ours with them a few months before it expires so hopefully it gets used.

They switched to Anavip recently so we did, too. It is cheaper so more small hospitals may start carrying it. I think the shelf life is shorter right now so it may actually cost more to keep it.
agcrock2005
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Where are you located? I hunt in Eden (actually heading there today for my first hunt of season) which would be a rural area that would transfer to San Angelo I'd imagine.
W.C. Griffin '09
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agcrock2005 said:

Where are you located? I hunt in Eden (actually heading there today for my first hunt of season) which would be a rural area that would transfer to San Angelo I'd imagine.


I'm down in Sonora. Wouldn't shock me if Eden or Brady has it. I would expect either to send you on to Shannon in San Angelo after making sure you are stable and starting treatment if available and indicated. The recommendations to go to the closest ER are good advice.

I haven't actually had a viper bite since I've been here. I saw way more in Bryan for residency. We did have a coral snake bite once but I don't think envenomation occurred.
Spotted Ag
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muleshoe said:

ttha_aggie_09 said:

Sorry to hear that… keep us posted
How is he doing?

Makes me think of Dr. Glass.

Labs are looking good. Supposed to get to go this evening if everything stays on track.
Covidians, Communists, CNN, FOX, and all other MSM are enemies of the state and should be treated as such.
AtlAg75
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Identification help please -

My son was trail running outside of Black Mountain, NC 3 days ago. He felt something on his ankle and thought maybe a stick had hit it but then it started hurting. He stopped to look and saw bite marks. Walked back to the spot on the trail and saw the guy in the pictures. He didn't have any reactions other than soreness (bite was near his ankle bone) and think it is a garter snake.

Any thoughts?
Badace52
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Eastern garter snake, non-venomous.
CM
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
 
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