Karoo whip snake bite this evening

[armata]

Look at this, those of you who poo poo 'mild' venomous snakes

A quick non-chewing bite from Karoo whip snake Psammophis notistictus (rubida the sad recipient.

[Serpy]

Ouch, yeah i agree this whole thing about mild venomous snakes being just as harmless as a non venomous snake is a bunch of cr@p. Venom is venom like another forum member said.

[Bushviper]

I am more nervous around "semi venomous" snakes like Sand snakes, Red lipped heralds and Tiger snakes than the highly venomous snakes.

The highly venomous ones you know can kill you but these are not supposed to be so bad and then they do latch on to you. Necking snakes is taught so that you can use that technique on species like this.

Rubida that looked like it did not tickle. Be careful bru!

[alexander]

wheni was bitten by a yellow-bellied sand snake it didn't get its fangs in me, just every other tooth.
I thought they had to chew to envenomate?

[armata]

I think the chewing necessity may be a fallacy -ask rubida!!

[rubida]

I thought they had to chew to envenomate?

Don’t think so, the fangs just need to break the skin!

For interests (hope armata will post today’s photos) the swelling progressed today severely combined with localized pain. Amazing the effec; especially after been bitten so many times by some of theses little critters. Just show you, each snake bite is a case on its own….

[DonaldSchultz]

Might have posted these before, but this is a Psammophis sudanensis bite, was way worse than a sidewinder bite!! swelling to the armpit, pain etc. last a few days. Remember, a snake becomes deadly once someone dies
I was chatting to DG Broadley and he was telling us how they would treat vine snakes the way we treat sand snakes, and people started dying, he has a few serious bites before it sunk in. BGF calls things like Psammophis "warm" snakes, makes sense

[Pythonodipsas]

Ouch!

I think twice these days about being careless with rear-fanged snakes. Some may remember my Psammophis subtaeniatus bite. I got worried after a while. viewtopic.php?f=61&t=5450

[Bushviper]

Me too. I am a sissy when it comes to these snakes. I have gloves and use them when I can. I even bought the hexarmour gloves and I think they will be great for these specimens as well.

[Colinh]

BV: for interest sake would you use the gloves during a demo i.e for handling something like a Puffy or Coral snake. Perhaps a bit off the topis but I am curios

[Bushviper]

Using the gloves can give one a sense of false security and this must be acknowledged from the start.

Using them during a demo with non lethal snakes is just a wise decision and then if you are comfortable with them you can use them together with a hook or tongs for the potentially lethal stuff.

They should not replace safe handling practices.

[Colinh]

Thanks I agree and just wanted your view in using them during demo's as some people think that this is the time to show how macho they are by free handling and throwing all safety precautions to the wind

[atropos]

Wow. That's is amazing. Thanks for sharing that and thanks for taking one for the team rubida. Hope your arm gets back to normal soon.