|
1-10 of 77 messages
|
Page 1 of 8
Next
|
|
Copperhead Bite
|
Reply
|
|
by Toons on May 16, 2001
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Been there, Done that
It was my 19th birthday, October 19,1997. I too had just purchased a S. copperhead from the Hamburg show. But my lesson in stupidity is slightly different. It invovled inexperience and peer pressure so to speak.
I was still a fledgling hot keeper and had a nice pair of great basin rattlers and about 20 non-hots. My mothers last words were "No more snakes especially venomous ones you have enough." In this case I guess mother knows best but I was paying all the bills so who could stop me from getting what I wanted?
Well my friend and I made it to the show and there they were these cute little copperheads @ 8 inches long and I got the guy down to 10 bucks I had to buy one. Well my friend had been keeping herps for a lot longer then I but never a hot-herp. He thought that I should practice handling techniques on this on. I said no because like fish you put venomous in a nicely designed habitat and leave it alone and appreciate it's beauty. Well he said I'd have to hold it eventually. I said no I had owned my great basins for about 9 months by this time and had yet to run into a n occasion when i had to handle them and I told him tongs and hooks were made for a reason.
The drive home was about 2 and a half hours and all I heard the entire way was stop being a pu---, its only a copperhead and other anti testosterone geared insults.
We decided to stop at his house first to drop of his new snakes and eat before going to my house. He wanted a clear view of it (it was in an opaque sandwich box)and so did I so I thought I'd be smart when opening the lid . I put the box in a ten gallon aquarium because if it got out he(my friend) had no gear to get it with and it would be confined to the the tank.
Well it of course got out and we tried to scurry it back into the box with the lid. We were successful only in pissing the little fellow off. So this is how it went down. I decided if he would pin it I would grab it. He pinned it with an aquarium algea scraper which worked wonderfully the snake stopped struggling and everything. I grabbed it w/ my middle finger and thumb like I had seen on T.V. so many times and it didn't squirm a bit. Then I lifted it up to put it in its box and I learned how mobile their fangs could be as he sunk them into my middle finger. Although it bit me I did get into the box then ran around like a litle girl screaming and yelling how it bit me. When I finally stopped I realized the bite didn't hurt.It must have been a dry bite."Should I go to the hospital anyway?"
" No it was only a baby copperhead you weiny lets go eat."
" Yeah I guess your right."
Well about a half hour later while enjoying some pizza I noticed my hand was kinda hurting. When I looked at it I noticed my finger was swelling and my knuckles were slowly dissappearing."Dude I think i should go to the hospital now"
" Awe man don't be a wus it was only a copperhead. It can't kill you besides what did your mom say about getting more venomous?"
"Sh-- yor right. She won't notice"
About 2 and a half hours after the bit I could no longer see any of the bones in my hand and wrist and decided now I should go to the hospital. My friend not only agreed but called me an idiot for not going in the first place!
When my mom got the phone call she was definately pissed but luckily more worried then anything else.My real worry was the hospital staff.Just outside of Philadelphia there are no venomous reptiles and the hospital had never treated a bite before. The zoo...Closed! Poison control...clueless! The staff couldn't make up their minds. Ice .. no ice...elevate ..no wait put it down.. we may have to cut you open to releave pressure..no nevermind we won't do that. The hospitals biggest question was how did I get bitten in the first place. Of course I lied and said that I found it in my back alley. But this was to protect the snake not myself. I researched the need for pemits in my town/state before I got the rattlers and required none so I wasn't breaking any rules. I just didn't want them to kill the snake for doing what comes naturally to it especially when it was my fault not the snake's.
After listening to my friend and I talking about snakes they caught on that this wasn't a chance incounter. A week after my stay I got a visit from animal control but he had no complaints when he entered my fort knox of snake rooms.
Anyway I was never administered antivenin only antibiotics, a tetnus shot(even though I got one a year earlier for a dog bite ),benadryl, and a few steroids. At the bite's Zenith I couldn't see any knuckles, wrist bones,or my elbow joint. I was put on steroids to rebuild some of the muscle lost in my arm and my finger turned all kinds of neat colors.
Its been a few years since that has happened and my recovery was complete after about 2 months but I still remember every detail like it was happenning right now. I now live in Fl thanks to the Air Force and have a venomous reptiles permit(pain in the butt compaired to Pa)and a whole room of snakes 6 of which are venomous. Now althogh I'm fine and it was a true experience to say the least it all could have been avoided if I went to the show ALONE. The really cooky thing is although I had daily contact with my rattlers, when ever I would go to the copperheads new home and amazing fear or gun-shyness would come over me. It came back last October when my wife bought me a canebrake rattler and a hot pink Southern copperhead for my birthday at the South Carolina exotic show. I am happy to say that that fear is now gone and I function perfectly around all my hots even my three copperheads.
So to all hot and will-be keepers don't be stupid and listen to your better judgement and remember it isn't just a copperhead it is a venomous snake!
|
| |
|
Copperhead Bite
|
Reply
|
|
by MWSERPENTARIUM on May 25, 2001
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Filthy,
I am sorry to hear about your bite, and I wish you God's speed in your recovery. I enjoyed your article, as well as the personal tone it was written in. Most important it gives the reader something to think about. Thanks for sharing.
|
| |
|
RE: Copperhead Bite
|
Reply
|
|
by Vishnu on July 10, 2001
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
I would like to add to this.I have 2 Copperhead snakes ,one I have had for 19 years.The other is a wild caught gift from a friend. I have so far not been bitten by any of them. One reason I'm sure is that I do not handle them.My long term female captive is deceptively "tame". She doesn't offer to bite and appears very docile. I do not trust any "hot" snake not to bite me. I realize that coppers are not the top of the list of mortality rates for pit vipers.These animals offer their unique existance and personalities,nothing else. I also have a 10 year old male canebrake rattler in my collection. This one will rattle and bite. He has not settled down at all. I feel this attitude keeps me honest ,as I don't have any desire to handle him,knowing what rattlesnake venom can do. I have a routine for cage cleaning that involves much space between the snakes and myself. I also do this when I am completely alone and there is no chance someone will divert my attention for even a second. I feel having hot snakes adds to my existance as well. These animals are killed everyday just for being snakes . You can't rteally blame the snake for doing what a poisonous snake does. I say just don't push it and you can get along with them without problems.
|
| |
|
Copperhead Bite
|
Reply
|
|
by snakecharmer on November 25, 2001
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
intresting story about your bite.i have received 73 venomous bites from many snakes over the past 22 years most of which were coppers and eastern diamondbacks. not fun but sure makes the hobby interesting. coppperheads are one of my favorites and account for about 30 bites.given this you know i can understand all too well what you went through. was this your first bite? reactions vary by size, species,temperment, last envenomation, and of course, the hapless victim.i am wondering about any past accidents you've had.please provide more info on this
|
| |
|
Copperhead Bite
|
Reply
|
|
by serpentinespirit on July 6, 2002
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
whoa! I'm tuggin on my collar right now!!! I live in South Carolina and have been catching snakes all my life. Just recently i acquired two hot snakes, a gorgeous dusky pygmy (s. miliarius barbouri)and a southern copperhead A. contortrix contortrix). I'm a little nervous because I'm not used to handling them. I've always caught nonvenomous and never took great measures to avoid the bite, handling them in the middle, grabbing their tails for dear life as they try to escape, i learned ever so quickly with water snakes! boy are those guys viscious! if you dont grab em by the head they will bite. i dont ever intend on handling the pygmy, ive read a few horror stories about them as well, besides they are so small, hard to grip them without possible injury to the animal, i guess the closest ive come to a bite came during a bad shed for my copperhead, he had otherwise completely sloughed off his old skin, at least loosened it, but not shed. After about a week, iwas concered so i drew a warm bath and gave it a swim to loosen its skin but it still wouldnt pull its old skin off, even against the rough pieces of wood provided. The moment of truth, and i think i just wanted to exorcise my fears of handling a poisonous snake, so i used a homemade hook (a metal meat skewer, paintbrush, and ducktape, works great! maybe a bit too short for coppy!)naturally used three fingers to secure the head, this was really scary as the head will collapse to move the fangs closer to your fingers!!! I pulled off all but a bit right under his chin (i had enough at this point!),and promptly secured him back in his enclosure. The more i read, it sounds like a bite could be in my future. i hope this isnt the case. i love snakes and always will, this website only reenforces that.
|
| |
|
RE: Copperhead Bite
|
Reply
|
|
by Drock on October 23, 2002
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Hhat the heck I thought people die from Copperhead bites im scared to death of those things we have tons where I live.
|
| |
|
RE: Copperhead Bite
|
Reply
|
|
by spanky on January 1, 2003
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
I was biten last week by a large southern copperhead, to the top of my arm. I run mississippi reptile rescue service, And I get all kinds of calls, most from people that are new to the field. The bite I am getting over now, was just such a call. A 16 year old boy had a copper in a small tank, and it got out. Thay called me to help find it. And I did, Under there washer, I was poking at it's tail and did not know the snake was right over my arm, It sank it's fangs in the top of my right forearm, and as you might know I pulled my arm out with the snake still hooked to me.I felt the venom going through my arm. with-in an hour my arm and hand was very swollen. I spent 4 days in the hospital. and now I am dealing with gangerien in my arm.This is my 6 bite. and Ican not get any antivinin becouse i am allergic to it.I most say if I did not love what I do, I would quit. Thanks spanky.
|
| |
|
Copperhead Bite
|
Reply
|
|
by filthy on May 5, 2003
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
This was not my first bite, sadly. I've had three that really hurt me, and several more that didn't amount to much. The worst was a large E. Diamondback, in the field, that was very bad. It was the only bite I've had treated, and it was then I found out I was sensitive to horse.
I've been doing this off and on for some 50 years.
It's easy to avoid joining the Brotherhood of the Fat and Possibly Rotting Hand. All you have to do is become intimatly familiar with your animals (in the field as well as at home), NEVER 'show off', and NEVER get careless. Most, if not all, bites suffered by hot snake keepers come from either carelessness, as was the case in this, my latest bite, or getting entirely stupid and trying to impress somebody. I've had one o' those, too. The Eastern. Taught me a lesson, it did.
Many thanks for the reception y'all have given this article. Good luck, and be safe.
f
|
| |
|
Copperhead Bite
|
Reply
|
|
by thorn667 on May 14, 2003
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
So far so good. I haven't been hit by my little A.contortrix and have cleaned cages, treated for mites (preventitive), gotten him eating frozen pinkies, and all the other normal day to day functions. The way I practiced for hots was to rescue a sickly, wild caught four and one half foot C. caninus, nurse it back to health, and keep it for two years without getting bit. I even had to soak and peel him once. A friend that does reptile rescue recommended that method as a good way to practice.
|
| |
|
Copperhead Bite
|
Reply
|
|
by Cantil on June 6, 2003
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Good Advice from someone who was actually bitten by a copperhead. All snakes and certainly the venomous species deserve respect. I have never been bitten by a hot snake .... yet. I was bitten by a large burmese python that broke my hand before I could make him let go. The pain was terrible and caused me to gain new respect for all species. After 25 years of snake wrangling I still expect to be bitten one day by one of my venomous snakes and I really dread it! I hear people all the time say, " its just a copperhead". Copperheads clearly can cause you some pain even if there are no recorded deaths. My dad reminds me frequently of a man who came into his ER and had been bitten by a copperhead on his back and very close to his spine. The victim remained very sick for weeks.
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|
