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aUSTRAILIA-Snake breeder left paralysed after bite
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by tigers9 on June 12, 2008
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http://www.theage.com.au/national/snake-breeder-left-paralysed-after-bite-20080613-2q0t.html
Snake breeder left paralysed after bite
• Tom Arup
• June 13, 2008 - 2:09PM
A Melbourne man left temporarily paralysed after his pet death adder bit him says he will continue to breed deadly snakes.
Snake breeder John Deutscher was bitten on a middle finger by a baby death adder as he was cleaning a snake enclosure at his East Burwood home this morning.
The bite caused anabolic shock and temporarily paralysed his body.
His girlfriend called the paramedics, who gave Mr Deutscher a shot of adrenaline and then took him to the Monash Medical Centre. He will not have any lasting effects from the incident.
Despite the drama, Mr Deutscher said reports of the incident were overblown and he would continue to tend to the 100 snakes that he keeps at his East Burwood home.
"A death adder bite temporarily disables your nerves, it doesn't dissolve your tissues as a lot of snakes do - it doesn't do a lot of the really horrible things," Mr Deutscher told 3AW.
"So as deadly snake bites go, it is actually quite pleasant."
Mr Deutscher said he was bitten when he was cleaning the adder's enclosure and that he would heed warnings to be more careful in the future.
"I will be very, very careful. You could have a very similar reaction to a bee sting. In fact, the bites I`ve had have been more minor than bee stings," Mr Deutscher said.
"People get killed by their pet dog, a dog is a much more dangerous animal. I've had much worse cat fights than what I've gone through with this snake bite.
"People slip over in the shower and break their neck and die or become quadriplegics. I still shower, I still drive a car and so yeah, I'll still keep death adders and love it."
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RE: aUSTRAILIA-Snake breeder left paralysed after
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by SiUk on June 13, 2008
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"So as deadly snake bites go, it is actually quite pleasant."
thats my favourite bit
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RE: aUSTRAILIA-Snake breeder left paralysed after
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by tigers9 on June 13, 2008
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Well, with the name like ‘DEATH adder’, you would expect it to be somewhat deadly;-)
Z
<<snip>> The death adder is generally rated within the top five most deadly snakes in the world.<,snip>>
==
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23856805-2862,00.html?from=public_rss
Snake breeder says death adder bite no big deal
Anthony Dowsley, Rachel Hewitt
June 13, 2008 04:47pm
A SNAKE breeder has been re-united with his deadly pet whose venomous bite sent to the hospital for a night.
But John Deutscher, 29, says he is to blame for his pet snake, a deadly death adder affectionately known as Muffin, striking him as he tried to rush cleaning out its enclosure.
Mr Deutscher, who keeps more than 100 snakes at his house, said if any deadly snake was going to bite him, the venom of a death adder would be among his first choices.
``As deadly snake bites go, a death adder's is pleasant,'' he said.
`My girlfriend was with me. I guess I probably could have gone down hill (without medical attention).
``I'll be very, very careful from now on.
``I've been back with the snake and bear it no ill will. He will be a beloved pet for the rest of his life.
`I've been playing with her all day. She's a lot of fun.
``If it had have been an adult death adder it would have been far more dangerous.''
The death adder is generally rated within the top five most deadly snakes in the world.
Mr Deutscher, who became hooked on snakes aged 16, said a death adder's venom disables nerves rather than the venom of other snakes which attacks cells.
And it's not the first time the avid snake collector has been bitten.
He said he had suffered a serious bite once before, but had dealt with nips on more than a dozen occasions.
Mr Deutscher collapsed soon after paramedics arrived as he went into anaphylactic shock on Thursday night.
He became nauseas and had irregular breathing from the anaphylactic shock.
Metropolitan Ambulance Service spokesman James Howe said he was in a bad state when paramedics arrived.
``He began feeling disoriented and was short of breath," Mr Howe said.
``He was in a critical condition, but staff at the hospital administered some anti-venom and he began stabilising quickly."
But despite his most recent potentially fatal experience, Mr Deutscher has has no plans to give the snakes away.
``They're beautiful things and very sweet natured,'' he said.
He said from now on he would have an epipen ready to handle any allergic reactions to bites in the future.
Mr Deutscher said he had a licence to keep his snakes, all of which are Australian natives.
Among his snake collection is Felicity the tiger snake, Ophelia, a red belly black snake, and numerous death adders and pythons, including three of his favourite girls named Sarah, Nancy and Heidi.
Dr Bryan Grieg Fry, a research fellow in the biochemistry department at Melbourne University, said death adders were extremely toxic but the anti-venom worked very well.
"There's a very low chance of permanent side effects," he said.
Dr Fry said death adders were calm snakes, and didn't strike as often as other species, like brown snakes.
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