Percentage of Dry Bites - Experts Forum at VenomousReptiles.org

Percentage of Dry Bites	Reply
by Tango on June 19, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Are the majority of venomous snake bites actually dry as I have often heard?

RE: Percentage of Dry Bites	Reply
by Tango on June 19, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
I should add that I just read in _The Tampa Tribune_ that only one in five coral snake bites inject venom. That statement was made by F. Wayne King, curator of Herpetology at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

RE: Percentage of Dry Bites	Reply
by Phobos on June 19, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
One of the toughest numbers to pin down. So many variables are in play when snake bites man. Coral snakebites adds to the trickyness of your question. I would GUESS that 20% (1:5) is very low. I would think it would be the other way around; only 20% of the bites are dry bites. It's not like a EDB( Eastern Diamondback) or other North American Crotalid where is has long fangs and a bad attitude. It's an Elapid, a shy snake that is likely to only bite if you grab it and try to pick it up. If stepped on it may bite but the fangs may not penetrate normal footware or jean. This does not apply to Crotalids with longer fans and longer reach. If a bite occurs where the snake is being molested and wants get free I think it will almost always envenomate. Just my opinion & guess...but many others will no doubt follow. Best, Al

RE: Percentage of Dry Bites	Reply
by Phobos on June 19, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Tango: One more thing: You may check the antivenom bank listed on this site. Maybe Al Cruz, Director of Venom 1 could give you a much better estimate because he attends to most snakebites in the southern Florida area. The "non- emergency" number is listed to reach him. Al

RE: Percentage of Dry Bites	Reply
by cottonmouth on June 20, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
I agree with phobos, I think very few bites, at least from N American snakes are dry bites. Some say about half are dry, but I have seen quite a few bites over 30 yrs and only one was dry.

RE: Percentage of Dry Bites	Reply
by Tango on June 20, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Thank you Al. I will contact him. I thought this information would be more readily avaailable but I can see where it would be very hard to pin down. Being a snake afficionado (I keep Burmese, retics, Balls, yellow anacondas, corns, and rats) I've been a member of various snake forums since 98. I've read this statement quite a bit and only now thought to get to the validity, if any. I don't want to spread misinformation. I read another article last night where I took this next quote from. "An international expert on snakebite, the late Dr. Alistair Reid of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine found out that only 10 per cent to 15 per cent of venomous bites end in death. The possibility of survival, even without treatment, is incredibly good. There are many reasons for this. One is that the snake often causes a dry bite. That is, the snake does not always inject venom. Sometimes, it might inject only a tiny bit of venom. The snake can inject the quantity of venom it wants. This is an entirely voluntary process. This I learnt doing thousands of venom extractions. Sometimes the snake will not give any venom at all. But you never know how much venom was injected into you except by the progress of the symptoms." (http://www.hinduonnet.com/mag/2004/06/13/stories/2004061300400200.htm)

RE: Percentage of Dry Bites	Reply
by Tango on June 20, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Thank you cottonmouth. I do not keep venomous; I'm sure it is a very different perspective to read something like this. But I live in south central Florida- the Kissimmee Prairie. We have your namesake, as well as Eastern Diamondbacks (much prettier in person than in any photo I've ever seen) and the dusky Pigmy (one of the most beautiful in camouflage in coloration, imo). I see them fairly frequently on my property and they've come to eat my chicks infrequently. I've relocated (about 100 yards) the pigmy rattlers about a half dozen times in the three years I've lived here. They will put themselves in dangerous places like my doorstep and my garage and refuse to move. They'll just coil up and say "You want some of me?!" :) I was bitten two years ago. A dry bite. Itched like crazy for about 5 minutes. Reading your two posts I may have been extremely fortunate.

RE: Percentage of Dry Bites	Reply
by Fabian on June 20, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Hi Tango, I have milked snakes for a while (I have no reason to and do not any more) but, even while milking them I have found that maybe 10-15 % do not give any venom at first while trying to get venom from them. I would have to try a few times to get them to release there venom. So I really thing they in some ways are reluctant to injected venom all the time. I am sure if you spoke to a few of the venom collectors from this site you would find they say similar things. Some do not injected there venom even while trying to collected it. Just some things I have learned while doing it. Good luck with your research....Fabian

RE: Percentage of Dry Bites	Reply
by Phobos on June 20, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Tango: I read your account of your bite by the little pig. "Itched like crazy for about 5 minutes." One other thing to consider is that you were perhaps "sensitized" to venom by the "dry bite". If you read information on Dr. Bryan Fry's website: http://www.venomdoc.com/ About his "Pumpkin head" experence about how people become allergic to venoms you will see what I'm talking about. It may be prudent to keep an epi-pen handy at home in case of another encounter with a pig. I'm not trying to cause alarm but having had an anaphalaxis reaction once myself (unrelated to snakes)I keep it handy in my lab and in the field. Better safe than dead. Best, Al

RE: Percentage of Dry Bites	Reply
by Tango on June 20, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Thank you Fabian, I appreciate your response. 10 - 15% can't be said to be a majority at all.

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