snake bite

[SLAYER85]

i have never been bitten by a snake, except a hatchling but that doesnt count, what would a 4 ft long corn feel like, kind of timid about it, but i know it has got to happen

[Susan]

Well, it's more shocking than painful. It does sting a bit, but nothing to go crying to Mommy about. Has a tendency to bleed for a little while and leaves a nice pretty half oval on the top and bottom. The major concern is for you not to pull your hand away when it happens. If you do, you have a better chance of having a tooth ot two left in your hand. THOSE can be really painful if you can't get them out right away and they become infected. Believe me, I know. And it was a much larger snake that did it...a 7 foot red-tail boa. Finally got the tooth out of my finger knuckle 2 weeks later. Hurt like a son-of-a-@#&%@!!!

[LizS]

The hard part is not to react by yanking your hand away. My 28 inch long boa bit me the other day, and I knew it was going to bite, and I purposefuly waved my hand in front of her and I still jerked back when she did. I guess it takes practice. Maybe I should get me an aggressive young snake and get it to bite me all the time until I get used to it. BTW, the boa bite didn't hurt, but it startled me, and fortunately she didn't leave teeth in me. All I got were 2 pinpricks of blood. In case you don't know, snakes regrow teeth all the time, so it's not a problem for them to lose a few if you get bitten (annoying for you, tho).

[Warren]

I guess in a lot of cases when a snake loses teeth they are okay. But, sometimes they may develope an infection. I guess what I am reall saying is that if you find teeth missing in your snake just watch him for a few days or so. Just in case.

wc

[Simon]

Yes I would totally agree with Warren. Watch for infection in their mouth when it does lose a teeth because of biting you. Other than that....well nothing much would happen. Getting bitting isn't much of a thing. It might hurt a little getting bitten by bigger snakes but then other than a few drops of blood I would say everything is fine.

Good Luck and Happy Herping!

[HaggasCheff]

How would one go about noticing infection if snake has lost teeth in a bite? If it got so bad the snake was gaping or showed pus/cheez around mouth, wouldn't it be almost too late? Is it safe to pry open their mouths with a thin instrument?

[nicky]

well maybe mouth rot would apper? i got bite by a 2-foot long garter but I didn't feel it untill the day after don't know about the infection part I'm sure one of these smart people will

[Solaris16]

I've heard that garter snakes have toxic saliva that can cause irritation for several days after the bite. Anyone know anything more about this? Wendy :)

[tschofie]

I *believe* what this is, is actually just because of the diet of garter snakes. In, um, texas and florida (I think) there are these smallish toads with mildly toxic secretions. Water and garter snakes aren't much bothered by this, and eat the toads anyway. Some people, however, can have rather nasty reactions to this toad slime. So if a garter snake that's been eating toads bites a human, there's a fair chance of getting some redness and swelling.

In a very, very few cases, such a bite on a very toad-allergic person can look kind of bad at first, enough to be confused with the swelling from an early-stage venemous snake bite. So there have been a few cases (according to one half-remembered discovery channel show) where people with bad swelling get rushed to the hospital for antivenin, and it turns out they've really been bitten by a garter.

Anyway, if you were to feed a wild-caught garter anything but toads for a while, you'd probably be safe. Captive born garters would also be safe.

Anyone know what the whole story is?

[nicky]

you mean that garter that bite me could of had toxic!!geez isn't that great news:rolleyes: nah it didn't swell so i guess it wasn't

[Solaris16]

I just found a thread about garter snake saliva that you may find interesting. http://www.kingsnake.com/forum/rearfang/messages/2794.html Enjoy! Wendy :)

[LizS]

In some books I've read it says that some colubrids, including garter, hognose and vine snakes, do have a toxic saliva, a very mild version of venomous snake venom. Corns totally lack that toxicity. Venomous snakes' venom is highly modified saliva with a sophisticated delivery system (fangs). The books say that bites from garters and vine snakes (hognoses rarely bite) can cause swelling and redness but is of little concern unless you're allergic. Any swelling would go down in a day or so and the bite victim would be OK (unless allergic, where the risk is anaphilactic shock). The toxic saliva is apparently produced by the snake regardless of what it eats.

[Warren]

Haggascheff -

No, it is not to late if and when you notice your snakes mouth open or cheezy. A snakes mouth should always be completely closed when he/she is in a relaxed position.(except for the occasional yawn) I'm not an expert on treatment but I believe some will use Listerine on a mouth infection. Your best bet, if you notice anything, is to go to a good herp vet.
Yes, you can pry open the mouth with a thin/dull instrument. Of course, this is to be done w/ EXTREME caution!! Using a SLOW backward motion starting from the front of the mouth. I recently used the back side of a dull knife.(snake had biten itself and wouldn't let go). The snake was perfectly fine after I used this.(This snake just got very excited while I was feeding others). I have also used things like a probe used for sexing or the cap from a pen. (All instraments were and should be cleaned before and after use).

L8r,
wc

[Reed Taylor]

We were out hepring last summer and as we decided to go back we saw a nice four foot + corn snake crossing the path and I walked over and picked it up to check it out and get a photo. Man that was a painful bite. It wrapped around my wrist and went to chewing me. It took almost a minute to get it's mouth off. I was bleeding like a stuck pig. Overall though it wasn't bad. Before we could get a picture of it as we let it go we had to wash the blod off of it. Looking back I laugh about it. Me and my friend that was with me alwys get a good chuckle out of that day.

I've been bitten by Black Racers, Pine snakes, Coachwhips, Kingsnakes, and almost got tagged by a big Eastern Diamondback. That Cornsnake hurt the least.

The way to not get bit is to just pick it up out of it's cage and hold it. Don't reach in from the top and grab it. Put your hand in the cage and keep your hand kinda toward the gorund and pick it up. Snakes naturaly fear birds and grabbing one from straight up is a good way to get bit by a nervous snake.