Talk about your envenomations.

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How many of you have had envenomations?

Venomous snake bite.
14
18%
Arachnid or medically important insect bites or stings.
14
18%
Unusual symptoms following colubrid bites.
10
13%
No envenomations.
42
53%
 
Total votes: 80

MuayThaipan
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Talk about your envenomations.

Post by MuayThaipan »

In the course of my 16 years breeding and handling venomous reptiles I've taken 2 bites from A.c. mokasens. One was a neonate and one was from a 30 inch adult male which was a feeding response bite took both fangs in the area between thumb and forefinger with one fang entering a vein (that was fun). The first occurred when I was 14, the big one got me when I was 15. No mentors around here I had to figure out handling on my own with a little instruction from Allen Hunters black mamba page.
My third was a fang scratch from an Indian cobra at 17 slight burning pain and chest discomfort hours later until then I was convinced no venom made it in. No treatment nessesary the snake was a little over 16 inches. My last bite was a 1ft cottonmouth severe pain and a tiny spot of necrosis. That was at the age of 26. No bites since then and I'm 31 now so no bites in 6 years. Knock on wood. I post this as a cautionary tell to newbies. Be careful and I'm also interested in other folks bites. Share your stories and mabey save others some pain.
On another note I show symptoms of mild envenomations from the following genus.
Thamnophis= Burns like hell and swells.
Pantherophis= itches and makes a huge welt.
Lampropeltis= Same as above.
Coluber= Burns bad and swells.
I have a theory that after taking hundreds of bites from these genera has left my hypersensitive to the toxins in their saliva.
Oddly enough I react to Coluber saliva but not Masticophis. I know this is long winded but snake venoms are my main interest and I'd love to hear your stories.
The knew herping season is almost upon us so stay safe my brothers.
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dery
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by dery »

Do nonsignificant arachnids count? I've been stung by s. devil scorpions, and pinched by orbs and jumpers several times.
MuayThaipan
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by MuayThaipan »

Sure any time theres been venom injected counts some of the weirdest symptoms I've ever had was from an African giant cranial horned baboon spider. It paralysed me legs for like 25 minutes but put me in a euphoric state where it seems perfectly normal that my legs diddnt work, did not have a care in the world for about an hour.
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VanAR
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by VanAR »

I get hive-like/allergic reactions to colubrid saliva. So far, I react to Coluber, Lampropeltis, Pantherophis, Nerodia, Thamnophis, and Pituophis.

I'm also allergic to pit viper musk, ever since I got sprayed in the face/eye by a copperhead I was drawing blood from. Species I've had reactions to include all Agkistrodon, Crotalus atrox, Crotalus adamanteus, Crotalus horridus, and Crotalus viridis.
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Kelly Mc »

I had much swelling including soreness under my arm from large florida garter and a local reaction from a stick on a fang panicuring a juvenile pacific rattlesnake. The garter bite was more significant, while the stick was like my finger caught in a door.
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dery
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by dery »

Okay then, my worst envenomation was by a medium sized orb spider this december at an N. AL reststop. It felt like a wasp sting, but went away in less than 30 seconds after brushing it off. Looked sortof like a N. crucifera.
Herpetologist115
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Herpetologist115 »

When I was 10 I was bit by a Arizona Black Rattlesnake Crotalus Cerberus, they fllew me to Phoenix and I got 32 vials of antivenin.
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Curtis Hart
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Curtis Hart »

There should be an option for no notable envenomations.
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The Jake-Man
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by The Jake-Man »

I found out that I am allergic to bee stings the hard way. A couple years ago, I was at home, playing street hockey with some friends, when I was stung near the tip of my ring finger. My entire right hand and forearm swelled up like a balloon, and became really itchy. I started to have trouble breathing, but luckily my dad had an epinephrine injector in our house because of his allergies to shellfish. I got the injection, and we drove to the ER, which is only 2 blocks from my house, and I was released later that day. Now I always carry an epinephrine injector, especially when I'm out herping in remote places. This is something I would recommend everyone should with them, especially if you spend a lot of time in remote places. I had no clue I was allergic to bee stings before this, and I could have died if I wasn't near a hospital or someone with epinephrine.
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reptilist
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by reptilist »

A scorpion stung my ass!

:cry:
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chris_mcmartin
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Curtis Hart wrote:There should be an option for no notable envenomations.
Agree. That way, one could say "Of X people surveyed, Y% had envenomations of some sort."
MuayThaipan
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by MuayThaipan »

Agree that should have been a poll option can I add it somehow?
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Dalton Lund
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Dalton Lund »

You were keeping and/or breeding A. c. mokasen at 14 years old? Or was that just a by-chance bite?

I've had no envenomations, but been bitten by colubrids multiple times if that counts.
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gbin
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by gbin »

What is a person to do if more than one response is correct?

Gerry
MuayThaipan
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by MuayThaipan »

Well at 14 my female copper had 8 neonates according to my notes she was gravid when I got her. I bred them myself at 16 that was also the year I bred my first dusky pygmies and got my first elapid which was a Rhinkals (Hemachatus haemachatus). I lived with my grandmother at the time who knew nothing of snakes and I could keep whatever I wanted. You would be suprised if you seen my collection by the time I was 18.
P.S. people keep giving me better suggestions for the poll so I shall change it once again this is my first poll. I'm suprised this topic has not had more attention I thought we would get some awesome stories if anyone is curious about my experiences feel free to ask hopefully mine and other peoples stories will save someone some pain.
MonarchzMan
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by MonarchzMan »

I've been bitten by a Leptodeira septentrionalis in Ecuador. The snake wasn't aggressive or anything. I was holding it and it was calm, then all of the sudden, I find it biting me in the fleshy part between my pinkie and ring finger. It didn't let go for probably about 3 minutes. After I finally got it off, the area started swelling to the point of making my pinkie, ring, and middle finger stiff such that I couldn't really move them. Stayed that way for some time. Needless to say, I'm not a huge fan of L. septentrionalis anymore. :lol:

But that is only 1 of about 5 snake bites I've ever gotten. I rather pride myself on avoiding snake bites.
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Tonia Graves
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Tonia Graves »

When I was a child I was bit by a Brown Recluse on the foot. At one point the doctors had warned my mother of amputation. Thankfully that didn't happen!
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mywan
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by mywan »

Curtis Hart wrote:There should be an option for no notable envenomations.
I selected "No envenomations", but this is obviously my intent. Been stung by an assortment of bees, and my whole arm swelled slightly once after a honey bee sting. Not sure why because it never happened before or since. Nothing that ever slowed me down or concerned me in the least, or even significant enough to desire ointments or whatever. Only handled a few vipers, but only because it's seems pointless to do so in almost all cases. No scorpions or spider bites yet, though I can't imagine why I've been that lucky given the numbers of them around and even on me at times.
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Antonsrkn
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Antonsrkn »

Snake wise the only bite I have had with any sort of reaction was a Coniophanes fissidens, its a rear fanged colubrid. It bit me and held on for only a second, shortly thereafter the joint of the finger where I was bitten was a bit stiff and sore but the effects disappeared within the hour.

Been stung by bees, wasps and scorpions as well, besides the pain I only really experienced any effects once... after being stung upwards of 10 times in the head/neck area by some sort of small wasp species in Costa Rica I developed a headache and my lymph nodes (or something else, I'm no Dr) in my neck became slightly inflamed. There was no swelling but I couldn't comfortably turn my head side to side or up and down and my whole neck area was stiff.
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Ruxs
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Ruxs »

Here's my overview:
No venomous snake bites yet, and I plan to keep it that way. No spider bites and I doubt that will ever change. No Scorpion stings although I often pick them up to scare people. About a week ago I got sore armpits from a colubrid bite although I can't remember what snake it was; been bitten by colubrids since but no effects whatsoever. Foot slipped down a 1/2 foot trench by a railway and I was bitten on the heel by a Giant Centipede, luckily though, I had an incredibly mild reaction and the only pain was in the first few hours and when I had to walk during the next couple of days. No poisonous plant reactions (yet) and no bad encounters with bees or wasps. Very strong, natural immune system (no vaccinations) and I'm yet to discover an allergy. As far as I know, my brothers, my parents, their parents and my uncles and aunts all have no known allergies.
Very high metabolism. I have always kept fit although I never eat fish and don't eat most meats.
All in all, I'm incredibly fortunate.
The talk in this post makes me wonder whether people like Steve Irwin developed sensitivity to non-venemous snake bites over the decades of being bitten.

So here is my question: Are there any old timers here who haven't developed severe (or any) sensitivity to snake saliva?
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noah k.
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by noah k. »

Never been bitten by a hot. I have a tendency to swell up like a bee stung me after ringneck bites. No reaction to Nerodia or Garters though.
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Joshua Jones
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Joshua Jones »

MuayThaipan wrote: some of the weirdest symptoms I've ever had was from an African giant cranial horned baboon spider. It paralysed me legs for like 25 minutes but put me in a euphoric state where it seems perfectly normal that my legs diddnt work, did not have a care in the world for about an hour.
Oh, man....You don't happen to know where I could get one, do you? :lol:

On a serious note, though..Brown recluse (didn't kill me, although it tried really hard), Bark scorpion (again, didn't kill me. Didn't try half as hard, though.), and a weird hit from a coachwhip (had some clotting issues).
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Nshepard
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Nshepard »

I had a scorpion get me in south Florida but that was nothing. And, I've had honey bees, yellow jackets, and wasps sting me without any issue. I've received bites from Helicops angulatus (no issue), Thamnophis sirtalis (no issue), and at least two species of Psammophis (no issue).
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John Martin
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by John Martin »

Just one snake hot - pricei (don't ask :roll: ) way back in about 1980. One fang into tip of left index finger, immediately starting bleeding like I'd consumed a couple of liters of anticoagulants. I "milked" the finger a few times and blood shot out like a squirt gun. Have no idea if this actually helped. I DID get a cool free ride off the mountain top via helicopter to a local hospital :D . After a couple of hours of waiting, only my index finger was affected (extremely swollen and REALLY sensitive to the slightest touch for a day or two). Unfortunately I let them do a skin test for serum sickness, which I've since learned is not a good thing. Anyway, I'm in Australia now so I don't have to worry about those pesky pit viper bites :thumb:

Also a weird reaction to a paper wasp sting even longer ago. Been stung many times before and since but that one caused my entire hand to swell to the wrist.
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Jeff Lemm
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Jeff Lemm »

The only venom from a herp was a flying snake (ornata); swelling, fever, pain for a few hours. No bad hot bites from herps or arachnids, but some very painful hits from jellyfish, stingrays, starfish, coral, and urchins.
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Kent VanSooy
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Kent VanSooy »

I had a bee fly into my mouth on a bicycle ride and sting the inside of my cheek. That HURT !!
hellihooks
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by hellihooks »

2 life-threatening helli bites, when I was young and dumb (75/76)... went 34 yrs without another, till 010... caught a fang through a bag in my index finger... 36 hrs at Loma Linda, 10 vials crofab... went herping on the way home... :crazyeyes: Last one hardly hurt at all (comparitively speaking) but very mind-altering (altered states)

I've never suffered any reactions to any plant toxins, till this year... not even sure what I got... (Sumac, I think) on my face/eyes... but left eye swelled shut... so... went herping one-eyed/no hat, and sunburnt the crap outta my face, to boot.
You think i was hard to look at before... you should see me now... :shock: Not a pretty sight... :roll:
Definently gonna be more careful bout what plants I wade through... this crap sucks... :( jim
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Jeremy Westerman
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Jeremy Westerman »

Never been tagged by a dangerously venomous species. Never been bitten by a hot snake. I have been stung or bitten by several species of wasp, bees, scorpions and spiders with no reaction besides immediate discomfort and mild swelling sometimes tingling.

I did have one life threatening situation though, I was rock climbing on lead about 75 feet up from the hanging belay station on a two pitch climb. My arm was extended up from getting ready to clip my carabiner to the next bolt when a bumblebee flew into my shirt at the arm and began stinging me repeatedly in the armpit. I screamed for my belayer to "take" and fell off the wall down to my next protection around 20 feet below my original position, where I cut out of my shirt (I couldn't take it off it was partially under my harness) to get the little devil out of there. A clear line of welts starting in my armpit then across my chest began to burn like fire. We retreated off the climb immediately just in case I was going to have a severe reaction because I was stung so many times. Luckily nothing worse that a ruined climb and some angry welts when all was said and done.
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gbin
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by gbin »

I used to mess around a lot with whatever kinds of bees I could catch in my family's backyard flower garden when I was a little kid, even to the point of free-handling many of them ("young" and "stupid" certainly went together in my case), until one day when a bumblebee sting on my middle finger caused my arm to swell up to the elbow, me to be rushed to the hospital emergency room for treatment and my mother to harangue and closely watch over me for weeks afterward to make sure I stopped my foolish pursuits.

Fortunately that reaction was unique, else an incident several years later in which I was stung all over my body by a nest full of wasps that I had the bad luck to sit on (their nest was out of sight in a rock wall) might have done me in; instead the easily 100+ stings just made me sore and sick for a few days.

I've had the occasional especially bad "insect bite" that I thought might actually have been a spider bite, but I've never had flesh rotting away as if from a bad recluse spider bite or anything like that. And I've always been careful enough around scorpions not to get stung by them even though I've kept some as pets (and in one place I lived in AZ also sometimes found them sharing my shower). The most outright painful bite or sting I've ever experienced was from accidentally brushing against a cute, fuzzy caterpillar in Guatemala - holy cow did that ever make me jump up and down and swear a blue streak!

Getting to snakes, a bite I once received on a finger while casually handling a young rear-fanged Xenodon rabdocephalus in Guatemala made much of my arm tingle and go numb. For my part I just thought it was an interesting reaction, but in that instance it was my wife who harangued me for weeks afterward (I can guarantee you that if I were to mention the incident to her now, many years later, she'd get mad at me about it all over again :o ), which was even worse than the deal with my mother when I was younger.

I've been bitten by lots and lots of other colubrids - when I worked for a while as a young man in a pet shop that specialized in herps I was even kind of known as "the guy who gets bitten by everything", though I've apparently gotten much better at handling herps since then - with no notable results whatsoever.

Gerry
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BDSkinner
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by BDSkinner »

I have only had run of the mill mishaps. No reactions to any snake bite, haven't touched a hot species or gotten within strike range.... Well, I do bleed quite a bit from Nerodia, but I think everyone does. My worst bee sting was from one of those big bumble bees. I was really young, picked it up and it got me under the thumb nail. Just a big ouch, no reaction. Not an envenomation, but I do have Lyme's Disease. Ever since being little, I haven't found many ticks on me.

I do have a story though. A good friend of mine was bit by a pit viper up here. From what he described it sounded like a timber, still could have been a copper head. He told me (I also saw him this day) he had terrible chest pains, erratic breathing and heartbeat and mild hallucinations. Never went to get treated for it. After a couple days in bed, he joked that besides the pain he'd do it again.......


-Brad
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natrix
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by natrix »

I was once bitten by a burrowing adder (Atractaspis bibroni) in Kenya. This snake is often confused with the harmless species of glossy snake Amblyodipsas. Several famous herpetologists have made the same mistake so I am in good company. I was pleased to see John O'Shea being bitten by one on a TV show on animal planet some years ago :twisted: . It bit, or rather, stabbed a finger on my left hand - swelling of my hand and lower arm, not much pain, subsided after 5 or six days. However, the long-term consequence is that my wife does not allow any snakes in our house, whether venomous or not.
The whole story can be read here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=-G5uBG ... es&f=false
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Gluesenkamp
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Gluesenkamp »

Strangest sting/bite:
We were surveying and conducting a biological inventory of a cave a few miles downstream of Ciudad Acuña, COAH,MX. The cave had a small thermal stream in it with lots of sulfur. I had already found one exuvium of an unknown (undescribed) scorpion and was searching for the real deal in hopes that I would find one before my compadres. I was crawling through a low area at the bottom of a sinuous canyon when something nailed me on the belly. I was splayed across several large rocks in a few inches of water and when I crawled to where I could sit, I found no critter. I was *certain* that I had been stung by a scorpion and searched and searched. After a half hour or so of more searching and survey, I left the cave with my belly on fire. I pulled up my shirt and saw a welt that looked like someone smacked me with a hot tablespoon. Charley exited the cave with a big smile and a couple scorpions in a bottle. I had an uncomfortable welt/rash for about three weeks and Charley got a new species named after him: Psuedouroctonus savvasi.
http://www.vaejovidae.com/Pseudouroctonus%20savassi.htm
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krismunk
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by krismunk »

No medically significant bites or stings.

Worst would have to be either two stings from a bullet ant or a sting from a greater weever, Trachinus draco.

The first inceident happened nearly 20 years ago while I was hiking through the Bolivian rain forest. I felt a sudden sharp pain in the back of my neck and instinctively lashed at the culprit with my hand acquiring the second sting in the tip of my index finger. It hurt like **** but contrary to popular belief the pain didn't really last a full day. It was much better already after an hour and had subsided to a rather insignificant level after three - as far as I remember.

The second was on a fishing trip out at sea. I had caught weevers before and knew to stay away from their spines, killing them before unhooking them (they're delicious, btw). This time, however, the fish made a jolt the moment I struck it and somehow pierced the back of my index finger. It barely touched me but I could see a small drop of blood forming from the tiniest superficial puncture and almost immediately felt the envenomation in the form of a warm somewhat throbbing pain spreading from my finger through my hand to my wrist and lower arm. Weever stings can be medically significant and should not be ignored so what do you do when you're hours out at sea? Well, heat breaks down weever venom so I went under deck to heat some water and sat with my finger in as hot water as I could stand reheating it regularly. I took the pot with me back up on deck to combat beginning sea sickness. After an hour the pain was all but gone and I went back to fishing. I still have a tiny patch of scar tissue on my finger where I was stung, though.

I have never been bitten by a venomous snake, don't plan to either. I have only been bitten by a colubrid once (don't keep snakes and more often than not leave them untouched in the field) - a large diadem snake, Spalerosophis diadema, that drew plenty of blood but didn't provoke any other reaction.

Only arachnid bite was from a large wolf spider. The bite itself hurt a little but I had no reaction to any venom.

Lizards, on the other hand, seem to bite my every other time I pick them up. Following one particularly good chow down on my hand from a starred agama, Laudakia stellio, my hand exhibited a light irritation with slight reddening of the surrounding skin and accompanying discomfort for a couple of days that seemed to be a reaction to either some venom or bacteria.
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gbin
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by gbin »

Gluesenkamp wrote:... I had an uncomfortable welt/rash for about three weeks and Charley got a new species named after him: Psuedouroctonus savvasi.
http://www.vaejovidae.com/Pseudouroctonus%20savassi.htm
Why do I suddenly hear Jim McKay's voice in the back of my head, dramatizing about "the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat"? :lol: Better luck next time, amigo!

kris, your mention of weevers reminded me that once upon a time I used to catch and keep various madtoms (small catfish with venomous spines that live in rocky streambeds), too, but I managed to be careful or lucky enough to avoid getting stuck by any of them. A like-minded friend who wasn't so careful or lucky said he had quite a painful experience with one, though.

Gerry
brennan
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by brennan »

mine was a black widow bite on the back of the neck. felt like a bee sting, went to the ER and they gave me a shot in the rear (don't know what it was, i was 10). no symptoms for hours, then late that night, had severe pain in my legs for a few hours and could barely walk. never had a significant herp bite. i leave the hots in situ.
hellihooks
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by hellihooks »

gbin wrote: "the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat"?
Gerry
Uhhh... Gluesenkamp said he got stung on the abdomen... not his feet... yuk yuk :crazyeyes: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Kelly Mc »

Helli you sly Shaman of Silly :D
Herpetologist115
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Herpetologist115 »

John Martin wrote:I DID get a cool free ride off the mountain top via helicopter to a local hospital :D .
Your helicopter ride was free?! To fly me to a different hospital cost about $30,000!
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dery
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by dery »

Herpetologist115 wrote:
John Martin wrote:I DID get a cool free ride off the mountain top via helicopter to a local hospital :D .
Your helicopter ride was free?! To fly me to a different hospital cost about $30,000!
Wouldn't insurance drop that down abit? I doubt a helli ride to a hospital would be free, but that would be great. :lol:
Herpetologist115
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Herpetologist115 »

dery wrote:
Herpetologist115 wrote:
John Martin wrote:I DID get a cool free ride off the mountain top via helicopter to a local hospital :D .
Your helicopter ride was free?! To fly me to a different hospital cost about $30,000!
Wouldn't insurance drop that down abit? I doubt a helli ride to a hospital would be free, but that would be great. :lol:
Yeah my parents insurance dropped it down a lot I am pretty sure.
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John Martin
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by John Martin »

I DID have great insurance through working at IBM at the time, so that probably helped immeasurably. So long ago, it's kind of a blur. I drove to a ranger station a couple of miles down the road (was at the very top of Mt. Graham in the Pinaleno Mtns.) and they watched for symptoms for awhile and then asked what I wanted to do. I started letting mind games come into play and figured that if things got bad it was a long drive to the base of the mountain, so said let's go the heli route. They told me that if a DPS heli was called in there would be a charge, but if the Forest Service heli was available, well, they just wait for an excuse to fly. So, BLM (Bureau of Land Management) heli came, put me in a flight suit that would have accommodated two of me, and off we went to the Safford Hospital. The pilots kept asking how I was doing, but all I could do was grin with my face pasted to the window - it was awesome! My girlfriend failed to see the humor, as she was stuck with driving my Toyota down the mountain, lol. :lol:
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Antonsrkn
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Re: Talk about your envenomations.

Post by Antonsrkn »

Nice! A free heli ride would almost make getting tagged worth it, can't count on it being free though. Just a couple of years back I got charged $2000 for a 3 block ride in an ambulance, good thing i had insurance. I would imagine the cost of a heli ride would be astronomical 9 times out of 10.
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