Kingsnake.com - Herpforum - RE: Copperhead bite information.

Posted by: John316 at Sun May 9 00:24:38 2004 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by John316 ]

My father was bitten on the finger by a Copperhead several years ago and his hand swelled to tremendous size in a matter of hours. Being a stubborn man he refused to go to the hospital and enjoyed two days of nausea, vomiting and severe pain radiating through the entire arm.
Less than a year later my dog was bitten on the side by a large Copperhead and developed drooling, weakness and vomiting within an hour. A week later he was back to his normal self except for the large crater like wound at the immediate area of the bite. This area took almost three months to heal completely.
Later in life while working in a clinical setting (specializing in wound care)I was able to see first hand the effects the venom had on the human body. In general the Copperhead bites were mild requiring little more than superficial debriding and basic wound management. On the flip side, the Timber Rattlesnake bite usually involved deeper tissue damage as well as moderate to severe amounts of necrosis in and adjacent to the bite area. Many times surgical debridement was neccessary and unfortunately amputation was sometimes required (although this was quite rare).
From personal observation and interaction with those unfortunate enough to be bitten, I would say that while the bite of a Copperhead probably will not kill you(provided anaphylaxis is not experienced) it still requires urgent medical care to minimize tissue loss.

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