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KOTA (Rapid City, S Dakota) 20 November 06 Curator bitten by venomous snake (Cindy Davis)
It's not like he hasn't had some close calls as the curator of world's largest reptile collection.
In any given week, Terry Phillip interacts with about a thousand venomous snakes, but October 24th was different.
"It literally was a split second of misjudgment. It's like if you work in an office with paper, you know how to avoid a paper cut, you still get them every now and again, and it's exactly like that."
As he was preparing to package and ship a Western Massasauga rattlesnake to another zoo, he noticed some swelling. When he went in for a closer look, she struck.
"By the time I left the building, which was about 15 steps, there was a pretty noticeable burning sensation around the bite site, and then by the time I got to the office, which was probably 2 minutes, there was an increasing amount of burning pain. You could just feel your finger filling up, like swelling. By the time I got to the hospital, it was basically like I was sticking my finger in a campfire, and just letting it sit there."
An IV was started, and Terry was given six viles of anti-venom first, then another four, for a total of ten viles in ten hours.
Although Reptile Gardens stocks $50,000 worth of exotic anti-venom, Terry went to Regional Hospital for the treatment because the snake that bit him is native to the United States.
"The anti-venom at the hospital is 3 times more expensive then the stuff we had, but it takes 5 or 6 months to get the import permits, documents, and buy the anti-venom, and deal with a third-world country, and all that sort of thing, and it was a lot easier to use their if we can."
He spent a total of 36 hours in hospital care, but the venomous bite affected more than Terry's finger, he says the venom's move through the lymphatic system was excruciating.
A month later, he's still experiencing some of the effects.
"The bones on the back of my hand are still pretty tender. This here is completely numb, I can't feel it, and it's rubber."
It was a wake up call or reminder that he can't get complacent. Fortunately, the snake that bit him is considered non-fatal.
"If it happened with a Sawscale Viper or a Cobra, it could have been a lot worse."
While Terry doesn't blame her for the bite, he's doubly sure he's out of her striking range today.
The terms of their relationship have changed though.
"I actually made a deal with the snakes a long time ago that if they don't bite me, I won't bite them, so the deal's off now."
Curator bitten by venomous snake

I could well be mistaken, but it is my understanding that S. catenatus is considerably hotter than S. miliarius. If 36 hours in hospital was required, I'd say there was a possibility that if the bite had been left un-treated, it might well have proven lethal.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune, Terry. I wish you well & no future bites.

~~Greg~~

Or was that 10 hours a dosing with antivenom and 26 hours of observation...

I am so sorry to hear that about Terry. I just love reading his posts. Venomous snakes are not my thing, but i do find him to be remarkably interesting.

Best wishes, Terry. We are pulling for you.

orinoco

that this sort of thing can happen to the best of us. Every hot keeper should have gotten a wake-up call from this...no matter how long you've worked with hots, no matter how many species you've worked with, it only takes a split second for a perfectly routine chore to turn ugly, or in the worst case...deadly.

Here's to your speedy recovery Terry (though the article states the bite happened a month ago, so I'm sure you're well on your way ), and we hope to see you back on here soon.

Glad it was no worse than it was, and hope you are doing well!!
Ryan,

OUCH! That must have hurt Terry!

Seriously though, Bobby and I remarked to each other last week that we haven't seen you post in awhile.
That explains everything. Everyone who posts here sincerely wishes you well!

In the future, ask Bobby what I always tell him!

Randal Berry

"Just keep your fingers out of their mouths."

I can't count how many times Randal has told me that!

Seriously though, it happens to the best of us. I hope you're doing well and everything gets better and I'm looking forward from hearing from you again Terry.

Glad to hear you are doing ok. Such a painful wake-up call!
-----
Tim Cole
www.Designeratrox.com/
www.AustinReptileService.net
www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<
Conservation through Education

It was indeed a wake up call....can happen to even the best of us and I know how careful Terry is; it was a stark reminder of teh risks we take when working with these animals on a daily basis. Having read how it happened, I can vouch for some of the most dangerous situations occurs when packing or unpacking venomous reptiles. Despite a very regimented protocol that I follow, there are a few close calls that I can think of. Terry, I'm prayin' for you and hope for a very speedy recovery.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center

>>Glad to hear you are doing ok. Such a painful wake-up call!
>>-----
>>Tim Cole
>>www.Designeratrox.com/
>>www.AustinReptileService.net
>>www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<
>>Conservation through Education
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Thanks all for the well wishes. It obviously could have been much worse.

Hopefully, this wasn't a "wake up call" for anyone. As this event is very real for any of us in this hobby/field and everyone better be awake to that possibility at all times.

Best Regards,
T-

-----
It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry Phillip
Curator of Reptiles
Black Hills Reptile Gardens
Rapid City, SD.

www.reptilegardens.com