Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, I got my first JCP at Daytona. Awesome little snake. Made the mistake of letting my niece see it, she was too rough with it and it bit her. She was scared, but it being a hatchling, it only left a tiny set of pinpricks on her hand. We washed the bite with soap and water, then peroxide. My sister is not a snake person and this being her daughter, she is nervous about it. I told her that my niece will be fine (she's healthy, the bite is tiny, we washed it off right away, it doesn't hurt now), but my sister's friend told her that my niece needs a tetanus shot ASAP. She is up to date with that AFAIK. I've been bitten by my snakes and I know that I will indeed sustain many other bites, probably from the little carpet python and others and that if I let other people contact them such as family and friends there is always the odd chance of them being bitten. Is tetanus a concern? Is anything a concern? None of my snakes are large species or any species with large teeth like an ETB. But still, I have heard many bite stories all over different forums from different species (all nonvenomous, of course) and never heard of any danger associated with minor bites from species smaller than a boa constrictor, except maybe for having teeth broken off in you, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case here. I'd just like to be able to show my sister and my niece that minor bites are harmless and something any herper just has to deal with (I'm turning my niece into a little snake freak wheter my sister likes it or not! Although it might be a while before she likes JCPs again.) Or if there really is a danger in being bitten, I would really like to know what it is and what to do about it. Thanks

you used more than i've ever used... (the peroxide...)

soap and water is just fine, and the peroxide is an excellent idea for cleaning a kid up!!

tetanus isn't something i've *ever* heard of being a problem in the area of snake bites... just clean the bite and keep it from getting infected, and that's all you should need, as far as i now!!

bc

Any "average" snakebite should heal up within less than a week. By average I mean small-medium colubrids, pythons, and boas. I've never seen even a regular infection result from any. In fact, I've been bitten by some snakes in the field and had no problems even though I didn't wash my hands at all the whole day. See photo for details lol

This king got me a few weeks ago. It was a total defensive bite but he held on and chewed for a good 3 minutes- didn't try to swallow or constrict he was just plain PO'ed after I probed and PIT tagged him. This bite had blood running down my thumb afterwards like a river. Thumb also throbbed for a few hours since he actually scratched (felt it) my thumb bone with his teeth. Anyhow, it healed up in two days with no infection or anything whatsoever.

I'd imagine the carpet would have only drawn a very small amount of blood. Its certainly no reason to go drop 100 bucks (or 20 with insurance) on a tetanus shot. Tetanus is definitely not an issue with snakebites. They just don't penetrate deep enough or make large enough holes.

Van

You did the right thing...soap and water along with the peroxide is all you need. The only thing you would need to be concerned with would be gram negative/positive bacteria, but the peroxide would take care of that. I have been bitten many times by cb and wc snakes and have never had a problem with infection, even when I haven't washed them out.
-----

I knew it wasn't a big deal, especially since the little snake just nipped her, and we are talking a tiny hatchling, too. I was trying to stop her from calling a nurse hotline, but she did it anyway, citing a medical book she has that talks about snakebite-- venemous snakebite! I'm a little peeved she didn't believe me, and of course the nurse hotline had no clue even what a JCP is and had to call and ask poison control what to do! All is well, though, they told her to do exactly what we did and that all would be well.
I'd love to get a photo up of the sweet little hatchling, but I lost my digital camera on my way home from Daytona! 600 bucks worth of camera stuff gone because I was preoccupied with my new aquisition snd didn't notice the weight missing when it fell out of my bag somewhere. Oh well, at least I have the little girl home and happy now. I'll be sure to keep my niece away from her and let her mess with the puppy tame balls instead. Thanks.

Whoever told your sister that tetanus can be contracted by a snake is extremely stupid.

I hate people who make things up about other things that they dislike to encourage others to dislike them as well.