Reptile & Amphibian Forums

To those that knew James. We will forever miss him.

Love ya Brother

i do not know this person...

But sorry to hear your loss...

Did he get bitten?

yes

You can visit his website at
http://www.southwestserpentarium.com

and read his past two previous bite......his third bite was what took him from us.

He passed on, doing what he loved.

So sorry to hear it...

R.I.P

Here at the Southwest Serpentarium we strive to provide the finest in captive bred reptiles from around the world. We currently work with 70 different forms of snakes (species or morphs) and are expecting offspring from approximately 75-80% of our collection. Currently in the process of developing a live museum, the Serpentarium is being operated as a private facility at the moment until the museum itself is completed at its location on highway 549. Upon completion we will be exhibiting snakes from all continents, in naturalistic displays as well as some species in outdoor live enclosures. We look forward to its completion and eventual opening to the general public to further educate about reptiles and their benefits as well as their natural beauty.

We also offer captive born and bred offspring from what is maintained here in our private collection, those progeny will be available from time to time through out the year. Anything kept in our collection is always paired with mates whenever possible, nearly all our species or morphs are paired with 3-5% not having mates at this time. Why breed reptiles? Aside from the fascination with snakes , the amazing array of colors and patterns...they are purely a unique experience to work with. In the wilds, some species populations are declining at alarming rates. Whether this is from collecting for commercial trade or displacement from agriculture or residential development, the need for captive produced animals to ease the strain on wild populations being collected is certainly being seen. Many years ago, the Dumeril's boa was an example of an animal in peril. With so few specimens actually making it into zoological institutions or private collections, it was questionable whether or not they would ever become established in captivity. In a span of twenty years, this species is now commonly available with no animals being pulled from the wild, all thanks to the efforts of zoos and private collectors who succeeded in the goal of propagation of this wonderful species. Now we turn our sights to other species we can maintain under captive conditions and hope to have the same success.

Where it all began. For some of us as children we don't have the understanding of a parent that will allow you to keep reptiles, this was my story. My experiences with reptiles was only left to the few encounters in the wild as a youngster. Eventually after leaving the family home I immediately began keeping snakes in my own home. After keeping a few odds and ends native North Carolina species I soon purchased my first snake, a Queensland Carpet python. Open the gates and let the flood begin!! Not long after purchasing that Carpet python did I find myself working for the same store that sold him to me. My beginnings were working in the reptile department of Animal Jungle in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The person likely responsible for opening the doors to captive breeding and the enormous variety of snakes to be kept was Greg Lieurance (formerly with Rare Earth). It was at this time I began to see the fun involved with captive breeding of snakes, in particular with the varieties of cornsnakes coming out (snow corns had barely been recorded then). After a year of Virginia, I decided to move back to my childhood stomping grounds... El Paso, Texas. Eventually this would lead me into what would become my passion-species to work with, the Banded Rock Rattlesnake. In a matter of five years we built up a collection of snakes numbering over 340 animals, consisting of boas, pythons, king snakes, milk snakes, rat snakes as well as a few rattlesnakes and European vipers. As most collections do, they go through changes, owners find other interests and part with those not catching their attention any more. Mine eventually led into a large collection of Rock rattlesnakes from many localities, a rather sizable group of European vipers and many forms of boas and pythons as well.

We now have a well rounded collection, going back to the boas and pythons with a refocus on European Vipera and Crotalids. There really is nothing like seeing a newborn litter of boas squirming around in a cage next to mom. Nor is there anything as awesome as a clutch of Green Tree pythons pipping the eggs after a full season of preparation finally pays off! You may say I keep a little of everything... snakes are like Lays potato chips.. "you can't stop at just one!"

Happy Herping! Sincerely,

James D. Bear

Deming, New Mexico

Bite Account - Crotalus lepidus klauberi

I've been working with snakes in general for several years, within the span of 8 years since my induction to the hobby I had finally encountered what most herpers fear. The hot bite. And so it begins......

Back in 1995 I had a collection nearing 360 animals, quite a few of which where venomous. In particular the Banded rock rattlesnake was a mainstay in the collection with nearly 80 specimens retained from 14 localities. This particular year had produced around 40 offspring , most hailed from the Franklin mountains. In the hobby, working with so many different species of snakes you become accustomed to doing feedings at whatever time is appropriate for the snake as well as safety of the household. I had a routine of feeding hots at night, it was a typical night of feeding the neonate klauberi.

Holding a pinkie mouse at the end of a 13 inch pair of forceps, I would wait for the strike from the juvenile rattler. After the strike, they think they have actually killed what is already dead. This particular instance, the female lepidus (6 weeks old) passed the pinkie and rode up the forceps and the experience of a lifetime unfolded. She sank one fang into my right thumb and one fang rest upon my finger nail. Doesn't sound too bad... well it is when the one fang that has penetrated is stuck under the corner of my finger nail ! She unloads 4 healthy bites worth of venom and its all downhill from there.

After realizing what had just happened I immediately told my brother-in-law Jason that I received a bite from a lep. He asks if I want him to call 911. I said " just wait, see what happens". It hurts, the pain begins to escalate to a constant, searing pain. The area of the bite feels as though it is submerged in boiling oil, there is NO relief from the pain. None, its just constant and intense. The swelling begins within a few minutes of the bite. Still thinking I was going to be ok, I figured I would go lay down and calm myself. This occurs roughly 5 minutes into the ordeal. Laying down I start to feel numbness, well, actually the feeling of my entire body "falling asleep". That sensation you get when a body part goes numb from lack of blood to the nerve endings.......yeah, that's the feeling from head to toe. Now I'm beginning to become a little more concerned, this feeling was also compounded by the inability to pass air into my lungs. Place a 200lb weight on your chest as your laying down.....try to breathe, its not happening without serious effort. I proceed to drag myself off the bed and run bathwater in the hopes of increasing more body fluid to disperse the toxins. Seemed like a good idea, when I sat in the water I started to black out, I stood and told Jason to call 911 "I'm not going to make it". Just after those words were spoken, I lost bowel control and collapsed unconscious to the floor, a mere 17 minutes after the bite!

I remember being dragged into the living room and placed on the stretcher. Through the moments of losing consciousness, I remember telling the paramedics what I was bitten by (giving the scientific name) and arguing with them as they kept asking if I had been drinking. I do not drink alcohol (seriously, I Don't), being lucid enough to also explain the polyvalent solution they need to have ready at the ER room, they still asked the same questions. I was rushed into the ambulance, placed on oxygen and continued to pass in and out of consciousness. I recall the paramedic giving some of my vitals to the trauma unit we were in route to, one vital was my blood pressure, sixty over forty. Yeah, that did not sound good at all, during this the extreme pain was now from my thumb engulfing my hand and working its way toward the rest of my arm. My arm had swollen to three times its normal size. After being set up with IV's and given shots of adrenaline we arrive at the hospital.

Rushed into a room of nearly 30 doctors, they all started working on me. I immediately received fluids and a test for the antivenin. Antivenin was administered once the reaction test cleared, several units were pumped into me within the first hour. One of the trauma techs had informed the doctor that I had already used 6 vials of antivenin and that was all they had. They had to search for more......none was available in the entire city. A redeye flight out of Albuquerque would bring 14 more units of the polyvalent solution. However, that is all going on when the ER doctors realize that they cannot elevate my BP. The venom is now affecting systematic functions. I was still unable to pull in air, my body was freezing cold (96 degrees) and I was very, very weak. They decide a central line is what I need. A central line is a 6" steel needle, rather large, introduced into your heart to give an adrenaline to stop the heart from seizing. The central line is punched through the rib cage.......yes, no anesthesia.. just pushed through the ribs. As if I wasn't in enough pain.... they did this ! Thankfully they did, I could care less about the pain. I really feared my death was soon to happen. I was wrapped in two heating blankets to stop the violent shaking, I insisted the room was FREEZING cold, the doc explained it was my blood being thinned by the venom. Eventually they get me stabilized and transfered me to ICU, nearly 10 hours later.

I spent 4 days in intensive care, the first day was agonizing. The pain from the bite was still very strong and they were drawing blood every hour because my platelets would not return to normal. The area of the bite had swollen so severely that my knuckles were concave to the surrounding tissue. My thumb was black, discolored and starting to rot. They had discussed an open fasciotomy, cutting open the area of the swelling to relieve the pressure. Compartment syndrome was the fear driving this, I was adamantly against it. Luckily, it never came to this.. my finger tips still retained enough blood to discourage the surgeons from the procedure.

Eventually my fingernail fell off, the areas of dead tissue also removed itself. I have permanent damage to my right thumb and nail. The bite has affected several things in my system. I am now severely allergic to... yep you guessed it, rattlesnake musk. Anything dealing with the musk of snakes (particularly crotalids) I have bad allergic reactions. My eyes swell shut, nose runs profusely... I keep alot of benadryl around ! I also lack the stamina I had before the bite. Several months after the incident I would still receive bruises sporadically on my body. The venom still at work.. floating around in the body... destroying tissue.

To sum it all up, I used 14 vials of antivenin at a cost of $16,000 for the 4 day stay and the trauma visit. $6,000 for 14 vials of antivenin flown down from Albuquerque. Permanent damage to my thumb, as well as my resistance to allergens and a major reduction in stamina. Wow, what a dangerous hobby. Many people unfamiliar with the hobby ask me what happened to the snake that bit me. I explain, she was placed back into her container, back into the rack and that was all. No, I did NOT kill the snake for doing what was natural. She was going after the pinkie mouse, she just liked the big pinky (thumb) at the end of the forceps... and who could blame her. I admit I may have been negligent by not using long enough utensils as well as not removing the scent of the mouse from my hands. I have learned from that experience as we all should.......but accidents can and will happen, I managed to walk away from mine. And to this day.. I still have a passion for snakes....venomous and non venomous. When a nascar driver slaps the wall and wrecks, they don't just hang it up and find something else. What drives them is passion and desire, everything in life has risk involved. You can't live a real life without taking the risk. And yeah...... history does repeat itself... bite #2.

Take care.....be safe

USE LONG TONGS with your hots !!

J.D. Bear

Bite Account #2

The Atheris cerataphora incident

During the summer of 1999, we began working with a few arboreal vipers, Atheris and Bothriechis. I had acquired a pair of cerataphora from a friend , both females about 20 inches in length. We housed them in our normal arboreal enclosures which was a vertically oriented rubbermaid with dowels for perching. In a typical routine that had been done nearly on a nightly basis however, I erred in judgement during a feeding of one of the female cerataphora.

I held a large hopper for the Atheris to feed upon, by way of 13" forceps. She struck with great enthusiasm and held her prey while perched on the dowel. As usual, as I closed the container she startled and dropped her meal. I gave her about 20 minutes to relocate the meal and consume it. The time had elapsed and she was still perched and not making any further attempt at retrieving her food. I reached in with the forceps to grasp the hopper and offer it a second time.. then disaster struck, in the form of a Usumbara bush viper launching across the tub and sinking its fangs into my thumb !

She left a mere 2 inches of her body length coiled around her perch while the remainder was sent flinging in the air at her new prey item.. ME ! One fang landed on the finger nail the other a mere 1 mm from the previous bite by the klauberi. Once again the pain began, its a horrible, non-stop, burning pain. My first reaction was to load up on benadryl to slow the affects of the histamines and tylenol for the intense pain in my hand. I made a phone call to my wife and my best friend Anthony to let them know what had just happened, Tony hung up the phone and was on his way over. I already knew there was no antivenin for this genus and almost felt it a waste of time to seek help at the emergency room. There had been very few fatalities regarding the Atheris group, in particular virtually none from victims in its home range (of course they probably have a limited resistance to the toxins). I sat on my living room sofa.. hoping for the best and praying I'd make it through ok without help. About fifty minutes go by and aside from the pain in my hand and arm, the only other thing I notice is blistering throughout my body. Small, red blisters began to appear on my arm, chest, stomach, legs.. virtually everywhere. It was about this time Anthony made his way into the house, he insisted I go to the ER and I resisted. He asked if I had seen myself in the mirror and how bad I looked.. I hadn't bothered to get up since I had first sat down after the bite. Tony grabbed my arm and lifted me up and forcefully guided me to the bathroom... then I saw what was frightening him. I was actually bleeding from my tear ducts and gums. That changed my mind, we made the drive to the ER to seek help. On the way we notified them of what bit me, and to be ready. Upon my arrival I was immediately taken to a room with everything already waiting to be administered. They gave me a lot of fluids (4 bags to be exact) and more pain medicine .. I had already had enough benadryl to probably last me the rest of the night! After four hours I felt great, mind you, I felt great... didn't mean the affects of the venom handn't subsided. Tony playfully informed me that I looked like "i'd been shot at and missed and [bleep] at and hit !". He wouldn't even allow my wife to visit me because of my condition. My wife, Danielle was frantic worrying about what had happened but being assured by Anthony that I'd be ok. The doctor who treated this bite was the same physician who took care of me during my klauberi incident. His words to me "your next one may put you in the grave, perhaps you should find a new hobby!?" "I don't think so buddy.. this is what I love and who I have become. Its my passion, I'll never stop keeping herps.. venomous included." I made it through this bite, suffered some damage to my vision and tissue damage to my thumb but other than that all is well. I had to learn another lesson with the hots, never under estimate the striking distance. To this day I use the LONGEST hemostats and hooks I can use. There is nothing more embarrassing than getting nailed by a hot, although accidents do happen. I should have used more precaution in working with arboreals and given greater respect to the striking distance of them. Its been nearly 9 years since that bite with no further incidents happening, I plan to keep it that way too. Venomous snakes will always be a fascination for me, we plan to keep them around.. till I'm gone !

Happy Herping

BE CAREFUL

James D. Bear

sorry to bring this up but its to help thats all.
its too late to save james but its still not to late to save others in the snake hobby.
Learn how to prevent anaphalaxis!

even if you do not keep the apropriate antivenoms
you can and must have a anti-anaphalaxis kit.
epi-pens,and oral anti hystimines should be in it.

also if you are at a risk of snake bite and have had previous exposure to snake venom.
A immunization regimen can prevent severe reactions.
talk to a immunologist about it.

I have been bitten hundreds of times and have went into anaphalactic shock twice!
no big deal since I was PREPARED!

you must be ready ahead of the expoure so you can treat it fast.
you have sometimes only a few min to counter act the a/shock.

So learn from james's mistakes so you can prevent another death.

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Bud

That is a very good point. It is easy to go to your doctor and get a prescription for 2 Epipens & some antihistamine, it cost me less than $200.00 to get them at the pharmacy. it may make a big difference in the outcome of a bite.
Ryan

I don't know if I missed it somewhere, but do we know if it was actually anaphylaxis? Certain southern horridus are being shown to have a ridiculously virulent venom and the ability to put a person down very quickly. Those N Fl, SC and Ga timber's are a snake that is very underestimated as far as venom goes. It's the last snake in the US I'd want to be bitten by.

Anaphylactoid (or true anaphylaxis) reactions are exceedingly rare complications of envenomations, but do happen. Risk factors include previous envenomations. Anaphylaxis in first-time envenomations are reported only 3 or 4 times in the medical literature, but may be under-recognized as it's postulated that dermal or GI exposure (i.e. through chronic handling by long-term keepers) may cause the IgE-mediated allergic reaction that we call anaphylaxis. Complicating the picture is that severe envenomations can cause a distributive shock that resembles but is quite distinct from anaphylaxis.
You are much more likely to get anaphylaxis from anti-venom than from the bite itself. Even then, the medical community does not recommend prophylactic administration of epinephrine prior to anti-venom administration. this last point is an active topic of debate, however.
Epi-pens have their place for true anaphylaxis reactions, but probably do more harm than good in the overwhelming majority of envenomations. Signs of anaphlyaxis that mimic signs of envenomation include anxiety, nausea/vomiting, sweating, metallic taste, hypotension. Signs suggestive of anaphylaxis rather than snake bite include hives, generalized itchiness or flushing, generalized swelling (rather than localized to the bite), difficulty breathing (due to airway constriction as well as upper airway swelling). Death from anapylaxis is usually due to airway problems. Death from snakebites (crotalid) is usually due to an overwhelming consumptive coagulopathy and sometimes distributive shock, neither of which improves without neutralization of the venom (although intravenous epi would transiently help the shock). Epi-pen use in the absence of anaphylaxis could potentially exacerbate snake-bites by causing tachycardia (pushing the venom around) and worsening anxiety, as well as the other side effects of the drug.

Good post!

So, if you had a history of bites and worked around them alot...and were therefore exposed to dried venom etc. would you keep something like an epi-pen on hand or not?

I would think that depending on the type of snake that bit you...it would be a clue as to whether you were suffering from the venom itself or having a reaction. A good point to have the ABC's down as to what symptoms follow bites from your different snakes so that you could *possibly* identify whether or not you were also suffering an allergic reaction.

Author: armstronmd
quote
"Epi-pen use in the absence of anaphylaxis could potentially exacerbate snake-bites by causing tachycardia (pushing the venom around) and worsening anxiety, as well as the other side effects of the drug."

Exactly what one poster a while back decribed.
He got a baby snake bite in thumb then got paranoid and hit himself with the epi pen with no igE reactions taking place.
Bad move!
He made the minimal bite much worse
in my many years of this hobby only two cases of true anaphylaxis
Have been mine.
Its easy to work around and prevent igE reactions.
ask tim he has had bad reactions and simply immunize through it and now not any bad reaction at all.
simple primitive and effective.
check out tims site
here is the link
http://timfriede.com/
snake vacinology

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Bud

For you guys doing multiple species, did you experience anaphylaxis to one specific venom only and not an across the board reaction? If anaphylaxis is indicated do you go back to a previous non-reactive level or go way back, basically start over and slowly work through and beyond?

Backing off is the recommended course of action, and then gradually working your way back up. I chose not to do this, and see how long it would persist with green mamba. About 7 weeks was necessary to suppress the IgE A.S. The only reason I got it was b/c of using almost pure venom to see what would happen. Higher dilutions would have offset this. This amazingly sucks though, but amazingly neat to beat it, and feel it.

Lately, I wanted to see if I would cross over to N(B). annulata, and theoretically speaking, should have due to similar IgG raised antibodies in the Naja complex. I directly converted over to pure venom, and can tolerate any amount they give me(easily).

So, what’s the point? It’s two-fold. Dilutions at a certain rate can beat IgE A.S., and achieving pure venom tolerance can mean pure venom immunity with regards to bites and injections. Venom immunotherapy, a wonderful thing!!