Reptile & Amphibian Forums

something about this doesn't sound right. does anyone know for sure what happened? only one vial of antivenom?????
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/hollywood/sfl-snake-bite-hollywood-bn082009,0,1431615.story

Didn't happen
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R.I.P Steve Irwin aka Crocodile Hunter

"Never insult an Alligator until you have crossed the river"-oriental proverb

stupid media:
they are more than happy to incite more fear and loathing of snakes.
it really didnt make sense: one vial for a symptomatic green mamba bite????

Latest stories are saying seven vials of antivenin were administered:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/sfl-snake-bite-conference-bn082609,0,3662135.story

Funny how everyone says it didn't happen despite respected experts saying it did. That's what is so screwed up with this hobby. The guy has taken a number of vials of A/V and was on life support - that must be one heck of a rough green snake bite. Geez louise folks.

>>Latest stories are saying seven vials of antivenin were administered:
>>
>>http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/sfl-snake-bite-conference-bn082609,0,3662135.story
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

This is the first "escaped hot in the wild" bite I've ever heard of, so I can understand a little denial given the garbled initial reporting, but the case seems straightforward to me. It would seem like a green mamba envenomation even if the victim couldn't ID the snake. I've heard of a couple of non-keepers bitten by exotics in keepers' homes, but this seems like a bad precedent. No one is suggesting that green mambas are breeding in south Florida, but it is a lot more credible to me now that individual escaped exotics are surviving there. Still, this story faded pretty fast and only hit 3 dozen or so news outlets--I was waiting to find it on the Drudge Report!

So did it or didn't it happen?

The guy bitten is doing PR with the Venom Response Unit and a tubed Angusticeps. It sounds like he was bitten by a green snake, had symptoms one would expect from mamba envenomation, ID'ed a green mamba when shown pics, and received 7 vials of SAIMR POLYVALENT, which I understand is within the normal limits of what an Angusticeps bite might need (I looked it up and found a range of 4-12 vials). I think the reporting was garbled and not at all technical, but it definitely sounds like it happened to me. It will be interesting to see if the story fades away--I saw a strange article about an escaped king cobra in rural France that seemed to fade away in mid-August. I suspect an actual bite story might stay alive longer.