Reptile & Amphibian Forums

SUN-SENTINEL (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) 28 July 04 Miami-Dade snake handler bitten by African green mamba
A deadly African green mamba snake bit its handler Tuesday at an exotic animal shop in south Miami-Dade County, officials said.
The handler, a volunteer at Zoological Imports 2000 Inc. at 16225 SW 172nd Ave., was working with the 4-foot snake about 5 p.m. when it bit him, said Oscar Torres-Lara, a manager at the shop. Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue paramedics transferred him to a local hospital for treatment.
Torres-Lara said the handler, whom he did not identify, was licensed to work with snakes.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-728msnake,0,5546559.story?coll=sfla-news-miami

WPLG (Miami, Florida) 28 July 04 Green Mamba Bites Snake Handler
One of the world's deadliest reptiles bit a snake handler Tuesday afternoon in Kendall.
A green mamba bit the handler in the hand as he prepared to ship the animal. The handler reportedly wore protective gloves, but the snake's bite hit just above them.
Rescuers rushed the man to Baptist Hospital where doctors administered antivenin. Doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
Green mambas are highly venomous. Their bites have been known to kill people within 30 minutes. The snakes are not native to Florida. They come from Africa.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/wisc/20040728/lo_wplg/2306546

First of all, would protective gloves work on a mamba?

Second, Id like to know what his condition is. They didnt state how serious the bite was, if he was recieving treatment, or anything like that. Does venom1 have the antivenom for that species? I hope we get an update, I like to hear the good and bad outcomes of exotic bites in America, so that I know what I may be getting into.

It said he received AV and was expected to make a full recovery.

VenomOne, the venom rescue unit in FL, stockpiles large amounts of AV to treat bites in FL and elsewhere. All mambas can be treated with SAIMR (South African Institute of Medical Research) Polyvalent, which treats the vast majority of all African venomous snakes. With the number of mamba and cobra bites occuring in FL, I think it's a safe bet to say VenomOne keeps a sufficient supply of SAIMR Polyvalent around.
-Chance

I saw one case on TV where someone was bitten by a cobra in Florida at the wrong time. Just a few hours beforehand, all of the 17 vials of AV were used on another cobra patient. The patient said to use tiger AV until more could arrive from elsewhere. I saw another about a taipan bite, and only 7 vials were stocked. They had to get more from the San Diego zoo, which was the closest supply of taipan AV. These were on TV, so I dont know about the accuracy, but it made me wonder about the AV supply. Doesnt it only last so long? If not used, it would be a waste, so I thought they may carry enough to sufice one patient, as the case was with the two cobra bites. I was also unaware as to the antivenom that covers mambas, I knew "mamba" wasnt listed in the names of the AVs that they carry according to the SHHS website, and I had no idea if any of the polys covered them or not, nor how well. Id still like to know of his condition though.

He is fine. Iknow him personally.He got bit and only went to the hospital to be on the safe side although he only felt a little numbness and that is all.
He checked himself out of the hospital to go to a dentists appointment. Saw him today, back working.
Mike
-----
"Quality isn't Quality without customer service so I guess I sell quality"

So we are talking a very mild envenomation then? Another post stated that he recieved AV, is this true and how much?