Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This symposium has some of the most notable Rattlesnake Researchers and Snakebite physicians for the past 40 years. Findley Russell, Joseph Gennaro, Henry Fitch, and Robert Stebbons to name a few. Personally, I am meeting and having the opportunity to talk to people I feel "mentored" my interest in Venomous Snakes and Snakes in general. My head is ready to explode with all of the information being presented. Today was mostly about RS venom, snakebite and treatment. Here's a few tidbits I picked out of my mushy brain tonight to share.

Sometimes Antivenoms don't work on a snakebite at all, they reported today. They have no idea why this happens but Antivenom seems to be somewhat less than 100% effective. They think that the particular snakes venom is so different from the normal populations venom that the A/V was made from it has no effect. For instance the population of D. russelli that inhabits Sri Lanka that was seen on O'shea's Big Adventure. Keep in mind that Marks show on this problem is related to a whole population, what they were talking about is an "odd ball" snake.

Dr S. Bush's talk was about Snakebite first aid; If you get bit...never do or allow the following two things to be done to you:

Any sort of cutting of the bite or use an extractor. The "extractor" just "Sucks" according to his research. It actually causes tissue damage & necrosis and does NOT remove any venom.

If a physician tries to do a Faciotomy on you "fire" the doctor and ask for someone else but don't let them do it.

He also presented data that a pressure bandage like is used for Elapids envenomation can be useful on Rattlesnakes with MOSTLY neurotoxic venoms like C. s. scutulatus with Type A venom or Neurotoxic Canebrakes like from the Osceloa area of Florida. His said it will keep you from dying before getting AV but once you put it on DON'T remove it till the AV is onboard. The down side to using a pressure bandage is that is does raise Intracompartmental pressure but that won't matter if you die before you get to the hospital. I say again: Don't use this for any snake but the ones that are STRICTLY neurotoxic.

Crofab was discussed extensively today and the conclusion is that it's not a "perfect AV". Yes, the incidence of adverse reaction is lower than the Wyeth AV because it is just a "fragment" of the IgG molecule rather than the whole IgG molecule. This actually causes the main downside to CroFab which is that it is eliminated from the body very quickly. They are finding that it works too fast and is out of your system before all of the venom in your tissue is neutralized. Many patients need more Crofab a few days (36 hrs.)after the bite to neutralize more venom that is now in circulation, so they think. Regardless of why it happens, if you get Crofab you need to have post discharge blood work to make sure your ability to clot is in the normal range.

I have other cool stuff to talk about, like how to get neonate RS's to eat but my brain is fried for the day and I need some sleep.
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Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Findley Russell, huh? I'm bummin'. Keep the updates coming, okay? Thanks!

Bill Huseth

Bill:

It's like a who's who's in RS biology. They all will talk with you like you're long time friends. We all share the strong bonds of the love of Crotalids, so no one has an Ego problem.

Findley loves to hang out and chat about Hot's. He has a nearly endless supply of funny stories and interesting snakebite cases to discuss. I am very lucky to be here indeed.

Al
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Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

PRESS-ENTERPRISE (Riverside, California) 17 January 05 Experts gather to give rattlesnakes their due (Darrell R. Santschi)
Photo: Chris Giacoletti of Action Reptiles of Upland shows a Santa Catalina Island rattlesnake during the symposium at Loma Linda University. This variety of rattlesnake doesn't carry a rattle in its tail. (David Bauman)
Loma Linda: They frighten. They bite. They occasionally kill. But rattlesnakes are not nearly as bad as most people think.
That was the message resonating Monday at Loma Linda University, where more than 300 medical professionals and research scientists gathered to share information at the first Biology of the Rattlesnakes Symposium.
"I don't why we have such a terror of snakes," said Renee Lizotte, a zookeeper at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson. "I guess we're taught as children."
Lizotte, who lectures on rattlesnakes using live critters to perk up her audiences, says rattlesnakes get a bad rap. Even their venom has good properties, she said.
"We have even started using venom to treat heart attacks," she said. "It has an anticoagulant that can break up blood clots."
When Stoney McDonald of Galveston, Texas, wasn't trying to sell snake-catching equipment to the participants at the symposium, he was defending rattlers.
"When you kill a snake, you increase our rodent population," he said. "Last year, $17 billion worth of damage was done by rodents. They carry disease, they eat your wood, they mess with the insulation in your home, they tear up wiring. When they eat through wires, they can start fires.
One of the most popular exhibits at the symposium was a room in which Chris Giacoletti of Action Reptiles of Upland tended 20 live rattlesnakes and two venomous lizards: a Gila monster and a Mexican beaded lizard.
"A lot of people want to see stuff they want to have, but they can't have," he said. "The public doesn't appreciate some of the reptiles we have. Here, people know. For a lot of these people, snakes are their whole lives."
Rulon Clark, a rattlesnake researcher from New York's Cornell University, said he came to the four-day symposium in Loma Linda "because this is the only place I know of where all the people who work on that particular animal are together in one place."
He reported on his study of the effect of human population growth and housing development on the timber rattlesnake population. We're killing off snakes as we chew up their habitat, he said, and some species are threatened with extinction. He said that could happen to snakes in Southern California.
"I don't think you could help but have that happen based on how rapidly this area is developing," he said. "Unfortunately, rattlesnakes are a low priority for the people who control growth. Statistically, the odds of people getting hurt from rattlesnakes are very low. But they're seen as a threat. They have a big image problem."
The symposium, which ends today, was not just about saving rattlesnakes.
Dr. Sean Bush, a Loma Linda emergency-room physician best known for his appearances on "Venom ER," a series on the Animal Planet cable television network, reported on his experience with an antivenin made from antibodies extracted from sheep.
Only about 15 percent of his patients have experienced allergic reactions to the serum, he said, while a horse-based antivenin occurred produced life-threatening reactions in a quarter of patients and milder long-term reactions in 75 percent of patients.
Even better serums are being developed, he said.
"For me, I think the most important thing to come out of this symposium is the contacts I have made with people in varied scientific" disciplines, he said.
It is the sort of collaboration, he said, that one day will save lives.
Experts gather to give rattlesnakes their due

Al, am I right to assume the Symposium will be an annual deal?

Bill

Hi Bill:

Sorry to report there are no plans to have another. They discussed it at the end but are not inclined to put on another one for a while since the science comes very slowly.

Al
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Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.