# Anti venom



## burmman (Oct 30, 2008)

is it a requirement to have acces to AV for the species you keep? do you store it at home, or your local hospital/police/fire station??


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

only a handful of places stock anti venom in the UK, mainly Liverpool school of tropical medicine and London poisons unit, you wouldnt be allowed to keep it at home, because it can be just as dangerous as the venom if administered incorrectly, also very expensive with a short shelf life.


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## ScottGB (May 12, 2008)

I thought I read on here you can only get it as a perscription from a doctor as well. There was a thread about Anti Venom not that long back.


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## slippery42 (Mar 23, 2008)

ScottGB said:


> I thought I read on here you can only get it as a perscription from a doctor as well. There was a thread about Anti Venom not that long back.


You would not be able to get it on prescription, I had a discussion about this with a GP and the idea that you could pre-order is like expecting to get nailed.


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## burmman (Oct 30, 2008)

so what do you do then if you get tagged? stupid question i know! i know no1 wants to get tagged and try there best not to, but accidents happen?


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## beastluke (Sep 27, 2008)

once i saw on crocodile hunter, this gypsey trader in the west indies got nailes by a spectacles cobra and just waked a stone on the puncture mark and he was fine. so the answer is......stock up on stones:Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

burmman said:


> so what do you do then if you get tagged? stupid question i know! i know no1 wants to get tagged and try there best not to, but accidents happen?


You go to your local hospital and they have the appropriate antivenin delivered (if it's available) from Liverpool or London.

Of course, the entire point is that accidents absolutely should not happen when you're dealing with a snake that can put a serious hurt on you like a hot can.


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## pythondave82 (Nov 14, 2007)

Ssthisto said:


> You go to your local hospital and they have the appropriate antivenin delivered (if it's available) from Liverpool or London.
> 
> Of course, the entire point is that accidents absolutely should not happen when you're dealing with a snake that can put a serious hurt on you like a hot can.


I totally disagree, accidents do happen and will continue to happen to the best and most experienced venomous keepers, these snakes will catch you out within a split second of your miss-judgement.

The safest way is to remind yourself, the next time you have any king of dealing with a member of your collection, that snake could bite you, and you need to be able to deal with the situation in the safest and most professional way.

I agree, the idea is not to get bitten, but im afraid it happens.


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## pythondave82 (Nov 14, 2007)

SiUK said:


> only a handful of places stock anti venom in the UK, mainly Liverpool school of tropical medicine and London poisons unit, you wouldnt be allowed to keep it at home, because it can be just as dangerous as the venom if administered incorrectly, also very expensive with a short shelf life.


Si, there is nothing stopping you from purchasing AV, yes it can be expensive and its questionable what you may end up with, unless it was obtained from a professional organisation, which would not happen in the UK.

This of course is totally against the advice of Proff David Warrell.

Cheers,

Dave


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

pythondave82 said:


> I totally disagree, accidents do happen and will continue to happen to the best and most experienced venomous keepers, these snakes will catch you out within a split second of your miss-judgement.
> 
> The safest way is to remind yourself, the next time you have any king of dealing with a member of your collection, that snake could bite you, and you need to be able to deal with the situation in the safest and most professional way.
> 
> I agree, the idea is not to get bitten, but im afraid it happens.


Note I said "Accidents **should not** happen" - not that they *don't* happen.

Yes, people do get bitten - with lapses of judgement - and those lapses of judgement shouldn't be happening either. Doesn't mean they don't - but the entire point is to avoid them as much as is humanly possible.

It's the entire reason that, although I would dearly love to have a prairie rattler, I never will. I cannot trust my reaction time or my depth perception well enough to deal with a snake like that (or indeed any crotalid or elapid; I want to train to work with _Heloderma_ species instead, as that's much more within my own personal capabilities.)

I should really elaborate on the "if you get bitten".

If you get bitten, you do your best (with the help of, hopefully, the other responsible individual who should know you're working with the animals when you're actually working with them) to secure the animal, then get yourself medical attention armed with the species name.


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## burmman (Oct 30, 2008)

thank you for the info! my only worry is that your hospital wont be able to get the anti venom to you on time? obviously it'll be a piority situation but, there is still that worry. whats your experiances been on this?


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## Owzy (Jan 19, 2009)

beastluke said:


> once i saw on crocodile hunter, this gypsey trader in the west indies got nailes by a spectacles cobra and just waked a stone on the puncture mark and he was fine. so the answer is......stock up on stones:Na_Na_Na_Na:


The fact that the animal had been abused to the point where it was about as dangerous as a worm may have been the overriding factor as to why that man was not worried when he got bitten, when a cobra with the capacity to deliver a bite was brought out they all ran away from it!


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## pythondave82 (Nov 14, 2007)

Ssthisto said:


> Note I said "Accidents **should not** happen" - not that they *don't* happen.
> 
> Yes, people do get bitten - with lapses of judgement - and those lapses of judgement shouldn't be happening either. Doesn't mean they don't - but the entire point is to avoid them as much as is humanly possible.
> 
> ...


Yes, I did note that, not at all do I mean to come across shirty, I just worry that people these days take the hobby a little light hearted (not aimed at you).

I agree bites should not happen, I have always been taught when dealing with my snakes, a bite can occur at any time. 

Anyway, I don’t want steer away from the original posters question. : victory:


Dave


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## slippery42 (Mar 23, 2008)

pythondave82 said:


> Si, there is nothing stopping you from purchasing AV, yes it can be expensive and its questionable what you may end up with, unless it was obtained from a professional organisation, which would not happen in the UK.
> 
> This of course is totally against the advice of Proff David Warrell.
> 
> ...


I know what you mean Dave,

You can buy almost anything off the internet nowadays but........

The problem with antivenin is that Joe public think all you do is draw it into a syringe, inject is and you are ok.

They do not realise that it mostly comes as a powder and needs diluting for use and that it has a limited shelf life and its a POM and generally expensive.

I also agree that the idea is dont get nailed but we are only human and humans do make mistakes...........

I speak from a point of experience having been on the wrong end of a bite, not something I'm keen on having again.


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## Jonny357 (Nov 8, 2008)

slippery42 said:


> I know what you mean Dave,
> 
> You can buy almost anything off the internet nowadays but........
> 
> ...


dont often frequent this part of the forum and i have no experience at all with DWA but out of curiousity.....

what bit you? and what happened?

if you dont mind me asking course..


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## AllAddersArePuffs (Mar 25, 2009)

beastluke said:


> once i saw on crocodile hunter, this gypsey trader in the west indies got nailes by a spectacles cobra and just waked a stone on the puncture mark and he was fine. so the answer is......stock up on stones:Na_Na_Na_Na:


Saw that episode, just in case you don't know, those gypsies rip the snakes teeth out for their own safety. Incredibly cruel obviously, I'd rather them get bit TBH.


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