Interesting development in snake anti venom research

[Brent in Az]

Getting bit in a remote region of Africa will result in an agonizing death.
I imagine very few, if any, hunting camps keep anti venom.? It needs to be refrigerated and has a shelf life. Plus it has to be properly administered.

 

[sgt_zim]

I’ve heard about people drinking venom but never injecting it.
Back in college I made extra money supplying a vet school with poisonous snakes mostly copperheads, timber rattlesnakes. We did supply cottonmouths for research don’t know if they ever came up with a good anti venom for them or not. They injected the venom into horses and collected their antibodies. This guy is just a human horse.

CroFab has been THE antivenin in the US for at least a couple decades.

It's made from the venom of
Crotalus atrox (western diamondback)
Crotalus adamanteus (eastern diamondback_
Crotalus scutulatus (mojave rattler)
and
Agkistrodon piscivorous (water moccasin)

No idea why timber rattler (Crotalus horridus) isn't in the mix. Yeah, "horridus" means exactly what you think it means.

Rattlers are generally known as Crotalids, hence the "Cro" in CroFab. I guess they couldn't figure out a way to fit "Agkistrodon piscivorous" in the medication's name.

 

[Brent in Az]

I read that the wholesale price for Crofab is $3200 per vial, with hospitals charging as much as $16,000 per vial?
A rattlesnake bite is an expensive treatment in our overpriced healthcare system.

Anyone remember the t.v show "Venom ER"?

 

[Hunt anything]

I do remember that show. It was pretty interesting.
It was 40 plus years ago when I was catching snakes for spending money.
@sgt_zim bringing up cottonmouth, just saw a big one swimming across our pond next to the house. One of my best friends from high school’s dad was one of the country’s leading herpitologist and he would yank our tongue out if we called a cottonmouth a water moccasin. He was a stickler for proper names.

 

[CoElkHunter]

'Unparalleled' snake antivenom made from man bitten 200 times

Scientists hope to make a universal antivenom from the extraordinary blood of a man exposed to snake venom for decades.

www.bbc.com

Very cool.

 

[CoElkHunter]

What time of year are you seeing the Mambas ? On my hunt last year a mamba was killed in camp a few days prior to my arrival in October, and an adder was killed in camp while I was there. I have heard the snakes aren't active in the July-August timeframe in the Zambezi region.

Yeah, I'm not going to Africa again unless it's the dead of their winter with snow falling. LOL

 

[uplander01]

Not a fan of snakes, only seen pythons so far, I’d like to keep it that way. There is no doubt Africa holds a lot of things that can kill you, but I’d rather be ripped apart by a lion or stomped out by an elephant rather than get bitten by a mamba or a big cobra.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Have had a few encounters while on safari, none that I call close or real dangerous. Did shoot the zebra cobra in our camp cave in Namibia at the PH's directions. An 11'+ mamba skin from SA hangs in my memory room. It was so fresh shed that the trackers wanted nothing to do with its collection. Left to me to gather.

For a real snake experience go to the reptile cave at Malaysia's Batu Caves. 1000's of deadly snakes kept in pits and some in aquariums, many of the local workers speak of getting bitten. An outstanding place for those fond of snakes, if you have a phobia do not go in. Its a long narrow, dark warm cave entrance then opens into a larger room surrounding you with snake pits. Truly an exciting place.

Any advancement in protecting those that inhabit snake infected areas is a good thing.

MB

Do they PAY YOU for participating in that "adventure"? LOL

 

[CoElkHunter]

This thing was hanging out of a hole in a tree a couple feet from my face as we drove past. We stopped ahead and I shot it a few inches behind the head. I requested the tree be chopped down but in typical African fashion, the PH said they'd do it later. Want to bet it's still standing and it has another snake living in it?
View attachment 682798

Your AH cap must have saved you? LOL

 

[CoElkHunter]

Not a fan of snakes, only seen pythons so far, I’d like to keep it that way. There is no doubt Africa holds a lot of things that can kill you, but I’d rather be ripped apart by a lion or stomped out by an elephant rather than get bitten by a mamba or a big cobra.

And die a slow painful death. I agree.

 

[TXdawg]

Hope the link works. Brief footage of Tim calmly letting a black mamba bite him on the arm, twice! This guy certainly qualifies for the Brass Balls award!

Tim Friede exposes himself to venomous snakebites

The Wisconsin mechanic has been bitten at least 200 times. Credit Tim Friede (YouTube: timfriede578)

www.watoday.com.au

 

[MarkB]

Do they PAY YOU for participating in that "adventure"? LOL

No I willingly paid to enter and see, spent more time in there than most "normal" visitors. Was awesome.

Tim Friede is just a little over the top. That is crazy outstanding. Reminds me of that dumb movie and TV show some time back. Jackass was one. Lets hope he really provides a better antidote.

MB

 

[meigsbucks]

In Zim only saw a python. However, in Namibia, we stopped the truck to glass and a tracker in the back pointed down and a puff adder was right next to the truck… We moved.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Hope the link works. Brief footage of Tim calmly letting a black mamba bite him on the arm, twice! This guy certainly qualifies for the Brass Balls award!

Tim Friede exposes himself to venomous snakebites

The Wisconsin mechanic has been bitten at least 200 times. Credit Tim Friede (YouTube: timfriede578)

www.watoday.com.au

Wow! Two questions: Despite his apparent immunity to the venom, aren't the bites themselves very painful and/or damaging to the skin tissue around the bites? And, where does he obtain these snakes in the US for his research? I would think a permit or something for importation would be required?

 

[John Wasmuth]

Bill Hasst ran the Miami Serpentarium. It was open to the public and there was at least one venomous snake show every day and twice on sundays. You could watch as Mr. Hasst manipulated what ever snake he was working with that day. On sundays he would cap off the day with a 14 foot King Cobra. It was always a great performance to be sure. With snake handling it’s not a question of “if”, it’s “when” you’ll get tagged. One nice sunny Sunday afternoon we watched as the King Cobra was just slightly faster the Mr. Hasst. The snake got him on the right hand.

Mr. Hasst calmly finished the show and put the snake away and went into a closed off area to treat his wound. He would continue his practice to the ripe old age of 100 years. Sadly an accident with the crocodile exhibit cost a toddler his life and shortly after the Serpentine was closed. They opened another lab over in Punta Gorda to continue research on snake venom.

I remember a couple of times local hospitals would use him for transfusions due to his “immunity” to venom. It was a fascinating place to grow up back then.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Wow! Two questions: Despite his apparent immunity to the venom, aren't the bites themselves very painful and/or damaging to the skin tissue around the bites? And, where does he obtain these snakes in the US for his research? I would think a permit or something for importation would be required?

My neighbor up the road about a mile away is a dealer of venomous reptiles and has a wide assortment of deadly animals. He also established the “Texas Wildlife Park”. Lions, tigers, leopards, all kinds of fun stuff. You can see his operation on Facebook.

 

[slam8031]

genius or insanity--you decide--this is the guy from the first article.

 

[sgt_zim]

I read that the wholesale price for Crofab is $3200 per vial, with hospitals charging as much as $16,000 per vial?
A rattlesnake bite is an expensive treatment in our overpriced healthcare system.

Anyone remember the t.v show "Venom ER"?

IDK what it's going for these days, but 15 years ago when I was still an ER nurse, it was about $8000/vial for the patients. Used to drive me nuts when the ER docs would write an order for it on a copperhead envenomation.

And I knew they were copperheads because they'd either have a picture or would actually bring in the dead snake. It was always handy to have a good redneck in a rural hospital's ED, even if the foreign-born docs didn't want to listen to me on snake ID.

 

[sgt_zim]

I do remember that show. It was pretty interesting.
It was 40 plus years ago when I was catching snakes for spending money.
@sgt_zim bringing up cottonmouth, just saw a big one swimming across our pond next to the house. One of my best friends from high school’s dad was one of the country’s leading herpitologist and he would yank our tongue out if we called a cottonmouth a water moccasin. He was a stickler for proper names.

Meh. Common names are what they are.

Growing up, I had never seen a timber rattler, but I saw lots of canebrake rattlers.

 

[Hunt anything]

Meh. Common names are what they are.

Growing up, I had never seen a timber rattler, but I saw lots of canebrake rattlers.

Yep, any heavy bodied snake within a mile and a half of a mud puddle is a moccasin around here!
The friend I mentioned before had a few deadly snakes , at one time he had a pair of Gaboon vipers and a cape cobra. They all died when we had a snow storm that knocked out the power for a week and they froze to death. I wish I would have kept one of the gaboons skin, they were beautiful.