Bitten by Western Hognose !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[EyeLashViper]

Hey everybody,
Well, I have a story to tell. Last Wednesday,when I was in the process of feeding my snakes I was severely bitten by my Western Hognose. I was extending my hand towards her enclosure with a rat pinky when she suddenly bolted upwards and clamped onto my hand, latching on to the meaty part between the thumb and forefinger. She began to grind her fangs back and forth and remained on my hand for approx' three minutes while I took the pain and waited for her to release. when she let go my hand was immediately flooded with blood and I rushed into the bathroom and rinsed the area and applied pressure.I then cleaned the wound area and applied a dressing. I had the gut feeling I was in trouble as she had hit a vein.

The following morning my hand was swollen to twice its normal size and had petachiea ( broken capillary veins ) all over it with a growing red spot on the underside of my forearm. I went to the emergency room and the immediatley admitted me to the hospital. The red spot grew to the entire length of my forearm and began to blister. I spent the next five days in the hospital and the tissue on my forearm had to be debrided by a plastic surgeon. I was on an IV with a constant stream of antibiotics the whole time. I am now at home recovering. I have a thick pressure dressing on my arm from my wrist to my elbow and have to change the dressing once a day.I am taking vicodin for pain. The surgeon says the effects of the venom was like a second degree burn in the affected area.

Well, so much for the myth of Hognoses being totally harmless. I would advise all the other Hognose owners out there to be a tad more cautious as I am living proof that a Hognose can land you in the hospital. I still love snakes and have my collection but I gave my Hognose to my reptile store as she put the fear of God into me for sure. Granted a Hognose is not a "hot" snake in the same category of a Gaboon viper or rattlesnake but they are more than hot enough to last me a lifetime. I can only imagine how bad a good shot of Eastern Diamond Back rattler venom must be like.

Well, wish me a good recovery and all of you fellow snake lovers be careful out there. I learned a very important lesson from this for all snake owners.When snakes are feeding they go into "kill" mode and are dangerous to have your hands or other body parts anywhere near them. Where I screwed up was getting too comfortable and not using tongs which is how I will feed from now on. This incident was entirely my fault and I take full blame. The Hognose in question was NOT vicious or after me....she was excited by the scent of food and her aim was off and she nailed me thinking I was a rat pinky because my hand was tainted with the smell of rodent.

Okay...that is enough of me for now....

The EyeLashViper

[frankykeno]

Good lord! You poor thing! What an experience to go through but what a great attitude to take about the snake. I looked up Western Hognose snakes online and it's odd that some sites say they are not venomous, others say rear-fanged venomous, others say it's not venom as they have no venom glands, others call it a bacteria, others a hemo-toxin. How confusing!

Glad you are on the road to recovery but sorry you had to go through all that pain and the hospital stay. Thank you for sharing your story though it may help someone else avoid what you've had to go through.

[Vomitore]

Geez, hope your hand will be ok. Thats gotta be painful, and interesting to look at!

[Blu Mongoose]

I hope you recover fast. That had to be really painful. I got an infection from a dog bite the size of a pencil lead. My arm doubled it's size and had streaks running to my armpit from the fingertip bite. An animal doesn't even have to be a hot to cause a lot of damage. I landed on my back in the hosp. within 2 days. Lucky for me he didn't grind his jaws on my hand like the snake did you. Heres hoping all goes well with your hand. Don't let that scare you away from what you love. I know you won't make that mistake again.Lessons learned the hard way , hold the longest.

[mr~python]

man, that sounds pretty bad. i got bit by a rattlesnake on the tip of my middle finger when i was field herping and it only went to the first knuckle but it still hurt like CRAZY!! good luck with your recovery man.

[MedusasOwl]

*winces* Ack... geez, they're cute little guys but I'm definitely thinking twice about them now... I hope you feel better soon!

[elevatethis]

How big was he? I've been knawed on more than a few times by smaller ones and nothing ever came of it. He must have got you good!

[Razaiel]

I read somewhere (I have a hoggy) that they are rear-fanged venomous and if you get bit it's going to be an allergic reaction to the venom rather than from the venom (same way as people can be allergic to bee stings).

This is kinda a wake up call for me I shall revert to using the tongs again from now on - mine gets pretty enthusiastic at meal times.

[recycling goddess]

very good lesson in "safety first" for us all. we tend to get comfy and complacent and then "WHAM" we get a wake up call!

thanks so much for being our wake up call and hope you recover completely soon.
(got any photos by chance?)

[cassandra]

Gah...I wish you a speedy recovery. Thanks for sharing your story as it good for all of us to be reminded that our snakes are "wild" animals and need to be respected as such.