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stuartdouglas · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 11:44 am Post subject: Dendrophila bite

Whilst medicating my 4 ft female B dendrophila, she manged to twist and latch onto my right thumb. I was bitten at about 14:30, by 20:30 my thumb had restricted movement and was starting to swell, by 23:00 I had no movement at all in my thumb, no feeling, it was extremely swollen and the gland in my armpit was swollen, very painful and sweating profusely. By midnight, the pain in my armpit was so bad, I took a trip to A&E..........fat lot of good they were! Since then, the pain has died off, but I now have limited mobility in my index and middle fingers and the swelling now incorporates half my hand to the extent where I can no longer distinguish the knuckles of my index and middle fingers. My elbow is very stiff and I experienced a short period of numbness in the right hand side of my face at about 23:00, lasting for about 30 minutes.
Now I have an intense tingling in the area of the bite and throughout my hand, my thumb is turning a nice shade of purple and the skin is stretched tight with blistering starting to appear

This is an experience not to be recommended

snowflake · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:32 pm Post subject:

Very interesting post Stuart.
Just a little reminder, for those who takes a little lightly on the potential danger from Boiga species.

I myself have recieved a bite from B. nigriceps, without any problems luckily, besides a little tingling sensation.
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Jelmer · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 12:16 am Post subject:

One of the more nasty Boiga bites I've ever seen...

Thanks for sharing..

Jelmer
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stuartdouglas · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 3:10 am Post subject:

and here it is now..................

I currently have the world's worst headache and also feel completely trippy and almost drunk, this is interspersed with periods of not being able to keep my eyes open.

I'm currently loaded up on Anti-inflammatories, Anti-histamines and antibiotics.

I'm seriously worried about the possibility of tissue damage now......................I've grown rather attached to my thumb over the last forty odd years

boigamaniac · Elapidae Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Posts: 230 Location: Malaysia

May I ask how long did she latch on to you thumb for exactly in minutes?

I think any permanent damage is highly unlikely, because the wound isn't necrotic so rest assure. My guess is, the swelling should clear in a few days.

Cheers,
hans
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stuartdouglas · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 5:50 am Post subject:

she was latched on for about 15-20 seconds. I was reluctant to force her off, as she was biting hard and I didn't want to risk damaging her mouth as she'd only just recovered from a nasty episode of stomatitis

snowflake · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 7:33 am Post subject:

Could some of the reaction possibly be from bacteria of some sort, from that mouthinfection?
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Rasmus

stuartdouglas · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 8:03 am Post subject:

-It's possible, although she has been on Baytril for about ten days now, so any infection would/should be knocked out. I washed and cleaned the bite as soon as I got her off and housed. If it's a reaction to bacteria, then the antibiotics I'm taking should have some effect within the next 24-36 hours

Venomdoc · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 6:33 pm Post subject:

Its not bacteria, they don't work that fast.

The numbness, dizzyness etc. were caused by the three finger toxins in the venom. Same sort that cause the lovely effects in elapid bite. I've had the same sorts of effects from Boiga bites. Not anywhere near lifethreatening but a bit disturbing of course!

The local effects were caused by the metalloprotease enzymes in the venom. Same sort that turn your arm to black goo in a viper bite.

Thanks for the great photos! How are things going now?

Cheers
B
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Faith (noun). Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence
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stuartdouglas · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 7:24 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the info Brian, I feel sooo much better for knowing that Very Happy

The swelling has advanced to halfway up my forearm, and descended from the glands in my armpit to my elbow. There is discolouration beneath the skin from my armpit to my elbow on the indise of my bicep. The blistering and discoluration on my thumb is spreading, although I have regained some movement in my thumb and fingers. The incessant itching kept me awake most of last night and I still have the headache which no amount of Paracetamol or fluids will shift. Last night my pupils were extremely dilated, even under lights, haven't checked them this morning yet. Will post up to date pictures later.

If the venom contains metalloprotease enzymes, is there any likelihood of necrosis?