Viper Antidote.

Hello,

As for becoming self-sufficient, and planning to start living in an area with lots of vipers, i wonderd if any of you guys know how to prepare an antidote for when bitten by one.
I know, Vipers are not the most hazardous snakes, but a bite can be deadly if the antidote is not served within 36 hours. other people survive 9 days after being bitten.

so please tell me if you know how to make a antidote.

Bert

Hi
I was bitten by a viper And as you CAN tell I lived to tell the tale. It was the european viper also known in the UK as the Adder. Bites are rarely fatal And usually only when people or kids are bitten on the neck And or you have an allergy. You feel crap yes And there is swelling And it hurts but unless you have an allergy they usually dont give the anti venom as it too is poisonous . Its made by injecting venom into horses then extracting the naturally made anti venom . The anti venom does not keep very long so you would have to make some regularly. I think this would be difficult for any one person or family to do

David

Thanks for the quick reply David,is there then a herbal treatment to stop the swelling and pain?

I am not aware of a herbal one that works

David

Hi David,

This is another of my eclectic specialties...herpetology (a minor in college) and at one time I would handle over 500 venomous snakes a day (venom production for antiserum.) I have been hospitalized several times for snake bite and have been bitten some many time I can not count (over 100.) So if I don't cover anything let me know.

1. You can not make your own antiserum, and yes most are made from horse (which many humans are anaphylactic to) but there are also human based serums base on O positive donors like myself that carry the antibodies toward the different venoms (extremely expensive.) Then there is rabbit serum, and some monkey I have read about, yet again these are rare, expensive or experimental.

2. Do not kill, harm, disrespect, or approach the snake and you will have a long life without being bitten. You can also learn the proper ways to be around them, handle them, and even (if you are extreme enough) detoxify yourself to their venom by self injecting small portions of their venom into your own bloodstream. (Very dangerous, must have doctor guidance and/or skill sets!!) This was a tradition of some of our "Medicine People," as venoms are part of many indigenous cultural practices.

3. Look under in any sources (regional for you) that gives advice for herbal remedies for tinctures, teas, poultice, and the like for anaphylaxis, edema, or ecchymosis, and these can typically be used for snake, arachnid and insect envenimation.

Regards,

j

thanks for your reply J.

I will look for any herbal treatmets. I agree with you on being careful around snakes.

Regards, Bert

I think I should add, that other than professionals that choose to work in large volumes of handling venomous animals (we are rare and the exception) most layfolk that are bitten by snakes in first world countries (80% to 90%) had been trying to kill them. Leave them alone, used common sense (a rarity these days) and just go about your business.

I can tell a happy story, yet sad in the end...

When I was a small child living in the bayous of Northern Florida, I use to frequent a turned over barge to spend my afternoons fishing. In a short time a rather larger Water Moccasin (a type of water viper of the Agkistrodon ssp.) would coil up on the wood next to me to sun herself. As I was not afraid of snakes being raised around them as a "spirit animal" to our people we would while away our summer afternoons just enjoying the beauty around us (and her the sun's warmth.) In the do course of time, she learned that I would throw the small fish back and these she would take. In a short time after that, she felt I was safe enough to approach even closer and took to coiling up on my lap to wait for a treat of small fish (not recommended to any children - or adults reading this post thread, I had Elders all around me and even at the tender age of twelve had several years working with and handling these beautiful animals.) She had several litters of young over the next few years.

I am sad to say that one afternoon a rather unsavory local thought it better to kill her, and he paid for his efforts with the loss of his hand to her bite, as there venom (especially among drinkers of alcohol and smoking) can be very necrotic. Her young, of which there were many, all had the same unusual calm nature, which is not common to their species, and after many decades, as a grown man returning to this spot in the swamp, I can report that it is well populated with her friendly linage of progeny, and many less silly "white men."

the only venomous snake we have in the UK is the Adder and cases of actually being bit are usually very rare, most times it will see you before you see it and be long gone before you get anywhere near.