Eastern garter piccy

[Snakers]

So you say I don't. This way I build up an immunity.
It makes me more at one with my snakes

OK, you're right

Bill Haast Article
long but to get to the point..the guy is supposedly immune

[ConcinusMan]

I'm just sayin'. A particularly slimy wet garter-saliva bite that breaks the skin... it's not a bad idea to at least wash thoroughly asap.

As you grow up, and get the flu a few times, you build immunity to those strains, and similar strains. But still, look what you had to go through

Simply washing with soap and water, letting it "bleed out" if it's a bleeding wound, and disinfecting is not a bad idea. Especially since the worst garter bites I've had were from slobbering, drooling , hungry concinnus eating nasty frogs, fish, tadpoles or worms.

It wasn't their fault. I mean, my hand smelled and looked vaguely like food. and they were hungry!

I also got bit severely by T. elegans caught near some rivers in N. California. had a bad reaction. Itching, swelling, immediate infection.. etc...

[kibakiba]

I'm allergic to garter snake saliva actually, so when I first caught Snakey and didn't feed him right... He big me and twisted, chewed, etc... And he broke the skin. Not enough for blood but enough to get his saliva on the wound. Despite disinfecting it my hand swelled up like a balloon. I even have a scar from it, which is odd since it wasn't deep or anything. Some people might have stopped owning garters with such a reaction but I was in love with Snakey despite him nearly making my hand fall off.

[ConcinusMan]

It does happen (the reaction) and sometimes, only once. Don't be afraid of getting bit again like that. The reaction often never happens again. Seriously.

Hand falling off.. you make me laugh.

Yes, the reaction can be severe but is usually short-lived. It should be treated as any other animal bite; serious. However, you now have antibodies to the agent, or agents that caused the reaction. Next time, (if there is one) it shouldn't be nearly as severe, or you may have no reaction at all.

[kibakiba]

Well when he bit me that night when he was harassing Mama while she was eating my hand swelled up again and was sore for a few days. I didnt think he even broke the skin that time but, you know. The first time when it was swollen it hurt to move and was slightly purple and took a week to go away, the second time I got minor swelling and a little redness on my hand and it was sore, it lasted for 5 days at the most. I wouldn't care if I did get bit again. It's just part of my job as a pet to my garter snakes, you know.

[ConcinusMan]

That sounds distinctly like a severe reaction to the enzymes in the saliva. Enzymes start the digestive process and sort of start pre-digesting the food but they can also serve to subdue prey, sort of like venom. When a snake is eating, there is quite a bit of saliva, and the enzyme activity and quantity in the saliva is particularly high. Much more so than say, a defensive bite when the snake is not eating a meal.

[kibakiba]

Yeah, both times he bit me and broke the skin I believe he thought of my hand as being food. First time was a week or 2 after I caught him when I thought they ate bugs He held on for a good 10 minutes, I had to hold his head under the faucet for a bit. I know I shouldn't ever do that but at the time after 10 minutes my had WAS starting to swell already and I was really scared. The second time... I smelt like a worm sandwich to him

[gartermorphs]

kibakiba im just saying as im a person withe severe allergies id be careful when you get bit because just as with a bee sting its not the first or second time you get stung its the third or fourth that you have a anafalatic reaction.

[kibakiba]

I am careful I dis infect it as quickly as possible and keep an eye on it. It's off topic sort of, but I have a spider bite and I'm seriously allergic to them but I've been keeping witch hazel on it and keeping it clean... I'm getting a bit of my skin coming off, though I might have to go to the hospital because of it if it gets worse. Luckily it's smaller today and less painful. We have mutant spiders here according to my boyfriend I tend to spider bites more vigorously since I can die from them and with a snake bite I get swelling and soreness/redness. But either way I'm careful not to scare my snakes or get worms on me. Haha.

[ConcinusMan]

The thing with spider bites, even if they are from spiders that are not particularly dangerous, is, they get infected very easily. Many of them are infested with staph and it gets in the wound and causes a serious infection. If it is red and inflamed, painful, and swollen you have no time to waste. See a Dr. right away. I nearly lost a finger in less than 3 days after being bit. The infection was that serious. The spider was not dangerous, and the venom mild, but the infection... OMG. The finger had to be cut wide open, kept open, and packed with iodine strips twice daily. Not fun.