Snakebit Dog, He's OK. Benadryl Worked? Snake Pic WARNING Copperhead!

[ranchhand]

Those poor dogs, what a heck of a misery for all of you. Tiger's swelling was nowhere near as extensive, and I am watching for necrosis. He's headed for the vet first thing in the morning, and I have him on Benadryl, amoxicillin and Deramaxx.

He is eating and drinking well, goofing around like usual.

Way back when I worked in a vet clinic in Austin, TX, we had a rancher bring in a snakebit Aussie. A WEEK after it had been bitten. He said "well, everybody knows dogs are immune to snake bites".

She lost an eye, and I cleaned necrotis tissue daily for 3 weeks. Poor dog. She did survive. The vet had a nice little "chat" with the rancher.

Never thought about the Dex. Need to ask Dr. Tom to help me set up a kit. Thanks, sorry about the pups, give them extra treats from me.

 

[chickachickadoo]

Ranchhand, I'm glad that Tiger seems to be okay and hope the vet has good news for you both.

Cara, your poor babies! How are they doing now?

 

[Cara]

They both recovered just fine. The Bloodhound lost part of her lip, but she healed and was back to normal before we lost her to something else. The Labrador-ish one has a couple of scars on top of her nose, but she's perfectly fine other than that. The worst thing was when I took them both to snakeproofing after they'd been bitten (they got bitten two weeks before the class that i'd booked!!!) and both of them went straight up to the rattlesnakes and sniffed them! The black one will not go near any kind of snake now, and tries to climb me to get away from them. We had two other dogs at the time, all four were in the yard when the snake came in, but those two are naturally afraid of snakes.

The other two that got bitten are also fine. One was only 9 weeks old, she stepped out the doggy door right onto a small Diamondback, but her bite was minor and just swelled a little for a couple of days. The other one had a pretty nasty bite to the face, she also is a Bloodhound, and hers was the worst of all. Her whole neck split open, and the vet thought she would have a hole in her face, but luckily it healed. She has a bad scar from her cheek down to her throat, but has no long term problems.

Ranchhand it sounds like you know what you're doing with the bite; sorry I didn't realise you'd dealt with them in the past!

 

[ranchhand]

Having dealt with them in the past didn't mean diddly when it came to my own dog,

.

My adrenaline has been pumping all weekend, and it doesn't show signs of stopping yet! I have a really good vet, and he likes it when I bring him strange things. I am giggling, just thinking of tomorrow when I hand him a vacuum packed copperhead.....

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Please remember that a dead snake is still dangerous. If you get scratched with those fangs you can still be poisoned please handle with care any dead poisonous snake.

Glad your pup is still here.

 

[wasatusay]

Wanda (gone now at old age of 17) my brindle pit was bitten on he same place. She had to go to the vets. Apparently when the snake bit her a tiny piece of grass went it the bite also. They put drainage tubes in but eventually they had to remove the glands on that side of her jowls. Buster (pit dalmatian great Dane mix) was bitten in his armpit area of front leg. The swelling got pretty bad and vet put him on antibiotics. Just when he was looking 100% and swelling was gone, he had kidney failure from the strong antibiotics. So for me it seems dang if you do and dang if you don't. I put out lots of snake sulfur and moth balls at all the fence lines now.

 

[TexasVet]

Quote:
Chickens do not like snakes and they will kill them if the snake is small enough for them to do so and for a larger snake they will attack it until it leaves.

I have first-hand experience that this isn't always true. Eggs and small chicks were disappearing, so I figured a snake was using the henhouse as a supermarket. Went out after dark and found a 4-foot long rat snake winding it's way through the chicken's legs on the roost. Nobody was attacking it (except me)... they just stood up when it approached so it could crawl by.

Non-venomous or not, I do NOT like rat snakes. They kill chickens, and they have a nasty attitude. And they make old ladies like me freak out when we find them in the nestboxes.

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com, www.PivotalForce.com

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Thanks, he's good pup. We have been very careful about the head, waited until it stopped the reflexive movements, used long tongs and double bagged after the pic. Still gives me the willies when I open the fridge though! DH is still laughing that I vac-packed it. Well, shoot, why not?

Quote:
What is snake sulfur? I thought about mothballs, but the chickens free range and mothballs stay in the ground a long time after the rain dissolves them.

To all of you who have endured snakebitten dogs: my deepest thanks for all the good advice, and my warmest wishes for all the poor dogs, both alive and gone! I have been sleeping with Tiger, on the floor, since Friday, just because I love my dogs. So now I know what the worry feels like and that I'm not the only one who feels miserable when a dog is sick.

Tiger will be at Dr. Tom's first thing in the a.m., with bagged snake, and we'll go from there. The next chore will be clear cutting the grove of anise trees. They've got to go, I am not going to provide a breeding ground for snakes within the fenced dog yard!

 

[Attack Chicken]

I would love to skin and tan a snake like that! I think their just beautiful. Glad your pup is doing well

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Tiger and we thank you for the well wishes. I suggested deep fried copperhead- I can't describe the look DH gave me!

(I'm really glad he didn't take me up on it!)