# SNAKE Bite help?



## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

Oooo la la this is definitely a bad snake bite. She is a mini (almost 4 months old, 40 lbs) and got bit on the nose. Her whole face is swollen. The swelling has gone down her neck, on both sides of her mussel, and up past her ears. Poor baby! She looks like a balloon. I've given her benadryl, banamine, and used an ice pack to try and take the swelling down. She can still cry and boy does it sound sad and distorted. Have any ideas on what to do????? :help
Linda


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

Sounds like you are on the right tract. Do you have epinephrine? If you do, give her a shot. I would have to look up the dose. Also, give her more Benydryl four hours after the last dose. You want to help her maintain an airway. You want to monitor that tongue and throat for swelling. How is she doing now?


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

Ok, this is copy and pastied from goat 101:

"Anaphylactic shock: Immediate allergic reaction to an injection. Requires
immediate injection of Epinephrine, 1/2cc for kid to 3cc for mature
dairy-goat sized buck. Without Epinephrine in this emergency the animal will
die within 30 minutes. With Epinephrine it will be up and acting normal in
10 minutes."

So a 40 pound goat would get 1cc (or a bit more) I would think. This is just for a severe reaction though.

I have had goats bit in the face and gotten over it pretty easily with no problems, no meds, no complications. So maybe you just need to watch.


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## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

Thank you for the responses. No, I don't have any Epinephine. Yes, she was playing with her tongue before I put the ice pack on. She is resting now. I will give her more benadryl in a few hours.
Linda


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

Linda, hope all is well. I have only had one die from snake bite and that was a kid. I have had several adult goats bit and they have lived. Good luck!


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## Theresa (Oct 26, 2007)

Be sure she is drinking. If not with the heat you will need to give her subq fluid to keep her from dehydrating. Poor baby. I hope the swelling goes down soon.
Theresa


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## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

update...
She is still very swollen this morning. But she is very coherent and screams when I leave the room. I have become her new best friend. I brought her into the house last night and put her in our dog kennel. I was hoping that would help keep the swelling down from this 100 degree heat. She did nibble on some brush outside this morning and bits of hay. Should I offer her grain?


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## Theresa (Oct 26, 2007)

I would offer he whatever you normally feed her. I would not give her anything new.
Theresa


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

Sounds like she will be fine.


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## Poverty Knob Goats (Apr 13, 2010)

If she has made it this far she should be OK. The biggest problem with snake bites on the face/nose is the nose swelling shut and suffacating the animal. I would feed her as normal.


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## Holly (Mar 27, 2009)

I have had a goat get a snake bit on the nose. One thing also is to watch for deterioration of the tissue. My poor goat ended up with huge holes in his nose. I used saline water and rinsed it out twice a day. I also gave him penicillin shots to prevent secondary infection from the bite.We believe ours to be a copperhead bite.

Just for educational purposes....pictures as it progressed 
http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp317/ShyBon/goats/festernose2013-1.jpg
http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp317/ShyBon/goats/festernose3001.jpg
http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp317/ShyBon/goats/festernose4011.jpg
http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp317/ShyBon/goats/ruthie12-21-09016.jpg
http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp317/ShyBon/goats/12-27-0910am009.jpg


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

Holly, those are terrific pictures! glad you thought to take them. You can certainly tell that was a snake bite. Poor goat! Did it go ahead and heal ok?....Diane


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## Holly (Mar 27, 2009)

he did heal just fine. Had a small scar and that was all. I was scared he would die from it but he did ok.


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

WOW!


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

GReat pics!


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## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

Holly thank you for the pictures. Those were some good shots of the bite mark on his nose. I'm glad he's better now. 
My mini, Ella, seems to be doing much better. All of the swelling isn't gone completely but she is much better than she was. She had difficulty sucking on her bottle and I needed to help her the first few days. She also had diarreah real bad. I guess that was either from the toxins or the Benadryl. I gave her Kaolin Pectin (Pepto Bismol sort of) two times and probitics each day. I'm glad she is feeling better and eating on her own. I was asked what I would've done if it had been a full size adult goat. If I would have brought her into the house like Ella......... hummmmm... :nooo to much of a mess. :ick 
:lightbubl I think I need another shelter built but with central heat and air<<<< incase I have to spend the night out there. LOL 
Thanks everyone for your help!
Linda


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

Good to hear she's better. That's really scarey.


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

What kind of snake did the biting in these cases? Are they venomous? We don't have venomous snakes up here any more, but there are lots of snakes, some of which can be aggressive if disturbed. I like to keep them around for pest control, but hmmmm, if they can do that to a goat, maybe I might try catching and releasing them elsewhere!

Great pictures and glad the goats are doing good.


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## Holly (Mar 27, 2009)

Linda,
glad she is doing better. Do you have any pictures of it? did she end up with the holes at all?

Sully, I think my goat was bitten by a copperhead.

It happened this past winter, we believe it was curled up under the hay in a milk crate we had on the floor. Thinking when he went in to eat he got tagged by the snake. We decided to change the way we put out hay for the goats after that. Now all hay bins are at least 18 inches off the floor and we use trash baskets with lids attached to the wall with a hole cut in the bottom. works very well.


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## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

No, I never saw the snake. The last few weeks I've killed a copperhead (venomous) and a corral snake (venomous) both found in the garden. :shudder Encouraged a pretty Ribbon snake (non-venomous) to take up housekeeping elsewhere and chased a Chicken snake (non-venomous) out of the coop. A month ago there was a Diamond Back Water Snake (non-venomous) at the front door...guess he thought I'd let him in out of the rain. LOL I took him down to the creek to live. There has been more snakes here this year than years past...guess the cats aren't doing their job. :really I've heard that moth balls are good for keeping snakes away. Is that true? Are they harmful to goats? 
Linda


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## Holly (Mar 27, 2009)

Linda Ive heard they wont cross cedar. I have no idea if it works. I dont know about moth balls.
Ive never seen a coral snake, although I know we have them.


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## hammerithot (May 31, 2010)

We have rattlesnakes here. The population seems to have burgeoned this year, and I've discovered one particular variety that just coils up and won't leave! Haven't seen any on our property, but I suspect it will happen. With the construction next door, they're gonna get pressed our way. I know the crew has already killed several. Sad, really, since they were just being snakes, and hadn't done anything to anybody. I take the position that they really don't want to bite me or my animals, since we're all too big to eat, and that if they stay away from places where we're likely to encounter each other, they're welcome to hang.


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## Ozark Lady (Mar 21, 2010)

I have gotten far enough to determine if a snake is venomous or not. If not venomous, as long as, it is too small to eat my chickens and eggs, I ignore it. But venomous, or egg eating snakes are history around here. I have 7 grandkids roaming around, and some are too young to know a poisonous snake. But they all know don't touch snakes until an adult identifies it.


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## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

I have done a lot of catch and release here too. I take them over to the National Forrest and put them in the woods. Sometimes I've wondered if it was the same chicken snake that I keep removing. LOL


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## Ozark Lady (Mar 21, 2010)

My property backs up to a National forest. So, taking them there isn't far enough away, they would be back before I would.
Fortunately, we rarely see any snakes at all, harmless or otherwise.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Or Linda, they just slither on down to me for me to deal with  Vicki


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## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

LOL!
Wonder how many snakes show up after this rain?!!! 
Linda


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## Holly (Mar 27, 2009)

If there are in my pasture they have drowned!


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

Linda, glad your little doe is better.


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

Holly said:


> We decided to change the way we put out hay for the goats after that. Now all hay bins are at least 18 inches off the floor and we use trash baskets with lids attached to the wall with a hole cut in the bottom. works very well.


Holly could you post a pic or go into further deal about your hay feeding apparatus or contraption?


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## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

Thank you Diane. 
Yes, ever since the snake bite and Holly's comment about the way she changed the hay feeder I've been trying to decide how to change ours. Please share!
Linda


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## Holly (Mar 27, 2009)

Heres what I use now, I have since removed the milk crate from below it. Its very simple, I add a flake in from the top, put the lid back on. The flake slides down as they eat and they are pulling off the flake through the hole so there isnt much wasted.

http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp317/ShyBon/goats/3-8-10Shelly021.jpg


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## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

Thank you Holly


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## Holly (Mar 27, 2009)

your welcome. How is she doing now with her bite?


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