Snake Bite in Dogs

Karma was roaming around off leash in a field in Southern Arizona while I was working in said field. She started laying down in front of me and I realized her neck was starting to swell. I was pretty worried as I have never dealt with a snake bite, or even knew anyone who got bit. She was walking around just fine and followed me back to the van where we drove to the nearest vet hospital (40 mins) Her swelling increased a decent amount during the drive but she was still "with it". I couldn't see the wound but it seemed to be her under left jaw/neck fat area. We walked in the hospital and waited for about 20 mins to meet with anyone. Long story short, the vet checked her breathing and it was not affected. He gave her a pain medicine shot which stoned karma out of her mind, which he did not warm me about prior to seeing her totally wig out after they leave us alone again for like 15 mins. They of course recommended an over night stay, which fluids, antivenom, and the works, which would have been $2000. I could not afford that. But thankfully, I considered the fact that dogs are naturally more resilliant to bites, it bit her in the protective neck fat which is a quicker heal process than in the leg or on the face, her breathing was strong and unaffected even though her swelling looked massive. I should add that Karma is 30 lbs and around 3 years old, very healthy and active and gets fed a mostly raw diet. I opted not to give her the antivenom or over night stay. I had already agreed to the horribly narcotic pain killer shot they gave her, and I agreed to antibiotics. Fast forward to healing.. she was very lethargic from the extended release pain shot for the next 3 days. Her swelling moved a lot. It dropped from the gravity, and moved down into her chest and even one leg before completely dissipating. 4-5 days after the bite, I got her to eat
some wet canned dog for the first time. She had been drinking water on her own, which was quite a sad spectacle lol. She peed throughout the first few days, but did not pass a bowel movement until maybe 5-6 days after the bite. 3 weeks later she is fine. Small swell around wound site, where scab is starting to slough off. At first I had put wet compresses on her wound to keep it moist to allow for draining, but after the pain killers wore off, she wouldn't let me hold anything to her neck anymore. Moral of the story, if your dog is above 30 lbs and healthy, they can most likely process the venom on their own, and you just need to focus on the wound itself. Karma's didn't bleed until almost 32 hours after the bite. Where it lightly leaked for a day or so. This is normal and needs to happen for the body to release the toxins. Help keep the wound moist, keep cool water close and easily accessible for your dog, only offer SOFT foods for the first 5-7 days after the bite. Do not put a COLD compress on the swelling, it stops blood flow which can lead to clots and frostbite. Give them a soft bed, soft foods, cool water. My dog opted for laying on the cool sand a lot of the time, which makes sense because the ground has anti-inflammatory properties. Read your dog, and keep their limits and strengths in mind. Hope this helps those who feel crazy hearing "go to the vet" over and over again.

We believe my dog was bitten by an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake by her right ear. Based on the 2" fang spread, we think the snake was about 6 - 7' long. The right side of her face was grotesquely swollen, she drooled, was bleeding profusely, and was having problems using her right front leg. We took her to the vet, and antivenin was administered. The vet says she's going to make a full recovery. But, I'm concerned about permanent tissue damage. Do you happen to have any information concerning snakebite recovery? Thank you.

My Pomeranian was bitten by a saw scaled poisonous viper yesterday ,she was taken to a veterinarian n given anti venom as she was bitten in her jaw,her neck n whole body seems to be swollen,she seems to be very very weak ,she is not having any food as well. I want to know what kind of food should I give her and how long this weakness persists

My 4 lb chihuahua was bit in the head, above the eye by an adult pigmy rattle snake at 5pm. Within 45 minutes she was in ER. She was put on fluids and given anti venom. Her upper cheek area is swollen and eye is partially shut. She was kept overnight and I brought her to my veterinary in the early am. She was put on IV for the day until I brought her home at 4pm. She is walking, urinating and ate food on her own. My concern and question is has she had sufficient fluids? Also, the doctor said that blood work was not necessary. Do you feel I should bring her back tomorrow to test her kidney function? I am concerned about the effects of the anti venom over time? Thank you for your time.

Willie had a lump that I thought was infection and he started limping on his rear, left leg. I took him to a vet who was going to lance the spot of infection. After sedating him and shaving the area, he called me and said that it was not infection. It had bruising so he must have been bitten by a spider. He also took an x-ray of his back end and said he had a flat spot on his hip on his right side. He said he was probably limping on his left because of over-compensating for his right. He sent him home with glyco-flex and a pain medication and told me to get Move Free Ultra from a CVS. So I did. He has been on the Glyco=Flex and Move Free Ultra for a month and the pain medication until he ran out. It has been a month and he still limps bad on his left side and doesn't want to get out of bed. He also acts like his hard food and crunchy treats hurt his mouth so I have started giving him soft food. I called the vet a couple of times since we saw him a month ago. The first time he gave us a prescription for more pain medicine. He went through that and still the same. I called again and he just wanted to give us more pain medicine but I still feel that something else is wrong with him and pain medicine isn't fixing the problem.

We took our dogs out to our local lake. One of them came back and his face was extremely swollen. I could tell it from far away. He's usually active and hyper but is now calm and lethargic kind of. My mom didn't want to take him to the vet. She said there are herbs in the ground he knows to go to- however I feel a snake bite should be treated. I don't have a drivers license but I'm finding a war to take Munch to the vet first thing tomorrow morning. But since he was in the water I fear it was a moccasin and I fear he might not make it through the night since they are poisonous. I'm crying as I type because I feel my mom was extremely selfish and cold in not wanting to take him to our emergency vet care. If I lose him it'll be hard. A fun trip to our lake ended in possible tragedy.

My puppy Bre she got bit by a snake and she's bleeding a lot and her wound looks like a scrap but it's bleeding a lot and it kinda looks like there is some decoloration like green an her gums under her lips look like a white brown should I put Hydrin peroxide on the wound and how do I stop the bleeding she got bit yesterday and has been bleeding since I don't know when she got bit she's drinking water but not eating should I get her food wet and soft for her we would take her to the vet but we don't have the money to do it is there anything we can do and she has a little diarrhea I'm not sure if it really serious

My dog, a 10 yr old Jack Russell was bitten about 10 days ago by a black snake.
I rushed her to the vet and she had a treatment of antivenin and was put on a drip.
She seemed to be doing ok but now she has started gagging and spitting up a yellow-greenish fluid.
I do recall the vet saying that kidney and muscle damage were possible but I was unclear exactly what treatment I ought to have had which is likely my fault for not being clear.
Of course this is happening over Christmas and I will bring the dog into the vet but what can I do in the meantime?

My dachshund was bit by a rattlesnake Tuesday and received treatment. He was bit on his snout and the scab has started coming off, I think too soon, but we have been cleaning it like they told us and it seems like there is a hole there. Is this normal and what should I do?

my dog is 2 years old he is a pitbull and rodegen ridge back mix he got bit late at night annd we took him to a animal hospital during the day after the lump on his back burst he was bleeding when the vet checked she said it might be a snake we cant afford the meds so we just got the pain killers do you know how we can treat the bite without the antivenom

My dog got bit by a poison snake about 40 minutes ago she is experiencing moderate pain! The snake that but her slithered away so fast that we couldn’t see what type it was.

My American Pitbull, Angel appears to have some form of bite, I'm not entirely sure if it's a snake bite. The area of the bite appears to have swollen up and is now oozing a clear liquid through two small holes in the middle of the inflamed area which appear to have been caused by snake fangs. And the area of the bite is definitely inflamed. She was outside in our backyard playing in the late evening hours and I notice her run into my room to lay down on my bed(a sign that something is definitely wrong with her) and I noticed the described bite/wound.

Pyro was just roaming around outside when he suddenly yelped and cried and started licking his foot. He won't walk on it and his whole leg is shaking. He also keeps hyperventilating almost and gagging like he's gonna throw up. I don't wanna assume the worst but I'm not sure what else it could be or what to do. (This was 25 minutes ago when it started)

Hello, we had a pomeranian who last week on Tuesday had diarrhea when i woke up and let all of our dogs outside, but seemed to be fine otherwise and was running around playing. By the evening we went to let the dogs inside to eat and he was laying propped up against the back step and my husband called them to come inside and he wouldnt get up and thats when we noticed he couldn't move. My husband picked him up and went to put him down on the tile and he collapsed and was barely breathing and couldn't stand or move at all. We took him immediately to the e.r vet here and they said he was severely dehydrated, his heart rate was extremely high, and his blood sugar was at 29 and he was in critical condition, so they gave him dextrose and he was alert and standing within minutes they said. they also gave him fluids incase to help flush out anything toxic and because he was dehydrated they said. So we took him home in plans to immediately take him to our vet first thing because we figured there was some medical issues going on that we didnt know about, because the dextrose seemed to help within minutes. Well, on the way home he became very lethargic and couldn't hold his head up again and became limp again and as soon as we got home within 10 minutes he started to have seizures so i called them back and by the time we got back to the e.r he had bled out of his nose and mouth, and passed away. We currently have found 5 copperheads around our property this year, and i told them that and they looked but they did not see a bite or puncture wounds, so they think maybe poison, but finding so many of those snakes this year and the cardiovascular/neurological sudden symptoms makes me wonder about a snake. My question is, could this have been a copperhead bite that was hard to see hat symptoms didnt show up until it was too late? Because he was fine the entire day leading up to that night, except the diarrhea. He was a very long haired 12 lb Pomeranian.

My 8.5 lb 6year old schnauzer mix was bitten 2 weeks ago by a rattlesnake. after emergency care and 3 days at regular vets she is improving. MY concern is her left leg looks like raw meat. she licks constantly. should i cover put something on iit? the average wait time for vet is 4/6 hrs. i have called and no return call.what should i do?

Can a venomous snake bite cause skin conditions later in life? My 4 month old Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier was bitten, we think twice, on the top of her head & on the snout. She had a lot of swelling in her face & cheeks & her one eye was swollen closed. She was treated with antivenem serum, kept over night at the vet's & she seemed to completely recover. A year later she started getting these small, hard black scabs on her head & face. They are difficult to remove & are raw underneath. I can get them to go away by scrapping them open over & over & spraying them with anitbiotic spray. My vet is perplexed, but wondering if they may be caused by the snake bites, since they appear in the areas of the old snake bites. There was no apparent damage to her skin at the time of the bites.We never found the snake. One of the older dogs was bitten also, but did not require treatment.

My 7 year old Sam caught a baby black cobra at the backyard. She killed it and tore it to half. Her mouth started to swell and she was weak. Unfortunately this happened at night and we do not have 24 hour vets or vets on call so was forced to wait until early the next morning to rush to the vet which was VERY frustrating. She is currently at the vet receiving antivenin and under monitoring. It’s now around 20 hours since her suspected time of snake bite. Was still weak. Is there anything owners can do in instances when we can’t reach the vet immediately?

Buckley was possibly bit by a snake 28 hours ago. After 2 vets he is on cephalexin benadryl and antinflamatory after our vet noticed his lymph node in his thigh swollen. I think he has pitting edema as of now. Should I be concerned or is that part of the healing process? Ty

How can I tell if this is a venomous bite?

He is not eating food since last 2 3 days when we touch him he turns too angry and tries to bite he is finding too difficult to lift his 2 limbs and hardly moves n barks. Can spot an injury near those limbs but not able to know that is bite or not. He was injected saline past day but still doesn't seems to be recovered.

So my dog Raymond got bitten by a snake, we aren’t sure what kind. But it was on his inner lips area. Doses of anti venom shots and saline have been given to him. Today is the second day and his face has swollen up more than it was yesterday. I’m a bit worried about his swelling. Do you have any suggestions or ways to let me know that the swelling is normal and will subside soon? No medication besides the anti venom and the intervenous has been given to him.

my 1 1/2 year old pit bull was perfectly fine but then all the sudden I noticed him breathing hard. That went on for 2 days but he was still eating and drinking a lot of water. By the third day he could barely breath, gasping for every breath. Could that have been initiated from a snake bite and if so, if given time would his breathing get better? That was his only sign of distress, no swelling or bite marks.

My 3 year old Great Dane who is 150 pounds was bitten by a snake last night when we took him outside to go potty. We did not realize he was bitten until this morning when we noticed his left paw/leg was swollen and has two puncture wounds. We've administered Benadryl and pain medicine. He has been drinking water frequently and urinating, however his pee is extremely yellow. Should we be concerned?

I believe my dog was bitten by a snake while I took him out to potty. I never saw the snake nor did my dog yelp in pain. He has swelling on his chest and two puncture wounds about 3/4" apart. No swelling immediately but about 3 hours later he has significant swelling and a black spot between the puncture marks that is about the size of a dime. Gave 12.5mg. Benadryl initially. No difficulty breathing. I spoke with our vet
and he is out of town and there is not another emergency vet around. He said give another 12.5mg. Benadryl based on his weight and if no difficulty breathing not to bring him in tonight but wait until the AM. Is there anything in the mean time to ease the pain at the site?

Can dogs turn vicious after a snake bite & how long willl it take if dog is biten ?

My dog is 9months old and has already been bitten by several copperheads in fact 5 last one was 4 days ago, he seems to be getten temperamental growling for no reason is this have anything to do with the bites?

I'm sure my pit bull mix was snake bitten on her lip and possibly through to the gum. She hid for awhile and would scream if we tried to touch or look. She is getting on her "couch" outside and has her normal appetite as she ate last night and this morning and is wagging her tail but her head is horribly swollen but there is no breathing difficulties

Our German Pointers' left upper lip and gums have been slowly swelling and puffy for the past several days. I assumed she had been possibly stung by a hornet, as I found a nest the day the swelling began. However, the swelling has not gone down, and the puffy swelling has turned harder, like a knot. She is in no pain, and has given no signs of symptoms, and acts 100% normal, except for the large swollen face.

single puncture mark, swelling distally at a joint, limping, very quiet
No bite witnessed. Possible injury instead?

I have an 8.5 yo Rottie named Rommel aka wiggle butt, big butt, road dog... my big boy was about 130lbs in may 2017, right now hes about 10/15lbs less... on 7.29.17 we were Primitie camping in an area that is for sure rattlesnake country. That day, early evening i heard my Rom baby rustle around behind me at the campsite. Within 5-6 minutes I went walked over to his H2o bowl & poured him fresh water. It was all bad from there. He literally fell over (think Timmmmmber!) My 5 & 3 yo yell to me "Rom Baby fell!" I rush over; hes collapsed on the ground. Excessive drooling, dilated pupils, hind legs are stiff straight out, urinates, vomits, serizure, shaking/rocking, starts dropping fur (like shedding but rapid/excessive)...like i said all bad. No I did not rush him to the vet. Mostly because he was not moveable. We had no idea @ the time he had been bit THREE TIMES by a rattler on his 'big butt' (4 marks total/ONLY 1 set of bite marks though). No he didnt make a peep or move. My theory is: he was laying directly behind me when this happened & the kids were within 10ft, if he had made commotion as to what was going on me or the kids would have been investigating & then who else would have been bit...?? He made it through the night, thank god. I was prepared for the worst; still no idea as to what happened. Next morning he was doing wayyy better! Still not 100%. We kept him at camp to recover that Sunday, he had one little outing which was still too much for him. That Sunday night (same time as Saturday) kids ask me for another cookie, i tell them "yes let me finish putting my boots on" (my BF calls them my 'darth vaders') I start walking over to the rock where the cookies are, Rom baby is laying about a foot to the left of this rock. And sure as $hit a rattler about 3-3.5ft was creeping in to bite my Rom baby again. I did what any mama bear would do & drop kicked that @#$%er less than 6" away from his butt... This is when I knew what happened. I suspected it the night before but there was no evidence. Come monday he was still doing better. Tuesday evening i started worrying about him, Wednesday i was worried. By Thursday I didnt think he would make it. I would have taken him to the vet at that point, but everyone I know thats treated their big breads for rattler bites ends up in more debt. Prayed & prayed for something to give I knew I needed to get him help, this was (8.3.17). BF & I own a body shop (cars); @ the end of the day we had a customer walkin dropping off a gift card because we had helped her out couple weeks prior. As she was about to leave I remembered she used to work at a vet, asked her if she still did, she said yes, I asked her to look at Rom baby. On friday her & the veterinarian came back with antibiotics, IV, pain meds & cleaning stuff for the bites. The following week it was still super questionable if he was going to pull through. By 8.14.17 he was actually doing A LOT better. But now 8.21.17 he seems to have severe muscle loss/weakness. He has been eating much this last week either. Ive spent so much money buying him wet food because that was all he would eat @ first. Now he wont even eat bacon or a hot dog or a burger. He picks at the wet food, eats a little. My biggest question is, how long would it typically take for a rattlesnake bite to be fatal? His gums have good color, pupils are good. The lack of eating, muscles loss (which has caused him to lose balance/slip) are really worrying me. Is he still in recovery? How long will full recovery take? Can he fully recover?

when a 4 month old puppy is bitten by a coon tail rattler, is treated and seemed to recover, Can he have long term damage to the immune system, liver and red blood cells. Mine was bitten a month ago and died today from liver failure. My vet did everything he could to save her, but he said she had no red blood cells left.

We have a approx 5 year old red tick hunting dog. Just noticed early this morning he has swelling of the weft Jolle left ear let word and throat seems to be having a little bit of difficulty breathing, does not like to walk on the left the leg do not know if it was a snake by or not did not witness anything gave him 50 mg of Benadryl twice so far Is there anything else I can do that cannot see him for a couple of days

We heard her crying and then came running back into our yard, could she have been bitten by a snake?

My 75lb. Australian Shepherd was bit by a timber rattler 14 months ago. Never received antivenin because by the time we tracked down a clinic that had it, two hours had gone by. He received 3 liters of fluids - benadryl - sterroids - pain meds - and the following morning because his platelets were at a critical level - he received a chemotherapy shot. All of these treatments gave him a complete recovery. Here's the question - he is now going deaf. Could this be a long term effect from the rattlesnake bike!

My puppy got bit by a snake about a week ago, he just turned 6 weeks old, I couldn't get him to a vet and we won't be seeing one until next week. He lashes out at me at random times and tries to bite me and growls like crazy, his body wriggles all arpund when I pick him up to stop him from biting me, then goes back to being a sweet loving pup. I believe mental state was altered by the snake bite but I have no way to help him. I believe it was a venomous snake since his face became discolored, and swelled within minutes. I didn't think he would make it when he began to have problems breathing but he pulled thru. The bite became discolored and just today went back to a normal color. The scabs on his face run deep into the skin. There was blood dripping out the wound and it hurt for him to touch his face to anything for three days. What do I do about his mental estate?

Hi, Monty may have been bit by a snake as many of our neighbors also living backed up to a greenbelt have found snakes in their yard and have had their dogs bit. I didn't not whitness the bite however I noticed a significant amount of swelling on the side of his mouth where his whiskers are and under his jaw. The swelling is warm and sensitive to the touch. The swelling to the side of his face is soft with a firm spot in the middle that I would describe as a bump or a knot, while the swelling under his jaw is soft. There are no visible puncture wounds or bleeding that I am able to observe. He is eating some and seems to be thirsty. At this point there are no other symptoms and he seems to be acting like his usual self. I did administer 25mg of Benadryl to try and reduce the swelling. I am not sure if he was bit by a snake or stung by some sort of bee, yellow jacket or hornet. I believe that possible point of entry of the bite or sing is located on the side of his mouth/cheek where the knot is however he will not allow me to open his mouth to check there. I wonder if this is anything serious. Thank you in advance for your advise!

We have a 8.5 mo coonhound/pyr mix rescue, around 70 lbs. Saturday evening he vomited and was pacing so we took him to the emergency vet, concerned about possible obstruction or bloat because we suspected he got into the food bin. The did xrays, found a full stomach but no sign of obstruction or torsion, gave pepcid and subcu fluids and sent home with instructions to withhold food and water and return in 12 hrs for more xrays if his condition didn't improve. He had multiple BM overnight and his condition improved. I did notice a fluid-feeling swelling on his right side but assumed (wrongly) it was a pocket of the subcu fluids from the vet visit.

Later Sunday, however, he again appeared slightly swollen or bloated and lethargic and we returned to the emergency vet. The repeated xrays (generally normal bowel but high amount of fluid in stomach), ran bloodwork (normal), put on IV, but overnight his condition deteriorated - fever, elevated heart rate, elevated respiration, lethargy, neuro wobbliness. From xray they noticed swelling on right side, and shaved to discover large area of redness with a purplish center. No bite marks, wound, or necrosis apparent. They presumed a black widow bite and gave injection of antihistamine and he remained on supportive care for 24 hrs.

Upon discharge and return home Monday evening, his lethargy and fever returned as soon as the antihistamine wore off and we almost returned to ER, but his fever responded to a dose of oral Benadryl as directed by vet over phone, so we continued to closely monitor his condition overnight at home (this was ok'd by vet as long as his temp stayed under 104 and he didn't vomit or show new symptoms - otherwise we were to go to different hospital to see internal medicine specialist).

Now it's Tuesday, and he is maintaining a normal body temp with Benadryl, is now eating and more alert, acting less painful though still generally low energy. He is also on pred and doxy. We are monitoring closely and hopefully he will continue to recover.

I am wondering whether his case history sounds consistent with a presumed black widow bite, or with a snake bite. We have never seen either around our property, though both are in our area (Denver) and he did run off leash at the open space on Saturday afternoon before symptoms started - though there was no known bite event and no immediate/sudden type onset of symptoms. In fact, he did not exhibit critical symptoms until over 24 hours later. We have searched our basement and property and found no sign of black widows or rattlesnakes, and I have small children and wish I knew exactly when and how our large, young dog almost died on us! Hypothesis?

My dog was bitten by a snake earlier today and her face is extremely swollen and I can't see her one eye and she's drooling like crazy and seems to have issues breathing and and were a far way away from a vet what should I do?

What do I need to do about a snake bite on my dog?

My 11 year old labrador, Elvis, was bitten on Saturday. We did not see him get bit. On Sunday we noticed he was more stiff than normal, but we thought it was because he was tired from running around with our other dog the night before. His leg was swollen. The swelling was an airsack like swelling. It didn't hurt to touch it. We thought it could maybe be a bee sting and gave him Benedryl. On Monday he was unableto eat or get up the stairs. We notices his gums were white. We took him to the vet and they did blood tests and determined he was bit by a snake. We live in Utah so the possibility of the snake beign a cottonmouth or rattler is a good possiblilty. I'm unsure what drugs they administered him. He seemed almost normal for a couple hours after his vet clinic, but then got much worse. His breathing was rapid. He vommited frequently and had diareha. His breathing was very heavy and he was unable to move from one spot. Will he be able to pull through this even though his treatment to the snake bite was delayed 3 days? If he gets through this will he suffer necrosis or organ damage? Is there a good chance he'll get through this? I would have asked the vet, but I was unable to go to the appointment (my parents took him). Our vet also doesn't seem very reliable because they said it was just a bee sting the first time we took him in and after the second time we took him in it took the vet days to get back to us with results.

My dog was bitten by a snake about 3 months ago. The wound healed and he got better but he was never the same playful dog he was before that. The last week I've noticed that he is has no energy at all. He just lies on the same place the whole time and can't even pick his head up. He doesn't want to eat anything (we've tried almost everything) and he has lost more than half of is weight you can see his bones. He also has blood in his urine. Is it possible that this could still be because of that snake bite even though it happened that long ago? And what should I do?

Does this sound like snake bite?Dog was outside and suddenly came to the house yapping loudly. She seems scared and jumps at loud noises and desperately wants to come inside.and just wants to bury her face in my lap. She a mostly an outside dog but occasionally comes in. Never acted anything like this before. Still shaking slightly and seems like she doesn't want to move much. Tense muscles..? Doesn't seem lethargic or confused though..ive seen dogs lethargic with internal bleeding and this is not it. She had a tiny amount of blood on her paw when it started and that is the only external symptoms. Reminds me of myself when I have a severe panic attack..

Our lab was bitten by a copperhead last week. We took her straight to the emergency vet where she was put on fluids and given one dose of anti-venom. We brought her home two days ago (after a 2 day stay at the vet). She is on antibiotics for 2 weeks and pain meds as needed. She is an "outside" dog and while we have been putting her in the house to help keep her calm and from getting her wounds infected, she is NOT happy. When we let her out to use the bathroom she is giving us a hard time and not wanting to come back in. Our male-her brother- doesn't want her in the house either. He sits outside the door and whines and as soon as she comes out they take off running. (We have 4 acres fenced and they are used to having the run of the place-literally) Her appetite is fine and the swelling in all but her paw have gone. (She was bit twice on her paw and once on her jaw) My question- When can we safely let her stay out and run. We don't want to do that prematurely, even though she thinks she is ready.

My dog was bitten by a snake yesterday, we rushed him to the vet clinic and they provided antibiotics and injected antihistamine. Soncco is still his normal self drinking and eating, the only symptom is swelling that has got worse now around nose

My healthy 7 year old husky/mix was bitten by a rattlesnake and we didnt realize it. We noticed swelling in his leg and decided to take him to the vet in the morning. It was a long wait, about 14 hours from the time of bite before they did the smear and treated him. They administered antivenom and kept him overnight. So far so good. My question is, the swelling really hasnt gone down much in his leg, but it seems less painful to him and he's using it more. We noticed tonight his leg has a dough like consistancy, when we put gentle pressure with a finger, it leaves a small divot, does this mean his whole leg might die, or will his body fix it? Our vet hasnt answered any of our questions about the future of his leg. Im afraid because we waited so long, his leg will need to be removed. We go back in two days for another smear.