My Experience with a Copperhead Snake Bite: What to Expect
- Let me preface this with the fact that I am NOT a doctor or medical professional by any means. I’m just a homesteader who couldn’t find this information on the internet so I wanted to share my experience to possibly help the next person who goes searching. If you are bitten by a venomous snake, please proceed immediately to emergency care. Take a photo of the snake if possible for positive identification.
Dealing with snakes is a common chore amongst homesteaders. If you have chickens, rabbits, mice, tall grass or any other enticing conditions, you will at some point have to remove a snake from your property. It’s just part of the gig, and one I am quite accustomed to. In my 15 years on this property I’ve had to catch, relocate, or dispatch an average of 2 snakes per summer, and have never had an issue with it until now.
I was caught off guard by a copperhead snake on my homestead one Saturday morning. My ratter-trained-yorkie was barking up a storm, alerting to a critter of some sort inside our fenced yard. Normally she kills then shows off her catch later which implied that this was clearly something out of her league, so I scooped her up to investigate. I felt the sting in my left index finger as I reached down to grab her before I even saw the snake. It was a young copperhead, approximately 18 or so inches long, caught up in the hardware cloth that skirts our kitchen building.
I quickly put my yorkie indoors, washed the bite mark, and loosely covered it with a small bandage to keep it clean. Then I grabbed someone to help, went back out, and swiftly detached the snake’s head from its body with a long-handled axe, ensuring it wouldn’t pose any more danger. We relocate black king snakes, garter/gardener snakes, and other non-venomous varieties, but we take zero chances with the real danger noodles.
Initial Reaction and First Steps
To my understanding, not all snake bites require medical intervention. Some are dry bites that hurt in the moment but don’t progress further. That wasn’t the case for me. My hand swelled up to the size of a softball almost immediately. I raised it above my heart, grabbed an ice pack, and had someone drive me to the nearest ER, a rural hospital about 20 minutes away, figuring country hospitals can solve country problems.
At the Emergency Room
By the time I arrived at the ER, the swelling had progressed up my left arm to my shoulder. I was nauseous, vomiting, and experiencing uncontrollable full-body tremors. The staff acted quickly and thoroughly. They set me up with IV ports, marked the swelling, called poison control to confirm the current protocol, and sourced CroFab, the highly expensive but effective antivenom treatment.
Fact: In some regions, antivenom is called antivenin, but it means the same thing.
Fact: If possible, bring a picture of the snake or the dead snake itself to the ER for positive identification. This helps them determine the best course of treatment.
Fact: Not all reactive snakebites require antivenom. Mine did because I was showing signs of systemic shock and the spread of symptoms beyond two major joints.
Fact: Most snakebites are non-life-threatening, but antivenom reduces tissue damage and speeds recovery considerably.
Treatment Challenges
There was some question as to whether the rural hospital even had CroFab available. I would later learn that just days before they had a young patient come in with a bite and had NO CroFab on site, prompting them to life-flight the patient to a larger facility and order an emergency dose after noting the deficiency.
Fact: Antivenom is extremely expensive, not very shelf-stable, and not frequently used, so not all hospitals keep it on hand. In our rural area I was informed that it is best to call 911 on your way to the hospital in case they need to redirect you.
They were able to produce a single round, consisting of six vials of antivenom that had to be reconstituted and moved into IV bags for administration. They used all six vials on me while making arrangements to transport me to another facility two hours away by ambulance that had more on hand. My index finger had about a one-inch circle of black around the puncture site before the antivenom was administered. This receded after the first hour, though the swelling increased. This is the job of the antivenom – to reduce and possibly reverse tissue damage and systemic symptoms.
Transfer to a Metro Hospital
I was given intravenous opiate pain relief, prepared for transport, and taken by ambulance to a metro city hospital. The ride was excruciatingly painful as I had to keep my injured hand elevated. The roads were incredibly bumpy, and I was still vomiting, eventually dry heaving. They were ready for me at the receiving hospital, where they quickly moved me through the emergency room. I was immediately started on a second round of six vials of CroFab and hooked up to various monitors.
When they ran my IVs, the injection sites bled profusely. It seemed the venom acted like a blood thinner. My blood pressure spiked to 180/111 and stayed in that range for about an hour. They also gave me more IV-delivered opiate pain relief. After I received my second round of antivenom treatment, they officially admitted me and moved me to the ICU for close monitoring. Although I was out of immediate danger, potential complications from the antivenom required more acute observation in the first 24 hours which is why they chose to put me in the ICU.
Fact: The CroFab antivenom is made from animal proteins. Patients with Alpha Gal syndrome or other medical meat aversions can have severe allergic reactions to it. The staff was well aware of this and said that their protocol was to administer the CroFab anyway and be prepared for the allergic reaction as well just in case. In my situation this was a non-issue.
Recovery and Ongoing Care
My overnight stay was fairly uneventful. My vitals leveled out, they switched me from IV pain meds to Tylenol and oxycodone tablets, and my vomiting subsided. The theory is the IV opiates perpetuated the vomiting since I am not used to anything stronger than occasional ibuprofen. I was advised that I could not take ibuprofen during the healing process because it would have an adverse effect on my platelets? This was not explained in any greater detail, but being the professionals, I took their word for it.
By morning, the swelling hadn’t changed, but the pain was managed, and I was able to hold down broth and jello. I was discharged Sunday afternoon for the long ride home. My discharge instructions were to simply keep my arm elevated, continue taking Tylenol every eight hours and the oxy as needed for breakthrough pain, and follow up with my primary care doctor. The staff didn’t really know what else to expect and had no other aftercare advice to give, which is what drove me to write about my experience.
Personal Observations
Observation: My entire arm was extremely touch-sensitive, feeling like a raw bruise at the slightest amount of pressure all the way up to my shoulder.
Observation: Occasionally, I got the sensation of a worm crawling under the puncture site.
Observation: Keeping my arm elevated above my heart was critical for pain management. If I lowered it, it felt like a painfully full water balloon about to burst.
By Monday morning (Day 3), the swelling had gone down by roughly 20%. I took it easy as I could not really use my left arm, and spent the day in bed with it elevated. My appetite was touch and go with light waves of nausea, so I only snacked lightly and had a protein shake, which my stomach immediately rejected. I stayed on course with the Tylenol and waited until bedtime to take an oxycodone. I slept in a cocoon of pillows with my arm propped up, waking several times in the night either overheated or in pain.
Continued Improvement
By Tuesday morning, the swelling was down even more, by about 30%. I walked around the property a bit, more to challenge myself not to see snakes under every blade of grass. This paranoia is persistent now two weeks later, but getting a little better. All of my open-toed shoes are taking the rest of the summer off however just in case!
Observation: I smelled like gunpowder. I’m not sure if it was the fear sweat or the poison working itself out of my pores, but I smelled very distinctly of that acidic, sulfuric scent of black powder. I found that odd.
I was able to take a shower with a little help, but too much movement still caused me to feel motion sick. I also stuck to what I considered mild foods: soupy ramen for lunch, a side salad for dinner, and my stomach was fine. Before bed, I still felt hungry, so I had a small turkey sandwich and immediately regretted it. It was like hot rocks had taken residence in my belly. Maybe it was the meat? Who knows… there’s really no guide to what to expect after treatment for a snakebite, so here we are. I stayed on track with the Tylenol on Tuesday but opted not to take the oxycodone before bed. Where I live, opioid dependence is an epidemic, and I really don’t want to be involved in those statistics. My pain was at about a 5, so I ice-packed my arm for a while and went to bed. Sleep was hard to find, and I felt like I had a low-grade fever most of the night.
By Wednesday morning (Day 5), I woke up with my pain at an 8. I had rolled onto my arm at some point in the night, and the pressure was excruciating. I added a new ice pack, took my Tylenol, and elevated my arm, waiting for the pressure to pass. The swelling was now down by about 70%. My skin was dry and very sensitive; the slightest tickle hurt incredibly. I could not find any advice on what I could and could not use on my poor stretched skin, so I moisturized what areas I could stand to touch with fragrance and alcohol-free lotion, which seemed to help the sensitivity. I could now move and feel my pinky, ring, and middle fingers, but my index finger was still a fat sausage of discolored pain.
By Day 6, the swelling was down by 90%. The skin on my arm that was stretched so hard had now shrunk back and was very sensitive, similar to a sunburn. I had a follow-up with my primary care doctor, who said I am doing everything right. They will schedule an appointment in a few weeks with a specialist who will debride (cut away) any dead tissue from the puncture site, indicating some secondary healing to look forward to. My mobility is improved, and functionality is at about 70%. The rest will take time to heal. I am guaranteed a pretty gnarly scar to scare small children and pushy men with though, which I see as a silver lining.
Now Day 14 the puncture site is still stiff and mildly painful, with some crazy itching under the surface. There is hard swollen tissue in the immediate area as well. I do have full circulation and sensation on my entire hand, all fingers included, and the pain is manageable with just Tylenol and light use. My gripping and pinching strength has me feeling like a helpless little girl, but it seems to improve a little every day.
This experience has been a wild ride and a stark reminder of the hidden dangers we sometimes face on our homesteads. I hope sharing my ordeal provides some clarity and preparedness for anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation. Remember, the key takeaways are to act swiftly, seek medical attention immediately, and don’t hesitate to bring a picture or the snake itself for identification. Stay safe out there, fellow homesteaders, and always keep an eye out for those sneaky sneks!
I’d like to give a shoutout to the fine folks that run the NSS (National Snakebite Support) group on Facebook and the members of the r/homestead sub on Reddit, which were both invaluable resources for personal anecdotes and professional recommendations over the last 2 weeks as I looked to increase my education on snakebite preparedness after this experience.
