How venomous are western diamondbacks?

[chase556]

I live up in eastern washington state and from time to time I run into rattlesnakes which I assume to be WDB's. Earlier this summer a baby rattler bit my mother through her gloves while she was working outside. Judging from the rattles it was maybe a year and a half old. No significant damage from the bite, just severe pain from what I heard.


I figured since I'm here how venomous are WDB's? Does it vary area by area? I've been told by a lot of people in the area the ones here are not too big of a deal if you get bit, which strikes me as odd.


I am appalled at anyone who kills the precious reptiles, and my mom's pretty much the same way, for the record she let the little rattler' go. I'm not looking into getting one, just curious as to the toxicity of the bite.

[SSSSnakes]

You do not have WDB in Washington. You have Western Rattlesnakes (Crotolus viridis) and Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes. The severity of the bite is different with each case. There are many factors involved. A ny venomous bite can kill you depending on how your body reacts to it. Plus I don't know who told you, but you can't tell the age of a Rattlesnake from the rattles on it tail, unless it was just born.

[MDT]

Envenomation is a very dynamic process. A singular bite from a snake with "only pain" may bite the next dude and inject a significant amount of venom. There is no "standard bite".

[rocknhorse76]

You do not have WDB in Washington. You have Western Rattlesnakes (Crotolus viridis) and Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes. The severity of the bite is different with each case. There are many factors involved. A ny venomous bite can kill you depending on how your body reacts to it. Plus I don't know who told you, but you can't tell the age of a Rattlesnake from the rattles on it tail, unless it was just born.


Exactly what Jerry said. We don't have Western Diamondbacks here in WA. Unless its a newborn, rattlesnakes can "dry" bite in self defense, so a bite doesn't necessarily mean that you've been envonomated.

[suz1000]

The Western Rattlesnake has a Proteolytic venom. It contains cyotoxins and myotoxins. In a severe Envenomation it can cause significant damage to the skeletal muscular system in the envenomated area. That of course is not to mention the damage to the cellular structure of the tissue in that area. All venomous snake bites should be treated as dangerous and medical attention should be sought immediately. At least that is my opinion on the topic.

[suz1000]

I don't believe you should ever assume you've received a dry bite as my dad always said when it comes to rattlesnake bites you should assume the worst and hope for the best.
As a child I received several dry bites but my dad took me to the ER for all of them just to be safe.

[MDT]

All venomous snake bites should be treated as dangerous and medical attention should be sought immediately.

Plus...it's job security for me :)

[Hannibalcanibal]

Short answer: Venomous enough for you not to want to get bitten and go to the EMG room if you do.

[chase556]

The Western Rattlesnake has a Proteolytic venom. It contains cyotoxins and myotoxins. In a severe Envenomation it can cause significant damage to the skeletal muscular system in the envenomated area. That of course is not to mention the damage to the cellular structure of the tissue in that area. All venomous snake bites should be treated as dangerous and medical attention should be sought immediately. At least that is my opinion on the topic.


Forgive the naivety on the genus of the snake. Honestly most venomous snakes scare the heck out of me. It's just out of my 8 years of living in this area, even where they are common I've really never heard from anyone that ours are particularly dangerous, so I was wondering if ours were less toxic.


I know specific rattlesnakes are more deadly so I'm wondering on where this specific one sits on that scale, I get it varies snake by snake, but doesn't it also vary genus by genus? Also, you may have to forgive the lack of forsight into the more technical terms. If I were bit, there wouldn't be any messing around on my end.


On a side note, one of my Jack-Russel terriers got off his line a few years back, when he came home an hour or two later he had three bites near his nose with very significant swelling to pretty much all of his face. When I took him to the vet, I was told he was never in any real danger and that the swelling just needed to be kept down with ice. So that's sort of why I am curious

[Sublimeballs]

Dogs react differently then humans do to venoms. I've heard several cases of cottonmouth bite having pretty much the same effects youve described. And cottonmouths have some nasty venom. Along with Sydney funnel web spiders there venom is serious for us and like a rose hair turantula bite for a dog.

[MDT]

I know specific rattlesnakes are more deadly so I'm wondering on where this specific one sits on that scale, I get it varies snake by snake, but doesn't it also vary genus by genus? Also, you may have to forgive the lack of forsight into the more technical terms. If I were bit, there wouldn't be any messing around on my end.

Yes, there are certain genera that would be considered "more dangerous" than others. For instance, an Eastern diamond back can inject a huge amount of venom. Venom that can cause significant tissue destruction. The Mojave rattlesnake has not only a cytotoxic venom, but neurotoxic components as well. Intuitively, one would think that because the Pygmy rattlesnake is so small it wouldn't be a big deal if you were to be bitten. One of the worst snakebite cases I've treated was from a Pygmy. You can look up LD50 values associated with all venomous snakes. The problem is, as I stated above, envenomation is so dynamic that it is very hard to equate bites to different people. One may be the "standard man" (90 kg, healthy), the next one may be a child, the next a diabetic with vascular disease....all will have their own distinct medical presentation...