Snakes do not normally bite, except when they feel threatened or cornered. They mostly come around your property during the summer periods when the weather is warm and friendly. As cold-blooded animals, they love to find homes in cozy and warm places and may sometimes find their way into your yard or home. To learn how to remove snakes from your property visit this website.
Dogs are easy targets for snake bites because they are naturally inquisitive and love to carry their new findings in their mouths. Doing this to snakes makes them afraid and strike back as a fright response since they have no legs to run or scratch.
Non-poisonous snake bites are more painful than poisonous ones, and your pet might be at risk of infection, especially tetanus, while poisonous snake bites can be fatal and lead to the dog’s death a few hours after the bite.
SIGNS OF A SNAKEBITE
- Teeth marks: When a non-poisonous snake bites your dog, it leaves a horseshoe mark, while a poisonous snake bite will leave just two fang points.
- Nervous signs: These include signs like tremors, fainting, muscle twitching, and urinary incontinence, weakness of limbs, paralysis, nausea, and vomiting.
- Tissue signs: These include damage and swelling of the wound site.
- Other signs: You might notice excessive salivation, rapid breathing, blood in urine and feces, edema, and dilated pupils.
TREATMENT OF A SNAKEBITE
- It is crucial for you to be calm as a pet owner because dogs sense fear, and this further agitates them. Call a veterinarian or take your pet to the vet immediately when you observe any signs of a possible snake bite. Don’t forget to check out an ESA Letter to ensure you can keep your pet with you.
- Do not attempt any home remedies like the use of ice or bandages as this may further exacerbate the condition. You can wash the area with flowing water to reduce the toxins or poison of the snake bite.
- Make sure to keep your dog as still as you can to prevent the poison from going into the heart. Its proximity to the heart allows the poison to spread faster to all parts of the body.
- To aid diagnosis, take a picture of the snake. Make sure to reduce the car temperature on your way to the clinic. This will help to slow the movement of the toxins in the blood.
- The veterinarian will usually administer antivenin to the dog, especially if you take it to the hospital within six hours of the bite.
- Other medications that the vet may give are antibiotics, anti-tetanus toxoid, and analgesic agents.
- Recovery takes a long time, during which you should allow your dog to rest and ensure that it has a limited range of activities. The prognosis is poor, especially if the snake bite is on the face or neck, and so routine examination is necessary during recovery.
It is important that you keep your environment clean and without debris piles because these could be suitable habitats for snakes. Also, please keep a close watch on pets during playtime and bring them in at night. It would be best if you also avoided bushes when walking your dog. If you need to remove snakes from your property, it is best to contact professionals like Nuisance Wildlife Rangers.