What To Do When Bitten by a Snake in the Vaal Triangle

When someone is bitten by a snake it can easily become a life-changing event as a serious snakebite can leave a person with a debilitating injury or be fatal in severe cases! Being bitten by a snake is a fear shared by many people however snakebite treatment has come a long way to ensure that lives and limbs are saved if effective treatment is started early. Fortunately for everyone who calls the Vaal Triangle home, there are only two highly venomous and one mildly venomous species of snakes found within the area! Bites are relatively rare, and deaths are unheard of!

1. How To Identify the Venomous Snakes of the Vaal Triangle

The venomous snakes found in the Vaal Triangle include the Puff Adder (Bitis arietans), the Rinkhals (Hemachatus haemachatus), and the Night Adder (Causus rhombeatus). The Rinkhals is by far the most common species of the 3 venomous snakes found around the Vaal Triangle. Please download or Common Snakes of the Vaal Triangle Poster for information on the snakes most commonly found in the area!

The Rinkhals is found all around the Vaal Triangle but is especially common around built-up areas are next to large open veld and out into the plots and farm areas. They prey on rodents, lizards, birds, and bird eggs but are especially fond of toads. Baby RInkhals are usually a grey colour with adults turning a dark olive to black colour, the bellies are black, and they have white bands in the neck. The Rinkhals grows to an average length of 1m but larger specimens of up to 1.5m are often encountered. When encountered the Rinkhals will stand up, spread a broad hood and spit their venom at you. If you continue to harass it, the Rinkhals will roll onto its back, open its mouth, and play dead. The venom of this species is neurotoxic which causes respiratory paralysis and death in severe cases. Fortunately, antivenom is very effective when treating these envenomations, and deaths from this species are almost unheard of.

The Puff Adder is commonly encountered around the Walkerville area, the area around Rand Water in Three Rivers East, the area around New Vaal Collieries mine (with specimens often crossing the river and found in the properties along Brandmuller Drive, and on the farm areas of Vanderbijlpark when crossing the N1 towards Vaal Oewer and Lindiquesdrift. Puff Adders mostly prey on rodents and other mammals but will also eat lizards and birds. These are short, stocky snakes growing to an average length of 0.9-1.2m in length. The colour of Puff Adders varies slightly in the Vaal Triangle area but the majority of the animals encountered are brown with lighter brown to yellow V-shaped (also called chevrons) markings that point towards the tail. Specimens that are grey with white chevrons are also encountered from time to time. The Puff Adder has a cytotoxic venom that causes immense pain, swelling, and tissue death when a victim is bitten by a snake. It is a slower-acting venom than Rinkhals and snakebite victims have enough time to get to a hospital for antivenom administration in severe cases.

Although not very common the Night Adder is also encountered from time to time around the Vaal Triangle, especially in areas where frogs and toads are commonly found which form a major part of this snake’s diet. The Night Adder grows to a length of between 0.6-1.0m in length. Its identification marker is the broad V-shaped mark that is found on top of the head with the apex of this mark ending between the eyes. The Night Adder’s colour is grey to brown with rhombic-type markings down the back. These snakes are often confused for Rhombic Egg Eaters which are harmless. The venom of the Night Adder is cytotoxic and although it is not deadly can cause severe pain, swelling and, in severe cases, localised tissue death. Antivenom is not required for the treatment of Night Adder envenomations and swelling would return to normal in a few days.

2. What to Do When Bitten by a Snake in the Vaal Triangle

When bitten by a snake in the Vaal Triangle irrespective of the species, treatment will follow the same path prehospitally. The following steps should be taken while arrangements are being made to get the snakebite victim to a hospital for further treatment:

• Immobilise the limb to prevent further movement – This can be achieved by either splinting the affected limb or simply bandaging the arm to the chest or bandaging the legs together of a patient doesn’t have to walk to get help.
• Call the Emergency Services – When bitten by a snake in the Vaal Triangle the chances of you dying quickly are slim and you should have more than enough time to get the patient to a hospital. You can call the Emergency Services for quick transportation or transport the patient yourself. The number for the Emergency Services in the Vaal Triangle are 082 911 (Netcare911), 073 610 3349 (Sharp Medical), 084 124 (ER24), 016 976 7887 (Vaal Emergency Care), or 112 from your cellphone (Provincial Services).
• Identify the snake – If possible, and it is safe, get a description or a photograph of the snake. The same antivenom is used to treat Rinkhals and Puff Adder so there is no need to capture or kill the snake and take it with to the hospital. 
• Rescue Breathing – In severe cases it may be necessary for you to assist a victim bitten by a Rinkhals with their breathing but this will be in a very rare case of severe envenomation.

When a Rinkhals spits venom in your eyes simply rinse it out with any bland liquid that will not burn the eyes although e.g. water, milk, saline, etc. The eye/s will burn and a doctor should examine the eye to ensure that there will be no secondary injuries caused by infection.

3. What Not to Do When Bitten by a Snake in the Vaal Triangle

• DO NOT apply a tourniquet – As per the recently released snakebite protocols from the Snakebite Symposium Tourniquets are only indicated when a pressure bandage is not available, the snake can be correctly identified as a Black Mamba, or a Cape Cobra and the victim is more than 90 minutes away from the hospital. Neither the Black Mamba nor the Cape Cobra occurs in the Vaal Triangle.
• DO NOT apply a pressure bandage – All the venomous snakes in the Vaal Triangle have some form of swelling and a pressure bandage is therefore not indicated.
• DO NOT cut or suck a snakebite wound – These practices are outdated and have very little to no positive effect on snakebites.
• DO NOT amputate – We often hear people stating that they will quickly amputate a body part when bitten by a snake. Please refrain from doing this, it is not necessary, and you could cause life-threatening bleeding at the site.

4. What To Do When You Encounter a Snake in The Vaal Triangle

Fortunately, we do not have a large variety of venomous snakes in the Vaal Triangle, if you can identify the 3 snakes mentioned earlier in the blog the others would be safe to easily capture and relocate if you do not want them around your property. If it is a venomous snake or you are too scared to try and capture one of the non-venomous snakes you can do the following:

• Stay calm and call a snake catcher to come and remove the snake. Please do this immediately not two or three days later as no one will be able to find the snake. Keep an eye on the snake while you wait for help to arrive.
• Make sure that you stay about 5 steps away from the snake, especially a Rinkhals which can spit its venom at you.
• Please do not try and kill the snake, it is unnecessary especially if someone is on their way to remove the snake.
• Keep small children and pets away from the immediate area.

There are a few individuals around the Vaal Triangle that will assist with snake removals that belong to the Vaal Herpetological Association and you can contact Nick van der Walt on 072 680 1681 for assistance. If you want assistance with snake identification or you have been bitten by a snake you can also contact Nick.

If you would like to learn more about our Snake Identification, Handling & Snakebite Treatment course or purchase a Snakebite First Aid kit please contact Bernadette on 076 092 5932 or bernadette@accesspd.co.za.