The key thing to remember about Australian snakes is that their fangs are actually very small.
When compared with the Gaboon Viper at 2in long fangs, or typical rattlesnakes at a little under that, the Eastern Brown is 1/8in.
They don't need large fangs as the venom is so toxic and their prey is relatively small, frogs, lizards, rats and mice. Even being suspected of receiving a bite (often looks like a scratch), medical treatment is strongly recommended. Often, people don't know until the paralysis and excessive bleeding comes in, and then they die. Time between bite and death is 20 to 50 minutes without treatment (interim treatment greatly prolongs life). Most Australian snakes short fang/high potency venom inject into the Lymphatic system so pressure bandages to slow lymphatic flow are the effective interim treatment until effective treatment with an antivenene. No antivenene = certain death within hours.
Bitten by a Viper like a Rattler or Gaboon, and you know about it quickly from pain and swelling, although luckily interim treatment is easy with bandage and blood flow control means you are unlikely to die before you can get effective treatment with an antivenene, antibiotics, etc. Without treatment tissue damage can be very bad as the venom is injected into the blood layer, and death may take 2 to 3 days.
I was watching a show last week about a guy that was bitten by a rattler and to my complete surprise I learned something new.
DId you know that the WORST THING you can do when bitten by a venomous snake is to control your blood flow?
