Nigel Marvin responds!

[MegF]

I had sent an e-mail to Nigel Marvin regarding the video we watched and commented on. I recently received this note back and some pictures. I asked him if it would be all right to post them here and he said absolutely as long as I made sure that it was clear he thought that he had done a very stupid thing. Here is the e-mail I sent to his site:

I happened to see a video of Nigel grabbing up a false water cobra and
receiving a rather hefty chewing bite from it. On our venomous forums the subject of FWC venom comes up quite often and as a keeper of FWC's I treat them with caution. I was wondering what the result of that bite was? Was there any need for medical attention, any residual effects or any effect at all? Any information would be appreciated as this species venom is still poorly understood. I've only heard or read of two bites from them and the effects were different in both.
Thank you for your time,
Meg Francoeur
Francly Corns and Chondros
www.franclycac.com (http://www.franclycac.com)
Here is the response and the photos I got as well:

Dear Meg,

Thank you for your inquiry about my false water cobra encounter. Firstly I
must admit it was a silly thing to do, letting the snake bite me in the heat
of the moment during filming! I knew its venom was meant to be mildly toxic, but of course there could have been geographical or individual variations in toxicity.
Also it was only after the event that I found out that zoos and other
keepers of water cobras like yourself treat them with great caution. Anyhow, stupidity aside, luckily no harm was done.
You can see from the Youtube clip that I bled profusely, presumably due to an anti-coagulant component in the venom. My hand swelled up within ten minutes of the envenomation (pictures attached), but the pain was not very intense, a dull throb. There was no sickness or fainting (I continued filming on a night shoot straight after the bite) and by the next morning (12 hours after the bite), the swelling had virtually disappeared. I slept well, the after-effects did not keep me awake.
I just have a small scar on my finger from the injury caused by the chewing
teeth.
Hope all this helps.

Best wishes,

Nigel

Here are the photos that he sent me:
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a300/MegFrancoeur/NigelMarvenFWCbite2.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a300/MegFrancoeur/NigelMarvenFWCbite1.jpg

All in all, I think it was great that he responded and that he was very clear in saying he was stupid to do it. I think it was pretty classy of him to not only respond, but to acknowledge a serious error and to allow others to read about it and learn.

[Will0W783]

Yes, that is pretty classy of him. I'm glad he responded. We've all done stupid sh*t at one time or another and only if we acknowledge it do we learn from it. Good for him!

[MegF]

I thought so too. He didn't have to respond at all if he didn't want to, and he could have tried to talk his way out of it as well. Rather refreshing if you ask me. This was his exact response when I asked about posting:

Dear Meg,

Of course you can post my pictures and comments on the website, as long as
you please make it clear that I do consider it a silly thing to have done.

In China now but will look at your pics on my return in November.

Best wishes,

Nigel

[Will0W783]

Cool- he sounds like a nice guy!

[siz]

I thought so too. He didn't have to respond at all if he didn't want to, and he could have tried to talk his way out of it as well. Rather refreshing if you ask me.

Yah, for sure. I'm sure many people wouldn't have repiled at all considering how embarrasing the video was, lol. Good on him :) Even if it didn't hurt much, that bite looks paaainful!

[MegF]

Sure did. His fingers looked like a hamburger grinder had gotten them! I'm sure the bite at the time hurt like heck though. I'm glad to know that the venom had little effect other than localized swelling and the bleeding. Could have been worse. The snake definitely chewed on him long enough to envenomate him.

[Smilts]

I agree it is refreshing to hear or read of someone admitting fault..... And that was a good chewing it says alot for the type of venom, that it was bleeding and mild swelling that accured from it. Seems that if you keep the chewing down you may be ok but caution is very much a better route...

[SlimeyLimey805]

like all of you, i am glad to see that he realizes that the snake bit him due to his own fault, and that he was being stupid by not realizing the fact that thee FWC was venomous. but as everyone else said, he is a nice and classy guy for acknowledging that and by responding to your email and letting you post it. because it really hate it when people get bit and try to act as if it wasn't there fault or that it was the snake's fault, its soo annoying. but anyways, thank you Meg for sharing with us :)

[MegF]

You're welcome. I didn't get notification of these posts until I decided to look. Anyway, it was great to get some kind of response. I'm happy to say that my male hydro finally decided to eat in his new enclosure. Still waiting for my female to shed and to see if her eyes look normal. Crossing fingers at this point!

[Good 'N Plenty]

Thank you very much for the post! I wish other individuals associated with Nautre/Animal Planet/National Geographic/etc type shows/specials responded as well! I've had far too many emails go out with no return. A real class act and thanks for posting the pictures too!