Dry bites A dry bite is when the snake strikes, but no venom is released. Dry bites are painful and may cause swelling and redness around the area of the snake bite. After you see a doctor, you won’t usually need further treatment, such as with antivenoms (which are medicines that act against the effects of venom). Many snake bites in Australia do not result in venom entering your body (known as envenomation), so they can be managed without antivenom. Because you can’t always tell if a bite is a dry bite, treat all snake bites as a medical emergency — call triple zero (000) and ask for an ambulance. Venomous bites Venomous bites are when a snake bites your body and releases venom into the wound. Snake venom contains poisons that are designed to stun, numb or kill other animals. Symptoms of a venomous bite include: severe pain around the bite — this might take time to develop swelling, bruising or bleeding from the bite bite marks on the skin — these might be obvious puncture wounds or almost invisible small scratches Once venom starts to spread within the body, you may develop symptoms including: breathing difficulties headache, confusion or dizziness blurred vision nausea (feeling sick), vomiting (being sick) or abdominal pain irregular heartbeat muscle weakness or paralysis (being unable to move) In Australia, there are about 2 deaths each year from venomous snake bites. CHECK YOUR SYMPTOMS — Use the Bites and stings Symptom Checker and find out if you need to seek medical help.