KittieKat

i have a columbian shark in one of my tanks and yesterday i was doing water changes on all of my tanks.
well i had moved a decoration out of the tank so that i could siphon under it.. but the shark likes to be behind this vase deco. i have a whisper filter in the tank behind that and the shark swam under it to get away from the hose but i had to move to the underneath of the filter next.
when i did this the shark got scared and kindof got stuck for a second but continued struggling until it was free to shoot out and cut my hand with its dorsal fin.
i know that there are venom glands at the base of the dorsal fin so my question is... will the venom cause any damage?? the cut was bleeding all over the place and it hurt really bad (im pretty good with pain).
it still hurts really bad to use my right hand so is it me just freaking out or did the venom do something??

i googled everything i could think of to get an answer but didnt find ANYTHING so its been 24 hrs and i guess after reading that someone else was injured by a venomous fish it kindof scared me into writing..

≈ D ≈

Tom

I don't think anything will happen. It is only an irritant and not a venom. So nothing to fret over, just the cut could become bad if not properly cared for. lol
Tom

Bishop169

Keep it clean and plenty of antiseptic keep an eye on it if it starts to swell or the area around it becomes really red head to the doc

Some signs of poisoning or allergic reaction would be feeling faint excusive sweating hives swelling and fever if you show even one of these signs dos time show more then one like 2 of them 911 time...

But I'm not failure with the toxin from this fish but it could be like a bee sting you may turn out allergic anaphylactic shock is something more scary then poison

COBettaCouple

The spines are connected to venomous gland and the venom in their glands is very irritating and could lead to infection but treating it properly really puts that to a minimum and most cuts that we get give some risk of that - which is why we put antibacterial stuff on a cut.

I'd see your doctor for a preventative mild antibiotic if you're concerned - more to put your mind at ease than anything else. I can't say it's 100% certain that it's not a worry, but it does sound like the chance of an infection isn't great and I think you'd feel other symptoms.

MissMTS

I would go to the doctor just in case. Is your hand feeling any better?

KittieKat

UPDATE!!

my hand is much better. no pain or anything... ive been dreadfully sick since the 14th oddly, granted i doubt it has any relation to the incident. so yeah... not dead! woo! no worries! glad i asked for other opinions tho... thanx everyone!!!

COBettaCouple

Good to hear the update. Yea, I'm sure any effects of the cut are gone - it just gave you major irritation.