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Two cases of bites by a South African psammophiid snake, Psammophylax rhombeatus , are described and analyzed. These are the first detailed reports of local envenoming by a Psammophylax spp. While handling a wild-collected 1 m P. rhombeatus , the snake inflicted a protracted bite proximal to the metacarpophalangeal joint of digit #5, left hand of a 24−year-old male amateur herpetologist. Local edema persisted for three days, but no pain or other signs or symptoms including non-specific autonomic effects (e.g. headache, nausea) occurred. In a second case, a 28−year-old male herpetologist-photographer was repositioning a 0.58 m female P. rhombeatus in order to photograph the snake and her egg clutch, when the snake bit the metacarpophalangeal joint of digit #5, left hand, and briefly advanced its jaws. The bite caused mild local pain, progressive edema of the left hand, and arthralgia; resolution required almost 1 week. Bites from non-front-fanged snakes such as these by P. rhombeatus are uncommonly reported in comparison with those described for front-fanged snakes (e.g. Viperidae, Elapidae). Therefore, documentation of bites even with minimal effects provides information essential for the construction of an accurate medical risk profile for these less-known species. • Historical review of anecdotal reported bites caused by Psammophylax spp. • Brief inventory of the genus Psammophylax (Psammophiidae). • Description of two cases of local envenoming by the spotted grass snake or Skaapsteker, Psammophylax rhombeatus. • Victims reported similar progressive local edema, functional limitation of manual dexterity, and resolution within 1 week. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]