How to handle when you are bitten by a tarantula?
By jasjon
@jasjon (252)
Philippines
December 17, 2006 7:56pm CST
Tarantulas have small brains (but large for arthropods) and may react in unexpected ways to whatever they perceive as being a threatening situation for people not highly experienced with them. Tarantulas, especially the ground-dwellers, can easily be killed by even a short fall; they can be very fragile. The arboreals are far less likely to be injured by a fall, but they tend to be very fast and can easily escape and be difficult to recapture. Furthermore, tarantulas possess venom. There is no scientific evidence that any of their venoms are lethal, but bites from some species can be painful and cause unpleasant symptoms. Some people may be harmfully allergic to certain venoms. If you are bitten and have trouble breathing, see a doctor. Most tarantulas from North, South, and Central America have urticating (itch-causing) hairs on their abdomens. They can kick these in the air or in some cases press them into an "intruder." This may cause bald spots on the abdomen, which is nothing to worry about. However, these hairs can cause rashes and occasionally bad eye inflammations in humans. Keep your face away from your spiders and wash your hands after any contact with their bodies or cage bedding. Benadryl may help with rashes.
19 responses
@gotcho0O (1257)
• United States
18 Dec 06
Their bite is no more dangerous to man than the sting of a bee. The bite of some South American tarantulas may be serious. The trap-door spider, a tarantula found in the United States, grows about 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) long.
According to superstition, the best cure was a lively Italian folk dance that became known as the tarantella.
@perfectkiller (341)
• Pakistan
18 Dec 06
i can help u just let me know whats the tarantula:) some spider thingie?
@patootie (3592)
•
18 Dec 06
Ohhhhh myyyyyy .... I hope I never get close enough to a tarantula to have to worry about what I would do if I got bitten ..
I am sure they are very fascinating creatures ... but they are quite loathesome ... thank goodness here in England we have very few 'nasty' spiders to worry about ...
@xxhalo2xx (66)
• United States
18 Dec 06
Go to a hospital asfast as you canand get all the help you can get.
@vipul20044 (5793)
• India
18 Dec 06
The bite is too similar to a bee sting
It reddens and a bit of swelling and pain is seen
If you think you've been bitten by a tarantula, wash the bite with soap and water. Then hold an ice cube against the bite.
@margieanneart (26423)
• United States
18 Dec 06
Thank you for sharing that with us. I sure don't want to get bit by one, it sounds awful.
@linns31 (213)
• United States
18 Dec 06
I would just like to say thank you for posting this informative discussion. I have two pink toed turantulas and have bee bitten a couple times now. It stings for a bit then goes away. I have never had to be seen bya doctor for it and nothing else has happened to me. My last roomate got bitten and had a reaction because it started itching and swelled up a litle bit. Nothing that required a doctor. Different people react in different ways.
@unisis (1673)
• Indonesia
18 Dec 06
Of historical interest is a piece of 14th-century folklore that arose from the Lycosa tarentula (actually a wolf spider) of southern Italy.Certain individuals who thought they had been bitten by this spider would attempt to exhaust themselves by dancing wildly. This condition came to be referred to as tarantism. It has been suggested that the arachnids responsible for these episodes were actually widow spiders of the genus Latrodectus.
Also from the Middle Ages are reports of a dancing mania known as Tanzwuth that was attributed to spider bites. So-called victims would seek out minstrels who would play instruments with shrill tones; this music caused the victims to dance until they fainted. Seizures, demonic possession, and tarantula bites all have been proposed as causes of this behavior. However, no true etiology has been identified, and dancing mania still remains a mystery.
@mashimaro (1094)
• Philippines
18 Dec 06
The danger to the spider, there is also the possibility that the spider may bite, or flick urticating hairs. Spiders will bite, some more readily than others, and, though no-one has ever been recorded as dying from a tarantula bite, if you are bitten you should consult a doctor. Further more just because you have been bittern a couple of times and it didn't hurt at all does not mean you are safe. Biting is s twofold process, puncturing your skin with the fangs, and then injecting venom, tarantulas will bite without injecting venom, this is called a dry bite. Urticating hairs are hairs on the abdomen of some species, they are barbed and the spider can flick them of his abdomen with his legs, if they get into your eyes you will need to seek medical advice also.
@mashimaro (1094)
• Philippines
18 Dec 06
The danger to the spider, there is also the possibility that the spider may bite, or flick urticating hairs. Spiders will bite, some more readily than others, and, though no-one has ever been recorded as dying from a tarantula bite, if you are bitten you should consult a doctor. Further more just because you have been bittern a couple of times and it didn't hurt at all does not mean you are safe. Biting is s twofold process, puncturing your skin with the fangs, and then injecting venom, tarantulas will bite without injecting venom, this is called a dry bite. Urticating hairs are hairs on the abdomen of some species, they are barbed and the spider can flick them of his abdomen with his legs, if they get into your eyes you will need to seek medical advice also.
@serrabuttega (268)
• Italy
18 Dec 06
I simply have terror of the spiders… above all of those large ones
