Pterinochilus murinus

Don't get bitten by this species. The actual bite didn't hurt that badly, but the venom caused my hand to swell up within a few minutes. My hand hurt like hell...so much so tht it was at least three hours before I could even fall asleep, with a sensation that felt like venom was "crawling" from the finger that was bitten into the hand.

This pain was mostly gone by noon of the next day. Shortly afterwards, though, I started getting muscle cramps over my entire body. These cramps were worst at about 36-48 hours after being bitten, and lasted for more than a week.

Overall, the cramps were more inconvenient than painful, but I would have to say that they're worse than the initial pain of being bitten. At worst, when my chest started to cramp up, it felt as if I was being stabbed by a knife (not that I know what it feels like to be stabbed in the chest by a knife, but I'm assuming it hurts a lot).

Anyway, After about 48 hours, the muscle cramps got less severe. I'm actually still getting them, but they aren't anything to write home about.

Interestingly, within the last 12 hours, the finger that was bitten started to itch and swell up again. Part of me thinks that the itching and swelling has something to do with the bite because, well, it's the same finger that was bitten. But then again, it's been more than a week since I was bitten, and I don't see why I would suddenly be getting new bite symptoms in the hand that was bitten.

Who knows? Maybe I have a fungal infection. Or maybe I recently got bitten by fire ants and don't remember being bitten.

Anyway, the fact that I'm feeling ANY effects more than 8 days after being bitten shows that this isn't a species to screw around with. And it was only about 3" max. I would certainly hate to get bitten by a fully grown specimen.

A warning to newbies: don't get bitten by a P. murinus; especially a large one. It isn't a particularly fun ordeal.

Pterinochilus murinus rcf "Usambara"

Today I got bit by my mature male Usambara as I was trying to transport it to another female's tank for breeding. He got away from me and under my legs, I was trying to prod him out and up and I felt two little pin pricks, over as quick as they started. He's got little fangs so I actually can't even see the marks. He got me on the middle finger of my right hand and it seems to have been a dry bite as I'm suffering no aftereffects.


Adrian

I got bit for the first time in 15 years!

Well, I finally got bit today! After 15 years it had to happen. You must all be wondering what tarantula species bit me? None other than the notorious Usumbara. Here is how it happened. Pixie was over here today along with Emily taking pictures for my website www.arachnomania.net
We had made a nice display area in order to take nice tarantula pictures so one by one I was taking out some tarantulas and after a while I was starting to run out of docile species. By this time I had even picked up my huge female Goliath bird eater (they even mated in front of the camera). Anyways, back to my point. I then took out my Usumbara and after a while of him running around the display area, flipping on his back bitting everything in front of him (even the plastic plants) she then started to get tired. I picked her up with my tongs and in a split decision I told Pixie to get the camera ready and I then droped the Usumbara onto my open hand. As soon as she touched my hand she latched onto my left index finger with one fangs, I right away picked her of my hand with my tongs. It was definately a dry bite but it still hurts a bit. I think I kind of overreacted at the beginning as it was my first bite in 15 years and I was expecting the worst. I put a cold compress on it and it was better. It felt as if someone was holding my finger down with a nail.
At least my first bite wasn't from a rosey.

P. murinus Usambara

At 11:00am today my usumbura bite my finger, it wasn't moving so I put my hand in the cage (DUH!) and it got my finger.
The bite didn't hurt but within secs my finger started burning and the pain shot up to my hand and swelled up alot.
I did go into the E.R, they wanted me to have a tetanus shot since I haven't had one in years.
So almost 12 hours later, it's still swelled up, not as bad and the pain has gone away alot except around the bite itself.
I think after this I sooner be in the hospital in hard labor than go through the pain from it's bite!

Penney=D

Edit: some 24 hours later and I still have them.
Even my jaw cramped up!
I'll be glad when it's all over!
Penney:8o

P. Murinus

Bitten during recapture after an escape attempt. I was drunk and showing her to a friend (she is only about 2 1/2 - 3"), with my impaired reaction time she had already made it half way accross the room and up the blinds before I got a hold of her. I grasped her in the traditional palm method and by the time I realized what a bad idea this was it was too late. She latched on and I just bit the bullet. I figured that I might as well deal with it and by the time that I finally got her back into her enclosure her fangs had spent at least a good 5-8 seconds in my flesh. Due to my inebriation it is hard to say exactly when the effects began to set in but I distinctly remember having extreme trouble getting top sleep due to body aches and severe restlessness. For the following 3-5 days I had stiffness as well as on and off pain in the joint of the thumb which recieved the bite. I had read all of the reports concerning this species aggressive nature but knew nothing concerning the severity of the bite. I the future I will spend greater amounts of time in research upon obtaining a new species. This spider is aggressive and more than merely skittish and fast. I'm talking lightning speed. I have named this spider Flash Gordon in true comic book tradition.

I got bittem by mine during a cleaing out attempt. The little thing shot out of it's web ran up my arm and out of insting I grabed it as it went over my elbow and bang got bit on the elbow. The bite didn't hurt but stung abit aftwards. I didn't have much in the way of swelling. I guess i was lucky.

3:40 PM, removed lid to communal OBT project... looked under the lid initially, but forgot to do so again a couple of minutes later when I was ready to feed.

One 3.5" escaped, ran over my hand, tried to catch it with a cup on the wall, it spooked and teleported up my other arm, up it, and then tagged me, once, before running back down and behind a bookshelf.

(bookshelf is taped up right now along all sides to prevent it from leaving as I will have to use some tools to unfasten it from the wall but have no time right now)

So far, the bite doesn't really hurt, but I am of course filled with adrenaline from the incident. Will report further if symptoms develop.

I can't believe I got tagged in my own house the day after returning from the rainforest!

4:05 - bite is starting to hurt, localized pain and soreness in the left arm. Not intolerable.

4:25 - hurting more now for sure, but nothing compared to labour pains. Though the left arm feels weird... hard to type with it a little... because of the pain and soreness, I guess, but it just feels extra clumsy. (more so than usual)

8:20 - same as last report, maybe a little better. But not worse at any rate which is good news... though it just occured to me that I think I may have been sweating a lot more than usual when I took the kids to the park. No wonder my neighbor was looking at me so strangely.

12:15 - Feeling better, not as painful... now it feels like your arm does after you get a painful vaccination. Heavy and hard to use the muscle. But no dizziness, or nausea at all since the bite. Will try and retrieve it tomorrow without further incident. Though if it gets me again, I'm cooking it for dinner.

OBT tag

Well its happened again my 3inch murinus rcf run up the tongs and bit my finger (the same one as last time) little sod, on the pain scale id say 8, no bruising tho just two little pin pricks ive had some pains in my chest gone dizzy a bit and vomited a few time now my hands cramping up aaaahhhhhhhhh aaaahhh it fooking wrecks

this is the second time this t has bit me if he does it again he can go in with my 7 inch king baboon see how tough he is then, knowin my luck by some freak of nature theyed mate think of the offspring murinus crawshyai oooohhh

I got bit twice, by a 2.5 inch obt, I was putting her in a deli cup to transport her to her new "daddy" and she ran up my arm and into my shirt.. got me on the shoulder and on the back/sideish of my neck (10ish pm) the area's are swollen, and with in an hour I was feeling dizzy and nauseated, Muscle cramping started about 15 minutes ago (3ish am), but its not too bad, just feels like I had a hard workout

Ouch!!!!

Well it had to happen. A leggy possably male. Bite on end thumb. Little pinch. Not to bad. Within 30 seconds it was throbbing like I was stung by 5 wasps. Putting hand in ice water made it worse. Lasted about 2hrs. Sholder hurts today. Thats about it.

murinus spiderling

Well I have joined the club, i got bit. The irony is that I always thought that my big murinus would bite me however it was not so. I was bitten by one of my murinus slings. i was cleaning its cage and feeding it when voom out it flies and scoots up my arm. now when something like this happens to me I always remain calm i try to remove the specimen and place it saftly back into its container. i was doing this with the sling and then it went pshyco on me, it bit three times. what i felt next was alot of pain i mean quckly boom it bit and boom pain. my arm swelled up a bit and got red. what i did was to capture it and then i ran downstairs to the freezer pulled out a slab of meat and placed it on my arm. it helped with the pain a bit. heres the best i began to feel dizzy that lasted for about 30 minutes and then faded away. what is truly agonizing is the pain. i can only describe it as blistering burn that opens up and stings and throbs intensly multiply it by about 3 and that what the pain feels like. this happened to me at about 6:15 this evening. at around 8 i felt tired took a 2 hour nap woke up and all the pain and swelling was gone. the only symptom that i have left is that the bite area is a bit purple. like many have said before this species is not to be meddeled with be very cautious when working around it

starburst baboon

This is the only tarantula i have ever been bitten by, i was topping up the water sponge, i knew it was a bit flighty but thought it would be ok i was kneeling down at the time with my face pretty much in line with the tank......the little blighter moved so quick i didnt know what wasd happening, before i knew it is was out on my face , and had sunk its fangs into my cheek!!!!! it was agony.......my eye shut up a bit and i was swollen for a couple of days damn thing .......:wall: hurt like hell

* The size of the spider: 5" adult female

* How the bite occured: Preparing for a day-long presentation, I was hurrying and became complacent. This big girl got sick of me messing with her and ran up a wooden spoon, very quickly tagged my right ring finger and ran back down the spoon.

* What type of physical damage was caused: The entrance wound itself was barely visible. Not even a tiny drop of blood. Site of bite turned white, started swelling and sweating. I felt very panicky, anticipating the horror stories I've heard, so my body released that old adrenaline rush.

* What symptoms you experienced: Immediate mild stinging sensation that kept increasing in intensity. After 15 minutes, the pain was unbearable. It was a mixture of being crushed and being on fire. Hubby took to me to urgent care to see if they could alleviate the pain.

* What medical attention you received if any: Although waiting room was full, they put me in a wheelchair and took me right back. I must have LOOKED like I was feeling pain. They gave me three shots: Prednisone, Benadryl, and something for pain... Tegratol?? Within 20 minutes, the pain was down to a manageable "10" on the pain scale... WAS a 15!!

* How long the symptoms lasted: It has been 56 hours. Hubby has been giving me muscle relaxers for the body cramps, so they have been minimal, but every muscle in my body is sore. I'm at work today so haven't taken any of the meds they sent me home with. My right hand and both arches still mildly cramping. When I flex my right hand, I have a strange "creaking" sensation.

* Any lingering effects from the bite: Will add later.

What I learned: NEVER become too comfortable with your Ts. I got in a rush and totally didn't handle this very defensive species correctly.

Follow up:

I was fortunate that my husband had a prescription for muscle relaxers, I took them for two days. But they knocked me out, so I had to stop. I had terrible cramps in the arches of my feet each night just as I fell asleep. They also woke me up 2-3 times a night. They gradually moved up to my calves and then finally subsided. I had the last one two weeks after the actual bite. Every muscle in my body was sore for 2-3 days after the cramps subsided.

Pterinochilus murinus "Usambara"

well i guess it nailed me .. dont get me wrong my Usum isnt no where near full grown ... its a lil bigger than a fifty cent peice.. well i was changing some things in its kritter keep since it was bigger enough for a small one .. and well it shot up my arm and sat there for a min.. but as soon as i went to nudge it back in . i felt more of a strong irritating itch feelin on my arm bdefore it went in.. well i was goin about making my cheese burger and well where it was wasnt really hurting .. but it kinda felt like i had some sunburn in a tiny spot.. i dont get it though .. it didnt even break skin ..

my first bite

a couple months ago i decided i would buy a more challenging species of spider. my ego made me choose the fastest spider that i could buy. a pterinochilus murinus "usambara".when it finally arrived i was ecstatic! here it was. my fast little bity thingy. i was goin to transfer it from its shipping container into its new environment. i opend the lid (inside a small beta fish tank.yeah i think of myself as a expert zoologist) i opend the lid with a pair of tweezers that were 8-10 " the little T. was less than a quarter of an inch. WELL speed racer zipped out of the shipping container up the tweezers and leaped onto my pants (the zipper of which was slightly ajar.) and bit me 6 times on the way up to my private area. and i had NEVER stripped faster in my life I couldnt have done it faster if jessica alba was in the room . luckly the spider did not inject venom. it would have really hurt. not to mention hard to explain. luckly i caught it with my lighting fast reflexes and put it in a cage.

p.s. i no longer have this T as a pet my ego got the better of me.

last night approx.11:45 i was going to feed my P.murinus i took the lid off of its box.it jumped out ran up my arm an on to the flood.when i tryed to retrive it thats.when i got poped immediately there was severe stinging,burning an swelling.it lasted about 7hrs most of the pain has left an swelling has gone down.but im haveing mild muscle cramps it felt as if 6 wasp had stung me.now i have nothing but respect for them.guess this means i joined the club.

I guess all I can say is holy hell. Someone shoot me. 7:28 pm and got tagged by a 2 ½ inch fresh import. Feels like my pinky is on fire and is twitching. The weird thing is that there was a huge amount of blood. After I recaptured her I went to sucking the blood and venom out of my finger and it was unreal to me the quantity. The pain is un real and has moved to about half way between my finger and elbow. I got bit by a copperhead snake 2 years ago and this is much more pain than that was. Stomach is cramping now at 7:50 and feeling nauseous. I’ll up date later. Took me 8 years to get bit and I wont be up set if it’s another 8.

jim

OBT Bite- (happened about a month ago)

Initial bite: felt like fire/hot nail

Here is a video explaining how I got bit.

http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/...us/?action=view&current=OBTBiteFemale2_03.flv

pics:





The effects:

5 mins: Pain traveled to elbow/muscle twinges/shaking

10 mins: Cramping in hand and arm...intense pain

15 mins: Cramping continues...pain is intense...it's moved up to my shoulder, neck, back and my teeth and gums hurt...

20 mins: Dizzy almost felt drunk, ears ringing.

30 mins: Cramping going into uper back and still severe burning pain from hand to shoulder.

40 min: Muscle cramps going into neck.

50 min: shortness of breath, equaliberim is way off, can't walk a straight line.

1 hr: Rash developing on arm, but intial bite wound is not as swollen??

1hr-20 min: Throbbing in entire arm, irregular heart beat (seems like it) and still shortness of breath.

1 hr. 45 min: Swelling in upper arm, but hand is not that swollen???

Next 5-6 hrs: Muscle cramps, elavated heart beat, dizzy, pain in upper arm/shoulder area.

Next morning: Slightly naseaus, muscles are sore but not very bad, cramping is basicaly gone, hand is no longer swollen, still have rash on arm....but I feel very wore out.

Mid-day: Hand slightly cramped/stiff....nothing real bad.

Present: Fingertip is the only sore spot, no cramping, no muscle soreness....bite area looks like a pin prick....doesn't look bad at all. When the initial bite occured there was quite a bit of blood and was gashed open slightly, it has now sealed shut.....rob

Future: Will be holding her again....I still beleive she thought my finger was food. I feed her in that same spot every day. It was totally my fault - I let my guard down and let myself get distracted.

My turn

A Usambara got loose at the store yesterday around 3 P.M. and when I was trying to get it back in it's house it nailed me on the back of my hand. The initial bite felt like fire. Shortly afterward my hand began to swell and a localized pain set in that felt like I had been stung by 5 or 6 hornets. I tried flexing my hand, putting it in cold water, hot water, even saltwater in one of the reef tanks. Nothing helped.

As soon as we closed at 6 P.M. I went to the local drug store and got some Benadryl and Advil but they didn't really help either. I headed to the house and took a percocet I had on hand and it took the edge off the pain.

Then I went to my girlfriends at 9 P.M. and gave her a full body massage so I could give my hand a good workout. It help the swelling subside a little and took my mind off of the unrelenting pain. We watched 3 movies until 4 A.M. and I had my hand working nearly the whole time. Then I went home to try and sleep through it a little.

That's when the cramps started. They were all over my body and they continued to intensify. I tried taking a Flexiril but it didn't seem to help at all. Every 10 or 15 minutes the leg cramps would launch me out of bed where I could put enough weight on my foot to stretch my calves out. I got very little sleep.

I gave up on trying to sleep around 10 A.M. and got up and took a shower. I had hoped the hot shower massage head would help a little but it had no effect either.

Now it's been about 24 hours since the bite and the swelling and wound pain are gone but the cramps seem to be getting worse. I've had to stop working on this post half a dozen times or so to stretch my fingers and relieve the cramps they're having. Both of my calves keep having horrendous cramps as well that I have to get up and walk off. You can bet that I'll use welders gloves before I touch another Usambara.

BTW, hello all. Sorry to bump an old thread but it makes more sense than starting a new thread on a topic that's already posted.