Grammostola pulchripes bite

[Spidergrrl]

Last Saturday I was feeding my Ts and through my own fault got too close to my 4 inch G pulchripes just as it was going for a cricket. It managed to get its fang into my index finger. One fang was in the nail of the finger and the other was deeply embedded in the flesh of the finger.

My main concern was not injuring the spider and it was holding on for dear life. It seemed like it had its fang in me for five minutes but realistically it was probably only about two minutes while we tried to figure out how to extricate it without hurting it. Eventually we were able to use the tongs to gently pull the fang out by getting the tongs between the spider and my finger and gently rotating. The fang appears to have released cleanly and the spider appears unharmed by the incident and has eaten several crickets since with no issues.

As for my finger. There was only a small mark at the incision site and only a few drops of blood. It was pretty clear during the time the spider was attached that I was being envenomed as I could feel waves of intense pain. The finger was swollen and numb for about 24 hours after the bite. The numbness (which I attribute to the venom) gradually began to fade. However it has been almost a week and the finger is swollen and red. I am not able to find the exact incision location as it closed up pretty quickly and left no external mark. I am now getting concerned about the possibility of either long term effects from the venom or infection. I will keep the forum posted about the healing process and would appreciate any feedback or reports of other people's experiences with a similar situation.

Cheers,

Paula.

 

[Spidergrrl]

Just a small addendum. Around the area where the incision was there are a number of small red dots. Under magnification, they seem to be under the skin and contain blood.

 

[Poec54]

Good thing it wasn't an OW. Even the most easy-going species can be very violent and aggressive in attacking prey, or suspected prey. Glad to hear you stayed calm and didn't fling it.

You're going to need to revamp your feeding techniques. As an adult at 7"+, you definitely don't want that spider getting ahold of your finger again. Over the last 4 decades I've fed thousands of tarantulas and never been bitten. Your fingers don't belong near a spider, for any reason, and especially if there's prey in the cage. You never want to be near any wild animal and it's food; even some domestic animals will bite then.

 

[Spidergrrl]

You're going to need to revamp your feeding techniques.

Yes, this was pure carelessness on my part. I am usually very careful about not getting near my spiders and never handle them. I am not sure what possessed me to have my finger anywhere near the spider when I was feeding it.

 

[darkness975]

Yes, this was pure carelessness on my part. I am usually very careful about not getting near my spiders and never handle them. I am not sure what possessed me to have my finger anywhere near the spider when I was feeding it.

Might I offer a possible explanation? Unintentional complacency. You probably have the same routine for feeding that you've always had, and that combined with the relatively mild (medically speaking ) venom of the species could have contributed to some form of complacency that you were not consciously aware of.

I find it best to maintain conscious vigilance around my inverts regardless of venom potency. Treat every animal like it could kill you. Might seem like overkill (no pun intended) but in the long run it may be what saves a repeat of the event.

Cheers!

 

[Travis K]

You'll be fine. Your finger will return to normal. Just watch for signs of infection.

 

[darkness975]

You'll be fine. Your finger will return to normal. Just watch for signs of infection.

This is also true, infection from the puncture is more likely (barring any venom allergies which you do not appear to have shown).

I have a small puncture (not from an animal bite) that is now healing but was giving me issues for the last week.

@OP you should be fine, the worst has passed.

 

[Poec54]

Might I offer a possible explination? Unintentional complacency. You probably have the same routine for feeding that you've always had, and that combined with the relatively mild (medically speaking ) venom of the species could have contributed to some form of complacency that you were not consciously aware of.

I find it best to maintain conscious vigilance around my inverts regardless of venom potency. Treat every animal like it could kill you. Might seem like overkill (no pun intended) but in the long run it may be what saves a repeat of the event.

Agreed. You get into habits working with spiders, and sometimes techniques can get careless and sloppy with NW terrestrials. Because of that I think they're probably responsible for more bites than the fast, defensive tropicals. Stan Schultz was bitten two dozen times by his collection which was mostly calm NW terrestrials. Over the same amount of time, I've never been bitten, with a collection of primarily tropicals, with a good percentage of OW's. I can't afford to get too complacent.

 

[Angel Minkov]

OW, NW, terrestrial, arboreal, if the spider is above 2'' I only use tongs and prods. Wouldn't want to get nailed by my 7'' adult female Lasiodora sp., those 1'' fangs will hurt like hell and its just something I can save myself from

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Captain Obvious "secret": use always (long, better) tongs for feeding/maintenance etc and deal with that "rose hair" (mere example) just like a pissed off Pelinobius muticus, fast as light 'Pokie' etc and nothing will happen.

 

[viper69]

I am now getting concerned about the possibility of either long term effects from the venom or infection. I will keep the forum posted about the healing process and would appreciate any feedback or reports of other people's experiences with a similar situation.

You will likely be fine, and there's nothing you can do, ie there is no T anti-venin as there is for some venomous snakes.

In point of fact, no one can tell you if you will have permanent damage or not. We are each different, a product of our genes. However, it's HIGHLY unlikely you will ever have permanent side effects from the peptides the T appears to have envenomated you with.

This post should be transferred to the Bite Report section.

 

[Ellenantula]

I just drop non-burrowing feeders in (from a height -- not getting fingers too close) - no tongs -- just drop near T. Or not near T. They will find it.
I did have a thought re: venom (since this T shouldn't have caused a serious venomous reaction in you) that anything accidentally piercing you (paring knife, icepick) can cause pain, numbness, heat, throbbing, swelling, etc., without any venom even being involved.
I would agree main concern is keeping it clean and preventing infection.
I know I am more lax with my NWs than fasties. Bad habit to get into -- all Ts should be treated as possible biters and escapees.