P. regalis bite

[Botar]

I have a friend who was bitten by a P. regalis on Friday night around 9 PM. I believe he said the specimen is around 4 inches and sex is unknown. He is documenting the effects and I will post them in the Bite Reports Forum as soon as he has everything compiled. It will probably be a couple of weeks because he wants to document any effects that may continue over the next couple of weeks.

The point of this thread is to fill you in on two specific things he mentioned to me.

1. The bite was completely avoidable and his fault entirely. He has spent most of his life working with animals that are more than happy to inflict pain so his attitude towards them is fairly casual. In this situation he wanted to show a friend the ventral side of the P. regalis, so he put his hand in the container to move the spider for a better view. He said the spider ran from him doing laps around the container before it bit him on the finger. Had he been using anything other than his hand to try to manipulate the spider, the bite would have been avoided.

2. As it has been reported in other Poecilotheria bite reports, he suffered extremely painful muscle cramps anytime he remained motionless. He called me this morning and said that after taking 800 mg of ibuprofin, the cramps would subside for about 4 hours. His weight and age will be included in the bite report. Seems high dosages of ibuprofin can provide some temporary relief.

This particular person is pretty much tough as nails and his degree of pain tolerance may be quite a bit higher than most. However, he has indicated that he will not be placing his hand back within reach of a Poecilotheria. The genus has earned his respect.

Keep in mind, this person is very experienced with venomous reptiles and his skill in handling reminds me of the TV icons we see handling venomous snakes. As I mentioned before, he indicated the bite was completely avoidable and the T really didn't want to bite at all. This was purely a defensive bite when the T apparently decided it had no other option.

I will post in this thread to let everyone know when the bite report is available in the next couple of weeks.

Botar

 

[Ultimate Instar]

You know, I really wish I hadn't lost my P. regalis juvenile (3-4"). It apparently escaped a few days ago and it's somewhere in my bedroom.

Karen N.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

You know, I really wish I hadn't lost my P. regalis juvenile (3-4"). It apparently escaped a few days ago and it's somewhere in my bedroom.

Karen N.

I would call the exterminator.

Jon

 

[deifiler]

Hah, gotta love it when these macho "I use my hand" types get nailed.

I'm bound to get tagged sooner or later with my affinity for the carapace grip and for ventral photography though *looks for an applicable smiley but fails miserably, settling for this one*>> :8o

 

[MizM]

Wow, painful complacency!

 

[Immortal_sin]

You know, I really wish I hadn't lost my P. regalis juvenile (3-4"). It apparently escaped a few days ago and it's somewhere in my bedroom.

Karen N.

I lost mine well over a year ago, and never found her. Luckily, they are so shy, they'll probably head for the safest, darkest place...make sure and check your closet!

 

[Botar]

Hah, gotta love it when these macho "I use my hand" types get nailed.

Not the case at all. He's just a bit too comfortable with them, or at least he was.

Botar

 

[bagheera]

Perhaps a a tall open container with a few cricket may bring he/she back.

As for muscular cramps-while i am neurotoxin virgin, I would try a combination of 1 gram doses of ibuprofin combined with a muscle relaxer like robaxin. great stuff. Due to a rotator injury i DO understand muscular/slelatal pain!

 

[Windchaser]

Perhaps a a tall open container with a few cricket may bring he/she back.

As for muscular cramps-while i am neurotoxin virgin, I would try a combination of 1 gram doses of ibuprofin combined with a muscle relaxer like robaxin. great stuff. Due to a rotator injury i DO understand muscular/slelatal pain!

Well, I hope by now that he doesn't need your advice. This bite was from almost a year ago. However, it is something to keep in mind should anyone need it in the future.

 

[rbpeake1]

Perhaps a a tall open container with a few cricket may bring he/she back.

As for muscular cramps-while i am neurotoxin virgin, I would try a combination of 1 gram doses of ibuprofin combined with a muscle relaxer like robaxin. great stuff. Due to a rotator injury i DO understand muscular/slelatal pain!

I talked to an MD once about bites, and he suggested that perhaps a shot of a steroid would help reduce the symptoms. But I guess a bite is not life threatening, so putting up with some pain and discomfort and treating it with over-the-counter meds I can understand is OK for some people. But seeing an MD might be prudent.

 

[Sheri]

If only for the opportunity to recieve regulated narcotics, I would go.

 

[jmadams]

I got tagged by mine a few years ago, all I got was a little swelling. the funny thing is, my A. avic gave me a worse effect, swelling, pain, and stomach pains.

 

[Windchaser]

I got tagged by mine a few years ago, all I got was a little swelling. the funny thing is, my A. avic gave me a worse effect, swelling, pain, and stomach pains.

It may have been a dry bite.

 

[jmadams]

Thats what I was thinking.

 

[NYCspiderGuy]

If only for the opportunity to recieve regulated narcotics, I would go.

I was actually wondering about that... if Ibuprophen(sp?) or acetaminophen are GOOD, isn't Vicodin BETTER?

Seriously, are there interactions with venom that might make stronger painkillers dangerous?
If it happened, I know my first reaction would be to want MEDICATION...
Hoping NOT to need this info, but rather have and not need, than need and not have!
(Or I could call Rush's maid for some Oxycontin...)


***About lost ornamental - another Boards member was telling me last night that more than one lost P.was found at night crawling on ceiling (OVER BED!) or on walls... Maybe RedLight bulb in room and calm for a while? Perhaps will climb? Not my experience - just relaying story.
I would STILL check the CLOSET though, as another said earlier!
Good luck!

 

[MizM]

Perhaps a a tall open container with a few cricket may bring he/she back.

As for muscular cramps-while i am neurotoxin virgin, I would try a combination of 1 gram doses of ibuprofin combined with a muscle relaxer like robaxin. great stuff. Due to a rotator injury i DO understand muscular/slelatal pain!

I'm thinking I read in "Forum" magazine that a shot of potassium ?sulfate? would end the muscle spasms. Well, it was some kind of potassium>

 

[bagheera]

If only for the opportunity to recieve regulated narcotics, I would go.

Just act like you don't really want them, they are needed. Barring that, I have found that breaking into tears works! :liar:

 

[ScorpionBob]

I would imagine that there are a ton of variables to throw into the whole bite symptom discussion. I am sure that many people react differently to T venom. Thus all the variables. Height and weight. Allergies. Amount of venom. Age. As far as meds I would definately agree with anti-inflammatories, and I guess the muscle relaxers could help too. As someone else said earlier in the post some of these things could be dangerous in combination with the venom or symptoms. I.E. low blood pressure...but I'm no expert....Heh, Heh...

 

[shogun804]

excellent im looking forward to reading up on that bite report...not that i enjoy other peoples pain, just curious about that type of stuff its interesting

 

[BlkCat]

I was actually wondering about that... if Ibuprophen(sp?) or acetaminophen are GOOD, isn't Vicodin BETTER?

Seriously, are there interactions with venom that might make stronger painkillers dangerous?
If it happened, I know my first reaction would be to want MEDICATION...
Hoping NOT to need this info, but rather have and not need, than need and not have!
(Or I could call Rush's maid for some Oxycontin...)

Good luck!

I would have to say that the interactions with the pain killer would depend on how exactly it killed the pain. For example: There are tons of ppl that get migraines. Due to migraines being caused by differ things in differ ppl, then only random, if any, medications will work.
My friend gets very bad migraines. She cant sleep, eat, move.... she cries in pain. She has tried everything to get them to go away. She did finally find a med that worked every time. She will cut a Methylenedioxymethamphetamine tablet into 4ths. She will take 1/4 of it and the migraine goes away. That medication releases high amounts of serotonin in the brain. This regulates regulation of mood, heart-rate, sleep, appetite, pain and other things. (according to dancesafe.com) This med has a very low interaction rate due to it being soaked into the stomach lineing and only releases "feel good" neurotransmitter. But of course any med that makes great strides in the theraputic world will be illegal.
Basically all I am saying is that it depends on exactly what the venom does to ur body. When that info is aquired, then u can make strides toward the right pain killer or muscle relaxer to ingest.