Sicarius sp care info

[Tcollector]

Well I finally found a true spider I actually like. As soon as I seen these I've been wanting some. I have some questions though.

1. Are these communal at all?

2. What are the size of the container that I will need?

3. Do these eat once a week?

4. Who sells them?

Just a FYI I am very aware of the venom potential of this species. I've kept a number of scorpions and tarantulas for almost a decade so I'm not a complete noobie. I am new to true spiders though.

---------- Post added 06-12-2015 at 10:18 AM ----------

Never mind. Found the care requirements from this forum. They did not pop up at first
...

 

[Arachnomaniac19]

I'd get a few true spiders before you get a Sicarius sp.. They're a lot faster than what they seem.

 

[pannaking22]

What scorps do have experience with? If you've kept some of the hotter desert ones then you're probably set for Sicarius since care and security are basically the same.

 

[Venom]

What you said:

Well I finally found a true spider I actually like. As soon as I seen these I've been wanting some. I have some questions though.

1. Are these communal at all?

2. What are the size of the container that I will need?

3. Do these eat once a week?

4. Who sells them?

Just a FYI I am very aware of the venom potential of this species. I've kept a number of scorpions and tarantulas for almost a decade so I'm not a complete noobie. I am new to true spiders though.

What I heard:

"I was watching Youtube and I found this awesome cool killer spider and now I want one. I don't know anything about it, but I know that I want one. My questions are:

1. I want a seething colony of venom. How many death machines can I put in one tank?

2. I have no idea how to keep these contained. Is a small kritter-keeper secure enough?

3. How many times in one week can I show off to my friends the stealthy ninja-like sand-surprise secret cricket assassination attack trick, cuz that is mad cool.

4. I'm not deeply embedded or involved enough in the hobby to already know who has/ sells these. So...who is dumb enough to sell what is probably the MOST toxic spider on earth, to a recently-returned, out-of-the-loop first-time true spider keeper?

FYI, I've kept a rosie and an emperor a while back. I've been on the forum for a year (that's long enough to be "knowledgeable and experienced," right?) but I know all about these spiders, except for everything about keeping them. So don't tell me I'm a newb because I sound like one. It's not like it's hard to be safe with high-speed, venomous creature....agh...crap! what just bit me? Stupid *#*#*$ rosie, I thought you could handle these!?"



Sicarius spp. are for EXPERTS, not people who think they are cool. If you don't already know everything about these, you are not the right kind of keeper to be having them. Period.

Oh, and the answer to Question #4 is that probably NOBODY is going to sell you one, not for a long time.

 

[Biollantefan54]

I want one of these and know for a fact I would be alright owning one but....I SERIOUSLY think there should be some kind of restrictions on these. Since any one can by them, bites are bound to happen and the media will jump all over it.

 

[scott99]

I have not desire to owe one. I mean, I don't want animal with that venom toxic. There not even that cool or anything. It not worth it.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

@Venom
Definitely you are right. Sicarius hahni is probably the most toxic spider of planet earth. And while they don't seem much defensive, they are very fast.
I have only a question.. you have lots of valid reasons, and i agree with you, but how you can be completely sure that no one will not sell him (or to sell Sicariidae spiders to other, beginners, people) one specimen?
This question because, lately, i have seen too much for me (imo) Sicarius hahni videos on YT, and in one of those, an English man who i talked to, doesn't looked to me expert. That's not good news.

 

[Venom]

@Venom
Definitely you are right. Sicarius hahni is probably the most toxic spider of planet earth. And while they don't seem much defensive, they are very fast.
I have only a question.. you have lots of valid reasons, and i agree with you, but how you can be completely sure that no one will not sell him (or to sell Sicariidae spiders to other, beginners, people) one specimen?
This question because, lately, i have seen too much for me (imo) Sicarius hahni videos on YT, and in one of those, an English man who i talked to, doesn't looked to me expert. That's not good news.

Thank you, and yes, I share your concern. No *responsible* hobbyist would sell a Sicarius to anyone but a well-initiated keeper. Several keepers who do sell these state outright in their terms of service that Sicarius spp. are not available to everybody who asks to buy one, but only to persons deemed capable and responsible. But I have seen what you mean--too many on YouTube, it would seem, have gained access to this species.

I don't know who specifically is selling them so loosely--perhaps one of the cadre of people with whom I am always contending on here---the people who say "it's not *that* bad, here watch me handle it--see, it's not mean!" There is always a contingent of hobbyists on here who are too concerned with un-demonizing spiders, and not enough concerned with keeping people and the hobby safe. Instead, therefore, of limiting access to toxic species, they take the attitude that "since this spider is NOT the spawn of Satan, anybody can be safe with it," which is also not true. While it is true that most highly toxic spiders are not Dr. Doom out to get you, it doesn't follow that just anybody can keep them, either. But, the people who want to de-scarify spiders go too far in the opposite direction, and are probably dealing too loosely with Sicarius, along with other species of medical significance. If there's ever a highly-publicized accident with a venomous spider, it'll be the hazard down-playing crowd who let it happen...which is why I continually try to keep people here apprised of the true risks, and thus the need for safety. The most toxic a species is, the more exclusive to the experienced it should be. I only wish everyone on here agreed.

 

[Anubis77]

I want one of these and know for a fact I would be alright owning one but....I SERIOUSLY think there should be some kind of restrictions on these. Since any one can by them, bites are bound to happen and the media will jump all over it.

Might as well restrict widows, recluses, every buthid and Poecilotheria too. How many A. australis stings happen vs how many are kept? And those do cause human deaths. Sicarius doesn't have confirmed human deaths. Just speculation on sphingomyelinase D concentrations and rabbit tests in one study. Seems knee-jerk to deem them too dangerous to keep, especially when they're extremely reluctant to bite, unlike many tarantulas. They aren't venomous snakes. Newbies shouldn't keep them but no need for legal restrictions.

 

[Biollantefan54]

Might as well restrict widows, recluses, every buthid and Poecilotheria too. How many A. australis stings happen vs how many are kept? And those do cause human deaths. Sicarius doesn't have confirmed human deaths. Just speculation on sphingomyelinase D concentrations and rabbit tests in one study. Seems knee-jerk to deem them too dangerous to keep, especially when they're extremely reluctant to bite, unlike many tarantulas. They aren't venomous snakes. Newbies shouldn't keep them but no need for legal restrictions.

Ok....you have a point....I take back my statement

 

[Venom]

I don't think we need legal restrictions. As a hobby we could handle this ourselves. No legislature is going to understand the animals or the hobby as we do. What I would like to see is no WTB ads for toxic species allowed by novice posters, and an understood rule in the hobby that some species are not sold to the inexperienced. I think the forum / hobby can self-regulate better than it is doing, but can do so without the intervention of lawmakers. We can handle this, I just wish we would come to some agreed-on policy for how and to whom we sell highly toxic species. The hobby needs a better, more peer-enforced consensus on dealing species of medical importance.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Let me tell you my opinion about. Un-demonizing potent venom spiders (potent it's not even the right word for Sicariidae spiders venom imo) and potent venom OW Theraphosidae (they killed no one, ok.. all of us knows this) is, for me, the other "side of the medal" of handling videos, the sell of OW T's to not prepared people etc.. joking with the hobby.
After all (don't want to go OT now, just a little example) we doesn't know what a Stromathopelma calceatum venom can do if a perfect, wet bite, is delivered to a 10 years children in a delicate body part (neck, for istance).
Do you people know? Me, not. I leave a small door open for doubts, even if i know they aren't "lethal".

Now, Sicarius hahni.. no one can 100% prove that their venom can kill a man (even if i do believe that they have the "power" to be able to, my opinion) because, after all, we have not trusted, medically accurate, bite reports except for speculations.
But assuming, just for talking, that they aren't deadly.

I think that, fair enough people, would agree with me that they can mess your body really really bad (and they can), no?
This means for me that they doesn't need to be put under a restriction, or sort of. They have to be banned from the hobby. For the SAFETY of the entire hobby.
Ban, complete bans of spiders and Theraphosidae, actually DO happens, and in a blink of an eye.

If people got bitten by those "hot", rest assured, the whole mass media lying machine would be on the frontline, and it's hard, when you are sitting in front of the law, at the "wrong side" of the table, to convince someone full of prejudices, that yours "like an hand big", fast, hairy, Theraphosidae are harmless and they have nothing to do with them.
I'm not talking about USA now, because USA is a nation that is a union of 50 states.. so for me a total, complete ban of spiders and Theraphosidae would be highly unlikely, in all of the 50 states.
Plus, the American public in general, even the first "man of the street", knows very well that "Tarantulas" are almost harmless. They were featured in a lot of movies, USA have native T's, in USA was then/is still today perfectly normal (compared to here and few other nations! Some things, sadly, aren't granted by God, ah ah) to have a "Brachy" at home.

But in Europe could be a total, different story. I'm not aware of European countries were people owned "T's" in the late '60, '70, '80.. save maybe for England (i can be wrong, uh, correct me if i am) so the "mentality" is different (hope you can understand what i'm trying to say due to my English)
Yeah.. however; they aren't a Pterinochilus murinus "bite in your face", but if they start to go viral, sooner or later something bad can happen.
That would be too late for Spiders and Theraphosidae serious, honest, enthusiasts. They will highly risk to lose their right to own their beauty OW Poecilotheria spp. (for instance) T's
Only because someone wanted so badly to have Phoneutria, Hexathelidae, Sicariidae etc

---------- Post added 06-12-2015 at 09:45 PM ----------

No legislature is going to understand the animals or the hobby as we do.

Indeed, 100% true. They don't even know the differences between a spider and a scorpion. But this doesn't mean that they can't put a ban, if they want.

 

[Tcollector]

What you said:


What I heard:

"I was watching Youtube and I found this awesome cool killer spider and now I want one. I don't know anything about it, but I know that I want one. My questions are:

1. I want a seething colony of venom. How many death machines can I put in one tank?

Actually I've always been attracted to any species of spider or scorpion that can potentially be kept communual. I could care less about venom.


2. I have no idea how to keep these contained. Is a small kritter-keeper secure enough?

I have a whole separate room for my hobby. The room is 100% sealed and locked with a key. My hotter enclosures are also under a lock and key. The specimens that I have that are considered medically significant are inside a secure enclosure that is inside a big aquarium ALSO 100% sealed and under key.

3. How many times in one week can I show off to my friends the stealthy ninja-like sand-surprise secret cricket assassination attack trick, cuz that is mad cool.

Actually I have no friends or family so how will this be possible? This is for ME and I could care less about what anyone else thinks.

4. I'm not deeply embedded or involved enough in the hobby to already know who has/ sells these. So...who is dumb enough to sell what is probably the MOST toxic spider on earth, to a recently-returned, out-of-the-loop first-time true spider keeper?

Actually I'm not into true spiders itself. I have never felt the need to keep them. Most of them I run into in my state and where I live is Lycosoidea sp, Loxosceles reclusa and Latrobectus sp. We also have many other species I live with and learn about. I learn about them just by living here and hiking/camping allot.

FYI, I've kept a rosie and an emperor a while back. I've been on the forum for a year (that's long enough to be "knowledgeable and experienced," right?) but I know all about these spiders, except for everything about keeping them. So don't tell me I'm a newb because I sound like one. It's not like it's hard to be safe with high-speed, venomous creature....agh...crap! what just bit me? Stupid *#*#*$ rosie, I thought you could handle these!?"

Yeah, I've kept a rosie and a imperator before. About 8-9 years ago. I have put hrs into researching this species. However I prefer to ask a experianced keeper on how to maintain a certain species in captivity. It's better to sound like a noobie rather than having a specimen die in my care just because I did not have the proper set up. I use to be on this forum for a few years but I got tired of constantly seeing sensitive people like you who wants to look big on computer by trashing someone's thread by acting like a complete douche. So in terms I deleted my account. Which I'm about to do again.


Sicarius spp. are for EXPERTS, not people who think they are cool. If you don't already know everything about these, you are not the right kind of keeper to be having them. Period.

I'm no scientist if that's what you mean by being a "expert".

Oh, and the answer to Question #4 is that probably NOBODY is going to sell you one, not for a long time.

That's fine by me because most of my stuff is imported. This species is very easy for me to get. I just prefer to buy local just because I'm really starting to hate the idea of importing.

---------- Post added 06-12-2015 at 11:56 PM ----------

What scorps do have experience with? If you've kept some of the hotter desert ones then you're probably set for Sicarius since care and security are basically the same.

I've kept a number of them. I've kept barks and desert species. Androctonus sp is by far my favorite to work with. I have cared for L. quinquestriatus and H. arizonensis which is the only other 2 I've worked with that was not Androctonus.

I have experiance with H. paucidens and P. imporator also. I'm hoping to add H. spinifer to my collection soon.

---------- Post added 06-13-2015 at 12:14 AM ----------

I did not read everyone's replies. To me this thread was a waste of my time. I am by no means a intermediate or a beginner. I am a huge collector of tarantulas and scorpions only. I am just now getting into true spiders that are exotic. Sicarius sp is just one of them that I am after thus far. I only have first hand experiance with true spiders by living in Ohio. Most of my current experiance deals with allot of old world tarantulas. Mostly Poecilotheria and different baboons. My scorpion experiance started at P. imperator and I'm now caring for some of the hotter species today. Do I personally feel fit to care for Sicarius and learn about it by observing? YES. This was not a choice made overnight. Then again most of my choices in this hobby is not. For example.. I was just offered a S. calciatum but I by no means do not feel comfortable with them yet so unlike a noob on a impulse buy trip I did not take it. I only keep things I personally feel comfortable caring for. Pokies was a impulse buy when I was younger but luckily I learned from my mistake and actually learned and grew into them. Now I've lost count on how may I have.

So what I'm saying is this... before you go and judge anyone be sure to at least get to know the person before seeing them "unfit" to care for a hotter species of anything.

I personally think there should be a limit or restriction on allot of this stuff. Including some species of tarantulas and scorpions. However I don't see how that is always possible. I also breed and sell but not on this forum. If I knew someone did not have certain amount of experiance with a certain species I will flat out not sell to you a specimen that can cause allot of harm.

---------- Post added 06-13-2015 at 12:32 AM ----------

I'd get a few true spiders before you get a Sicarius sp.. They're a lot faster than what they seem.

That's what I hear lol.

 

[Anubis77]

I think that, fair enough people, would agree with me that they can mess your body really really bad (and they can), no?
This means for me that they doesn't need to be put under a restriction, or sort of. They have to be banned from the hobby. For the SAFETY of the entire hobby.
Ban, complete bans of spiders and Theraphosidae, actually DO happens, and in a blink of an eye.

Again, where do we draw the line? Loxosceles spp., Leiurus quinquestriatus, Andronctonus spp., Centruroides spp., Scolopendra subspinipes? A kid can go out and catch himself a billion black widows and let them crawl all over his face on Youtube titled "Hey, senator of my state, look at these unregulated, dangerous pets I'm handling!" if he wants. Guarantee you there's more risk to people from endemics kept as pets and other common, dangerous arachnids.

I don't think we need to self-ban species from our hobby. Keep them available. Sellers just need to be vigilant about who they're selling to, and, at least on AB, they are. There are a few people selling Sicarius spp. right now, and they all have a minimum age + intelligent discourse requirement. Don't sell to the "ayy yo, u sellin dem hella deadly sick spiders?" who uses his mom's credit card. Ask the rest if they've had experience with buthid scorpions or similar. Sicarius aren't harder to keep contained.

It would be nice if we were a large enough hobby to set something like USARK up for arachnids.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

That's fine by me because most of my stuff is imported. This species is very easy for me to get. I just prefer to buy local just because I'm really starting to hate the idea of importing.

---------- Post added 06-12-2015 at 11:56 PM ----------



I've kept a number of them. I've kept barks and desert species. Androctonus sp is by far my favorite to work with. I have cared for L. quinquestriatus and H. arizonensis which is the only other 2 I've worked with that was not Androctonus.

I have experiance with H. paucidens and P. imporator also. I'm hoping to add H. spinifer to my collection soon.

---------- Post added 06-13-2015 at 12:14 AM ----------

I did not read everyone's replies. To me this thread was a waste of my time. I am by no means a intermediate or a beginner. I am a huge collector of tarantulas and scorpions only. I am just now getting into true spiders that are exotic. Sicarius sp is just one of them that I am after thus far. I only have first hand experiance with true spiders by living in Ohio. Most of my current experiance deals with allot of old world tarantulas. Mostly Poecilotheria and different baboons. My scorpion experiance started at P. imporator and I'm now caring for some of the hotter species today. Do I personally feel fit to care for Sicarius and learn about it by observing? YES. This was not a choice made overnight. Then again most of my choices in this hobby is not. For example.. I was just offered a S. calciatum but I by no means do not feel comfortable with them yet so unlike a noob on a impulse buy trip I did not take it. I only keep things I personally feel comfortable caring for. Pokies was a impulse buy when I was younger but luckily I learned from my mistake and actually learned and grew into them. Now I've lost count on how may I have.

So what I'm saying is this... before you go and judge anyone be sure to at least get to know the person before seeing them "unfit" to care for a hotter species of anything.

I personally think there should be a limit or restriction on allot of this stuff. Including some species of tarantulas and scorpions. However I don't see how that is always possible. I also breed and sell but not on this forum. If I knew someone did not have certain amount of experiance with a certain species I will flat out not sell to you a specimen that can cause allot of harm.

I was not judging you, man. I don't know you, nor i know what experience you have. I don't have the habit to judge people i don't know that did nothing bad to me.
If you read well my comments you will notice that i was talking only about Sicarius hahni spider venom, and hot spiders and hot Mygalomorphae in general, sharing my, unpopular, opinion. Even if my opinion is unpopular, i stick with mine.

Their venom is dangerous.. if a bite happens (no matter if they are not defensive) if they went viral like "beginner with OBT", that could have the power to destroy the whole, or part of it, hobby.
Hobby that, too much people, sometimes, doesn't respect in the right way, and consider things.. granted as a sort of mandatory right.
To have a "limit", in life (i doesn't figure out why the hobby have to be different) is a good thing. A life without limits doesn't always end well.
A limit decided by "you", common sense.. not by others.
My two cents.

---------- Post added 06-12-2015 at 11:54 PM ----------

A kid can go out and catch himself a billion black widows and let them crawl all over his face on Youtube titled "Hey, senator of my state, look at these unregulated, dangerous pets I'm handling!" if he wants.

Sure. But you forget a detail, now. Latrodectus mactans are a USA, native spider. Sicarius hahni comes from one of the remote deserts of Africa. Thinks, that, if a bite happens, that would be viewed as the same thing from the general public opinion?
Example. "I was making wood, and a Black Widow bitten me." it's different than die (or lose a limb, some organ failure) in a hospital for a bite from a dangerous, foreigner spider. People would start asking questions, investigate why there's a market of those etc etc

---------- Post added 06-13-2015 at 12:10 AM ----------

I don't think we need to self-ban species from our hobby. Keep them available. Sellers just need to be vigilant about who they're selling to, and, at least on AB, they are. There are a few people selling Sicarius spp. right now, and they all have a minimum age + intelligent discourse requirement. Don't sell to the "ayy yo, u sellin dem hella deadly sick spiders?" who uses his mom's credit card. Ask the rest if they've had experience with buthid scorpions or similar.

Anubis, again, imo you forget something. While i have absolutely no reasons for not agree with you about vigilant sellers and AB serious, expert keepers, there's the online market. Where everyone, via credit cards, can buy them. "Cash" or "Questions" will prevail, for you, in this case?
i have saw Lampropelma spp. depicted as "good starter arboreals" T's, on some online shops. Or, again online, someone who had Phoneutria sp. for sale.

 

[The Snark]

[SUB]Is it time? Can I? Can I? ...[/SUB]
Sigh. Okay, go ahead. Snark away.

Let's take a hypothetical. Me for instance. Say, for reasons best known to myself and the local asylum I decided I wanted to keep some hot. Say, Sicarius.
How would I post on, say, Arachnoboards, without getting a few yeraneeediot! responses? Hrrm. Those would probably be inevitable, yes?

Quite honestly, I would probably post something along the lines of the following:

Well I finally found a true spider I actually like. As soon as I seen these I've been wanting some. I have some questions though.
1. Are these communal at all?
2. What are the size of the container that I will need?
3. Do these eat once a week?
4. Who sells them?
Just a FYI I am very aware of the venom potential of this species. I've kept a number of scorpions and tarantulas for almost a decade so I'm not a complete noobie. I am new to true spiders though.


Well, not quite, but generally speaking. I'd probably start with my reason, purpose and interests but anyway, that is a reasonable post for a more experienced hobbyist to write. So how about it. everyone. Some simple direct concise replies to the original questions??

 

[Tcollector]

I was not judging you, man. I don't know you, nor i know what experience you have. I don't have the habit to judge people i don't know that did nothing bad to me.
If you read well my comments you will notice that i was talking only about Sicarius hahni spider venom, and hot spiders and hot Mygalomorphae in general, sharing my, unpopular, opinion. Even if my opinion is unpopular, i stick with mine.

Sorry but I was not aiming at you man. Sorry. Im useing my phone to reply.

---------- Post added 06-13-2015 at 01:57 AM ----------

[SUB]Is it time? Can I? Can I? ...[/SUB]
Sigh. Okay, go ahead. Snark away.

Let's take a hypothetical. Me for instance. Say, for reasons best known to myself and the local asylum I decided I wanted to keep some hot. Say, Sicarius.
How would I post on, say, Arachnoboards, without getting a few yeraneeediot! responses? Hrrm. Those would probably be inevitable, yes?

Quite honestly, I would probably post something along the lines of the following:

Well I finally found a true spider I actually like. As soon as I seen these I've been wanting some. I have some questions though.
1. Are these communal at all?
2. What are the size of the container that I will need?
3. Do these eat once a week?
4. Who sells them?
Just a FYI I am very aware of the venom potential of this species. I've kept a number of scorpions and tarantulas for almost a decade so I'm not a complete noobie. I am new to true spiders though.


Well, not quite, but generally speaking. I'd probably start with my reason, purpose and interests but anyway, that is a reasonable post for a more experienced hobbyist to write. So how about it. everyone. Some simple direct concise replies to the original questions??

Yeah, good point. I should have detailed myself better. I had a bad feeling the way I typed that. I'm a simple straight up person. I'm right to the point and question. I don't always like to explain myself.

 

[Anubis77]

Sure. But you forget a detail, now. Latrodectus mactans are a USA, native spider. Sicarius hahni comes from one of the remote deserts of Africa. Thinks, that, if a bite happens, that would be viewed as the same thing from the general public opinion?
Example. "I was making wood, and a Black Widow bitten me." it's different than die (or lose a limb, some organ failure) in a hospital for a bite from a dangerous, foreigner spider. People would start asking questions, investigate why there's a market of those etc etc

I suppose it's possible. I'm slightly surprised it hasn't happened with Androctonus or Leiurus. We've been keeping relatively dangerous species for a long time, and, as far as I know, nothing has dragged out a lot of media attention yet. So let's hope that continues.

Anubis, again, imo you forget something. While i have absolutely no reasons for not agree with you about vigilant sellers and AB serious, expert keepers, there's the online market. Where everyone, via credit cards, can buy them. "Cash" or "Questions" will prevail, for you, in this case?
i have saw Lampropelma spp. depicted as "good starter arboreals" T's, on some online shops. Or, again online, someone who had Phoneutria sp. for sale.

I know I'm being idealistic. I can't exactly say I made the absolutely most responsible species selections as a newish keeper, given that I started this whole hobby with C. sculpturatus and Mesobothus martensii, and I found enough sellers in person or online who didn't particularly care. The two Sicarius spp. slings I bought a month ago at a show were $8 and sold easily. Seller wasn't too aware of what they were. So yeah, potential problem if the spider is dangerous.

The most we can realistically do is keep warning and informing people, which I guess is what we're doing here.

 

[The Snark]

Now I'm going to take the devils advocate seat for a moment and look at hots, this hot in particular, in my capacity as a medic.

You got bit by a sicarius. You treated it promptly and after several hours showed no symptoms. Finish up the day and go to bed. You wake up in the wee hours of the night with localized rapidly spreading edema and redness at the bite site along with acute diaphoresis, respiratory distress, malaise and a pounding headache. Not feeling well enough to drive you call for us. We arrive, go through the basic motions of stabilizing you and determine this is a pretty acute case and zoom you code 3 to the ER.
The POD in the ER gets woken up and comes out blinking. The patient is really sick and attempts to explain Sicarius envenomation.

So far so good?

Well, the ER staff has about 50 to 100 bases to cover under what is uniformly known as standard diagnostic and stabilizing procedures. They treat symptomatically. For what? Well, we have the patient babbling about spider bite. We also have our own list of possible other causes.

Staphylococcus infection
Streptococcus infection
gonococcal arthritis dermatitis
cutaneous anthrax
warfarin poisoning
infected herpes simplex
chronic herpes simplex
varicella zoster (shingles)
Lyme disease
Rocky Mountain spotted fever
Ornithodoros coriaceus bite (soft tick)
insect bites (flea, mite, biting fly)
sporotrichosis
keratin cell mediated response to fungus
poison ivy/poison oak
chemical burn
lymphoma
lymphomatoid papulosis
diabetic ulcer
focal vasculitis
purpura fulminans
thromboembolic phenomena
polyarteritis nodosa
pyoderma gangrenosum
pressure ulcers
Stevens-Johnson syndrome
erythema multiforme
erythema nodosum
toxic epidermal necrolysis
(Lyell's syndrome)

Each and every one of these can produce some symptoms similar to a the devascularization effects of a Sicarius bite. Not even going into the secondary effects and symptoms if the venom has gone systemic. Shall we take the patients word and ignore all the other possibilities? Well, actually, we can't. We have to follow established medical procedures. We simply add Sicarius to the list.


And so, when someone mentions they have now decided they are going to keep an exotic hot, there are a few bases that they really should cover in exacting detail. From the known effects of Sicarius venom carefully written up to the availability of anti venom to the known established prophylaxis treatments to minimize and contain damage. And all that is just a start. In the US your hospital bill is going to resemble the price of a 787 Dreamliner, not counting follow up care. Just a little food for thought for everyone that wants to hug hots..

And by the way, with the above list, some causes can be instantly eliminated. Some can be eliminated through a simple blood smear. Some can take 14 days or some for the lab to culture. Some can take months or even years for the symptoms to develop and many months to accurately arrive at a diagnosis. And a few may never be properly diagnosed and may have been and be a companion for the rest of the patients life. But the medical profession cannot make any assumptions. Failing to cover one base can be catastrophic for the patients health and financially for the hospital.

 

[Tcollector]

I suppose it's possible. I'm slightly surprised it hasn't happened with Androctonus or Leiurus. We've been keeping relatively dangerous species for a long time, and, as far as I know, nothing has dragged out a lot of media attention yet. So let's hope that continues.

Give it time and it defiantly will.

Also.. Androctonus and LQ's are HOT but let's not forget that they are not overkill like the Sicarius sp. I've known people to get stung by both Androctonus spp and LQs without the consequence of death. However extreme caution should always be practiced allong with a few years of experiance collecting other scorpions that are not as hot and learning from fellow hobbiest. These species of scorpions still has the potential to KILL. They are more deadly to some individuals. Especially to a individual who has a illergic reaction to their venom.