Stung by a P. Leiosoma

[carpe scorpio]

Word. Should've gone to to doctor a long time ago. Screw the bad publicity, you need help.

biznacho

Please read posts on previous page.

 

[pandinus]

well, we are all glad to hear you are still in the game, and i wish you a speedy recovery. Given the extreme dosage of venom, i would say you are doing rather well. When this is over, it would be helpful to others to post a sting report. I am still amazed a 4" liosoma could go unoticed for 6 months, but none the less, it is a beautiful scorp, but still, the most important thing is that you get better. I'm praying for you buddy, hang in there.


John.

 

[carpe scorpio]

I'm amazed that it could survive for 6 months without any water!.

 

[pandinus]

i'm not, i have heard of scorps going six months without air!

 

[Tim R.]

lol, I'm not amazed at all that it went unoticed for 6 months, I never see mine.

 

[ldcsteelers]

Kelly, Hope your ok dude. Its a good thing your wife is watching you. You should check your blood pressure and make sure its doesnt get too high. It sounds like you've experanced a type III envenomation.

http://www.kfshrc.edu.sa/annals/152/94139ar.html

Only you know how you feel, but don't hesitate to seek medical attention if you need it.

We'll watch this thread for updates on your condition.

 

[carpe scorpio]

In this case Hypotension would be more likely than hypertension.

 

[PIter]

i'm not, i have heard of scorps going six months without air!

Wasent there a scorpion that survived 13 months in a sealed tupperware box with out water, food or oksygen supply. I'm sure i read it on this site.

 

[pandinus]

Wasent there a scorpion that survived 13 months in a sealed tupperware box with out water, food or oksygen supply. I'm sure i read it on this site.

quite possible.

 

[Fergrim]

update on kellys status? :/ /worried/

 

[carpe scorpio]

update on kellys status? :/ /worried/

Yes, I was also hoping to hear from him. He may be resting.

 

[fusion121]

I think you have to question whether regulation is a good thing or a bad thing. The blanket restriction on buthids is a tad annoying, in the UK DWA legislation, however all other scorpions can be kept. Personally I don't have any big beef with it, if you know your a responsible and knowledgeable keeper you should be confident enough to know you'd be given a license if they were introduced (a total ban would not be the course of action taken).

I don't think theres any need to cover up, the press have better things to worry about then a keeper being stung by one of their pets, at most it would a quirky story on one of the back pages. Furthermore some scorpions are very dangerous animals, it seems logical to regulate the selling of at least some species. It worries me when I see posts on line saying " I got my first emp a month ago, now I think ill go for a L.Q.", generally in barely comprehensible grammar. While as a keeper I might find legislation annoying, I understand the need for it, especially in somewhere like the US where dangerous species are far more easily obtainable then here in Europe.

 

[pandinus]

he has a point, but i disagree that the press may not run with it. if he claims it was in a suitcase like suggested, we may get a headlines like "NEW DEVELOPEMENTS IN THE WAR ON TERROR! SCORPIONS PLANTED IN SUITCASES!", or "TERRORISTS WAGE WAR WITH DEADLY ARACHNIDS!!! HOMELAND SECURITY INCREASES TO CODE MAUVE!"

 

[PIter]

he has a point, but i disagree that the press may not run with it. if he claims it was in a suitcase like suggested, we may get a headlines like "NEW DEVELOPEMENTS IN THE WAR ON TERROR! SCORPIONS PLANTED IN SUITCASES!", or "TERRORISTS WAGE WAR WITH DEADLY ARACHNIDS!!! HOMELAND SECURITY INCREASES TO CODE MAUVE!"

Now thats one shitty way of wage war! Though a quite good one. ;P

 

[carpe scorpio]

I think you have to question whether regulation is a good thing or a bad thing. The blanket restriction on buthids is a tad annoying, in the UK DWA legislation, however all other scorpions can be kept. Personally I don't have any big beef with it, if you know your a responsible and knowledgeable keeper you should be confident enough to know you'd be given a license if they were introduced (a total ban would not be the course of action taken).

I don't think theres any need to cover up, the press have better things to worry about then a keeper being stung by one of their pets, at most it would a quirky story on one of the back pages. Furthermore some scorpions are very dangerous animals, it seems logical to regulate the selling of at least some species. It worries me when I see posts on line saying " I got my first emp a month ago, now I think ill go for a L.Q.", generally in barely comprehensible grammar. While as a keeper I might find legislation annoying, I understand the need for it, especially in somewhere like the US where dangerous species are far more easily obtainable then here in Europe.

Legislation is never the answer, signing a waiver would work however. If they banned them, I would break the law.

 

[pandinus]

i am sure they would not ban them, but would probably require permits. If i am not mistaken, don't they do that with venomous snakes here in the US? Don't you have to get some sort of authorization or permit or something?

 

[Eurypterid]

Fusion, you really need to spend some time in the States. This is not the UK. I agree that there is little chance that seeking medical attention would get the press involved, but not for the same reason. Basically, they just aren't skulking around the ER looking for such a story, and the medical personel are looking at some potentially nasty consequences if they get caught leaking patient treatment info. However, if it did somehow come to the attention of the press that someone had been seriously envenomated by a pet scorpion, there are lots of media people who would blow it all out of proportion. And the fact that some idiot went and started calling one species a Deathstalker doesn't help. If someone died from the sting of a pet exotic scorpion in this country, or if it became known that someone was hospitalized with a life-threatening sting, I guarantee that there would be a huge media frenzy, at least on the local and probably state level. No matter what species was involved, the name Deathstalker would be in every article, even if everyone knew it was some other species, just because it gives the impression that scorpions are deadly.

And the legal response would not be rational or reasonable. Rather than try to figure out which were dangerous and which were not, or to put into place an essentially unenforceable reasonable permit system (even the state "experts" can't identify most scorpions), there would be a blanket ban or something close to it. There are many precedents. On the local level, a number of communities have already banned any venomous animal, including scorpions, with no regard to the threat posed by a specific species. In Florida, there is a state permit law (which is not actively enforced - meaning they don't look for people violating it, but if you are found out, they will prosecute) which in reality amounts to a ban for the average hobbyist, because the requirements to recieve the permit are only reasonable for a large-scale importer or dealer (like the handing over of up to 4 type specimens for each species kept, with no regard for the threat posed by the animal). Such a law is exactly the kind of thing that would probably keep a scorpion hobbyist from going to the hospital if he/she got tagged.

A minor exception is made for Pandinus, Hadogenes, Hadrurus, and Heterometrus. But even then the exception is not official; it is simply an agreement not to insist on compliance made because these species were already well-established in the pet trade and the state knew it would have been made to look idiotic by people in the trade for trying to ban pets well known to be harmless. By the letter of the law, all exotic scorpions and tarantulas (millipedes, centipedes, mantises, etc.), no matter how harmless, are illegal in Florida without a permit. I've posted how rediculous this permit requirement is in earlier threads, but basically you have to give up 2-4 adult specimens (non-returnable - just how much would 5 Apistobuthus (1 for you, 4 for the state) cost you, if you could even get them?), pay a fee, and the permit is only good for 2 years, at the end of which you are required to dispose of the animals by a method you have to spell out in your permit application. And you need to get a separate permit for each species kept. Assuming you only kept 1-2 individuals of each species, it would cost you anywhere from $30-$600 per scorpion! And that's assuming they grant you the permit, which is totally based on whim, not on any eveluation of your ability to keep them responsibly (which is not assessed as part of the permitting process).

Michael Moore was right about Americans: as a society we're scared to death of everything, and when we're scared of something, our automatic reaction is an over-reaction. The Florida law was passed because one person saw hissing roaches for sale in one pet store, and then freaked out. Rather than make an educated attempt to regulate things, the state just passed a blanket restriction on all exotic terrestrial arthropods that amounts to a ban for anyone not dealing with commercial quantities. Don't underestimate just how much of a threat this hobby faces in this country from bad press over even one incident. I agree that reasonable permit requirements make sense, but in the US there are generally no such things. Just look at gun registration, driver's licenses, etc. It's either all or nothing. If someone dies from a sting, no one is going to care that most scorpions are basically harmless - they'll probably be heavily restricted or banned, across the board, at least locally, and possibly up to the state level.

 

[Fergrim]

Still hoping kelly is okay :/

And if I got stung multiple times by any medically significant scorp, I'd go to the hospital right away.

 

[pandinus]

don't worry, he should be okay. if he has survived this long, it probably means the worst is over.
i'm worried for him too, but we have to be optimistic and not give up hope.

 

[carpe scorpio]

He probably feels like he got hit by a freight-train. Might be a day or two before he feels like typing. I just pray that he has no lasting effects.