# brown recluse found in house, help!??!



## Rounder

Ok, about 4-6 weeks ago I found a brown recluse in my house, I totally freaked out and bug bombed my house (I have a 1 story, 1500 sq. ft., 2 car garage, built in mid 1970s, 3 bedroom, 2 bath).  And I've hardly seen any critters crawling since then, (only 2 spiders so far).

Last week I got my first T, a 1.75" chaco golden knee and he is doing great.

anyhow, I found another brown recluse in my house tonight, it was in a toilet paper roll that had been sitting on the bathroom floor and when I set it on the counter out it came.  

I live in SW Missouri, we have had a VERY mild summer, lots of 80 degree days during August and I also heard a fact that brown recluse is in 70% of Missouri homes.  

Simply put, I am freaking out about these little !$#$#!%s in my house!!!!
I seriously want to call a pest control company to come and spray my house.  I have a place to put my Chaco for as long as it would be necessary until it was safe for it to return.  

Anyone have any idea how long I would need to wait before bringing my Chaco home?  

And should I even worry about getting the house sprayed and just wait til winter and let mother nature do most of the work for me.

Thanks in advance.


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## Tranz

Chffan1 said:
			
		

> Ok, about 4-6 weeks ago I found a brown recluse in my house, I totally freaked out and bug bombed my house (I have a 1 story, 1500 sq. ft., 2 car garage, built in mid 1970s, 3 bedroom, 2 bath).  And I've hardly seen any critters crawling since then, (only 2 spiders so far).


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0213_030213_brownrecluse.html

"Even where brown recluses do live, people overestimate their risk, Vetter said. In one recent case in Kansas, a family of four collected more than 2,000 brown recluse spiders in their house during a six-month period. The family found spiders on the paper towel rack, crawling up the stairs, and lurking in piles of laundry. "There were four people living in that house for six years," said Vetter, who wrote about the case in the November issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology. "Guess how many bites? None."


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## Malhavoc's

For one relax!
for two you find one brown reclusea you wil lfind hundreds.. their practically communal. and horribly have a bad rep. I doubt you wil lbe bitten by on unlessy ou do something stupid..their not going to chase you down and bite you repeatedly..despite what the truthful media says [lol] as for the chaco I have no clue how long this pesticides [depending on what they use] lasts


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## misfitsfiend

You shouldnt worry too much. As bad as brown recluse bites may be they are acctualy not very agressive at all and it is rare that people are bitten by them. People fear them so much because of all the bad things people tell you about them but they are not really that bad. but if you start to loose sleep over them the just look online. I remember a while back looking up some spider info and seeing something about brown recluse and hobo spider traps. Do they work? I have no clue but thats something you might want to try.


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## Malhavoc's

Tranz said:
			
		

> http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0213_030213_brownrecluse.html
> 
> "Even where brown recluses do live, people overestimate their risk, Vetter said. In one recent case in Kansas, a family of four collected more than 2,000 brown recluse spiders in their house during a six-month period. The family found spiders on the paper towel rack, crawling up the stairs, and lurking in piles of laundry. "There were four people living in that house for six years," said Vetter, who wrote about the case in the November issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology. "Guess how many bites? None."


beat me to it lol


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## cichlidsman

These little guys like damp areas.  I would search these places.


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## Botar

They did a survey in Missouri back in the 90's and found them in over 70% of the homes they checked... those were the ones the FOUND them in.  In this part of the country they are in almost every house.  They live in the walls and are rarely seen.  They really aren't anything to be too concerned about... you've been living with them for years.

I've also seen studies that indicate spraying pesticides may actually HELP them.  Seems they have built a tolerance to some pesticides and actually prefer dead or dying (from the pesticides) prey.  At any rate, I wouldn't spray.  If you feel you must do something, set out some of the tack paper or sticky traps.  Chances are they'll just creep you out more when you see how many they actually catch.

My wife was never too concerned about the spiders she found and killed in her house until we got married and I moved in.  Once she learned they were L. reclusa, she freaked out.  Now she just catches them and sets them on the counter for me to take care of... the evolution of a hobbyist.

Botar


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## Pheonixx

lol i see breeders selling WC (wild caught) reclusa sometimes, you could catch a bunch and make some $$$$ LOL


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## Botar

Pheonixx said:
			
		

> lol i see breeders selling WC (wild caught) reclusa sometimes, you could catch a bunch and make some $$$$ LOL


Absolutely true.  I used to flush them down the toilet every time I caught one.  I've received so many e-mails asking if I carry them, I started catching and selling them.  They are an interesting species to watch, but rather plain looking in my opinion.  One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Botar


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## WhyTeDraGon

I am by far no expert...but from what I have "heard" or seen on tv, almost every house in the US has atleast ONE brown recluse, or harmful spider (if bitten). And the bite cases are very rare for any spider, including the black widow. So you do the math, your chances of being bitten are very small, I wouldnt worry about it. I always shake my shoes and clothes as a precaution, but I dont really worry about being bitten much.
I know they're around, but I dont think they'll bother me, if I dont bother them 

~Crystal


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## Brian S

I have an idea: Start feeding them to your chaco. When you get some more youngsters you will have something to feed them.


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## Raindog

This might be of interest and could possibly clear up a few myths... http://dermatology.cdlib.org/DOJvol5num2/special/recluse.html


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## Joy

As others have said, there's no need to panic!  I'd strongly suggest you go to the American Tarantula Society site (atshq.org) and order _Recluse Spiders and the Hobo Spider _ by Dr. R.G. Breene IV (aka spiderbob).  Among other reassuring information, he states:

1) that it's very difficult to get _L. reclusa _ to bite you in the first place.  Not only are they naturally reluctant to bite (spiderbob handles them freely at his demos and has never been bitten), the structure of their chelicerae (fused) is such that penetrating human skin is difficult for them. Most bites occur because people feel something crawl on them, swat it, and inadvertently inject the venom into themselves.

2) In cases where bites do occur, they seldom result in anything but minor and temporary symptoms.  The necrotic lesions you hear so much about are a statistical rarity.

3) Immediate application to the bite site with nitroglycerin patches (1 mg./hr dosage, if I recall rightly) will prevent symptoms from occurring at all, according to a local doctor who has treated them this way with a 100% success rate for the past 15 years.

Since moving to Kansas in May, I have found over a hundred recluse spiders in our new-old house.  I don't worry about them at all, just take them outside and turn them loose.  My husband, when I finally told him what those brown spiders were we kept finding, was a bit nervous at first, but has become quite resigned to Living Among the Loxosceles.  Especially when I pointed out what a fine excuse they would make to avoid unwanted visits from the in-laws    

Joy


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## theninegates

*Recluse bite pics*

http://www.snopes.com/photos/brownrecluse.asp

A page I found on the net


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## xanadu1015

I get the desert loxosceles in my house here in NJ, but the more I hear about the brown recluse the more I want to catch one. Anyone want to send me one? 


Laura


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## iturnrocks

Rounder said:
			
		

> Ok, about 4-6 weeks ago I found a brown recluse in my house, I totally freaked out and bug bombed my house (I have a 1 story,
> 
> Simply put, I am freaking out about these little !$#$#!%s in my house!!!!
> I seriously want to call a pest control company to come and spray my house.
> 
> And should I even worry about getting the house sprayed and just wait til winter and let mother nature do most of the work for me.


To actually answer your question, spraying will most likely just provide dead bugs for the spiders to eat.  Spiders dont lick themselves like insects so residual sprays usually dont kill them.

If you seriously want to rid your house of brown recluses, put glueboards (the kind that are made to catch mice- try w@lm@rt next to bug sprays) in as many corners of your house as you can.

I lived in a 1 bedroom apartment in Overland Park, KS for a year and caught 12 brown recluses in glueboards.  I only saw 2 alive, usually showed up in the bathtub.  The ones I caught alive I released outside, as I am not a cruel person, but i keep various animals, and use glueboards to keep the unwelcomed out.

Try to get the ones that fold up to form a little glue tunnel.  That helps keep stuff from falling on them and sticking.  They are really hard to get off.  If you or something you care about (like a pet) ever gets stuck to one and you cant get it off easily, just pour regular household vegetable oil on it, and let it soak for about a minute, then it will come off easily.

We used them at a warehouse i used to work at to catch mice, and one day I started finding snakes in them, so I would pour vegetable oil on and after a minute or 2 the snakes could pull free on its own.  I saved 10 baby rat snakes that year, only 1 fatality, because the board got shoved under a pallet and I didnt find it in time.

I found an ad for glueboards that are actually made for snakes.  Fortunately they mention how to release them-






Snake Guard Glue board--This giant covered glueboard is large enough to catch the largest rattlesnake. 2.5 ft x 1 ft & 5 inches. The snakes can be released unharmed by dissolving the glue with cooking oil and cleaning the released snake with an oily rag before setting free.

Heres pretty much what I use-







If youre nervous about picking them up to check, you can get MONITOR boards which have a little window you can see in to see what youre catching.  Not as much glue on the board tho.







With glueboards, theres no need to bait, once other bugs in your house get stuck, the browns will be drawn in for the free meal.


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## Natco

xanadu1015 said:
			
		

> I get the desert loxosceles in my house here in NJ, but the more I hear about the brown recluse the more I want to catch one. Anyone want to send me one?
> 
> 
> Laura


You can get one at www.swiftinverts.com


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## tmanjim

hey rounder,

     if you are really that concerned, check out

www.brownreclusesolutions.com


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## Elizabeth

That idea that spiders don't "lick" themselves like insects do and so residual insecticides won't hurt them is not quite right. Spiders do indeed groom themselves.  

However, I completely agree with the main message, that insecticides may be a worse course of action in the long run.


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## Rounder

tmanjim said:
			
		

> hey rounder,
> 
> if you are really that concerned, check out
> 
> www.brownreclusesolutions.com


First off, my OP for this was about 18 months ago.  I've since moved because I got married.  In my old house I did find a LOT of brown recluses in the fall of 2004.  There was alot of heavy brush and timber near my house and I'm sure that contributed to the problem.  I think I got freaked out because I found several recluse within a few days at my old house.  

In our new house I've found about 4 brown recluse in the past year.  I've since done more reading on them and I'm simply not worried.  The chance of getting a bite that actually does the damage we've seen in many awful pictures is miniscule.  

Last December I found a crab spider in our bathroom, I decided to keep it and it has been disposing of any brown recluse I find, hahah.


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## iturnrocks

sorry I didnt realize that, I dont know how i ended up in this post, I know I didnt dig that far back.


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## Tleilaxu

theninegates said:
			
		

> http://www.snopes.com/photos/brownrecluse.asp
> 
> A page I found on the net



I spider that does that kind of damage is something I would not tolerate living near me.


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## oldworldspiders

*Brown Recluse based on my experience*

My advice is to call in a professional exterminator.
If I am not mistaken, Brown Recluses do not eat dead insects that they find here and there. From my experience with breeding them, they build homes with profuse incredibly sticky webbing and retreat until there prey is entangled in there webbing. Once the webbing is disturbed the spider is very responsive and is on top of its prey administering its crippling venom. Brown Recluses are called "recluse" for a reason. They do not come out and hunt prey, in fact they can go for extremely long times without food or water. From what I have heard, most bite reports are when a home has accidentaly been disturbed by your finger or what not. I am not saying that they will never rome because they will have to find there home or retreat once they leave the sac. The males will probably rome to find there mates like T"s do as well. 
Look at it this way, at least you will know that it was the recluse that bit you and you can go to the hospital immediately and get treated. Most Recluse bites turn into serious cases because the "Time" factor plays a big roll. Usualy people don't realize they got bit by a recluse until it is too late and then you have some sometimes ireversible medical conditions. 
Good Luck, and get an exterminator!


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## Elizabeth

oldworldspiders said:
			
		

> From what I have heard, most bite reports are when a home has accidentaly been disturbed by your finger or what not.
> 
> 
> 
> Most Recluse bites turn into serious cases because the "Time" factor plays a big roll. Usualy people don't realize they got bit by a recluse until it is too late and then you have some sometimes ireversible medical conditions.



EH?!  You really ought to read the available links all the way through and stick with science.  Where in the world do you get these ideas?  Way sensationalized view of L. reclusa! And just plain wrong info there...sheesh!


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## Rounder

Tleilaxu said:
			
		

> I spider that does that kind of damage is something I would not tolerate living near me.


The chance of receiving a bite that does this kind of damage is extremely rare.  They are extremely skittish and run for cover, you almost have to put your hand right on them to get a bite like the pics you linked.  

18 months ago I put 2 fingers into a toilet paper roll where a large female had setup her web.  She ran out the other side and away from me, she practically ran across my hand.  

On top of that, most of the recluse I find are pretty small, they would have a tough time even getting fangs into my skin, except in the "soft areas"

I live in Missouri and I've heard a statistic that brown recluse are in 70% of the homes here, I'm pretty sure for the area in which I live that would be considered a low percentage, it's probably more like 85%.  

They are virtually impossible to get rid of.


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