A question for the pros - Acanthoscurria venom

[Mojo Jojo]

Ok, it has been mentioned in another thread, that A. genicula venom is medically signifigant. I have read this a few times before in other posts. But I have nver came across an alarming bite report. And aside from some the possibility of Psalamapoes, which share some common traits of old world tarantulas, it a few times in the past, there is no evidence that new worlders have medically signifigant venom.

So what is the deal with Acanthoscurria? I'd really hate to find out that the tarantula that I recommend more than any other tarantula could be dangerous to humans.

Jon

 

[defour]

Originally posted by Big Dragonfly

So what is the deal with Acanthoscurria? I'd really hate to find out that the tarantula that I recommend more than any other tarantula could be dangerous to humans.

Jon

You can never rule anything out, but in my view if it were something to worry about we'd know about it by now. Poecilotheria venom is the most often mentioned in anecdotal talk of bad theraphosid bites, and there are thousands of them being kept worldwide. Keep in mind too, that lots of people believe that Brachypelma emilia is more dangerous than average, all because Baerg conducted a study with them. There's no reason at all to think they're worse than other brachys, it's just that he only studied one species and used mice. Research results in the hands of sloppy thinkers are dangerous things.

Heck, Androctonus spp. are genuinely deadly, and I haven't heard of any scorpion keepers being killed by one. When it comes to tarantula venom toxicity, I'll believe it when I see it, and continue to recommend species mostly based on other factors.

Steve

 

[rknralf]

It funny with the amplified feeding response of this species that there are no bite reports to speak of. One would think that an occassional keeper would get tagged and post the information somewhere?
This is a question I would really like answered as I've had 5 genic's at different stages over the past 2 years and have really enjoyed them.
Ralph