L. hesperus

[ballpython2]

I have never heard of a L. hesperus at all so can someone please give me some information on them

Like what does the L stand for?
terresterial or aboreal?

New world/old world?

slow growers like grammastola?
faster growers like obts?

Any other helpful information would be greatly appreciated thanks.

 

[nichts]

Hey it is a black widow spider

 

[Bob Bohnet]

Latrodectus hesperus, one of the "widow's", I believe this one is refered to as the "western widow".

 

[Annie3Ponies]

And if you get bit, FYI, black widow spider antivenom Latrodectus mactans, works just fine....

 

[ballpython2]

And if you get bit, FYI, black widow spider antivenom Latrodectus mactans, works just fine....

whoaaa so these things are dangerous????? hmmm I think imma not get that one.... are they big enough to see? or are they smaller than a dime even full grown.. i thought this thing was a tarantula I feel so stupid lol..

 

[Thrasher]

Hey, don't be like that =P I own 6 L. hes and when I saw this post, I thought it was a T name as well. IMO they are awsome desplay spiders, are they dangerous? Well, not to me, cuz I don't open their tanks and play with them. They often FD, or drop from their webs when bothered. I have YET known anyone who got bit by a widow. But they could be dangerous, give them fully respect and you will be just fine. They have no desire to come out of their cages and bite your fingers =P Beware that if you do get one, don't get a fully grown female, or they WILL drop sacs and those could be PAIN IN THE REAR. But they are awsome spiders.

whoaaa so these things are dangerous????? hmmm I think imma not get that one.... are they big enough to see? or are they smaller than a dime even full grown.. i thought this thing was a tarantula I feel so stupid lol..

 

[WyvernsLair]

And if you get bit, FYI, black widow spider antivenom Latrodectus mactans, works just fine....

To the contrary.. standard op is to clean the wound, give a tetnus booster if needed, and generally let the person suffer through the symptoms and give muscle relaxants and pain relievers (usually over the counter ones) as needed while the venom works it's way through. The worst of the symptoms are usually over in a couple days (if they even happen at all). Lingering effects of the venom (such as muscle spasms) may occur for a couple more weeks or not (varies by individual). Antivenom treatment for black widow bites is rarely used and then reserved only for those who are high risk for life threatening complications. The use of the widow antivenom is actually far more risky to a person's life than the bite itself (serum sickness, etc. and it is known to cause anaphylaxis and occasionally death).

 

[WyvernsLair]

Hey, don't be like that =P I own 6 L. hes and when I saw this post, I thought it was a T name as well. IMO they are awsome desplay spiders, are they dangerous? Well, not to me, cuz I don't open their tanks and play with them. They often FD, or drop from their webs when bothered. I have YET known anyone who got bit by a widow. But they could be dangerous, give them fully respect and you will be just fine. They have no desire to come out of their cages and bite your fingers =P Beware that if you do get one, don't get a fully grown female, or they WILL drop sacs and those could be PAIN IN THE REAR. But they are awsome spiders.

Widows in general are not dangerous if you give them the respect they deserve and modify how you handle and care for them as compared to other spiders. I always keep a few in jars on my desk at work throughout the year. Every now and then I even raise up an egg sac. Keeping adult females isn't a problem even when they put off egg sacs..if you don't want to raise the babies up, just take tongs and remove the sac shortly after it's made and put it in the freezer for a week or so before throwing it out. Females tend to only be defensive when they have an egg sac to protect, so long (12" handled) tongs are always best.

A coworker of mine did get bit several years ago by a male widow (most people mistakenly believe that only females bite, but that is not true). I work at a nature center and northern widows are pretty common here. It was the month/season when mature males were actively wandering about so seeing a few every day crawling around desks and walls and outside of the building and was nothing new. Apparently one was wandering around the floor looking for a date and crawled up under her pant leg. She wasn't paying attention and just thought it was a large carpenter ant (we had plenty of them running around such too as it was their season for being annoying while looking for places to set up new nests) and she slapped at the lower pant leg and figured she dislodged the ant and went about her business. She didn't realize she had actually been bit by a widow until several hours later when the muscle cramps started up in that leg. As a precaution she did go to the ER that night, but it wasn't necessary. In the long run - doctor only told her to go to the store and get some ibuprofen and benedryl and told her to only come if the symptoms got worse enough to require prescription strength meds. The next day we later found the dead male widow on the floor where she had been standing at the time she remembered she had slapped at her leg. She was fully over everything within 2 weeks.

 

[gambite]

whoaaa so these things are dangerous????? hmmm I think imma not get that one.... are they big enough to see? or are they smaller than a dime even full grown.. i thought this thing was a tarantula I feel so stupid lol..

Like other people have said, they are not dangerous if you dont put yourself in the position to get bitten. IMO, there are more beautiful true spiders than tarantulas, even though the former are obviously much much larger. You should look on the True Spiders board for some other great looking spiders, if you are interested in it.