Malcolm In The Middle

[JacenBeers]

Did anybody see the new episode where they went to the zoo and a tarantula got on the dads arm and walked up and bit his face? He got a massive swollen welt that stuck out from his face by like an inch and a half. It was fake as hell but I got a kick out of it. I couldnt figure out what kind of spider it was.

 

[jwb121377]

I read that it was a T. blondi, though I didn't see the episode so I can't say for sure.

 

[Tarantula Lover]

hey

i agree!

 

[Midwest Art]

TVT

Yeah, I only saw the commercial, missed that part of the show as I was flipping channels but it looked like T. blondi but I can't say for sure. I was itching just watching the commercial. Can't imagine putting an actor in that position, one flick and he's itching BIG TIME.

N-Joy
Art

 

[jwb121377]

I've often wonder if we (Keepers of Taratulas) are more sensitive than those that don't handle them often? I know T. blondi is a horrid hair flicker, but it seems to me the more time goes by the more sensitive I am. Just wondering if any one else has had the same reaction?

 

[Tarantula Lover]

hey jwb121377!

i agree, because we know more than them, and i was watching a show of someone who hated spiders and had a great fear of them, and she actually held one!!!! i feel just how you do!!

James

 

[Tangled WWWeb]

This is totally theoretical but maybe you are on to something.As someone with some pretty severe food allergies I know that each time I am exposed to the particular allergen my reaction is worse.Maybe its that way with urticating hairs as well.Or maybe only for people that are hypersensitive to them.

 

[MrDeranged]

Originally posted by JP version 1.0
I know that each time I am exposed to the particular allergen my reaction is worse.Maybe its that way with urticating hairs as well.

I have heard anecdotal reports of reactions to urticating hairs worsening over time. I forgot the gentleman's name at the moment, but he's from the UK and used to post on Arachnid_World all the time. Help me out here Martin

He can no longer walk into a room with B. smithi as he breaks out in hives at the site of them. This is over a period of many many years dealing with them. At first he never had a reaction. I believe that he had his son start taking care of them as his reaction to them got that bad.

Scott

 

[Code Monkey]

Like any allergic type reaction, we have the opportunity to go both ways: more or less sensitive than the public baseline. It seems that many go the more route. I've been lucky in that mine appears to have stayed pretty stable through the years which limits it to the severity of working with fiberglass insulation. Although lately, I've been noticing a swelling of my finger tips that takes the better part of a day to go down if I'm doing a lot of tank maintenance with my hands, oh oh.

 

[Lasiodora]

It's possible. Some people become hypersensitive to an allergen after multiple encounters. Others are not affected. I know that I never used to get very itchy when I got U hairs on me. I just got an edgy male B.smithi and he kicks up a storm. Now I get very red and itchy whenever I get any of my Brachys hairs on me. I try to avoid the hair whenever I can, as a result. Imagine getting Therophosa apopysis hair you. I'm itching just thinking about it.
Mike

_______________________
"QUESTION:
WHEN WILL THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH?
ANSWER: WHEN THE EARTH FALLS TO PIECES!!"
Tupac Shakur

 

[Wade]

My sensitivity seemed to kick in when my B. boehmei slings got big enough to start flickin'. Now I seem to be sensitive to Brachypelma hair in general.

On the show, they just clalled the spider a "birdeater", but I'm pretty sure it was T. blondi. At least they didn't imply that tarantulas were deadly!

Wade

 

[jwb121377]

I'm to the point now that after handling some of my t's I'll wake up in the middle of the night and want to cut my fingers off its so bad. Now I have to reserve myself to hold them only when I have company over. This practice has come in quite handy with my onward move into the old world tarantulas.

 

[Joy]

Originally posted by mrderanged
I have heard anecdotal reports of reactions to urticating hairs worsening over time. I forgot the gentleman's name at the moment, but he's from the UK and used to post on Arachnid_World all the time. Help me out here Martin

He can no longer walk into a room with B. smithi as he breaks out in hives at the site of them. This is over a period of many many years dealing with them. At first he never had a reaction. I believe that he had his son start taking care of them as his reaction to them got that bad.

Scott

That would be Mark Kent, Scott. I've heard other people say the same thing about Brachypelmae urticating setae, and unfortunately it seems to be happening to me, too. Not a big problem just handling them, but if one urticates around me I itch for nearly a full week nowadays. That's why I made the decision not to replace my B. boehmei when they all molted into males. Their hairs affect me worst of all, or maybe it's just that they're so generous about kicking them!

Oddly enough, I have grown less sensitive to T. blondi hairs over time. They don't seem to bother me at all anymore (knock on wood!).

Joy

 

[AlbinoDragon829]

Originally posted by jwb121377
I'm to the point now that after handling some of my t's I'll wake up in the middle of the night and want to cut my fingers off its so bad.

I hope I never come to that point.

 

[JacenBeers]

I bleed because of the hairs sometimes. When they get between my fingers right near the base and I scrathc them they get really badly irritated. I hate that about new world spiders and my L parahybana is such a bad flicker.

 

[Chris]

This might be a nice compliment to the bite and sting forums... add a u. hair forum!

I have been furtunate in that most of my spiders don't bother kicking hair at me. On the rare occasion that I get haired it doesnt seem to bother me much as long as I wash up straight away. I find that if you do nothing to work them into your skin they tend to wash off with running water with little to no irritation.

I seem to have the magic touch because most of them pretty much ignore that I am even there. My male blondi is the only one that gets started to kick hair... he never really sends any up he just rubs. Even my Usambaras tolerate me getting fairly close without any fuss (I know they have no hairs to flick but they usually don't like anything in their cage)

The only one that wants nothing to do with me is my lividium... she hates me! That spider never hesitates to come out and try to intimidate anyone or anything that approaches her cage. She is my little bully and I love her for it!!!

 

[chaset]

How i control urticating hairs.

Unfortunetly ive lived with Itchy skin all my life, Just kinda a hereditary defect in my family from my moms side.

when my A. Seemani flicks at me i don't notice any different than usual.

When i do cage maint, i use gloves, of the surgical kind, and when i hold a T i have thick gloves for that, mostly just to lessen the impact of a bite if it happens. When i clean the strata out of my aqariums, i put the T in a holding aqauirum and dump it straight into the garden.

and run it under hot water in the shower untill its squeaky clean
I find regular aquarium cleanings every 2 or 3 weeks (longer if a spider is in a molt phase) keeps everything happy, my Spiders really don't mind frequent strata change, they usually eat the next day, and have there webs rebuilt.

 

[Jono_mad]

so how often do u guys clean out the t cages?

 

[jwb121377]

Originally posted by Jono_mad
so how often do u guys clean out the t cages?

Juno_mad: I clean them at will, at least once every 7-8 months or so for a full wash and substrate cleaning.

Jacen: I feel your pain. When your trying to sleep is the worse, because it bugs the heck out of you.

 

[Midwest Art]

Itchy and Scratchy

Good point.

I remember Bryant Capiz saying that he was just about allergic to the irritating hairs, he used rubber medical gloves to pick certain species. I've handled 1000's over years and haven't gotten more or less sensitive.

For me, no brachy or any other species has really bothered me. T. blondi is another story, pick up a container and there they go flicking. Unless you back off moments later your arms are itchy, your neck is itchy, you are caughing up hairs, and if they get in your eyes....

N-Joy
Art