Pelinobius muticus (senior synonym of Citharischius (=Pelinobius) crawshayi)

[vespa_bicolor]

First,I have heard many conflicting reports about venom of Citharischius crawshayi (King baboon),some say it's quite bad while others say its nothing serious.This was my personal experience:

Many years ago(maybe 5 or 6 years?)I had a really big (close to 9 inch) individual of C.crashayi that I had kept for years,the biggest I have ever seen.The bite happened when I was transfering it into a bigger terrarium...I put in out on the ground while preparing the terrarium(stupid careless and foolish mistake I know,I did that because I thought these spiders are big heavy and slow).Anyway,I didn't see it moving towards me and I accidentally stepped on it.Both me and the spider were injured: one of its legs came off(luckily only the leg,never injured any other parts),and it bit me in the foot.

In my opinion,or at least in my case,the main pain comes from the huge fangs (an inch or so) stabbing into the bitten part.The wound bled for a while,probably because of the huge fangs. I didn't experience any systemic effects,only a continuing stabbing sensation in the area which lasted for hours,some reddening and slight burning,itching and prickling sensations.By the next day I was fine;all the effects had subsided.However,something else happened.I don't know if anyone has experienced this,I would be interested to hear about it.The area around the fang marks started to darken,although there was no sensation.I saw a doctor but he didn't know what it was,so I left it since I was otherwise fine.The fang marks,as well as the dark area,remained until today,and only recently that it started to fade.

This was my own personal experience;however,I have heard from other people that the venom is quite toxic and others have had worse effects from it.I'm not sure about this.Maybe that was a dry bite or very little venom was injected,or maybe I am just not allergic or sensitive to venom.I was about 1.63 m tall and 50 kg at the time,and have been bitten by many kinds of tarantulas as well as stung by numerous bees and wasps,without ill effects. Maybe those who were bitten by C.crawshayi and suffered ill effects were sensitive to venom...?I would be very interested to hear about this.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[Kriegan]

Hallo,

I’ll keep this short since I don’t have much time now to elaborate but wanted to write this report while I still had the details fresh in my memory. I had planned a romantic Christmas vacation from today until January 2nd to celebrate the holidays with my girl’s family and then with my folks back home. I needed someone responsible and with good judgement to take care of all my pets while away, so this nice lady neighbor from my floor offered and said she’d be happy to take care of my kitten and aquarium, but not my spiders. She said she was terrified of T’s and didn’t have the space for all my 10 g tanks, so I finally convinced her I’d transfer them all to smaller but safe containers to minimize her opening to food only and gave her detailed instructions.

She agreed and this morning I woke up very early before our flight and started transferring my T’s to their temporary homes very quick. My last one to move was my adult female C. crawshayi and she was in her burrow so I had to find a way to lure her out without getting her too pissy and aggressive. I have always been extremely careful with this bad girl using long tweezers for her maintenance, and had never been bitten by a T before. I started to pour some water on her burrow waiting for her to come out, but after several attempts she was not coming out. I kept pouring bits of water but I started to get concerned I might be drowning her, so I grabbed a flashlight to investigate and locate her, and saw she was ok but firmly grasping to the substrate.

I took a painting brush and gently started to prod her leg into coming out and when she finally came out I had never seen her this insanely aggressive. She was hissing loud repeteadly and in a threat pose not backing down eventhough I took my hands off her tank to calm her down and continued her transfer after 5 min. I gently and slowly started to prod her again but she was as aggressive and nervous as hell and was not moving forward. She quickly bolted at my hand and fanged my finger. It did hurt a lot kind of like a small python bite sinking its little fangs into your flesh. She didn’t let go off my hand until I grabbed the paintbrush with my other hand and pulled her back legs away from me.

I closed her tank fast and there was blood on the wound. It happened so quick I was just shocked and angry I had been stupidly bit. I quickly went to wash it and put some antibiotic. Immediately, the region was red and swollen and I started to feel a horrible burning and throbbing sensation which intensified a lot worse after 30 min. of being bit. It started to itch a bit and I did get a fever around the afternoon and had to take some Aleve but couldn’t sleep in the plane at all. I started to feel hot and sweat, but I didn’t experience any allergic reactions to the venom thankfully but all day long I’ve been having that pounding uncomfortable sensation in my hand and now it’s been fading slowly, but the pungent stabbing still at this hour has remained.

The bite hurts a lot everytime I grab something and someone shakes my hand, and now my in-laws think I’m a freak for coming over with a T bite in my hand for Christmas:wall: After being bit, I did try again and could catch and transfer her this time with a plastic glad container without being bit twice, but it’s definetely going to be fun to bother her and transfer when I get back home. Only this time I do hope it will go a lot smoother because I’m not destroying her burrow with water and annoying her that much. I had a lot of respect for this girl before, but now I’m actually going to buy some thick gloves when being too close to her knowing she’s angry as hell and will not hesitate to fang me again if I disturb her. This species will definetely put up a fight if it feels you are a threat and as soon as you hear it hiss and in a threat pose...close the container until it calms down. My advice would be not to insist in prodding or coaxing the T if it's too agressive to deal with. Instead leave it be for a while or try the freezing method responsibly to slower it down and DO NOT attempt this transfer when you're in a hurry and need to get done with it like I was:evil: Since my 10g does not fit in my freezer I couldn't try that to slow her, but now in that smaller container I think I will attempt this when I get back.

Regards,
Ulrich

 

[Kriegan]

Quick bite update

After 2 days the area has darkened and the swelling has reduced a lot, but is still visible. I have been putting antibiotic and the wound has started to heal and seal itself. It kinda looks like a small bruise in my finger and I'm no longer feeling that intense stabbing sensation I was having on Christmas morning. I am no longer hot, or have developed more fever or headache...so I am convinced there will be no major long lasting effects.

It is still very sensitive and it does hurt everytime someone keeps shaking my hand or when I apply pressure to the wound, but other than that, I have not developed anything so serious to make me want to go to the hospital, and I'm alright. I still can't believe in all the years I kept venomous I was always extremely careful and was never bit, and now I get stupidly bit by my tarantula for wanting to rush things:wall:

 

[nuclear_zombies]

tagged by a baboon

I was bit by a juvenile Baboon last year while helping a friend clean cages. The bite itself wasnt that bad, much like a wasp or a bee sting. In about an hour there was moderate localized swelling, contusion and pain (3 out of 10) that persisted for about 2 days. Over the space of a week it cleared up completely, And I would say that although irritating, it certainly wasnt as horrific as what I've heard and read. It might have been a different story with a fully grown adult, guess we'll just have to wait and see! BE CAREFUL!!!

 

[Sarcastro]

Citharischius crawshayi

Was bitten this morning around 7:30AM by 7" female while feeding.I suffered 5 large holes in my hand not much blood felt like being hit with a hammer.started out with a little swelling and localized pain,about 1hrs later there was a lot of pain in my hand and severe muscle spasms in the hand and and forearm lasting about 3-4hrs.the cramping and spasms are gone now its just really sore to the touch and very stiff.this wasn't my first bite by this beastly girl i knew what to expect but the symptoms were more intense than last time.a hospital trip wasn't necessary but i had my roommate on standby just in-case.