Tarantula hair

[fried rice]

I really want a tarantula but I don't know what to do. Im worried about their hair. What would happen if I breathed in tarantula hair and how do I avoid getting it on me?

 

[chanda]

Don't handle the tarantula. Tarantulas are like fish - best as a "look at but don't touch" pet.

When doing any sort of cage maintenance (such as cleaning out dead feeders, molts, or poop) use long tongs/tweezers - or wear disposable gloves if you're really worried about it. Tongs are best for cage maintenance anyway because that way you're not sticking your fingers into the enclosure - where some species might be tempted to bite them. The tongs should have rubber-coated tips so if the tarantula tries to bite them, it is less likely to injure its fangs. Also, many tarantulas will routinely flick hairs around their enclosures, just to build up a defensive perimeter. The hairs may be mixed into the substrate and any webbing, so don't handle substrate or webbing with your bare hands.

Don't put your face right next to the tarantula. When they flick hairs, the hairs typically only travel a few inches - it's not like they'll be blasting them across the room!

If you need to do a complete substrate dump - where you remove the tarantula and any hides, water dishes, or decor from the tank, then dump out all of the substrate and replace it - do it outside, keep your face well back from the cage, and if you're worried about it, wear a dust mask. (This is not something that you are likely to need to do very often - or even at all - if you keep the cage clean and well ventilated.)

 

[fried rice]

thanks

 

[cold blood]

1. You should never stick your face close enough to a tarantula or into a tarantulas enclosure far enough where the hairs would be a concern about breathing them in.

2. You avoid hairs by not handling them and not keeping the enclosure open when they're flicking. Avoiding hairs isn't difficult.

3. Hairs often take a great deal of time and exposure before they really affect people. For instance I felt no effects from them for 15 years , it wasn't until I started rehousing and unpacking them on a regular basis that I started to even notice anything.

 

[fried rice]

ok

Im really excited to get my first tarantula

Im going to make a new thread soon and I will have a poll because im not sure what kind of tarantula I will get

 

[sasker]

Hazmat suit...

Seriously though, I have kept tarantulas for only 5 years now and I don't have a large collection (currently 11, mostly new world) and I have never been haired. Just don't bother your tarantula and be cautious when doing rehouses saves a lot of trouble. And don't do anything stupid, like clearing out enclosures with your bare hands (on account that there are many urticating hairs in old substrate) as @chanda explained. Most problems can be avoided. You should be fine

 

[cold blood]

Im going to make a new thread soon and I will have a poll because im not sure what kind of tarantula I will get

I would like to seriously urge you to just use the search function. There are dozens probably hundreds of threads already in existence that discuss the best beginner tarantulas. Literally every single one of them has the same information.

 

[Nightstalker47]

You're being quite paranoid IMO, most NWs will pretty much never kick unless they are being harassed. There are exceptions, a small handful of species are notorious kickers, so do your homework before you settle on one in particular.


You can also look into species that lack urticating setae, if you react to the hairs worse than others.

 

[corydalis]

ok

Im really excited to get my first tarantula

Im going to make a new thread soon and I will have a poll because im not sure what kind of tarantula I will get

This will be useful:

https://arachnoboards.com/threads/tarantula-information-for-beginners-and-more.318718/

 

[chanda]

You can also look into species that lack urticating setae, if you react to the hairs worse than others.

...except most (if not all) of the species that lack urticating hairs are not particularly well suited for a first tarantula, being either old world species or speedy arboreal new world species, and either way having a more potent venom than their more "prickly" counterparts.

 

[cold blood]

...except most (if not all) of the species that lack urticating hairs are not particularly well suited for a first tarantula, being either old world species or speedy arboreal new world species, and either way having a more potent venom than their more "prickly" counterparts.

I agree.

Avics might fit....while they have urticating hairs, they do not flick them like most others....so if you don't handle them, hairs won't be an issue aside from possibly unpacking it.

 

[Asgiliath]

Don’t try to a kiss a T. stirmi. I learned the hard way.

 

[TwiztedNinja]

This is something I was paranoid about, when I first started the hobby

But yes, its easy to avoid them. No longer worried about it

 

[Feral]

There's been some great advice given. My two cents...

Just to clarify, the urticating setae have two ways to bother you:
-through mechanical irritation, which everybody who is exposed gets to one degree or another. They're kinda like a bunch of little bristles/burrs that get imbedded in skin and aggregate it. In addition to the different classes of urticating setae, there is also variance by species. Different species have differently shaped urticating hairs and therefore have varying degrees of irritation. The number of setae that get ya can also affect how irritating it feels by sheer volume.
-through acquired sensitization/allergy, which can happen because of repeated exposure over time. It's a thing that can happen on top of the mechanical irritation.

Also, we should be just as wary of eye exposure as respiratory exposure. So if a person felt it appropriate to wear a dust mask in some situation, like previously mentioned, then eye protection would also be needed. Either eye or respiratory exposure would require medical attention. But as others have said, it can be avoided with certain precautions.

Thank you for doing research before you get an animal, that's awesome!

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

. Either eye or respiratory exposure would require medical attention.

Curious, is there anything that can be done if one was to inhale the hairs? I know in the eyes can cause blindness. Can they be removed from eyes or throats? I'm not too worried about it, as im pretty sure it would take stupidity on my part or a wind storm for it to become an issue. But admittedly, I did worry about it a bit when I read that my LPs hairs are worse than say an Albo's. In my 19 days of experience, I *think* I got some hairs in my arm when I washed out it's old deli cup. Was just itchy for a couple of days, if that's even what it was.

 

[Feral]

Curious, is there anything that can be done if one was to inhale the hairs? I know in the eyes can cause blindness. Can they be removed from eyes or throats?

As has been said, prevention is key and usually not too difficult. Great practical advice already given.

For respiratory exposure, I can't say, I'm no doctor. All I can accurately say is that it could be bad news, or worse, to breathe hairs.

I wrote out a big thing about what a physician might do for a case of respiratory exposure, but i deleted it because it's all speculation, because I am definitely not a doctor. Just know that eye or respiratory exposure could be a serious problem and should be evaluated by a doctor, if it happened, and know there are things that a physician can do. That's probably all anyone should say about the medical side of it.

(A physician can remove the seta manually in the case of eye exposure, but I don't know if they can or would manually remove hairs in respiratory exposure or not. But there are other things that can be done. In any case, talk to a doctor, not me.)

I know that the setae can and SHOULD be manually removed from the SKIN by a person at home with tape. After the hairs have been removed from the skin as much as possible with tape, then the area can be thoroughly flushed water. After all that, later on sometimes lubricating lotion/oil could be used if wanted. Topical or oral antihistamines could be used if there is an actual separate allergy.

Eye exposure/damage is the much more commonly encountered situation, compared to respiratory exposure. It even has its own name, "ophthalmia nodosa".

So yeah, I deleted the long medical thing I wrote. Just basically go to a physician for eye and/respiratory exposure. Every time, no exception.

And prevention is key and usually not too difficult... With a little sense, a little knowledge, and a little prevention nearly all exposure can be avoided.

 

[viper69]

Tarantulas don't have hair.

If you get their setae in your eye, that is a very, very issue that may lead to blindness. This is documented in med lit.