Tarantula hairs

[Sharon kelly]

I have a question I'm hoping someone could answer in regards to my sons Goliath Bird eater. His pet died a few days ago so today I decided to clean out the cage, I'm not really into spiders but since it was no longer in the enclosure I felt fairly safe. Anyway during cleaning it out my arms and neck started getting really itchy. I mentioned it to my son and he just shrugged and said it was most likely tarantula hairs that went into the air when I was scoping it out. It almost feels like Fiberglass. It's still very itchy after a few hours but no redness or anything. I did put some hydrocortisone clean on it after I cleared the area. My question is would I know right away if I ingested the hairs into my nose or lungs or would I start having problems a few hours later. I'm just worried I should be more concern even though he isn't.

 

[viper69]

Your son should be more concerned.

You are having the typical reaction most humans, and likely other animals, have to a T's setae, they don't have hair (only mammals have hair). Most New World tarantulas have urticating setae on their abdomen (some species elsewhere) as a defensive mechanism. They are microscopic in size, and are the equivalent of porcupine quills. That is, the more you scratch the deeper the setae go into the skin. Many New World Ts also lay them down on their webbing and substrate (what they walk on in the cage).

Each person's reaction/s to setae is different, some have no reaction, some react only to specific species, some react only after years of exposure.

Length of reaction varies for each person, day/s to weeks. Redness/itchiness often accompanies by "heat bumps" or small raised blisters. Don't pop them, ie, there's no need to do so.

The one area you should be careful with is your EYES. People who get urticating setae in their eye can have permanent damage to their retina, ie loss of vision, this is clinically documented in the literature. Typically symptoms for the eye appear in about a week. Your eye typically gets red, sort of like Pink Eye, and a bit itchy at times. If one didn't own tarantulas you may likely never know the difference. The continued rubbing of the eye drives the setae deeper into the eye. The setae can be viewed visually with magnification by an ophthalmologist.

As for your lungs, I don't know. I speculate you would have to breathe in a lot of setae for a reaction to occur, if it would occur at all. The lungs have a very large surface area and tend to wall areas off when a foreign substance is detected.

I would imagine if brought into your nose you may have the same or similar allergic reaction that you have having now, and I speculate the reaction would sooner not later unlike the eye.

It's also helpful to apply adhesive tape to your skin BEFORE you scratch.

 

[Sharon kelly]

My eyes, face and nose seem to be fine, just my neck but the redness is gone now but I still have slight itchiness. I wasn't thinking I guess when I cleaned her enclosure out since she was no longer in it I figured it would be safe, I was just trying to be helpful. I will be more careful if I ever clean out any other the other enclosures he has now.

 

[viper69]

My eyes, face and nose seem to be fine, just my neck but the redness is gone now but I still have slight itchiness. I wasn't thinking I guess when I cleaned her enclosure out since she was no longer in it I figured it would be safe, I was just trying to be helpful. I will be more careful if I ever clean out any other the other enclosures he has now.

You may not know for about a week regarding your eyes.

The setae easily float in the air. Sometimes out of no where I'm sitting at my computer and a few heat bumps develop even though none of my Ts flicked their setae off the dorsal side of their abdomen in defense.

You may want to wear latex gloves next time.

 

[Sharon kelly]

Thank you for the reply by the way. I was just worried as I don't usually go around any of his pets that have more then 4 legs.

 

[lalberts9310]

Next time when you clean, try wearing a tight long sleeved shirt, disposable gloves, a face mask and goggles if you have them. This will minimise the risk of urticating bristles getting embedded into your skin or entering your nose, mouth or eyes.

 

[viper69]

Thank you for the reply by the way. I was just worried as I don't usually go around any of his pets that have more then 4 legs.

Anytime.

 

[Sharon kelly]

You may not know for about a week regarding your eyes.

The setae easily float in the air. Sometimes out of no where I'm sitting at my computer and a few heat bumps develop even though none of my Ts flicked their setae off the dorsal side of their abdomen in defense.

You may want to wear latex gloves next time.

There won't be a next time. He can clean his own enclosures.

 

[Sharon kelly]

Next time when you clean, try wearing a tight long sleeved shirt, disposable gloves, a face mask and goggles if you have them. This will minimise the risk of urticating bristles getting embedded into your skin or entering your nose, mouth or eyes.

I can't believe how irritating the hairs can be. Thanks for your reply.

 

[viper69]

I can't believe how irritating the hairs can be. Thanks for your reply.

Like many allergic reactions, sometimes the reaction gets worse with increased exposure.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Your son should be more concerned.
The one area you should be careful with is your EYES. People who get urticating setae in their eye can have permanent damage to their retina, ie loss of vision, this is clinically documented in the literature. Typically symptoms for the eye appear in about a week. Your eye typically gets red, sort of like Pink Eye, and a bit itchy at times. If one didn't own tarantulas you may likely never know the difference. The continued rubbing of the eye drives the setae deeper into the eye. The setae can be viewed visually with magnification by an ophthalmologist.

What clinical literature exactly did you find this information? I would like to have a read myself and have my doubts on a lot of these above statements. I checked the medical literature via PubMed through my employer, which is a hospital, and could not find anything about retinal damage permanent or temporary. Plenty of clinical documentation on eye inflammation and penetration of the cornea and surrounding tissues by urticating hairs, but nothing about retinal damage. It seems like the hairs get embedded in the front of the eye before making it to the back. Also I found that effects of the urticating hairs in the eye can be felt shortly after (not days after) penetration and was cured with some kind of steroid eye drops. I'm not an ophthalmologist so I can't elaborate on what it is, but I've had eye infections before (red eye) and that was treated similarly to how treatment from urticating hairs in the eye are described.

 

[viper69]

What clinical literature exactly did you find this information? I would like to have a read myself and have my doubts on a lot of these above statements. I checked the medical literature via PubMed through my employer, which is a hospital, and could not find anything about retinal damage permanent or temporary. Plenty of clinical documentation on eye inflammation and penetration of the cornea and surrounding tissues by urticating hairs, but nothing about retinal damage. It seems like the hairs get embedded in the front of the eye before making it to the back. Also I found that effects of the urticating hairs in the eye can be felt shortly after (not days after) penetration and was cured with some kind of steroid eye drops. I'm not an ophthalmologist so I can't elaborate on what it is, but I've had eye infections before (red eye) and that was treated similarly to how treatment from urticating hairs in the eye are described.

Hey Apho!

I'll find the document sooner or later. Here's the link from a news article with the quotes from the physician. It was this news article which lead me to a specific paper.

I'm not sure if I found the paper under Ophthalmia nodosa or not on PubMed, I believe there are about 14 cases in the literature. Though some of the cases deal with catepillar setae, which produce an even greater acute allergic reaction than Ts. Setae in the eye is serious business in my opinion.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/EyeHealthNews/tarantula-attack-pierces-owners-eyes/story?id=9458010

Below is a quote from the physician out of the news article.


"Shah said hairs stuck in the outer part of the eye can cause scarring to the cornea. If the hairs migrate into the area between the cornea and the iris (the colored part of the eye) Shah said the inflammatory reaction can cause pain, light sensitivity and can even create enough pressure in the eye to cause damage to the optic nerve. If left untreated, barbs in that area of the eye could cause scarring and cataracts.

Shah said the case of the 29-year-old British man was particularly severe.

"Somehow, one of these hairs got all the way to the back of the eye... and that can cause problems with the retina."

The paper I read had images of the eye, w/some arrows pointing to the setae. I'm not sure if I saved it or not.


Here's another article I read at one point.

http://www.nature.com/eye/journal/v17/n3/full/6700335a.html

I don't have access to the other articles on PubMed at the moment.

I wish I had saved the original article I'm thinking of.

 

[tonypace2009]

Hey Apho!

I'll find the document sooner or later. Here's the link from a news article with the quotes from the physician. It was this news article which lead me to a specific paper.

I'm not sure if I found the paper under Ophthalmia nodosa or not on PubMed, I believe there are about 14 cases in the literature. Though some of the cases deal with catepillar setae, which produce an even greater acute allergic reaction than Ts. Setae in the eye is serious business in my opinion.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/EyeHealthNews/tarantula-attack-pierces-owners-eyes/story?id=9458010

Below is a quote from the physician out of the news article.


"Shah said hairs stuck in the outer part of the eye can cause scarring to the cornea. If the hairs migrate into the area between the cornea and the iris (the colored part of the eye) Shah said the inflammatory reaction can cause pain, light sensitivity and can even create enough pressure in the eye to cause damage to the optic nerve. If left untreated, barbs in that area of the eye could cause scarring and cataracts.

Shah said the case of the 29-year-old British man was particularly severe.

"Somehow, one of these hairs got all the way to the back of the eye... and that can cause problems with the retina."

The paper I read had images of the eye, w/some arrows pointing to the setae. I'm not sure if I saved it or not.


Here's another article I read at one point.

http://www.nature.com/eye/journal/v17/n3/full/6700335a.html

I don't have access to the other articles on PubMed at the moment.

I wish I had saved the original article I'm thinking of.

cataracts

Definitely don't want cataracts you think tarantula setae are bad I had cataract surgeries and they actually stick scapuls and needles in your eye to insert implants. But when you have been completely blind for the last 8 months in 2011 needles and scapuls aren't that bad. Eye pressure itself has a lot to do with your vision and even high blood pressure can effect your vision before I could even get OKed for my surgery they did extensive testing and eye pressure test was one of them. To be exact after surgery on my left eye the eye surgen had to stick a needle in my eye to remove exsesive pressure. Anything that gets into your eyes can get drasticly bad real quick.

 

[Oreo]

There won't be a next time. He can clean his own enclosures.

My thoughts exactly! Sorry he lost his pet. Any idea why/how it died?