What’s your reaction to urticating hairs?

[BlackVenom]

I was wanting to see other people's reactions to urticating hairs. Also curious to see photos and info on what tarantula you had the reaction too. I'm no doctor so I tried my best coming up with describing a severe, mild, and low reaction.

Here's a photo of my arm after dealing with my T. stirmi.

 

[JimM]

So far (several decades) I've never had a reaction at all, not even at itch.
Then again I don't go sticking my face in my Bracy's rear.

 

[Najakeeper]

I don't mass with anyone in the T room but when I touch something the reaction is usually mild itching for a few hours. Of course I haven't unpacked 200 angry imported T.blondis like some of my buddies.

Note that I have been bitten by a venomous snake with potent venom and showed no violent allergic reaction to it even though I was close to losing my thumb due to severe necrosis.

 

[barabootom]

I have a severe reaction to T blondi hairs only. Everything else is from no reaction, to an hour or two of itching.

 

[skippy]

my hands get a little itchy when dealing with a brachy, lasiodora or theraphosa sp... for a couple hours, that's all the reaction i've ever had.

 

[QuantumGears]

I've only been haired twice. The first time wasn't bad, some mild itching that dissipated within 24 hours. The second time was horrible for some reason. I would wake up itching. It was exhausting. I resorted to gnawing at my hand to get it to stop. :evil: All of this from a G. rosea of course.

Sorry I don't have any pictures, I never broke out in a rash.

 

[micheldied]

I've had B. smithi, G. Rosea, L. Parahybana, and now T. apophysis.
Never even felt any hairs before, though my Ts rarely ever kicked hairs.
This might change with the Theraphosa as they grow though...

 

[CombiChrist]

I voted "severe reaction", even though there is no visible red rash for long. But after taking out the old soil in the tank I bought the T.stirmi female in, it took only about an hour before the itching started.
It wasn't very red or rashy though, but an itching under the skin showing small blisters on both hands and wrists.
Kept me scratching myself untill it bled for almost a month.

So if that was what I believe to be a reaction to old urticating hairs in the tank, I don't want to get in direct contact with them

 

[Netherland]

My T stirmi haired me once! and my hand/knuckels where irritated for 3 days!
A nice advice is when you've got haired, use Duct-tape!

 

[Vespula]

I've never been directly haired, but one time I was handling my G. rosea and right after I put him back in his tank, I went to wash my hands. On my way to the sink, I sneezed. I instantly threw my hands up to cover my face, and the hairs on my hands got all over my face and eyes. It itched for a while, but wasn't severe.

 

[Johnny1320]

Forgive my ignorance, but how easy is it to get them in your eyes? Does it have to be close to your face? Just picked up a 2" B.vagans and its pretty quick to kick hairs.

 

[paassatt]

Forgive my ignorance, but how easy is it to get them in your eyes? Does it have to be close to your face? Just picked up a 2" B.vagans and its pretty quick to kick hairs.

One of the very, very few things I enjoy about wearing glasses is the way they always act as safety goggles. The only thing I have to worry about is the mild itching on my arms and hands.

 

[CAK]

I can't really vote here. I get mild reactions from Lasiodora, more viscious reactions to Pampho... But I need a belt sander or Oxy-acetylene torches to cure the itch and viscious reactions I get from Brachypelma! I pull out food bolus's and top off the water dish and I'm breaking out around my neck and upper arms. It is some of the worst itching I could ever imagine!

Joe

 

[The Spider Faery]

It depends on the species. I cringe at the thought of Nhandu hairs.

I briefly had a Nhandu colorotovillosus that caused me to get severe itching and little pinprick blisters...I like the species but I doubt I'd own one again because of this reaction. And it's not just limited to handling the T directly. If I handled any items within the cage that had hairs on them, I'd get the same reaction. It was annoying but nothing more than a localized skin reaction that did not spread past the area that was affected. So I chose 'mild reaction' (at worst).

 

[Joanie]

For the first 15 years I kept t's, I had little to no reaction to the hairs beyond a mild itching. Then, over the last year, I've started to have more serious reactions--I get a rash similar to what the pic from the OP showed, and it itches so bad I wake myself at night scratching. I assume I must have developed a sensitivity over the years.

I seem to react mostly to Brachys, though Nhandus and Acanthoscurria also bother me. I've never kept Theraphosa spp., and at this rate I probably never will.