Which OW Tarantulas Have Medically Significant Bites?

Chris LXXIX

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Wise words from someone who is 13 years old, you got my respect there "son". ;)
Yeah, i like Toxoderidae style, and sense of humour. Wish to have here in Italy more youngsters like him, instead of brain dead fools.
Uh, IMO too fascinated by Soviet USSR Empire, unlike me, a White Army (Бѣлая Армiя/Белая Армия) for life man, but oh well, i'm happy <-- a la Homer, lol :angelic:
 

Chris LXXIX

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I'm not entirely sure, but medically significant does not relate to the venom only, from what I've gathered. Some species are prone to inflict multiple bites in one go, thus making them medically (or even more) significant. I believe I've read something like that about the H. maculata. Can someone verify this?
My Pelinobius muticus (seriously the most defensive, and at the same time, for me, easy, Theraphosidae i worked with so far) is able to deliver three bites in not even 5 seconds. When "you" hear the beast hissing it's too late, because not always is a warning sign, not at all. But a Berserker war cry.

Just like Airbag, milliseconds. Bite, agony, E.R. "F-Word" if i love the Goddess.
 

louise f

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Yeah, i like Toxoderidae style, and sense of humour. Wish to have here in Italy more youngsters like him, instead of brain dead fools.
Uh, IMO too fascinated by Soviet USSR Empire, unlike me, a White Army (Бѣлая Армiя/Белая Армия) for life man, but oh well, i'm happy <-- a la Homer, lol :angelic:
So this is for you friend ;)

 

Chris LXXIX

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So this is for you friend ;)

Talking about pre-USSR Russia, this man. A man who fought his life out in cold 'steppe', managed to free 'Urga' (ancient name of Ulan Bator, Mongolia), put again the Bogd Khan on his throne, died for his ideals against the savage red beast & materialism, where heroism died. Protected by the Borte Tchino spirit, protected his Christian Saint George medal from filthy Bolshevik hands even on the firing squad moment :)

He was an example, and one of my heroes :p


 

BobBarley

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I understand that people will have different reactions, but at the same time you could still categorise in a general aspect. As I don't think it matters who you are, a bite from an adult P.ornata is going to be significant. And we know that a P.ornata has much more potent venom compared to a common bee, yet some will die from a bee sting (allergic reaction) and not from a P.ornata bite.
To my understanding, most people that die from bee stings are stung by many, and are allergic.
 

viper69

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I've read the same thing about S. calceatum. Those things are fierce, man.
That is the only species that Catfishrod, an OW breeder like Poec, really remarked on as being fast, even for him.
 

Trenor

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To my understanding, most people that die from bee stings are stung by many, and are allergic.
Not always, my brother in law just got stung once and had a nasty reaction. I got stung by 27 ground hornets one time and had minor swelling. It's different for different people. But yes, usually the more you are stung the more likely your have a severe allergic reaction. Pro tip - get an old brand of deodorant that says Antiperspirant Deodorant on the label and put it on bee stings. The same stuff that keeps you from sweating keeps the swelling down but it has to have that on the label (it's usually older brands but a few newer brands make it too).

My family raises honey bees on their farm so I know some about stings and reactions. :)
 

Poec54

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I treat all of my invertebrates as if they were able to kill me. This helps to prevent the feeling of "complacency" that can creep in when you are not thinking about it. You do not want to be using your hands to clean a bunch of NW and then without thinking shove it into a P. murinus enclosure.

Long handled tongs for bolus/waste removal, disposable water dishes (salad dressing cups you can buy in bulk) that can be grabbed and replaced with the tongs, and powderless vinyl gloves (for urticating hair prevention) combined with alertness and common sense will all work together to do wonders and ensure that the chance of a bite are virtually non existent.

This is excellent advice. Don't develop sloppy habits in the first place. As you acquire more species (sometimes not planned), what you used to be able to get away with, can become totally inappropriate. You feed and water regularly, it's repetitive. Step up your habits to fit your fastest, most defensive species, and make that your day-to-day routine.

I got my first tarantula over 40 years, and got into OW's heavily over 20 years ago. I've never been bitten.
 

Chris LXXIX

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I got Russian neighbors, very friendly people ;)
Yup, they are very good "at hand" people. When i was on my 20 (25) i had Ljudmila, my ice cold gal from Belarus that called me "Dolce Pauk" (Lovely Spider, 'Dolce' is sweet in Italian, Pauk Rusky probably for spider lol) back then my family had a Bar here (Bro still own one) more or less when i meet my Chinese buddies, and i had, after the army, a percentage of a cough cough man club only, and back then was a lovely blaze of Eastern European Ladies.

Such a good time :angelic:
 
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louise f

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Yup, they are very good "at hand" people. When i was on my 20 (25) i had Ljudmila, my ice cold gal from Belarus that called me "Dolce Pauk" (Lovely Spider, 'Dolce' is sweet in Italian, Pauk Rusky probably for spider lol) back then my family had a Bar here (Bro still own one) more or less when i meet my Chinese buddies, and i had, after the army, a percentage of a cough cough man club only, and back then was a lovely blaze of Eastern European Ladies.

Such a good time :angelic:

 

Chris LXXIX

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Ah ah ah, i always conquered those with culture, talking about Samarcanda, Saint Dmitrij Ivanovic, even (LOL!) pirozhki food, Baba Yaga and Upyr legends, ah ah.

"Please, be my Matrioska, i'm sooooo lonely" <3 worked in the first half of 2000 in Italy, i doubt today, ah ah :)
 

Trenor

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Yup, they are very good "at hand" people. When i was on my 20 (25) i had Ljudmila, my ice cold gal from Belarus that called me "Dolce Pauk" (Lovely Spider, 'Dolce' is sweet in Italian, Pauk Rusky probably for spider lol) back then my family had a Bar here (Bro still own one) more or less when i meet my Chinese buddies, and i had, after the army, a percentage of a cough cough man club only, and back then was a lovely blaze of Eastern European Ladies.

Such a good time :angelic:
I liked this post cause from the little I understood it seemed like it would be a good story. :D
 

Poec54

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Some species do bite multiple times. I've always been under the impression from the literature that medically significant is about the venom toxicity, not the frequency of bites.

Some have both, like Stromatopelma. A reptilian example of that approach is Black Mambas. Africa is full of animals that don't want intruders getting close to them, and back up their threats with action.
 

Poec54

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I've read the same thing about S. calceatum. Those things are fierce, man.

Lots that can go wrong with Stromatopelma, certainly not every time, but things can get out of control in the blink of an eye and end badly. Egos aside, they should only be owned by people with long term experience with OW's.
 

johnny quango

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There's very little true knowledge available about venom and to be honest I don't think there will be for a while, but until more drugs are developed using the venom from tarantula,scorpion,snake etc we just have to wait.
There are small pockets of information about certain species but nowhere near enough to form any kind of scientific database of note. Throughout the years the potency of venom was and as been judged around bite reports and the affect on the individual writing that report also many bites won't have been reported for various reasons.
I'll give you an example of a small study I read recently crude venom obtained through electrical stimulation from Stromatopelma calceatum produced 24.1 micro litres of venom. Yet when tested using bait and then basically freeze drying the bait they found that the male S cals produced 7.7 and 7.9 respectively whereas the female S cals tested produced 9.7 and 8.1 respectively.

Also the same people studied 27 species (all female) ranging from Nw dwarf species to ow beasts. All the data gathered was through electrical stimulation (I don't agree with this method) it was as you would expect C fasciatum was the smallest tested and produced the least venom at 8.5ml and the P regalis was the one that produced the most crude venom at 57.9ml.
According to the data a G rosea produced 25ml of crude venom which is more than the previously mentioned S cal so does that mean you're better getting bitten by the S cal? Nope.

And here lies the problem the genetic makeup of each and every species is different meaning that G pulchra and G rosea for example are from the same family and let's say for the sake of argument that they do indeed share 90% of the same genetic structure it's that 10% difference that causes them to evolve separately and it's for this reason that all venom not just ow should be considered of medical significance because each venom contains different enzymes, proteins and polypeptides which affect us all differently, I mean you could get bitten by a B smithi and be seriously ill yet I may get tagged by my E constrictus and be completely fine with no affects at all sorry for the rant.
Chris LXXIX you are right about C fimbriatus btw it's got some serious venom and across the study in all forms it almost doubled what the S cal produced
 
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