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Arachnid Bites/Stings

texastailfeathers

texastailfeathers

New member
What is the likelihood of a person being bitten by their pet tarantula or stung by their pet scorpion under normal circumstances (responsible care, no teasing, etc.)?

I know there are quite a few spider/scorp hobbyists on the forum...have any of you been bitten or stung by the bugs in your collections? If so, I want gory details. :D What you were doing, why the bug bit/stung you, how did it feel, how often has this happened, etc.

My husband has been forcing me to look at photos of emperor scorpions, and I just want to know if my fears and concerns are justified or silly. I think people who fear cornsnakes are silly, yet I feel the same way about tarantulas and scorpions. I'm trying to "grow out of it". :)
 
The more you handle, the more likely you are to be bitten/stung. Just a fact of life.

I've not been bitten by my tarantulas, and only have been stung a few times from scorpions. I also do not handle them. The stings came from packing/unpacking.
 
The Nothing said:
The more you handle, the more likely you are to be bitten/stung. Just a fact of life.

I've not been bitten by my tarantulas, and only have been stung a few times from scorpions. I also do not handle them. The stings came from packing/unpacking.
Click to expand...

Very true that frequency of handling = frequency of bites.

I've never been stung by anything worse than a fire ant, so the thought of a scorpion sting terrifies me. Are scorps actually aggressive, like striking at anything and everything, or do they eventually come to tolerate handling?

And the tarantula bite...well...come on, anything with fangs is a little scary. :rolleyes:
 
I've never been bit by a tarantula and I keep a few nasty tempered ones. Its all about respect and giving them space.

I kept emps for awhile, they are more likely to pinch then sting and even if they do sting they are no more dangerous then a bee. I would never handle a scorpion, thats just asking to get stung. No arachnid "tames" like a snake will, either it will tolerate handling or not.
No tarantula or scorp is aggressive, defensive maybe and who can blame them? We are big and scary to a critter that is almost blind.

texastailfeathers, there is nothing to fear in pet arachnids, true there are a few "hot" species of scorpions that could be life threating if stung but no tarantula is deadly. They make great, low maintenance pets.

Here is a list of bite reports on tarantulas. You could also search the forum for scorpion stings but I don't think it happens often.
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/forumdisplay.php?f=16
 
Those bite reports are really cool. Thanks for that link! I'm going to end up wasting lots of company time on that site. :D P. Regalis sounds a little bit scary though. :eek:

I'm gonna keep saying no on scorps for the time being, but I am becoming very interested in T's (especially after your sling progression threads and the "Spiders and Snakes" documentary).

I'd like to research some of the more docile species, particularly the most docile species. ;) What are some of those, in order of tameness (edit: "tameness" is the best word I could come up with...I know spiders are not "tame")? I wouldn't be inclined to handle a spider every day or try to teach it tricks or anything, but I also wouldn't want one charging at me or flinging itself onto my face every time I tried to scoop poo or feed it (OBT is out of the question :grin01: ).
 
The best tarantula for a beginner is a grammostola pulchra but they are fairly expensive, most of the grammy species are docile. This is the family rose hairs belong in but rosies can be unpredictable.
Brachypelma are also nice but can be bad hair kickers. The B. albipilosum (AKA curly hair) are really great.
Remember that even the know docile species can be defensive. I had a rose hair that was nastier then any OBT.

I had a P. regalis, never had any trouble with him. Sold him to a friend for breeding and he has quite the temper now LOL, the same friend got the mean rosie too:)
 
It probably just depends on the species.. So far, my tarantula hasn't bitten me... because i haven't really handled it, other than maybe poking it to get it to move when i need to change the water. But it HAS tried to flick hairs at me a few times when i d things like change the water or take his molt out.
 
I had temporary care of a starburst baboon, and she never displayed any aggression at all. I was very careful when changing her water and made sure I knew where she was just in case, but she seemed to have a very low-key 'personality'. The thai black was a different matter, she leapt at the glass every time and I felt she was a bite waiting to happen. I re-homed them to a collector who could give better care than I could.
As I wouldn't want to handle at all, if I did get another t I'd go for a baboon again, because of the sheer beauty, but I haven't got to the stage beyond vaguely wanting one yet, and won't impulse buy. (I hadn't bought the t's, but they ended up in my care anyway)
 
oh ya, Ts!

The only Tarantula I've handled was a G. rosea in a pet store. It was nice to be able to see and feel such a huge spider. Tarantulas have a very predictable habit of climbing upward when scared. It can be slightly scary when a Tarantula suddenly goes from motionless to half way up your arms in seconds!

I do not handle my two Tarantulas, as A. seemani is quite FAST, and contrary to things I have read of Costa Rican Zebras being "docile" has shown me quite the display threats. She has dripped a few drops of venom at me as a warning before. H. lividum (avatar picture) is also strictly an in tank only pet. The thing I love about my Tarantulas is setting up a little habitat for them, and watching them exist in their space. I am actually in the process of creating a larger habitat for my Cobalt Blue though, and I'm quite nervous about how the transfer will go!


From what I've read if you want something you can handle go with G. rosea (Chilean Rosehair) or a mexican species, particularly B. smithi (Mexican Redknee)
If you want to go with an Arboreal species A. avic seems to be the winner over at the Tarantula forums I visit as "best beginner/handleable" arboreal. I have personally decided to go with A. versicolor as my first arboreal, but then again, I do not plan on handling him/her at all!

I don't think you should worry about being bit when you are doing general matinence. The spider will most likely run to its burrow or hide as soon as it sees you poking around. You can purchase a large pair of tweezers in order to pick up cricket remains if you feel nervous about sticking your hands in the cage though. I like using a water bottle with a squirt top in order to fill up my T's water bowls.
 
I actively discourage anyone from handling any spider. not because it is dangerous but because spiders do not need to be handled, and don't really like it. they only tolerate it.
 
i've only been pinched by my old scorpion never stung, i heard some where that they usually use there pinchers much more then there tails so i'd be more worried about getting pinched then stung. Getting pinched by an emperor scorpion is a little bit painful i must say
 
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