venom allergy question

emilsmee

Arachnosquire
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Jun 17, 2004
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ok, my fiance is allergic to normal house spiders venom and has to give himself a allergy shot if he gets bit (it's that bad). now my question is, does anyone know if he'd be allergic to tarantula bites or even the urticating hairs? is it the same venom or is it like comparing a viper bite to a bee sting? is it possible to be allergic to tarantulas venom? i haven't been able to find ANY info on this at all on the whole internet. does anyone know for sure???

thanks ahead of time!
emilsmee
 

Greg Wolfe

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allergic...

If he is allergic to house spiders and /or bee stings I wouldn't want to find out what his reaction would be to a Pokie bite, keep the benedryl handy...
 

emilsmee

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funny part is, he's not allergic to bee/wasp/hornet stings, ONLY spiders. weird eh? i've seen his reaction too. when he was bit on the leg, it swelled to where he could barely move it, nearly the whole leg! it was odd. n e way he was diagnosed in an allergy test as being allergic to ONLY spider venom. i was just wondering if t's are in that catagory as far as their venom is concerned.

emily
 

Gir

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I believe that he would be allergic to the T's bite if he has a house spider alergy. The hairs Im not sure about, but I dont think that would matter as they do not have venom in them. I dont think you would have a problem keeping one, but he shouldnt be sticking his hand in the cage or handling the spider.
 

Pheonixx

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I am not nessecarilyt alergic to bees but i DO swell alot from as bite. I handle my T's and even my blondi's hairs are of little effect. But if your hubby is alergic to spider venom you may have a big issue.
 

Crotalus

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Swelling after a bite is not necesserely a sign of allergy. Spider venom is not known to cause anaphylactic reactions, due to differencies in venom composition compared to bees and scorpions. I dont think he have to worry about your t´s.

/Lelle
 

pitbulllady

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Different species of spiders have very different kinds of venom, so it is difficult to say if he'd be allergic to any tarantula species. Even among tarantulas, there are different venoms. Among other spiders, for example, a Brown Recluse has a very different venom from a Black Widow, so it would be difficult to predict how a person might react to one species based on their reactions to another species.
Incidentally, you don't necessarily have to be allergic to spider venom to experience a reaction like what you described. Burning pain, itching, swelling and redness are TYPICAL of many spider bites. I've had similar reactions to bites from Jumping spiders, a Barn Spider, a Gasteracantha and a House Spider. These were all temporary and went away on their own within a few hours. If spider venom DIDN'T cause pain and discomfort, it would be totally useless as a defense, and it wouldn't seem likely that they would have even evolved biting as defense. I AM, however, severely allergic to bee/wasp/hornet venom, to the extent of going into anapylactic shock.
As for him being allergic to the urticating hairs, again, it's impossible to say. I myself am not, nor am I allergic to poison ivy/oak, but how I react or don't react to those things is no indicator of how I might react to something else.

pitbulllady
 

Kali

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there's only one way to find out ;P no, seriously, just don't allow him to handle any t's and then you won't have to worry. you don't know until you get bitten how you'll react, and who wants to risk it?
 
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