Got haired bad by my T. Strimi any advice?

Hey guys. This is the first time ive really been haired bad and it just so happened to be a stirmi. I was transferring her into a big 40 gal setup that I bought for her today and she was needless to say.. pissed. She got me all on my forearms and hands and I think I may have a hair or two in my nostril. She got me just below the eye and on the chest. Some may have even gotten into my eye but it is not irritated at all so I am not worried. The hairs actually seem to have gone through my shirt. I was being careless and it was entirely my fault. So has anyone else experienced this? Any remedies work for you? How long before it stops itching? Will a rash appear? Thx

I usually rinse with cold water for quite a while after getting hairs on me. Maybe try an oatmeal salve?
I've never been haired by a Theraphosa sp. but I've gotten Phormictopus and Acanthoscurria hairs on me and I've had insanely itchy red bumps for days with those (I actually have a sore on one of my fingers right now because I wouldn't stop itching it XD; ). It definitely sucks but just bear with it and it'll be over before you know it. And in the future, remember to be properly prepared when dealing with a Theraphosa or any sp known for its hairs. I don't know if they were exaggerating but I've heard of people fully "suiting up" before even doing maintenance-long sleeves, gloves, face mask, the works.

I hear you can remove some of the hairs with packing tape. I'm lucky, I don't have a reaction to the hairs. The only time urticating hairs make me itch is when I'm reading these type of threads. I don't know if it is psychological or sympathy itching, but it's the damnedest thing :?

An oatmeal salve? ok I will do my research. I have another question. I am sure by now that I have enhaled some of the hairs does this pose a significant medical risk? I have heard that overtime it can be bad but I don't get haired very much. For anyone who hasn't been haired by a theraphosa I can now say for the record that it... is VERY annoying. I am fairly tough though and i am not having any kind of allergic reaction just a bit of itchiness. Should I document my experiences here on AB? I think it could be useful for anyone who has a theraphosa and has not been haired yet. Any other suggestions welcome!

I heard its possible (may be rumor tho) that you can get them out with stockings/panty hose only other thing i can say... make good friends with an Aveeno bottle xD

ARACHNO-SMACK48 said:

An oatmeal salve? ok I will do my research. I have another question. I am sure by now that I have enhaled some of the hairs does this pose a significant medical risk? I have heard that overtime it can be bad but I don't get haired very much. For anyone who hasn't been haired by a theraphosa I can now say for the record that it... is VERY annoying. I am fairly tough though and i am not having any kind of allergic reaction just a bit of itchiness. Should I document my experiences here on AB? I think it could be useful for anyone who has a theraphosa and has not been haired yet. Any other suggestions welcome!

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The oatmeal salve I know is just normal oatmeal made a bit thicker that you apply to the itchiness.

I don't think I've seen a thread documenting experiences being haired but it's certainly a good idea. People could list the species, extent and describe the symptoms. It would definitely help impress on people that NWs aren't to be taken lightly either.

When you inhaled it its quite serious! When it doesnt het better certainly go to a docter!

Cage transfers are usually when my stirmi kick hairs (normally they don't). For certain occasions I wear my 'Theraphosa suit', which is long sleeves, long pants, covered shoes, leather yard gloves, and a clear plastic face shield (from the painting dept at Home Depot).

You "theraposa suit"? haha. I wore something similar to what you described when I was going back into my T room to finish rehousing my stirmi. I looked like I was wearing a hazmat suit. But the itching has subsided for the most part now and the setup looks pretty nice. It's fairly simple. I just put 4-5 inches of eco earth on the bottom of the enclosure then put another 2-3 inches of terrarium moss ontop of that and packed it down well. Then I used a large half log hide and put it at one end of the cage then covered it with terrarium moss.

I'm itching just reading this thread. Update us on how your reaction is coming along please! It's always nice to have threads to refer back to when something like this happens. I hope you continue to have no real issues from your run in with the shards of itch.

Alright by request I am going to document my reaction.
Ok so here is what happened: I was trying to get my big 9 inch T stirmi female into a smaller shoebox style container. I used the lid of the container to gently prompt her foward. She darted foward several inches and kicked a good amount of hairs. I tried to back away and use the lid of the container I had used to prompt her as a sort of shield against the hairs. I got a few hairs on my hands and arms but it was nothing major. The problem was the hairs still floating around the room. I went back to try and prompt her several other times and she responded the same way until I finally got her in the container and closed the lid. By this time there were plenty of hairs floating around so I am itching in a few random places where I was not directly haired such as my back and neck. It felt similar to having fiberglass in your skin but more painful than itchy. I decided to just try and power through it. One of my biggest mistakes was pouring her old substrate into her new 40 gal setup. I had just made the eco earth and it was very much damp so I had to find a way to dry it out a bit and since her old substrate was fairly clean I decided to use it as an extra layer. Of course as soon as I poured the substrate into the new enclosure lots of urticating hairs went into the air but by this time I was determined to not let it bother me. I then mixed the substrate with my bare hands..like an idiot and packed it down. By this time it has been roughly 15 minutes since my first exposure to the urticating hairs and my arms neck and back are on fire (in an itchy way). I took a hot shower and tried to scrub the hairs off of me but it really did not help much. I itched for roughly 2 hours before it the itching started to subside. I was still fairly itchy but it was not nearly as bad as it was initially. I went to bed and woke up feeling alot better. The only itching that occured was in the palms of my hands if they were touched. It has now been two days since my exposure to the hairs and i am completely fine now. I do not condone this kind of carelessness with any T's with urticating hairs. But this was my first experience being haired badly so up until the end I sortof maintained a "how bad can it be" mentality.

I see you made a big mistake by taking a hot shower. The hot water would open the pores in your skin allowing more hairs to get in and the ones already in to embed deeper.

I use hydrocortisone cream as soon as the rash appears. Maybe a lint roller if I got hit bad. This plus a cold shower.

FYI a hot shower is fine, the pores thing is an old wives tale. Although cold water will definitely help the itching a lot more, which is why I always take one.

From http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/cleansing/myths/pores-in-hotter-water.htm
"Pores are nothing more than tiny openings in your skin. They don't have muscles, and that means they can't open or close"

when i suit for my stirmi i look like walter cooking meth from Breaking Bad. :laugh:

Take a hot shower! A hot shower actually opens up your pores as opposed to a cold shower that shuts them. You want to open up your pores to flush out the hairs. (fell in some cacti years ago while motorcrossing and was advised to do so by the nurse at the ER) In addition don't dry yourself off with the towel but rather do a light patting motion on the irritated areas to better remove whatever is left of the urticating hairs. Rub some salve afterwards and for the next couple of days repeat. That seems to have worked for me but then again everybody is different.

oooo35980 said:

I use hydrocortisone cream as soon as the rash appears. Maybe a lint roller if I got hit bad. This plus a cold shower.

FYI a hot shower is fine, the pores thing is an old wives tale. Although cold water will definitely help the itching a lot more, which is why I always take one.

From http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/cleansing/myths/pores-in-hotter-water.htm
"Pores are nothing more than tiny openings in your skin. They don't have muscles, and that means they can't open or close"

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It may not physically open the pores but hot water does make the skin softer which makes for easier removal of foreign bodies.

I haven't got haired yet but I picked up a prickly pear for my bearded dragon a few weeks ago at the fruit stand. Followed my wife around juggling it from hand to hand. Yeah that was a bad idea.

ARACHNO-SMACK48 said:

since her old substrate was fairly clean I decided to use it as an extra layer.

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For the record, unless you have an infestation of sorts, there's no reason to toss old sub, it simply does not "go bad", and spot cleaning bolus's, poo and dead prey is all that's needed to keep it clean. I have sub in enclosures that's been there over a decade without issue. Changing sub out is rarely needed.

Adding the old sub to the top is actually a good idea, especially if you are able to get the top area that has its webbing and move it intact, it really seems to help the t adjust quicker when re-housing IME....the method you chose was the only problem as you obviously left yourself open to a lot of nasty hairs.

TarantulasWorld said:

Take a hot shower! A hot shower actually opens up your pores as opposed to a cold shower that shuts them. You want to open up your pores to flush out the hairs.

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Um, no... Urticating hairs don't just go "in your pores". Nor do they "open or close" at all, as was previously mentioned.

To my knowledge heat does open up your pores. Or so I thought before reading this thread. Maybe someone should cite their source as proof.

ARACHNO-SMACK48 said:

To my knowledge heat does open up your pores. Or so I thought before reading this thread. Maybe someone should cite their source as proof.

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He did

rom http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/cleansing/myths/pores-in-hotter-water.htm