Problem with spiders

[Chameleon Company]

Julirs

As Kenya noted, where there's food, there's a spider with a bib on ! Me and spiders are well acquainted. One of my son's was widow-bit twice helping out with the crickets. He was OK, but had a bad day or two of it.

All you can really do is manage the situation to minimize the spiders. Here we eventually put the best screen lids we could build on all cricket bins (42 in all). It helped a lot. Secondly, you might try those cheap glue pads underneath everything. Its not so much about catching spiders as it is denying their access to food, eliminating loose crickets, etc.

Your chams will not eliminate the widows. They may eat the lesser spiders, but will not touch the widows. On the flip side, widows will kill very small chams, such as hatchling panthers, and can deliver a nasty bite to larger ones. Although the chams survive about 75% of the time (the larger ones), its a nasty bite, and eternal scar.

You are probably an expert now on the tensile strength of widow thread. Pretty strong stuff ... the upside being you know it when you touch it.

 

[Chamero]

Spiders hate light...adding more light may reduce if not handle the problem.

 

[sandrachameleon]

The advantage of Canada. Everyhing with 6 or more legs dies in the winter and you get 5 months to kill everything that made it inside.

I encourage wolf spiders to live in my chameleon room. It helps ensure that any possible escaping crickets (or god forbid escaped roach) is likely to be "taken care of".
SPides are awesome creatures.

What most people call black Widows tend not to actually be black widows. And those that are do not attack people. Leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. We get them here on the island, but they're not very dangerous here (lesser venom - no danger to healthy adults but could harm a child or someone with compromised immune system).

 

[NewOwner]

I encourage wolf spiders to live in my chameleon room. It helps ensure that any possible escaping crickets (or god forbid escaped roach) is likely to be "taken care of".
SPides are awesome creatures.

What most people call black Widows tend not to actually be black widows. And those that are do not attack people. Leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. We get them here on the island, but they're not very dangerous (lesser venom - no danger to healthy adults but could harm a child or someone with compromised immune system).

I did not know that...

Neat.

 

[Syn]

here in Arizona we only have spiders and scorpions, and not even that if you clean house well

 

[WelshOneEmma]

I am so glad I live in the UK. We don't have half the things you need to worry about, and I am a total wuss when it comes to spiders! And rabbits.

 

[desultadox]

You're afraid of rabbits?

 

[blackbetty]

http://byfaithonly.com/Spiders.html

 

[WelshOneEmma]

You're afraid of rabbits?

Haha! That's just mean! Yes, there are a few animals that freak me out and I can not handle, one of them being rabbits. I think I must have been bitten by one when I was younger. The others are spiders and crickets. Freaky things <shudder>

 

[blackbetty]

Is that the bunny from Requiem for a Dream? Looks Rabid.

 

[divingne1]

Is that the bunny from Requiem for a Dream? Looks Rabid.

I think that is the Donnie Darco rabbit thing.
Candy

 

[blackbetty]

Grr, thats what I meant! I knew it had Jake Gyllenhall in it but I got the title confused..Theyre both messed up movies either way..

 

[Chameleon Company]

What most people call black Widows tend not to actually be black widows. And those that are do not attack people.

That may be in areas where widows are not found, but down here, in much of the southern U.S., many folks know them when they see them, although we have what is the "gray widow" variation here in Florida, which varies from gray to black, sometimes with stripes. Grab one by accident, putting your hand under a rim to open or lift something, and they will bite. Or get one on your skin, and with no deliberate provocation, other than movement, it will often bite. As noted, seen it happen, and know several others who have been bit. I would think it accurate to describe as "it won't bother you unless you bother it", which unfortunately, can be easily done when one must handle things where they like to set up shop. I also kill an average of about a dozen a week. Before screening my cricket bins, it was more like 30-50 a week.

The first problem with widows rests not so much with kids and the elderly vs. adults and immune systems, but rather whether one has an allergic reaction to the bite. Not that young and old, and those who are weak or compromised, may not be at greater risk, but with the treatment regarding my son, the first priority was to monitor for an allergic-type reaction. Pain can be intense with a widow, regardless. While I believe some anti-venoms now exist, they also can create their own allergic reactions, and the first stage of treatment was to be able to only have to treat the symptoms, to include with anti-histamines, tylenol, and antibiotics, etc. Anti-venoms were reserved for bites where major complications developed.

 

[sandrachameleon]

That may be in areas where widows are not found, but down here, in much of the southern U.S., many folks know them when they see them, although we have what is the "gray widow" variation here in Florida, which varies from gray to black, sometimes with stripes. Grab one by accident, putting your hand under a rim to open or lift something, and they will bite. Or get one on your skin, and with no deliberate provocation, other than movement, it will often bite. As noted, seen it happen, and know several others who have been bit. I would think it accurate to describe as "it won't bother you unless you bother it", which unfortunately, can be easily done when one must handle things where they like to set up shop. I also kill an average of about a dozen a week. Before screening my cricket bins, it was more like 30-50 a week.

The first problem with widows rests not so much with kids and the elderly vs. adults and immune systems, but rather whether one has an allergic reaction to the bite. Not that young and old, and those who are weak or compromised, may not be at greater risk, but with the treatment regarding my son, the first priority was to monitor for an allergic-type reaction. Pain can be intense with a widow, regardless. While I believe some anti-venoms now exist, they also can create their own allergic reactions, and the first stage of treatment was to be able to only have to treat the symptoms, to include with anti-histamines, tylenol, and antibiotics, etc. Anti-venoms were reserved for bites where major complications developed.

Thanks for the clarificaton. The weather might be nicer there, but not the spiders! eh?
Widows here are as I described.
The brown recluse (fiddleback) is the only other one likely to cause lasting harm. Every other spider on this island is essentially harmless (bite might hurt and swell, but not real risk - (except in rare allergic reaction cases)).

 

[blackbetty]

We have a lot of orbs and brown recluses. The orbs are harmless and neat to watch on the windows., The recluses..yea..Scare the outta me.