# WhiteTail Spiders



## Thumpage44 (Nov 4, 2007)

Good Day to you all 

Last night i caught a big white tail spider and instead of killing it, i search on the net on how to keep them. Apparently their favorite food is Black house spiders  So i went out and caught one and took a video of it being eaten!

Heres the video: [video=youtube;4BFAEN5ao5k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BFAEN5ao5k"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BFAEN5ao5k[/video]

Also i'm thinking about handling it, has anyone ever been bitten by a white tail?

Also i understand if anyone thinks this is 'Cruel' but people kill spiders like this every day and these too would meet in the wild anyway, much like a rat and a snake.


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## method (Nov 4, 2007)

Have fun handling it


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## SnakeWrangler (Nov 4, 2007)

I feel sorry for the house spider. But that is a huge white tip, looks like it is full of eggs.


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## HoffOff (Nov 4, 2007)

I have one two I keep in in a two Foot aqarium And fed it Slaters and Spides as a Treat!
DO NOT HANDLE THEM!!! There venom is Necrosis (Melts flesh away)


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## eladidare (Nov 4, 2007)

its up to u but they have a painful bite


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## Moreliaman (Nov 4, 2007)

Apparently some people can have a very nasty reaction to the venoum....i guess you wont find out until you get bitten......I know i'd rather not test the theory out.


White tail bite news story


http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/b/b7/WhiteTailedSpiderBite.jpg

As for the video clip which i wouldnt watch.....:|


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## Thumpage44 (Nov 4, 2007)

Hmmm okay, well ill handle it with gloves first and see how aggressive she is. I will take a video of that


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## sassy (Nov 4, 2007)

i have been bitten.... i would not recommend handling this spider!

it was not painful the day of the bite... however i noticed a big irregular red looking bite.
The next day it started to sting and burn, by the afternoon i was in agony, huge welts and puss filled blisters rose up where the red mark had been. The blisters just keep rising, it seemed as though the skin could not stretch any further, and me beuing me, i ended up pricking them, and draining them to ease the pressure. it took nearly a week and a half to even begin scabbing up, and i still have the scar.

i will get a pic of the scar if you are interested.

i also believe that if you are allergic to the bacteria on this spiders fangs it causes more problems and the wound may never heal... dont quote me on that there has been some argument about it... i will try to find out some more for you.


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## Brock Lobster (Nov 4, 2007)

bye thumpage44


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## Moreliaman (Nov 4, 2007)

sassy said:


> i also believe that if you are allergic to the bacteria on this spiders fangs it causes more problems and the wound may never heal... dont quote me on that there has been some argument about it... i will try to find out some more for you.


 
I remember seeing some woman on TV in an oxgyen tent due to a white tailed spider bite, im sure they said she will spend most of her life in there now, just from 1 bite !!


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## slim6y (Nov 4, 2007)

Someone on here put pics of a bite they got from a suspected white tail last year around christmas - use the search function and see what you come up with - that will certainly make you think twice about handling your white tail... then... hmmmmm... If you do - keep photos ready!

From what I understand it's not the venom but the necrotising bacteria (can't spell the correct word for it) that causes the main concern.


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## JasonL (Nov 4, 2007)

I have been bitten by one as well, and found their bite to be highly over-rated, painless bite, and painless after. It did burn some what, but nothing bad. The bite started off as a ten cent peice size blister with a dark red ring around the outside ( formed as it was eating the healthy skin),. The tissue in the middle would dry out and go scabby, then start weeping again, then dry out, then................ over three days untreated it had grown to the size of a fifty cent piece. I used an anti fungal cream and that knocked it on the head, it only took about 2 weeks to clear up, though there was a red mark for many months that has now faded away. As with all venoms, people can suffer highly varied symptoms and you can never be sure how you will react to such things, and there is always the rare risk of necrotising arachnidism with such spiders, and that will ruin your day for sure.


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## snakes4me2 (Nov 4, 2007)

Good luck trying.....My brother inlaw got biten on the leg 5 years ago and he still has to wear some thing on his leg. They opperated about 6 months ago now and its finally starting to heel.


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## Thumpage44 (Nov 4, 2007)

Lol well i just went and handled it with gloves with no problems, but while i was doing that a black house spider bite my arm


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## JasonL (Nov 4, 2007)

did that hurt?


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## Brettix (Nov 4, 2007)

How did you manage to get bitten ont the arm,thought you were handling the white tip


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## firedragon (Nov 4, 2007)

LOL... I've seen on documentries don't ask which i can't remember people have had limbs amputated from very bad reactions to the bites. At first the doctors cut away the bad tissue but the skin kept dying so they took a good chunk of the limb. A woman was bitten at the top af her arm and the reaction not only went down the arm but the torso as well it took months to heal and many ops and skin grafts. So if you do get bit i pray you're not one of the unlucky ones to have a bad reaction... Enjoy your new pet spiders are cool


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## Naxx (Nov 5, 2007)

therse a lot of debate over the white tip, mostly due to lack of research and the wide variety of the reactions. some people who are bitten show no signs other then the usual red welt of a bug/spider bite, where as others experience sever necrotization. As some people have posted the flesh seems to melt away and for some reason wont ever heal properly, flaring up at random intervals. Handling a white tip is not advised anyways. I find them every now and then but just throw them outside. 

in any case, poor little house spider, he must have been thinking...."*** is with this usb cable! why is it pushing me into the mouth of death...NOOOOoooooo....."


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## PhilK (Nov 5, 2007)

Thumpage44 said:


> Lol well i just went and handled it with gloves with no problems, but while i was doing that a black house spider bite my arm


Looks suspiciously like a mozzie bite mate, you can see where the red lines have come up from you scratching it 

As for the white tail bite, like everyone else has said, there is a possbility of you suffering some nasty necrosis. Wouldn't risk it that can ruin your entire life.


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## Forensick (Nov 5, 2007)

i thought alot of the confusion over the severity of the white tails venom/bacteria et al was that alot of the "minor" white tail bites are really house spider bites... due to them looking very similar


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## Hickson (Nov 5, 2007)

It's also possible that venom toxicity could vary across the range of the spider, maybe those in Melbourne have developed a more potent venom, or maybe the necrotising bacteria only occur in colder climates?

Just a thought



HIx


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## SnakeWrangler (Nov 5, 2007)

My mother in law was bitten over 12 months ago and she still gets recurring skin problems, has to go on antibiotics everytime is recurs. Not something I would risk just to handle one of them.


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## Aussie Python Lover (Nov 5, 2007)

there just like wolf spiders there venom eats at ya flash til you get sick plus gangrene set's in also and its festy *pukes a lil in mouth*


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## tooben (Nov 5, 2007)

that looks like a mozzie bite. anyway who said its giong to bite you. it may not it mite just walk around on your hand. one way to find out. just go gently . i wonder if they just like walk up and bite ya or do you have to taste like their food. i think alot of bites happen when its in peoples clothing and they put them on. but i really dont know let me know if when you put it on your hand does it bite you straight away or just walks around .
cheers steve


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## Aussie Python Lover (Nov 5, 2007)

IMO if you handle it more fool you and if it does bite you well then don't let the ppl on here say "I told you so"


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## JasonL (Nov 5, 2007)

Hix said:


> It's also possible that venom toxicity could vary across the range of the spider, maybe those in Melbourne have developed a more potent venom, or maybe the necrotising bacteria only occur in colder climates?
> 
> Just a thought
> 
> ...



Well there are two Sp. of whitetails


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## macsnake (Nov 5, 2007)

Just thought i would share some pics when a white tail spider bit me 2 years ago, i ended up having it deberred and then cultured seaweed put into the hole which was the size of a 5c piece and about 10mm deep.
A wifes tail say that in one year later you will get another lump on your body from the bite, well i said bullsheet and within a week there was another lump but this time i had it under control.
I didnt realise that i got biten and just thought it was a scratch then about 1 week later it got really red and started to burn , then nearly over night the large lump appeard and thats when i went to to doc.


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## JasonL (Nov 5, 2007)

eerrrrr, how sure are you that it was a white tail?


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## Oskorei (Nov 5, 2007)

a lady that comes into my work got bitten on the hand by a white tail while cleaning her house.....


...she is now the one armed lady that comes into my shop!


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## Aussie Python Lover (Nov 5, 2007)

ewwww thank god ive just eatin dinner lmao


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## mrmikk (Nov 5, 2007)

They are bad news, I know someone who was bitten on the calf muscle, after a few days it looked like his leg was being cooked over a spit.


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## FAY (Nov 5, 2007)

Depends on the affect on that person....everyone can be different!


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## GrumpyTheSnake (Nov 6, 2007)

My Mum was bitten a couple of years ago by a White Tail. And yes, it was a WT. It was inside the leg of her pants and when it bit her she squashed it and put it in a jar. She had the same as someone else described, as a small irritated area that kept swelling more and more. She squeezed the puss out and thought it would get better. WRONG!!! A couple of days later we had to take her to the hospital, because her flesh was sort of .. decaying, for want of a better word. 

The doctor told us that it wasn't "individual's reactions" to the bite.. but in fact the spiders themselves. According the the doctor that treated my mum, it is a bacteria carried on the fangs of the spider that is the problem. Apparently, not all WTs have this bacteria on their fangs, so it comes down to a matter of luck.

As for my mum... every 3-6 months, the original bite area flares up again and starts to eat away at her flesh again. We have had her at numerous doctors and they all have said the same thing. Antibiotics when it flares up, and hope like hell that it's the last time.

I wouldn't be playing with them. !!!!!


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