Any Arachnologists? Trying to overcome arachnophobia. :)

wodesorel

wodesorel

Seventh Instar
And making leaps and bounds apparently. There was a jumping spider trying to get into my cricket bin last night and my first instinct was to reach over and scoop it up bare handed. Then my brain kicked in and I used tongs to knock it into a container to get it outside. But - I didn't scream, freak out, or make my husband come and get it instead. Go me! :)

The thing that is really holding me back and still leaving me abjectly terrified is the fear of being bit. When I was little I had a cellar spider that bit me on the finger when I turned on a light switch, and the wound refused to heal for nearly a year and it hurt like crazy. And then when I was older and my mom was planning on remarrying, the girl who was going to become my little sister had a spider bite that developed a granuloma so severe that it had to be carved out of her arm after a year of living with a painful lump. Every time I see a spider, my brain tells me that it will cause major pain and injury if it touches me. Not rational, but that's what my thought process is. I'm getting to the point where I can be more rational when I see them, and I want to continue to move forward and not be so afraid.

When it comes to native spiders, I don't know which ones are going to be harmless and which ones could potentially bite. Or if they all bite if touched? Or do they only bite in defense when restrained? Can they bite through nitrile gloves? I don't even know where to look to research this and find out!

Can someone help? :)

 
I'm kind of like you. I'm not to fond of spiders, even though I have a rose hair. I think most spiders in Ohio are pretty harmless. I know the little wolf spiders (sometimes big) can pack a punch. Obviously black widows are nasty.

 
As far as them biting, if they rear up (on their back legs, four in the air) they most likely strike at you, NEVER have a tight grip on any reptile/amphibian/insect, unless you know how they are going to react like pacman frogs are alright with a tighter grip although they will pee, i dont know what nitile gloves are but I believe the latex type gloves are flexible enough for the smaller spiders. If you need an id of a spider or anything ask on this forum or pm me with a picture and I'll see if I can figure it out.

 
I know many kinds of spiders. In my opinion, jumping spiders are very frightened of humans. They never bite us. But wolf spiders and turantulas are not so safe if you touch them. If you make them angry, they are likely to bite you. But it is difficult to see a wolf spider or a turantulas in our house because they live in forest and field. Also, you'd better not to catch the spiders just by your hands.

 
Maybe you can begin with a few Tarantulas... Not OBT or anything which jump and bite you at face, but mellow ones like Grammostola pulchripes, G. pulchra or Brachypelma albopilosum; start with a spiderling and you'll be impressed how gentle and delicate they are.

The only problem is if you've overcome arachnophobia by that way you can't stop getting more T's...

 
Forcep said:
Maybe you can begin with a few Tarantulas... Not OBT or anything which jump and bite you at face, but mellow ones like Grammostola pulchripes, G. pulchra or Brachypelma albopilosum; start with a spiderling and you'll be impressed how gentle and delicate they are.

The only problem is if you've overcome arachnophobia by that way you can't stop getting more T's...
Click to expand...
I feel this way also, I have a Rosie as my first and people say that they have BAD mood swings, never had a problem with mine
 
Surprisingly, T's don't bother me - at least not when they're full grown. When they're slings and look like native spiders I can't get near them, but once they get all fuzzy and fluffy I'm okay with them. It's mainly lack of space at the moment as to why I don't have one right now. That and I'm not entirely convinced my husband would be okay with a giant spider in the house, as he always uses the lack of space as a reason as to why we can't look at any in the pet shop. My pet shop lady is always shoving slings under my nose though when she gets in something new and exciting. At some point I'm sure I'll get past the fear of the little ones.

Vinegaroons and Whiptails freak me out. It's the spindly legs. Fat legs are fine (like on jumping spiders), but spindly legs are panic zone. I love irrational fears. :wacko: I need to get both eventually. I do. I really think it would help. But again, space is the true reason right now for not doing it. Honestly. (I'm sorting roach nymphs right now in a 3 foot by 4 foot space on the floor in the critter room. That's all the room that's left in there! I carved out just enough space for a fluffy rug so I can sit with the snake.)

I guess what I should be asking you all is what you do when you find a big ugly spider in the house? What's a normal reaction to have? My mother and grandmother both have severe arachnophobia, and my grandfather would just come in and kill them to appease them. I don't know what "normal" is in that situation - and granted everyone on here is a bug person so I'm not sure how normal all your reactions are either. :D

If it was a once in a while thing I guess it wouldn't be so bad, but we have an old leaky house that butts up against wetland so from the time the snow melts until the snow falls again it's a daily event here. And they're not tiny. I walked into one today that was lowing itself down from the ceiling. I walk into them all the freaking time. Had one running around the surface of the fish tank last week when I went to feed the betta. And they end up in bed with me at least once a month, running around on the pillows or the sheets. At least once per summer I'll wake up and have a big one crawling on me. My reaction in those situation is to kill first. Is that normal? Or do you guys and gals let them run off or try to capture them to get them outside?

We get everything in the house, too. Tunnel spiders, wolfs, jumping, cellar spiders, orb weavers, fast shiny black ones, the big juicy white ones (we have not so small babies of those all over the house right now). And then the cats bring up carcasses from the basement that are two inches across AFTER being chewed up which is just a lovely feeling knowing those are running around even though I've never seen them alive inside. (They're at least 4 inches across - I've run into them in the garden twice since moving in. I'm assuming they're some kind of wolf.)

 
I once woke up to find a wolf spider on my face when I was 9, I picked it up with no fear and put it in a kritter keeper that I had and that was that, no I'm afraid of native spiders because of the internet. Don't let the internet scare you of these things, they are harmless for the most part, I'd say your reaction to kill it is normal. I don't like the long thin legs, so to get over that fear I plan on getting a scorpion because they have thin legs and they kind of creep me out

 
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