Something causing itchy marks on my hands in hisser enclosure (blind hobbiest)

C

Crazy Bug Lady

Third Instar
I'm getting itchy, almost blister-like marks on my hands after handling members of my hisser colony.  Can grain mites bite?  Or could it be a reaction to the hissers themselves?  I'm planning to give the enclosure a good cleaning, but I wanted to see if anyone else had experienced this issue.

I feed fruit (oranges) and veggies (carrots) along with a mixture I bought for hissers.  As it says in the title, I am a blind hisser keeper, so I need to handle them to see if they are alive, healthy and so on.

Thanks for any help with this!

 
It sounds like you are unfortunately developing allergies to your hissers. Itchy bumps/hives are a common reaction hobbyists report when dealing with roaches they're allergic to.

 
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Unfortunately that 100% sounds like an allergy to hissers... :( That's what happens to me when I handle my hissers.

 
That's too bad.  It's nowhere near bad enough for me to not want to handle them.  Perhaps some over the counter medication will help, along with washing my hands for longer after handling them.  I don't even get it all the time, and I'm honestly glad it's likely not some mite or something bothering them.  Thanks for the help!

 
Crazy Bug Lady said:
That's too bad.  It's nowhere near bad enough for me to not want to handle them.  Perhaps some over the counter medication will help, along with washing my hands for longer after handling them.  I don't even get it all the time, and I'm honestly glad it's likely not some mite or something bothering them.  Thanks for the help!
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A buddy of mine who's also allergic to hissers says antihistamines do indeed work for this, and that he's able to touch hissers and do maintenance on their setups like normal again. Might be different for everyone though.

 
I have limited hearing and vision and use a wheelchair.  Have you considered trying medical gloves?  They are thing which allows you to feel reasonably what you are handling.  The gloves that fit snugly and are a bit stretchy will probably work the best for working with your hissers, or any other animals.

 
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