Got a pet tarantula? Better protect your eyes!!!

Dark Knight

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Here's some advice stemming from the unusual case of a man who had spider hairs stuck in his cornea: Be sure to cover your eyes when hanging around with your pet tarantula.

Ophthalmologists at St. James's University Hospital in Leeds, England, used high magnification lenses to find out what made the man's eye red, watery and light-sensitive, according to a study reported in the British medical journal The Lancet on Thursday.


They discovered hair-like projections stuck in the man's cornea.


It was a light bulb moment for the patient, who remembered that three weeks earlier he had been cleaning a stubborn stain on the glass tank of his pet, a Chilean Rose tarantula.


"He sensed movement in the terrarium. He turned his head and found that the tarantula, which was in close proximity, had released 'a mist of hairs' which hit his eyes and face," the doctors wrote.


"We suggest that tarantula keepers be advised to routinely wear eye protection when handling these animals," the doctors said.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100101/od_nm/us_tarantula_eyes

I thought of Tricia's son's tarantula when I read this and decided to post it!
 
OMG, scared me too.



I know eye problems are a pain to begin with. I cut mine once taking a necklace cross off and boy that really hurt.

Make sure to wear the protective gear all.....
 
My DS really wanted a tarantula for his 8th birthday. It wouldn't have bothered me, but you can't really do much with them and, as this article states, even the hairs can irritate your skin (or eyes)! He settled for two dwarf robo hamsters!
 
Oh geez,just when I was thinking of getting a tarantula...:crazy:
 
No tarantulas at my house, but this sounds horrible! And they basically just have to leave those hairs in his eyes. I mean yuck. I wear contacts and I wonder if I could still wear them if I had tarantula hairs in my eyes.
 
Animals certainly do have ways to let it be known that they don't want to be bothered.
 
WHY in GODS NAME would ANYONE want a TARANTULA?!?!? It took every ounce of strength I had just to open this thread! Ewwwwwwwww. Majorly arachnophobic. Okay, going now.
 
No tarantulas at my house, but this sounds horrible! And they basically just have to leave those hairs in his eyes. I mean yuck. I wear contacts and I wonder if I could still wear them if I had tarantula hairs in my eyes.

lol I wear contacts too but this is not the kind of dilemma I would even want to consider. Do I get that tarantula or do I risk his pesky hairs in my eyes?
No tarantulas for me:)
 
Hmm this totally ups the ante for me getting a snake instead.
 
I had a tarantula once. He was a pink toe. He was beautiful jet black and fuzzy with day glo pink toes. Very gentle, he would stop eating about 3 weeks before he'd molt. Once he was done I'd feed him crickets. Well the last time he molted he was to weak to eat and he died.

He really wasn't scary.
 
I had a tarantula once. He was a pink toe. He was beautiful jet black and fuzzy with day glo pink toes. Very gentle, he would stop eating about 3 weeks before he'd molt. Once he was done I'd feed him crickets. Well the last time he molted he was to weak to eat and he died.

He really wasn't scary.

Wow, they sound neat! I'm going to look them up to see one. That's so sad that he died like that. No matter what our little animals buddies are we love them.
 
Anyone want to take a guess at how they got the hairs out of his eye???? The full article said the hairs have barbs(Maybe I dont wanna know)
 
Anyone want to take a guess at how they got the hairs out of his eye???? The full article said the hairs have barbs(Maybe I dont wanna know)

Yeah - reading that made me a little squishy in the stomach...reminds me of the time when a good friend of mine in college accidentally burned her eyeball with a curling iron......some things are just too awful to think about for long.
 
Anyone want to take a guess at how they got the hairs out of his eye???? The full article said the hairs have barbs(Maybe I dont wanna know)

They haven't gotten them out. All they did was give him steroids. They are too tiny to be removed.
 
Here's a good photo of one. They are cool. I never heard of them before.

http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/04/05/the-pink-toed-tarantula-aviculara-avicularia/

Yuppers, thats what I had, the one I had though was a little smaller and the pick toes really stood out with the jet black coloring he had. His fangs were orange and black and what really was cool when he molted the fangs were part of it. I'd take his moltings and put them on my plants. Really freaked people out that came to visit.
 
They haven't gotten them out. All they did was give him steroids. They are too tiny to be removed.

I wonder if that would be like what happens to welders when they get the little metal shavings in their eyes, they kinda work their way out over time?
 
Yeah, the article didn't mention it but I sure hope they would eventually either come out or dissolve.
 

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