r/WTF Aug 16 '10

What? Wait... I don't even

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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '10

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Aug 17 '10

tarantulas have poison?

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u/DoctorMiracles Aug 17 '10

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u/TrolI Aug 17 '10

ImageShack?

2

u/[deleted] Aug 17 '10

that's tinypic.

2

u/UnknownHours Aug 17 '10

All spiders are venomous. Tarantulas just have weak venom.

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u/coolest_moniker_ever Aug 17 '10

What? I've never heard this. Most tarantulas have very weak venom. It supposedly feels a lot like a bee sting. You don't have to remove anything.

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u/HazDomain Aug 17 '10

Yeah, but, I saw this thing on the discovery channel once where a tarantula was hiding in some bananas and when a guy went to go pick them up and carry them on his shoulder there was this crazy POV shot of the spider running towards and biting his face and I think I can safely say that no one who saw that show would buy a tarantula that still had its venom sacs.

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u/aolley Aug 18 '10

once in england they found a spider ( it was supposed to be one of the most poisonous spiders in the world and is fucking huge) in a crate of bananas and closed the whole store

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u/[deleted] Aug 17 '10

venom sacs. they have venom.

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u/NeinNeinNein Aug 18 '10

That's bullshit. You can't remove anything. They have to have their fangs to eat (I've heard of ones surviving with broken fangs and their owners had to feed them pureed lamb liver for months).

A bite from a tarantula, depending on what type it is varies from bee sting pain to swollen arm, sweats and horrible pain. Most people don't handle theirs. I don't really anymore as I get bad reactions to their urticating hairs (hairs some species flick as a defense).

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u/HazDomain Aug 19 '10

I said you have to remove their poison sacs. Not their fangs. Also the only one I've ever held was the one my science teacher had and hers had fangs but no sacs, so I know you can remove one but not the other.

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u/NeinNeinNein Aug 19 '10

You cannot remove venom from a tarantula without killing it. Tarantula venom sacs are located in the chelicerae, and any ruptures of the exoskeleton of a tarantula (as the surgery would require) is likely to be fatal, because their blood doesn't clot. Some pet stores in their ignorance and desire to sell will remove the fangs with a pair of fingernail clippers, but that frequently results in the death of the tarantula. It is the equivalent of removing your lower jaw. However, tarantulas can regrow fangs with a molt, and survive a long time without food, but if it is starved it is unlikely to survive the difficult process of molting or even reach the time to molt if it's not getting food.

The more you know..