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LadyNTrainer -> RE: Last one to post, wins. (5/13/2010 10:05:24 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: dragonseeker
just found a black widow in my stairway..... keeping her as a house pet as long as she stays put
i WIN
Been there, done that. The genus Latrodectus actually are very easy to work with, because they do stay put and they don't bite people unless they are pressed or crushed to the skin. Sub-1mm fangs make for very poor human epidermis penetration without physical assistance.
The US is basically out of black widow antivenom, FYI. It's a crappy market because almost nobody gets bitten, so no drug company really wanted to pick up this orphan project. Universities that work with this genus are importing the Bioclon product from Mexico to comply with their cover-our-asses guidelines, because the venom is pretty much biologically indistinguishable across political land borders. Hospitals apparently don't consider their lack of stock to be a huge issue because it is actually pretty damn hard to be bitten by one, and pallative support care generally covers the admittedly quite unpleasant symptoms in most cases.
But yeah, they make nifty housepets as long as you don't physically force them to bite you. They aren't any trouble as they basically don't go roaming. They set up housekeeping in a convenient crevice, and if nothing disturbs them, there they remain. Fun critters to watch, and they'll eat bugs that actually *do* bite people.
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