Anyone know how to ID a Brown Recluse? First Aid? Just got bit.

scotchleaf

scotchleaf

Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Messages
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Is this a Brown Recluse?
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I think it is too bulkey and does't have long enough legs.
 
Looks too bulky and the legs are too hairy, based on images on google.

Im not a scientist or a doctor though. Id keep an eye on that bite.
 
I was relieved to talk to my neighbor, who is an ER nurse. She said she gets spider bite vics in all the time. If it's a BR it will turn into a boil, which must be drained and cleaned out, but isn't much of a big issue.
 
I'm not sure what it is, but it's not a brown recluse. It sorta looks like one of those horribly venomous Death Angel spiders to me. :)
 
I'm not worried, if it isn't a BR or a black widow, I don't think there are any other dangerous species in GA, are there?
 
With legs at full stretch it was about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter. I found it hanging by 1 leg in another spider's web while sweeping, then was going to free it as a good roacher, and got bit. No sign of necrosis so far.
 
scotchleaf said:
I was relieved to talk to my neighbor, who is an ER nurse. She said she gets spider bite vics in all the time. If it's a BR it will turn into a boil, which must be drained and cleaned out, but isn't much of a big issue.
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The Recluse (AKA Fiddle Back) has a fiddle shaped mark on it's thorax. I agree it doesn't look like one. Having had the displeasure of being bitten by one, it can be very serious. Often leaving either a large chunk of dead flesh or an amputated finger in its wake. I was lucky and only spent a week or two thinking I was dying. It was that bad:) Watch for a large red welp with a dark spot in the middle and small pustules (sp?) around it. Dr. acted like it was not too big of a deal, but a friend's mother lost a finger to a BR in her glove. Every glove I put on gets stomped first. Medical folks are a bit desensitized to illness. Like cops and crime. Good luck
 
1) Those pics don't look like a brown recluse.
2) With all due respect to ER nurses, they treat people for the VERY short term then often send them home. I worked 2 years as a Med-Surg nurse where I took care of the spider bite vics AFTER the ER discharged them. My job involved the wound care and administering IV antibiotics for 3 to 6 weeks.

So I respectfully disagree that the bites are no big deal. Down here in Houston, I've seen A LOT of spider bites end up as serious MRSA infections.

Bottom line: keep it clean. Seek professional medical care if it hurts or if it appears infected (swollen, red, hot, or if you get a fever).
 
Looks like a trap door spider to me..Look at the google images of them.

We don't have them back west..but I used to like to read encyclopedias as a youngster :D
 
Advise that I got was to wash the bite ASAP with a lot of soap and water - clean it well. I've heard that you can be bit by a BR and not even know it?
 
For some reason spiders look more flat and squished when I seem them up close.
 
This is a trap door spider, most likely a Ummidia species. They are common on the lawns on well draining soil. The should be a saddle shape on the last legs near the segment going into the body.
 
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Very mild bite. Treat for infection, not the bite. Don't scratch. You will have small localized swelling from this genus here in the US. They have big fangs and can hurt, but you shouldn't have the divot that the necrosis casuses from a brown recluse. PM me and I'll send you some clinical stuff for it from Auerbach's wilderness medicine book. Not to be confused with a much more virulent Australian species.
 
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