Tarantula Owners Beware of Harm to Your Eyes!

Do you have a desire to have a tarantula as a pet? I don't, but evidently there are more tarantula pet owners out there than I would have guessed. Circulating on the web is a creepy story about a British man and his pet tarantula.

It is being reported by ABC News that a man recently showed up at St. James University Hospital in Leeds, England with a condition of "red eye". The doctors were perplexed, and although the man had already had been given a diagnosis and treatment for pink eye or "conjunctivitis," it was without success.

Upon examination of the man's eyes under strong magnification, doctors saw a lot of small hairs in his eyes. Somehow, the man had failed to mention that he owned a Chilean Rose tarantula as a pet, and that he had a recent incident while cleaning out its cage.

While cleaning the cage the man remembered that his tarantula had been in close proximity to his face and that it had sprayed a mist of hairs into his eyes. What he didn't know, was that these small hairs had the equivalent of 'barbs' on them and that they helped the hairs penetrate the eyes with each blink. Therefore as blinking is frequent, his eyes eventually became inflamed and irritated.

Doctors could not remove the hairs as they were too small and some of them had already made it through the cornea, the iris, and behind the retina. Rounds of steroids were prescribed to flush the hairs out.

Most people who purchase tarantulas as pets are not generally told by shop owners of this little defense mechanism the tarantula has to defend itself. Whether the omission of this fact is intentional or not, it can cause problems for the new owner. Research should be done by the purchaser of the tarantula as to how it should be cared for and any precautions that should be taken as a tarantula owner.

Unfortunately, there are a number of doctors who are unaware of the problem that tarantulas can cause to the eyes. Because of this reality, problems can arise when a person with eye problems goes in to see their ophthalmologist. If the patient or doctor is unaware that a tarantula has released these barbed hairs in the eyes, a misdiagnosis can occur leaving the problem untreated or worse, incorrectly treated.

Because symptoms caused by these barbed hairs commonly do not show up for at least a week, often the person does not associate their eye problem with the pet tarantula and fails to mention the tarantula to their doctor. This can be a major problem! Treatment should be prompt after symptoms are evident to prevent severe scarring of the cornea or vision loss.

The moral of this story is that; tarantula owners, who develop eye problems, must tell their doctor about the tarantula.

It is also recommended that owners cover the tarantula with a cup before cleaning its cage, so that they cannot spray these harmful hairs into the eyes.

Source:

ABC News