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Personal experiences with snake or spider bites

Prospecting Australia

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I was at Moliagul about 8 - 10 days ago and around 3 days after i noticed a mosquito like swelling which kept getting bigger over the following days.

by around day 4 - 5 it started oozing white pus and blood ( around 0.2 cc of the stuff )

It seems to be improving and is not yet nectrotic but i am keeping an eye on it in case it does which will require a trip to the local GP or horsepiddle .

Does anyone have ideas on what kind of spider it could have been ?

i have eliminated funnelwebs and redbacks becuase the symptoms are totally different.

white tail or mouse spiders might cause similar symptoms ?

I only noticed Orb spiders there and heaps of those tiny little colourful spiders that look similar to the Peacock Sapphire spider discovered in W.A last year .

I searched the Australian Spider bite symptoms website which is a pathetic joke because they claim no australian spiders can cause necrotic infection.

any ideas ?
 
Sounds more like an infected mozzie bite or scratch.
I've been bitten by a few golden orbs and mostly just comes up in red sore lump...... Bullant bites have been worse for me.

And those little colorful spiky spiders have never bitten me as far as I know.

Funny thing I noticed about the Golden Orbs after walking into a few webs was that they try to bail out and jump off with as much urgency as I try to get them off :D
 
LC76 said:
Sounds more like an infected mozzie bite or scratch.
I've been bitten by a few golden orbs and mostly just comes up in red sore lump...... Bullant bites have been worse for me.

And those little colorful spiky spiders have never bitten me as far as I know.

Funny thing I noticed about the Golden Orbs after walking into a few webs was that they try to bail out and jump off with as much urgency as I try to get them off :D
Click to expand...

Yes I have never been bothered by golden orbs either , I didnt see any white tailed spiders there but I do recall having a little white / grey spider about 10 mm long crawling down my neck but I didnt look close enough to identify it.

No matter , like you say it might be just a mosquito that didnt floss before breakfast .
 
Sounds more like a prickle/splinter got you, they produce puss to surround it then when it pops the prickle pops out.
I had a ripper splinter once that was 2cm long that did this, squeezed the bastard sore spot real hard one day and it popped out puss and this monster splinter was 80% out of my thumb, pulled it all the way out and couldn't believe how big it was.
Is the skin around the area white pale colour?
 
Those colourful little spiders that hang on a web between bushes are Jewel or Christmas spiders, and aren't a worry, just a nuisance to detectorists and bush walkers around Christmas.
 
Occasional_panner said:
Sounds more like a prickle/splinter got you, they produce puss to surround it then when it pops the prickle pops out.
I had a ripper splinter once that was 2cm long that did this, squeezed the bastard sore spot real hard one day and it popped out puss and this monster splinter was 80% out of my thumb, pulled it all the way out and couldn't believe how big it was.
Is the skin around the area white pale colour?
Click to expand...

Nope . I get splinters frequently , I work with welding , power tools timber , sheet metal , industrial fibres , lathe , drills ,thread tapping machines .

I know them when I get one , this is on my lower back and the inflammation is unique.

Destined to be a mystery unless it goes necrotic on me.
 
Yup its hard . Feels like I have a mini breast implant inside it and it would be painful if I turn the switch I use to cut out pain . Lol

And what I mean by that is that I push my body so hard at work and play that I would be in constant pain except that I turn off pain before it reaches my brain.

I dont know if other people do that , but I have learnt to switch off to the sensation of pain since I was a kid...

Dont worry folks , starting to regret posting this . Its nuthin :|
 
I'm no insect expert, but generally if it was toxin related the pain would have come on much more rapidly, and if it was something nasty you would be dead by now.
Some spiders can be blamed for nasty bites, but the actual wound is caused by bacteria on their fangs, not the actual venom, so one person being bitten by the exact same species can have utterly different symptoms.
Sounds like an infection related issue (due to puss), go see the doctor as marksman said anti biotics would most likely be the best course of action.

Lower back? Were you camping? could it have been in a chair when you sat down?
 
By the time most infections are bad enough for Aussie men to want to see a doctor it's usually pretty bad. Get a course of antibiotics from the doc, sounds like it's probably needed.
 
Mmm, I do query the sources of information RE spider bites.
There are only 2 known in Australia that pose any statistically based risk. Sydney funnel web and the red back.

Sydney funnel web can be fatal if untreated. Red back is rarely fatal and the only suggested fatalities have be of the very young or very old.

White tale spiders have been disproven to cause any ulciform. Either via envenomation or by alleged associated bacteria. Yes there are any stories suggesting such, but these have been countered by entomologist and medical studies, that are more recent and better researched.
I suggest reading/using Google Scholar. Plain old Google is full of utter rubbish.

Bairnsdale ulciform and it's relatives should be primarily considered if any signs or symptoms present.

Yes many spider bites may hurt, cause redness, swelling and may cause stye like lumps, but in general except for the 2 known, that should be all that is to be experienced from them.

With any skin penetration if of dubious cause or occuranse in less than sterile conditions, wound site treatment with a topical antiseptic is highly recommended. Particularly in areas with known ulciform population.

When in doubt, wash it out. See a doctor. Carefully capture spider for expert identification.

Also please note. We do not know everything about all the spiders that exist within Australia. It is estimated that world wide we have yet to identify 70% more species of insects and arachnids.

So just to reiterate: when in doubt wash it out (with a chemist supplied topical disinfectant) and see a doctor (today not tomorrow or the day after). I'd possible safely capture the spider for expert identification.

I can go on with more info spider related but that is not really prospecting. I am a field naturalist, prospector and horticulturist by trade.
I work with field naturalists and I have a close friend who is a insect/spider mad freak. Chicks who dig spiders are a fascinating type. If you would like further info regarding my suggestions, I think Dr Karl, and Radio National have articles about such.

I highly recommend Andrew Isles book shop in Prahran Melbourne for anything nature or natural history related.

Cheers all I do hope this information helps :D
 
Thanks for sharing.

My original post was intended to deepen my knowledge on what bites and associated phenomenon.

I used salt water to wash mine and paw paw ointment to cover it , apart from nausea and pus excretions for 1-2 days its improving nicely.

I have heaps to learn and as you say there is still so much out there to be found and understood.
 
What looks and feels good today might be different in a few years, decade get my drift. Your right there is a lot to be learnt but no use being a guinea pig. In using the term Guinea pig Dr's will treat you as such given the explanation. If I were you I'd at least get it checked out, would have been better while oozing imo. A swab of that crap in a lab could reveal the culprit or not.
 
Wishfull said:
A mate of mine was butten by a white tail spider.
The wound ulcerated very badly. That was years ago and he is still having issues with it.
Click to expand...

Yep and yet science tells us that is a myth and not possible. Which doesn't marry with my wifes best friend who was also bitten by a White tail on her cheek and the ulceration and problems she had eventually cost her an eye a good 6 to 8 months later.

Another myth that could not possibly happen, when we were kids my eldest brother used to chase us about scaring the crap out of us with a "harmless" huntsman. One day he was bitten on his arm.
When they did finally bring it under control he had a 3" x 2" graft on the inside of his fore arm.

We have so much to learn about venom and what has what, I think it was only 10 or so years ago they discovered our humble Monitors and some Bearded Dragons have the same venom as Rattle Snakes.
 

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