Well just got my first spider in as a rescue.

This morning we got a call from the police askin if we could assist with a spider that was found in a suitcase and was identified as a Huntsman. The folk who found it just arrived back from the Virgin Islands and when they open their suitcase out ran the spider. The poor lad freaked as the spider shot out and when her husband was trying to catch it it just reared up and they couldn't believe it. Anyhow we went to collect it so its here now. Its approx 2inches roughly but the buggar will soon get bigger. Will take pics later.

Think the dirty lil' minger is staying here LOL... given him a name which is well suited me thinks lol He's called Freaky Deaky. He scares the crap outa me LOL

Hahahaha Shaun am too scared to even attempt to stick a postage stamp on him

Because he is a 'real' spider and not a Tarantula it just brings back my archnophobia. I mean come on whats the walking sideways and jumping all about LOL.

Toxicity and aggression
In general, Huntsman spiders are not regarded as dangerous, and can be considered beneficial because they feed on insects (Many Australians will relocate Huntsmen to the garden rather than kill them). There have been reports of members of the genus Neosparassus (formerly called Olios) giving bites that have caused prolonged pain, inflammation, headache, vomiting and irregular pulse rate; however, a scientific study into the bite of these spiders did not note any severe or unusual symptoms resulting from confirmed Neosparassus bites.^[2] It is unclear under what circumstances these spiders bite people, but it is known that female members of this family will aggressively defend against perceived threats to their egg sacs and their young.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider

http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/huntsman_spiders.htm

Yeah I read that the other day, plus many other sites and even phone Lee up at spidershop.co.uk about how to keep him etc. But it's not the venom I am worried about etc, even though I react badly to wasp stings. It's just about what the look like - the simply are freaky to look at. It's just ugly LOL.

Reptile Rescue Den wrote:

... It's just ugly LOL.

Perception my dear. We must try imagine what we look like to these poor creatures.

Hahahaha good point Shaun. But had a phobia since I was 3yrs old and these just remind me of that................plus and this is a big PLUS lol they remind me of the spids in the Harry Potter film. Just makes my skin crawl LOL. Still will be a good educational tool. I keep trying to convince myself of that. LOL