help

[Stewart Elves]

hi, right i would like to firstly point out that i am a big old arachnophobic! so youre probably wandering why i joined this website, well i ahve a few questions that i cant seem to find the answers too any where on the net, probably because im typing in the wrong thing. or summat like that. so heres the thing. being aracnophobic is not a nice thing, but its something i have to live with, and its causing me no end of problems, this is not my major concern however. My major concern is this and please bear with me on this i will try and be brief, my partner has a A.Geniculata hope i spelt that right! and its not very big i believe it is soon to start moulting for the second time. Ok heres what i need to know, how dangerous is this spider to humans if it escapes? how potent is its venom to small dogs and larger dogs, is it aggressive in anyway? And if i understand this correctly if it is moulting should my partner in anyway be interfereing with a natural process? Could any one out there with an EXPERT knowledge please help me as this is his first spider and according to him a months worth of research makes him some expert.

[Phil Rea]

In brief, because I'm on my phone.

Not dangerous to humans, more dangerous to dogs when sizeable, but from what you say, it's a small specimen at the moment so of little or no concern. Unlikely to be defensive, but will likely kick irritating hairs from its abdomen and threaten before biting.

Do not interfere when it moults. Leave it undisturbed.

[Paul Berry]

Im studying psychology at the OU at present. Would you like me to help you with your Arachnophobia? I also have an A. Geniculata the same size.

[Ryan Simons]

Im studying psychology at the OU at present. Would you like me to help you with your Arachnophobia? I also have an A. Geniculata the same size.

Paul... is this possible! can arachnophobists be cured (of there insanity! lol) Please say yes as my girlfriend wants us to get a house soon but her arachnophobia is just ridiculous! Say 'Spider' while shes eating and she looses her apatite, try and show her a pic of even something that looks friendly like a Purple peru Avic and she flips out!!

Basically down to the point.. If i want to move in with her, the T's have gotta go, but i do NOT want to get rid of them!! hell i only have 4 !

[Paul Berry]

In brief, Arachnophobics can be helped. Arachnophobia tends towards learnt behaviour, so there is a way forward.

[Stewart Elves]

thank you phil much appreciated, i do wish to learn more on this subject if anyone can be of help, as for being arachnophobic, i have been since the age of five im now 33 so i very much doubt that i will ever be cured of this condition. dont get me wrong i dont hate spiders, on the contrary i fear them.

[Eleanor]

Phil has basically said it. It's not dangerous to humans, and if small I wouldn't expect it to be dangerous to your dog either. I don't know if the toxicity to dogs is known, though maybe someone else will.

Many people keep tarantulas and dogs or cats with no issues. I keep most of my spiders in a room that our cats are not allowed in, so there's no danger of them accidentally knocking over a tank, but that's partly because I have so many of them (spiders, not cats), as it is perfectly possible to make the tanks secure against cats or dogs.

If it escapes and remains uncaught, the most likely thing to happen is that the spider will hide somewhere and die.

If you're worried about your partner's ability to care correctly for the spider, then anyone on here will be more than happy to offer you and him advice.

[Eleanor]

thank you phil much appreciated, i do wish to learn more on this subject if anyone can be of help, as for being arachnophobic, i have been since the age of five im now 33 so i very much doubt that i will ever be cured of this condition. dont get me wrong i dont hate spiders, on the contrary i fear them.

Fear is something you can do something about. I know that London Zoo used to do a course for arachnophobes but I don't know if they still do. But to be fair it sounds as though you are already doing exactly the right thing, which is finding out more about them.

I always thought my boyfriend's mum was a completely incurable arachnophobe, and always made sure that our spiders were in a room that she never had to go in so she didn't have to see them. Well, a year or so ago, I caught her with her face 6 inches away from my mexican red knee's tank calling her a lazy little madam. I think it was because she'd heard so much about her she'd started thinking of her as little a furry animal with a personality, instead of one of those nasty hairy scuttling things (which she still fears just as much, by the way!)

[wayne balcombe]

Stewart and ryan,

yes as has been stated arahcnophobia is a learned behaviour and as such can be unlearned, i've spent a great deal of time working with people that suffer various phobias(arachnophobia being the most common) and people that have panic attacks and anxiety dissorders as a result. There is hope.

for those who have a fear of spiders seeing one triggers that fight or flight response where we run away or attack the thing that scares us(most people run), that surge of adrenaline is there for just that purpose and if you do neither the adrenaline is not being used up and causes the symptoms of a panic attack, hyperventilation, cardiac palpatations, dizzines etc.

there are many different methods for controling phobias including things like hypnosis (which most definately does work) but the most common has already been highlighted by Eleanor.

Exposure therapy is the most effective, this is where, in a controled environment you are exposed to that which you fear -spiders- and gradually increase your exposure for example you would start with a spider in a pot on the other side of a room and move it closer untill you are holding the pot then repeat the prossess with the lid off the pot and eventually have no pot and just the spider. it takes time but bgradually increasing exposure has fantastic results over a fairly short space of time.

the other method is known as CBT cognative behavioural therapy, the idea of this is to change the way you think, feel and behave about something, basically re-programming your mind not to be scared by turning what scares you in to something that makes you laugh etc as Eleanor mentioned about the redknee, her boyfriends mother stopped looking at it as a spider and saw it more as a little furry animal, talking to the spider and imagining a personality for it and telling yourself theres nothing to be scared of whilst getting close will also take you in the right direction.

hope this has been an informative read for you.

[Paul Berry]

Wayne is absolutely correct but the way forward is always different for different people. Swiss Psychologist Jean Piaget did a lot of work on the way children think using schemas.

The word schema is used to describe a framework of thought, the thoughts, reactions and visions, associated in this case with spiders Each individuals spider schema will be different.

In a way its a sort of reference look up table on the way you would behave and the feelings the word or sight of a spider would invoke in you.

Learning all you can about spiders is a good start in the right direction. You would be entering positive knowledge into your own spider schema, and so your thoughts on spiders would begin to change. Fearful thoughts would start to be replaced by knowledge.

[wayne balcombe]

Thank you paul, an excellent reference there, i'd almost completely forgotten Piaget's work with schema's

to break it down a little further:

Schema: derivative of the word schematic- scheme plot or plan. The process by which something is achieved. In this case specifically the thought processes which trigger negative reactions and ways in which we may change the reaction by changing the thought process. Very similar to CBT.

The Schema in this case is the idividual thought process that causes a panic reaction. The initial trigger, the incident that spawned the fear, this is specific to the individual, though most people cant remember that first incident its the subconcious mind that associates the trigger item (in this case spiders) with that first fearful encounter, thus its not the spider you fear but the memory of a specific incident involving a spider.

it is within human nature to fear the unknown and to most people spiders are creatures of scary rumour, fiction and horror movies, so as Paul so rightly states, replacing misconceptions and rumour with actual knowledge and fact is a massive step toward over coming the fear.

[Stephen jordan]

thank you phil much appreciated, i do wish to learn more on this subject if anyone can be of help, as for being arachnophobic, i have been since the age of five im now 33 so i very much doubt that i will ever be cured of this condition. dont get me wrong i dont hate spiders, on the contrary i fear them.

Id hated spiders with a passion until I bought one and faced it head on, you can be helped get over youre fear of them for sure, I own 12 spiders now lol I'm still very cautious and respectful of them as we should be, but my irrational fear of them is almost gone. 90% of the time my spiders will run and hide when they hear me coming, they are just as cautious of us as we are of them generally I find. Best of luck with it, I know how you feel totally

[Stephen jordan]

[QUOTE=Ryan Simons;
Basically down to the point.. If i want to move in with her, the T's have gotta go, but i do NOT want to get rid of them!! hell i only have 4 ![/QUOTE]

That's madness Ryan, I've had similar experience with my dog, I just dumped her there n then...I had my dog since she was 8 weeks old, she's now 14 and awesome funny animal, it was no contest lol! Harsh I know but WTF! My advice is DONT get rid of any of them, stand your ground.
Good luck with that one
Steve

[Mark Harrison]

I know exactley what you mean stephen, ive had to do the same in the past with ex's..the T's are going nowhere plus they dont have massive vets bills like cats