Has anyone experienced this! oh my!!

[Jeansie1988]

So funny enough, i was just sitting on my couch in my living room reading the forum board and something caught the corner of my eye. I immediately grabbed the closest thing to me, which happened to be my cat's nail scratcher toy and started to hit this thing on the floor.
To my surpirse it was a decent sized spider-- after reaching i found out it was a dysdera crocata (woodloose spider)!! After reading about how the heck i got this spider, it says they live in warm, humid coniditions where wood can be damp. Well folks, i just got my tortoise about two and a bit weeks ago.... i am thinking it came from the cypress i bought at petsmart! I have neverrrr seen this kind of spider before!

Anyone seen one before?!? I have no new plants and to be honest, my enclosure for my red foot is not really that moist and humid, i am getting my husband to build me something to increase the humidity!!

YIKES!! I have posted a picture of what this thing looks like!

 

[wellington]

Yikes for sure. Oh I would have crapped the draws. I can't do spiders. Glad you got it before it could have got you, eeeek

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

There was a spider in the bag of topsoil that I put in my tort's enclosure... I about lost it, SO NASTY

 

[ascott]

http://bugguide.net/node/view/3829/bgimage

Are you sure it was not a young one of these? If young the butt area would have been smaller like yours...I only ask because of the dot in the center of the head and the "mouth" area....

We have windscorpions (sun spiders) here in the desert...and they can get like almost 3 inches long...and creeeepy, they move weird which is what I don't like....lol...

 

[Jeansie1988]

http://bugguide.net/node/view/3829/bgimage

Are you sure it was not a young one of these? If young the butt area would have been smaller like yours...I only ask because of the dot in the center of the head and the "mouth" area....

We have windscorpions (sun spiders) here in the desert...and they can get like almost 3 inches long...and creeeepy, they move weird which is what I don't like....lol...

Nope this is not it. The picture posted is just a pic off the google. Couldn't take a picture of this spider but it is exactly the wrong shown in the picture.

I was just wondering because this isn't a "normal" house spider.

 

[Madkins007]

Oh, ya wussies! The main reasons you are afraid of spiders is about the reasons people are afraid of snakes-

1. They are not like us- they do not have a 'basic human and friendly animal' build (head, 4 main limbs, hair, etc.) Lots of studies have shown that a very basic human thing is to like things like us, and not like things not like us. Can't get much more 'not like us' than spiders and snakes.

2. We are taught this by popular culture. Almost every tv show and movie, as well as churches, jokes, 'scary stories', books, etc. reinforce the idea that we are scared of spiders and snakes. For a really interesting article on this, try this (slightly NSFW)- http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-you-dont-realize-movies-are-controlling-your-brain/

How many stories or jokes can you think of right now that involve spiders or snakes in a bad way?

3. We generalize from the few to the group. A few spiders and snakes are pretty dangerous, and the few cases make the news, raising our fear level and awareness.

For example, did you know these things about the fearsome brown recluse...
- Brown recluse spiders are really, really common? Within their range, they are often found in large numbers in and around houses and buildings.
- Brown recluse spiders almost never bite? They got the name 'recluse' because they are shy and hate being around people. People have lived in houses heavily infested with them and never even saw them! When they DO bite, it is almost always because they were literally pressed against the skin.
- MOST brown recluse bites result in no or few symptoms? For most people, this is even less than a wasp sting. An estimated 80% of 'bad bites' are misdiagnosed- spiders getting blamed for infections, diabetes complications, etc.

Poor spiders.

 

[Blakem]

Definitely looks like a wind scorpion to me as well. They are fast (hence the name wind) and are creepy! I too have seen them get a size I get really freaked out by, and not many spiders freak me out if they aren't too big.

 

[Jeansie1988]

Well, im definitely not afraid of spiders- I used to have a couple varieties of tarantulas (rose hair, bird, pink toe) as well as a couple of awesome snakes (burmese, columbian, corn, ball, king).
Like i said, I was shocked because it is not a normal spider around here, caught me off guard.

I was also interested in seeing this because i have been biten in spots on my right arm. At first i thought it was a bug bite from outside, now after reading about this type of spider i am wondering if it has biten me.

Just interesting spider.... that's all.

 

[ascott]

Poor spiders.

I don't know if I have EVER thought this....lol....I am usually alright with spiders, UNLESS of course it is a black widow---this particular spider evokes primal type fear--then I go on the attack and will not stop until it is dead (and if I know I do not have a clear death shot, I will retreat and come back when I am ready for battle...lol)....that is if it is in "my" space around the front porch, back porch or any doorways elevated threshold into the house (which of course is where they seem to lay in wait--likely not really laying in wait, but)...last year my son and I would get our widow hunting tools; the can of spray adhesive, a couple flashlights and a smack then smear tool...we would turn off all of the outdoor lights, wait a bit, then would go out the front door and make a complete lap around the house and rid the surrounding of the house of any of these icky things...my son learned quickly that he should not stand directly behind me when I am on the attack, poor boy.....I am certain he learned alot of colorful words the first time he did and he was between me and freedom....hahaha.

 

[wheezysmomma]

Was gonna say there's no Woodloose spiders there are Woodlouse spiders but the pic you put up looks more like a Recluse Spider yikes is right these little bums can pack quiet a Bite! We have Wolf Spiders that look like these nasty little creatures here in BC http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/H-carolinensis.html they pack a nasty nip as well yucky not a fan of spiders at all!! It may not have Come from your substrate per say but very could have come FOR your substrate!

 

[Blakem]

I don't know if I have EVER thought this....lol....I am usually alright with spiders, UNLESS of course it is a black widow---this particular spider evokes primal type fear--then I go on the attack and will not stop until it is dead (and if I know I do not have a clear death shot, I will retreat and come back when I am ready for battle...lol)....that is if it is in "my" space around the front porch, back porch or any doorways elevated threshold into the house (which of course is where they seem to lay in wait--likely not really laying in wait, but)...last year my son and I would get our widow hunting tools; the can of spray adhesive, a couple flashlights and a smack then smear tool...we would turn off all of the outdoor lights, wait a bit, then would go out the front door and make a complete lap around the house and rid the surrounding of the house of any of these icky things...my son learned quickly that he should not stand directly behind me when I am on the attack, poor boy.....I am certain he learned alot of colorful words the first time he did and he was between me and freedom....hahaha.

Made me laugh! I once was underneath my grandmothers house (that was built in the 30's) and there were all kinds of old spider webs. I had to go under to do some plumbing and came across one black widow that was just sitting there. I was reluctant to kill it but it was 4 inches from my hand. Whew! Not a fan of those.

I have recently become less afraid, which makes me on marks side. But, they are still creepy creachers.

 

[Moozillion]

YAAAY Madkins!!!! I'm with you!