Spiders, and now dd was bitten

[Britishmum]

We have had big, big spiders show up in just one bedroom of our house since we moved in 18 months ago. I mean, big.

We are spider-friendly in our house, but have been a little concerned about these. Then last night, dd was bitten. Not once, but about 12 times, all down one leg. Huge bites, that really itch and hurt.

We saw the dr this afternoon and he confirmed it was spider bites.

My concern now is what we do about these spiders in the house? Can we do anything? I'm going to have the kids sleep in another room right now, but I need to do something long term.

Ideas?

[Skim]

I don't have a lot of concrete ideas, unfortunately, but I just had to send your dd a big ol' . How awful!

We are spider friendly here, too, but if I discovered big spiders biting on my 3 yo I might freak out. What kind are they, do you know?

My first response was, Get a cat. Our cat is an enthusiastic and talented spider killer.

Repellents?

Good luck. I'll be lurking...

[A&A]

www.hobospiders.com

These traps work for all spiders that crawl on the ground (they don't catch the ceiling spiders, but those are generally smaller than the ground spiders.)

[Britishmum]

Originally Posted by Skim

I don't have a lot of concrete ideas, unfortunately, but I just had to send your dd a big ol' . How awful!

We are spider friendly here, too, but if I discovered big spiders biting on my 3 yo I might freak out. What kind are they, do you know?

My first response was, Get a cat. Our cat is an enthusiastic and talented spider killer.

Repellents?

Good luck. I'll be lurking...

I have a cat, who spends much of her day, and all night, in that room too. I think she must spend her time lazing around. She's getting a bit old, fat and lazy for hunting.

My poor dd. There are 11 huge welts on her leg. They are driving her nuts with the itching, but all she keeps saying is "oh, please don't kill the spider if you find him. I'm sure he was really frightened to bite me like that!" Now, I am spider friendly, but when I look at my child's leg, I can tell you I imagine squishing that spider quite violently!

The dr told me they will take a week to go too, so it's going to be a long haul. They are already blistering.

All the kids crammed into one bed in another room last night as they were too scared to sleep in the spider room. I need to find some answers!

[Ornery]

Nothing to add except to say EEEEEEEEEK!

[sbgrace]

Glue traps are best for floor crawling spiders. Given that experience (poor baby) I'd put a glue trap under each leg of the bed and move the bed away from the walls. I'm sorry she got bit.

edited to add: glue traps as in the flat kind advertised to catch mice are readily available and work well. Most spiders who crawl like walls so along walls, behind furniture, and in your case beds. I'd take precautions with all beds even in other rooms I believe in this situation.

[kittygrrl523]

Osage Oranges supposedly repel spiders

[Britishmum]

OK, off to buy some sticky traps tomorrow. Thanks for the tip!

I just read online that you should move everything out from under beds. We don't have much stored, but a few items, that I'll remove tomorrow. Also I read that you should remove bedskirts. The idea is that then there are only 4 legs of the bed for the spider to use as access to the bed. We'll be moving some furniture around tomorrow.

Ugh. This is horrible. And my sweet dd is still far more concerned that we don't kill the spider if we see it, than about her poor leg. She now won't even complain when the itching is really bad, in case it sends me off to hunt out the damned creature.

[1littlebit]

wow you guys are brave. or i'm a wimp. your DD is such a sweet kid!

[Britishmum]

Oh, I'm certainly not brave. It's all an act. My kids are brave though.

We pulled out the bed today and vaccumed underneath and all around. My heart was pounding as we shook everything out, in case any spiders ran out. But nothing. He's long gone.

And dd made me search online today to see if we could find anywhere where she could buy some spiders as pets, as she thinks they are so sweet. Our search turned up nothing I was willing to have her buy, so she's settling on some ladybugs for now, to go along with the butterflies she already has. And she's not complained once about her leg today, although I know it's itching like crazy, in spite of the doses of benadryl and prescription anti-itch creams.

You are right, she is a sweetheart.

[Alana]

That is sweet of her!

I, however, show no mercy to big scary wolf spiders that come up into our living areas, they are quickly sucked up with our vacuum. I bought a dyson for that reason...the wand. They can hang in the basement, but not with us

[rainyday]

Originally Posted by Britishmum

My poor dd. There are 11 huge welts on her leg. They are driving her nuts with the itching, but all she keeps saying is "oh, please don't kill the spider if you find him. I'm sure he was really frightened to bite me like that!" Now, I am spider friendly, but when I look at my child's leg, I can tell you I imagine squishing that spider quite violently!

I don't know if the itching has subsided, but if not...I wanted to throw out a recommendation for Gold Bond cream. It works to kill the itch for me and DS like nothing else I've tried. Seriously, nothing else comes close. It does make it kind of tingly, but I don't mind that, and it's way better than scratching oneself raw, which is what I was just about doing before I found it. It actually stops the itch really quickly unlike hydrocortisone, which doesn't.

Also, for the spiders, I don't know what type it was obviously, but I've read that it's a good idea to keep all bedding a couple of inches off the floor to make it less likely the spiders will climb up.

Hugs to your poor DD.

[Britishmum]

Thanks - I'll go to get some.

The prescription cream helps, but she can only use it 2x day, and it wears off.

Thanks for the tip!

[Mama Poot]

Originally Posted by kittygrrl523

Osage Oranges supposedly repel spiders

Yes they do!!! I'm lucky to be in an area where they are abundant. Unfortunately it is late to harvest. whatever is left out there is probably too soggy or rotten by this point.

[goodygumdrops]

I know this isnt very nfl but if a spider bit my child that much, Id call an exterminator. I could not deal with that....ehhh it gives me the heebyjeebies just thinking about it..

[Britishmum]

Originally Posted by goodygumdrops

I know this isnt very nfl but if a spider bit my child that much, Id call an exterminator. I could not deal with that....ehhh it gives me the heebyjeebies just thinking about it..

That was my first thought, although it goes against all my principles. But anyway, once I researched it, I"m not sure that an exterminator could do much. Spiders are very hard to get rid of. They hide in small spaces, and don't contact surfaces frequently enough to be killed by contact sprays.

At the moment it seems that the best plan is to remove potential hiding spots for them in the room near beds, remove ways for them to crawl into beds, including bed skirts, and put sticky traps around the room behind furniture, under beds, and along walls.

I'm going to look into Osage Oranges now too.

I saw the daughter of the family who used to live here today. She told me that she was once bitten when she lived here, although not as badly as my dd. Just as I was starting to think that this was just incredibly bad luck - I'd read that the chances of being bitten are equal to being struck by lightning. Now that theory has gone out the window!

Thankfully my home is not badly cluttered, and we've been seriously decluttering it lately, so it should be fairly easy to get rid of hiding spots and set up traps. I'm working very hard not to freak out about it, and am amazing myself by my calmness. It does help that the kids are now not at all concerned, except at the prospect of me harming the spiders.

[bender]

A friend of mine had these outlet plug ins that emitted some frequency that kept bugs and spiders away. She used it when trying to sell her condo, and it was very effective.

[blessedmum]

I have heard that dried tansy works to detur spiders. I have not tried it yet, but it is next on my list.
Good luck!

[Britishmum]

Originally Posted by bender

A friend of mine had these outlet plug ins that emitted some frequency that kept bugs and spiders away. She used it when trying to sell her condo, and it was very effective.

Oh - I had one of those when I lived in France for mosquitoes, and it worked. I didn't know it worked for spiders too. I'll do some research on that too now.

After thinking that dd was doing really well, I'm realizing how much she's been traumatized by this. She looks soooo tired today, and is not admitting it in case I call an exterminator, but I realize now that she is scared to fall sleep.

I need to do some things to repel the bugs so that at least she starts to feel safe, even if some of them don't work. She needs some peace of mind.