Hamster Central - View Single Post - How to avoid insects in/around hamster bin cage

AmityvilleHams · 06-04-2022, 01:27 PM

Spiders and lizards absolutely can do harm if a hamster did come into contact with them and they had any sort of parasites and such, also the potential for salmonella contamination with lizards which is worth mentioning. Obviously they're good to have around for pest control reasons, but you don't want them coming into contact with hamsters!

Some lizards and spiders can also carry a nasty bite. While the OP mentioned small spiders, there's definitely at least one tarantula species native to Malaysia. Generally tarantula venom is fairly harmless even if potentially quite painful to humans(unless you're one of the unlucky but fairly uncommon people with an allergy to it), but that does not mean it couldn't be potentially more harmful to hamsters. Tarantulas also have urticating hairs - again, generally not harmful to humans except with allergies, but it is extremely irritating and frankly not something you want a hamster to experience at all.

There's also at least one hunstman spider in Malaysia, and those while not considered deadly to humans are still generally venomous(and that doesn't necessarily mean their venom may be non deadly to hamsters, plus even non deadly venom can still be very painful and sometimes long lasting in terms of symptoms). Just like other spiders they're great to have in the environment for pest control, but again it's not worth the massive safety risk to allow them to access hamsters.

I'm very fond of spiders, but it is quite important to not let them get too close to hamsters and even sometimes other pets too for their safety.

06-04-2022, 01:27 PM
AmityvilleHams PM Fluffy for custom title Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 4,545	Re: How to avoid insects in/around hamster bin cage Spiders and lizards absolutely can do harm if a hamster did come into contact with them and they had any sort of parasites and such, also the potential for salmonella contamination with lizards which is worth mentioning. Obviously they're good to have around for pest control reasons, but you don't want them coming into contact with hamsters! Some lizards and spiders can also carry a nasty bite. While the OP mentioned small spiders, there's definitely at least one tarantula species native to Malaysia. Generally tarantula venom is fairly harmless even if potentially quite painful to humans(unless you're one of the unlucky but fairly uncommon people with an allergy to it), but that does not mean it couldn't be potentially more harmful to hamsters. Tarantulas also have urticating hairs - again, generally not harmful to humans except with allergies, but it is extremely irritating and frankly not something you want a hamster to experience at all. There's also at least one hunstman spider in Malaysia, and those while not considered deadly to humans are still generally venomous(and that doesn't necessarily mean their venom may be non deadly to hamsters, plus even non deadly venom can still be very painful and sometimes long lasting in terms of symptoms). Just like other spiders they're great to have in the environment for pest control, but again it's not worth the massive safety risk to allow them to access hamsters. I'm very fond of spiders, but it is quite important to not let them get too close to hamsters and even sometimes other pets too for their safety.