Chinchilla possibly bitten by brown recluse or wolfe spider

[mmm412]

When I let both of my chinchillas out to play, I heard one of my chins, Bandit, make a loud noise I haven't heard before. When I went to check on him, I found a very large brown spider that had legs over half as long as my finger, that was next to him. I can't tell if he was bit or just got very scared, he tends to be a very neurotic chin (we think he was neglected/harmed by his previous owners). What would be some of the symptoms? He's acting very strange after the incident. Any thoughts/information would be helpful!
-Thanks!

[ireneo]

It might even be helpful to read up a little on local spiders before anything happens. Then you'll know whether you have a medical emergency or not. The sooner you can get treatment for him, the better it will be.

My husband was bitten by a black widow. He ignored the bite saying it was no big deal. Even when he had a pink streak going up his arm, he didn't want to deal with it. I kept stressing it was a medical emergency. He said he felt foolish bothering the hospital with a bug bite. He finally went (he drove himself!). Once he got in the door, they whisked him in and he fainted. He was stuck there for hours alone while they dealt with the bite reaction. So yes, getting help sooner rather than later is always a good idea. Let's just hope there is no next time for your little friend.

[mmm412]

Thank you for the insight! he's been acting a little strange lately, but, he's always strange haha. He doesnt seem to have any spider bite reactions/symptoms. But i will have to keep that in mind about asking a university/college in case we get another scare.

[ireneo]

If you can contact your local college/university and ask for someone who knows about the local spiders, that would be a good start. A spider that large should be fairly easy to identify. It depends on where you live whether you have any that might be dangerous to your ferret.

I see from your post that you sent this msg about 15 hours ago. Certainly if the spider was dangerous, your ferret would have shown symptoms by now. I hope all is well.