Ugly Critter

[Gary A]

My wife went to take a shower and started hollering for me to get in there. I went in and she was pointing in the corner. I thought it was a rubber joke critter until it decided to take a walk. It was about 8 inches long.

[chuchok]

Here's a close up of one that ran over my foot the other night, making me wish that I was wearing brown trousers...

I forget their name, but they are nasty little buggers with a painfull bite.

[Gary A]

I did a little research and it is a European centipede. A bite can hospitalize an adult and can kill a child. Nasty things indeed.

Here's a close up of one that ran over my foot the other night, making me wish that I was wearing brown trousers...

I forget their name, but they are nasty little buggers with a painfull bite.

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[solo siam]

Its not a European Centipede, its a tropical one. Their bite is very painful and can in fact be fatal even to a full grown man. Surprised you havent seen them before, they are very common here.

[chonabot]

Thai name is Da Kaap more posionous than any spider or scorpion in Thailand.

[ProfessorFart]

Allow me. What a load of nonsense. You'd think you were 4 years old and not grown men to read the above.

Its Scolopendra Subspinipes.

It is NOT fatally dangerous. In fact it is nothing of the sort but it is pretty high on anyones list of nasties for other reasons.

Its bite is agonising; so agonising that people have been known to plunge their hands into boiling water to break down the venom. The true danger comes when a bite becomes infected as they can inflict a deep wound. If bitten, get it treated.

Thailand has two species of giant centipede. Scolopendra Giganticea (the species in chuchok's post) and Subspinipes (the species in the OP).

Edited December 21, 2005 by ProfessorFart

[chonabot]

I stand by my claim , it is more poisonous than any spider or scorpion , not fatal , but the venom is hideously painful , if bitten on the hand, your fingers will swell up to the dimensions of sausages.

Find me an arachnid that can make a Walls sausage of your digits and I will relinquish my insect/arachnid knowall crown.

[BambinA]

this nasty creature is harmful for allergic person (antihistamine /steroid can help)

for poor people can get anaphylactic shock and dead..

and in asian cuture as Th ,China..some people just dipped it with alcohol (whiskey..etc) and think like its med. stuff

[ProfessorFart]

Swelling is a reaction to the venom or an infection but not a symptom of the venom itself. Its not a standard reaction. Different people will react in different ways. I agree that the only venomous creatures in Thailand which will kill are snakes.

My mate got stung by a bee in Thailand and his arm went up like a balloon and he's not even anaphylactic. He was fine but a tad puffed up for a day or so. He loves himself as well which made it very funny indeed and left the crumpet and the endless Jonh Merrick gags for me.

[BambinA]

I agree that the only venomous creatures in Thailand which will kill are snakes.

i dont agree with you now..hornets,wasps (Vespa sp. ) can kill people easily (from allergy)

from the protien in venom

and for sure.. depends on person ..some just get bumps , some dead

[thaibites0]

Venom from 'Da Kaap' CAN kill the elderly and the young although a normal healty person will just have an extremely painfull reaction for a few days. The rainy season will drive them indoors and sightings and bites will increase.

Very common throughout Isaan and I disturbed a nest of some kind last week whilst gardening but they are not really fast movers and quite easy to kill - it's the ones you don't see that have curled up in your bedding for some warmth and a bit of dry space that will get you.

[Thaicoon]

If i see these anywhere i make sure i chop em up, nasty little beggers, 4 years ago i got bitten by one, came out of the house in the morning to go into town, put my shoes on, one curled up in the bottom of the shoe, hel_l it was b l o o d y painfull, and my foot was swollen up double the size, went straight to buriram hospital, lucky i was ok, now i always check my shoes.

[ProfessorFart]

Venom from 'Da Kaap' CAN kill the elderly and the young although a normal healty person will just have an extremely painfull reaction for a few days. The rainy season will drive them indoors and sightings and bites will increase.

Please do not post nonsense if you do not know what you are talking about.

It may be the shock or pain of being bitten which could kill an old person but it NOT the venom. It is simply not that powerful. The pain from a bite comes from the depth and size of the bite which spreads venom rapidly around a localised area. Imagine the pain of a 3 inch wasp sting and you begin to see the picture.

Scholopendra's prefered environment is the leaf litter especially in damp conditions therefore the rain will not force them into people's homes. They merely get into people's homes by accident and seeing as they tend to wind up dead would certainly not choose to share an environment with humans.

[thaibites0]

''Scholopendra's prefered environment is the leaf litter especially in damp conditions therefore the rain will not force them into people's homes.''

Not sure when the 'Prof' thinks these things became Aquatic but when our garden floods in the rainy season they do seem to prefer the dry spaces that we have in our house!

Of course the 'Prof' is very knoledgable (well in cyberspace anyway) so maybe the reported death from a bite to this girl wasn't real?

''Scolopendra Subspinipes

We weren't sure whether we wanted to feature a picture of this centipede twisting its head into the substrate but decided that this was an appropriate pose. Subspinipes is probably second in size only to the giganteus varieties, and it would be an understatement to say that ours can become quite animated when their enclosures are opened. At cage cleaning time it can be advantageous to immediately feed the animal as it will be preoccupied in consuming the prey item. Large crickets, large cockroaches and fuzzy mice are appropriate. These are an Asian tropical species complex and benefit from higher humidity.

We find this species complex to be quite interesting, having several variations. The most common is probably the variety pictured above. Also of interest is the variation which has bright yellow legs. Varieties of subspinipes appear to be distributed throughout the Asian area and exactly which variations come from exactly where remains little studied. Specimens are frequently seen from Indonesia, but lately some Chinese specimens have been finding their way to market. The yellow legged variety may be Scolopendra subspinipes de haani.

All of these centipedes are voracious predators and their venom can be medically significant. A bite to the skin that does not reach a vein or artery produces extreme pain, headaches, vomiting, and more. Complications can lead to necrosis in the area of the bite. At this writing, only one death has been reported, a young girl who was bitten on the head. Treat all centipedes with respect.''

One wonders if any deaths occured in Nakhon Nowhere and where not reported? Wouldn't want a baby in my family to be the next statistic!

[thaibites0]

No answer from the good 'Prof' so one would assume he's busy or actually posting from the UK as his info tells us.

Posting from research rather than experience is always a dodgy thing to do - if you have never seen a heavy 4 or 5 hour downpour flood your garden and take an hour to drain off would of course make you think that 'damp' conditions would occur in your garden.

Let's have a look at the main theory the 'Prof' puts forward - you get bitten by 'Da Kaap' and the venom gives extreme pain and huge swelling that will kill old people and babies but it's not the venom that does it but the pain and swelling? When you get bitten by a Texas coral snake your respiratory system fails and you die so it's not the venom that kills you it's the fact you can't breathe?

Fact or fiction - I asked 20 Thai's today if 'Da Kaap' will kill and every answer was a resounding YES!

Still, the 'Prof' will get home from work soon (1700 hrs in UK) and post the answer. Hope there's not an insult there though!

[Buff-horns]

If i see these anywhere i make sure i chop em up, nasty little beggers, 4 years ago i got bitten by one, came out of the house in the morning  to go into town, put my shoes on, one curled up in the bottom of the shoe, hel_l it was b l o o d y painfull, and my foot was swollen up double the size, went straight to buriram hospital, lucky i was ok, now i always check my shoes.

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onemorning i put on my trainer to find a large object inside ,it was a frog ,my foot just would not go in and he would not come out . fierce shaking removed the frog .

[ProfessorFart]

You really know nothing about venoms mate. Have a go all you like. I have a life out side of the forum.

I have been raising and breeding Scollis and venomous snakes which you also seem to know ###### all about since I was 6. You have not.

I'll rip you to shreds in the morning!

First up, what type of venom do Scoliies have??

Please tell us all d ickhe ad?

Edited December 24, 2005 by ProfessorFart

[thaibites0]

Not an answer to be seen from the good 'Prof', still answering with a question and an insult is always a good way out.

[toptuan]

Second-hand anecdotal evidence follows:

I have a university student who was bitten last school year. As most students (and rural Isan residents), his bed in the dormitory is a palette on the floor. Therefore it was easy for one of these creatures to crawl up to his neck and inflict a bite during the night. (Talk about a living nightmare.)

He said that the pain was near-paralyzing. The medical clinic is just across the road from his dormitory. However, it hurt so badly, he lay there (near-motionless) for 2-1/2 days before being able make it across the road for medical help (he lives alone).

I just asked a native Isaan resident about the local folk treatment:

1. Heat up cow manure to just below skin-burning temperature.

2. Mix it with a local herb (can't remember what it was---probably the main effective ingredient!). Maybe one of you other expats in Isaan can ask a friend as well.

3. Spread it on the wound, until the pain subsides.

As a little boy, this informant was bitten and was treated by his grandfather many years ago. He said it took three days for the pain to subside. However, from what I hear, two to three days for the pain to subside is about the lifetime of the agony anyway. So who really knows if the folk remedy speeds up recovery or not?

I would be quick to add that I'm not purposely discounting most of the Isaan folk medicine. These guys know stuff that the Bangkok-trained doctors have never laid eyes on, and a lot of it is quite effective (personal experience).

After reading the above posts (and hearing my students' experiences):

1) I'm checking my shoes in the morning

2) Checking the bedding before I hop in at night

3) And no more sleeping on the floor, which I've done often.

4) No more walking around in the dark in my barefeet (which I've also often done)

I'm no 4 year old, but I've heard enough stories that make me want to exercise just a little more caution in daily life.

Incidentally, about 3-1/2 years ago, I saw one of these things on a pile of ruins at Angkor Wat. Being new to SE Asia, I approached it to get a good picture and my native guide rather roughly grabbed my arm and pulled me away, cautioning me to steer clear (and ruining my picture in the process!) He made it sound as though the thing would jump on me from a couple meters away! Never had one do that (I've seen several since then, close up), but happy to hear our earlier poster confirm the slow-moving nature of these unwanted guests in the house.

[thaibites0]

The 'Prof' is right toptuan in that the things prefer a nice damp leafy place and most of the year is fairly free of the things, the problems start when the rains come and flood the area's they normally inhabit.

Most recently built houses will be built on 'filled' land but very few people will go to the expense of filling the garden area at the same time so when the rains force them to find drier places you can guess where they will head for!

They are not slow moving as such but are slow enough for you to kill with ease if you see them.

[toptuan]

onemorning i put on my trainer to find a large object inside ,it was a frog ,my foot just would not go in and he would not come out . fierce shaking removed the frog .

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During my first day in my newly-built duplex (ground floor), I noticed a full 1-inch gap under the front door. I didn' t give it too much thought other than vaguely planning to look for some kind of material to close off the gap, during my next trip to hardware store in town, in the next week or two. After all, Isan IS home to a few varieties of cobra, I'm told.

Needless to say, I sped up my timetable a bit when, the next morning, I jumped out of bed directly onto a fat toad, in my bare feet. Toad no more. After washing the guts out from between my toes, I swept the schedule (and floor) clean and immediately did the 20-kilometer round trip to the nearest hardware store.

Edited December 24, 2005 by toptuan

[toptuan]

During my first day in my newly-built duplex (ground floor)...

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P.S. Hmmm....must be some reason why most rural Isan houses are built up on stilts or concrete posts...

[Jeff1]

I had my first chance to get up close and personal with one about 2 months ago . BIG and still gives me the creeps . I dropped a 10 foot ladder on it but that just made it mad . Found a big rock , that seemed to do the trick . Rock = 1. Creepy crawler = 0

[soihok]

Has anyone got round to see what they taste like ?They might make a hearty dish if they are enough of them with the correct condiments.

[ProfessorFart]

Firstly apologies to Thaibites for my abuse. It was uncalled for but a mere reaction to his abuse to me in his earlier posts. we shall see is he is man enough to apologise in return.

Now, we are at the point of wondering why we get nasty things in our houses in Thailand?

The bottom line is encroachment on their habitat. They do not seek out homes as an environment. It is in 90% of cases of finding a beastie in ones home, a pure chance mistake. Thye don't want to be there. You don't want them there. The feeling is mutual.

As for local knowledge, I once had a Thai tell me that snakes can fly into houses from trees. They know as much as the next man.

Thai houses are built on stilts because the passing air beneath the house is cooling so I have been told however I stand to be corrected.

[toptuan]

Thai houses are built on stilts because the passing air beneath the house is cooling so I have been told however I stand to be corrected.

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Asking an Isan buddy, it's both/and (and more...):

1) The cooling effect, as you suggested

2) Helping to cut down the instances of unwanted house guests (creepy crawlers)

3) For the convenience of adding on a walled-in underneath addition to the house at a later time.

Golly, and it wasn't just aesthetics!

[penzman]

Here's a nice fat one. It's the yellow legged species. A Burmese friend caught it in the in-laws backyard in Samut Prakan.

My father in law says he's been bitten by snakes and once by a centiede and would let a snake bite him again anytime instead of one of these.

Here's a previous thread about centipedes.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...56&hl=centipede

[thaibites0]

Rereading my posts I can find no personal abuse there at all and I'm sure that if I went through all my posts on these boards I would find no personal abuse in them but if the 'prof' believes I did attack him he has my heartfelt apologies.

Before tractors became affordable to local farmers the space under the house would be used to house the natural workhorse of the Thai farmer overnight and then used by the family during the day.

Edited December 25, 2005 by thaibites0

[Fosa]

I've tasted one- sitting round fire with some visiting Meo when one scuttled past. This guy pinned it down with a stick, pinched off the sting and grilled it for a few minutes in a split bamboo! Funnily enough tasted rather like lobster!

Fosa

[ProfessorFart]

I've also seen people eating them by wrapping them in mud or clay and throwing it onto a fire. About 20 minutes later they simply break off the baked clay and it even shells the beast.