Are Daddy Long Legs Poisonous To Dogs?

People often express interest in knowing whether daddy long legs are poisonous to dogs. In this article, you will find information on whether daddy long legs can bite dogs, whether they can hurt or kill dogs and on what happens when dogs eat them.

Are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs? The answer is ‘no’. Cellar spiders, harvestman arachnids and craneflies (all of which are variously referred to as ‘daddy long legs’) are not poisonous to dogs.

Therefore if you happen to find daddy long legs in your house, you shouldn’t worry too much that they will bite and kill your dog(s).

Even if your dog happens to eat a daddy long leg, you shouldn’t worry too much. In almost all probability, the dog will be alright.

Now the basis for the are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs questions is understandable. After all, these are the sorts of creatures that look as if they can cause a great deal of harm to dogs.

It is against that background you often find people asking, are daddy long legs poisonous to animals (dogs specifically). Others go as far as asking, are daddy long legs deadly to dogs?

All in all though, there should be reassurance in the fact that daddy long legs are not poisonous to dogs.

But before proceeding any further, we need to know what exactly the ‘daddy long legs’ in question are.

What Are Daddy Long Legs?

In order to be in a position to answer the are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs question properly, we first need to understand what exactly the ‘daddy long legs’ are.

As it turns out, daddy long legs are organisms that are characterized by extremely long legs, which look like spindles.

There are actually three creatures that people variously refer to as ‘daddy long legs’.

The first organism that people typically refer to as ‘daddy long legs’ is the cellar spider.

Another organism that people commonly refer to as ‘daddy long legs’ is the harvestman arachnid.

And the third organism that people commonly refer to as ‘daddy long legs’ is the crane fly.

Of these three, only the cellar spider is a true spider.

The harvestman arachnid is more of a mite, whereas the crane fly is a flying organism that feeds on nectar, but has long spindle legs.

With this basic understanding on the nature of ‘daddy long legs’, we can proceed to answer the are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs question.

Are Daddy Long Legs Poisonous To Dogs?

Daddy long legs are not poisonous to dogs.

None of the three creatures we refer to as ‘daddy long legs’ is poisonous to dogs. (The three creatures in question are the cellar spider, the harvestman arachnid and the crane fly).

If we were to take it further and ask, are daddy long legs dangerous to humans, the answer would still be ‘no’.

Even taking a smaller animal like the cat and asking, are daddy long legs dangerous to cats, the answer is still ‘no’.

True, to some people, most of the organisms we refer to as ‘daddy long legs’ have a scary appearance. That is what leads to the fear that they may be poisonous. But they aren’t.

There is also a myth which says that daddy long legs is the most poisonous organism in the world!

It is due to this myth, then, that we often have people asking, are daddy long legs extremely poisonous?

Others even fear killing daddy long legs. So you may find someone asking, why shouldn’t you kill daddy long legs? Is it because of its extreme venomousness?

All in all though, daddy long legs are not really poisonous to dogs (or humans for that matter).

But they – specifically the cellar spiders – are indeed very poisonous to the insects and even other spiders that they hunt.

Of the three organisms that we refer to as ‘daddy long legs’, only the cellar spider is a true spider.

Thus, when one asks, are daddy long legs spiders poisonous to dogs, the reference is specifically to cellar spiders.

And the answer to that question (are daddy long leg spiders poisonous to dogs) is a resounding ‘no’.

By inference, the answer to the which daddy long legs is poisonous question is also ‘no’.

Can Daddy Long Legs Bite Dogs?

Quite often, alongside the are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs question comes this one – on whether daddy long legs can bite dogs.

This is essentially another way of asking, are daddy long legs spiders dangerous to dogs?

The true position is that daddy long legs, for the most part, are unable to bite dogs.

Of the three organisms we call ‘daddy long legs’, only the cellar spider has some real ability to bite. Even then, it would be unlikely for its fangs to penetrate a dog’s thick skin.

Perhaps it may bite a dog’s mouth when a dog is trying to eat it. But that is as far as it can usually go.

The Harvestman arachnid is simply not able to bite a dog. And the crane fly doesn’t bite at all.

Can Daddy Long Legs Hurt Dogs?

In posing the are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs question, what one usually seeks to know is whether daddy long legs can hurt the dogs.

More specifically, focus is on whether the daddy long legs can bite, and poison, the dogs.

The truth of the matter is that daddy long can’t hurt dogs.

This includes the flying daddy long legs. Thus the answer to the are flying daddy long legs poisonous to dogs question is ‘no’.

The flying daddy long legs here are crane flies. Those can never ever bite a dog. They feed on nectar, and don’t care about biting animals.

Can Daddy Long Legs Kill Dogs?

Behind the are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs question is a certain fear. That is the fear on whether the daddy long legs can kill dogs.

So, is a daddy long legs poisonous to a dog? The answer is ‘no’.

Daddy long legs are not poisonous to dogs. And there is really no other known mechanism through which a daddy long legs can kill a dog.

To kill a dog, a daddy long legs would first need to bite the dog. It would need to inflict a bite that is strong enough to penetrate the skin. Then it would need to inject a poison strong enough to kill the dog.

But the daddy long legs’ fangs (in the case of a cellar spider) are not strong enough to penetrate a dog’s skins. And even if the bite were to go through, the venom in a daddy long legs (cellar spider for instance) isn’t strong enough to kill a dog.

Can Dogs Eat Daddy Long Legs?

So far, in answering the are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs question, it has become clear that they aren’t.

This leads to other interesting questions like, can dogs eat grand daddy long legs?

Or, to put it differently, are daddy long legs poisonous to eat for dogs?

One may even be more explicit and ask, if your dog eats a daddy long-leg, can it kill your pet dog?

The answer is that dogs can eat daddy long legs, without major issues.

True, inside the daddy long leg [cellar spider] there may be some venom. (This is the venom with which it kills the insects and other spiders it hunts).

But once a dog a dog eats the daddy long leg, this venom undergoes denaturing in the dog’s stomach. The acid in the stomach is responsible for this.

In the final analysis, we see that a daddy long legs is eatable by a dog. A dog may eat it, and not suffer any ill harm. Many dogs eat daddy long legs, and seem to be no worse for it.

In fact, even if we were to take a smaller animal like the cat and ask, are daddy long legs poisonous to cats (when eaten), the answer would still be ‘no’.

What of a human: for instance, can you die from eating a daddy long legs’ leg? The answer is still probably no – though few people would have the guts for this sort of thing.

Thus if your dog ate daddy long legs as pets sometimes ago, you needn’t have too much worry.

What Happens If Your Dogs Eat Spiders?

One of the worst things that can happen is that the dog may get bitten by the spider it is trying to eat.

In the process of being eaten, the spider may decide to put up a defense. So it may bite the dog, in the mouth or elsewhere.

If this happens, at best the dog will remain with a wound. At worst, if it is a truly poisonous spider – like the black widow or the brown recluse – then the dog may end up with venom in its bloodstream.

Thus, while dealing with this sort of situation, you may need to know how to treat spider bites on dogs.

Otherwise the core question at the back of your mind would be, my dog ate a spider, what should I do?

In that case, where there are spider bite wounds, you focus on treating the same.

Where the spider manages to inject venom, then this would be much trickier. If it is a strong venom, like that which is in black widow or brown recluse spiders, veterinary treatment may be necessary.

This may entail the use of anti-venom (where applicable). Otherwise supportive treatment may be what is necessary.

But if the spider doesn’t bite the dog, then the dog may manage to swallow it. Once the dog swallows the spider, whatever venom may have been in the spider will get denatured by the dog’s stomach acid.

So there should be no major problems in the latter case.

My Dog Ate A Daddy Long Legs – What Will Happen?

What happens if your dog eats a daddy long legs may depend on which type of ‘daddy long legs’ the dog ate.

As we saw, ‘daddy long legs’ name may refer to the cellar spider, the harvestman arachnid or the crane fly.

If a dog eats a cellar spider for instance, the cellar spider may put up a defense – by trying to bite the dog in the mouth. So the dog may come out of the ordeal with a mouth wound.

But as we said while answering the are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs question, these organisms don’t have venom that can really affect a dog in a big way.

Thus other than the dog wound, there may be nothing much else.

Even then, it is not always that a daddy long legs (cellar spider in particular) will manage to bite a dog while being eaten.

There are cases in which the dog may manage to swallow the daddy long legs before the daddy long legs can bite it…

At worst, if your dog ate a daddy long legs, there may be a minor stomach upset. This may be on account of the dog’s stomach dealing with something new.

But you can rest with the assurance that there won’t be anything to do with poisoning.

This is because, as we saw while answering the are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs question, they aren’t.

Thus other than the daddy long legs possibly biting the dog in the mouth, and there being some minor stomach upset, there will probably be nothing else.

In a nutshell, that is what happens if a dog eats a daddy long legs.

My Dog Ate A Daddy Long Legs – What To Do?

Ideally, you should just keep a close eye on the dog.

Be on the lookout for the possibility of there being mouth bites that the dog incurred in the process of eating the daddy long legs. These are likely if what the dog ate was a cellar spider specifically.

If there are such bites, you may need to treat the wounds.

Also watch out for any stomach upset that may manifest due to the dog eating a daddy long legs.

Perhaps also watch out for any reaction that may arise as a result of the dog being allergic to something in the daddy long legs.

But don’t worry too much. As we said while answering the are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs question, they aren’t poisonous. So no poisoning is likely.

Final Verdict – Are Daddy Long Legs Poisonous To Dogs

Are daddy long legs poisonous to dogs? The phrase ‘daddy long legs’ refers to the cellar spider, harvestman arachnids or the crane fly. And neither the cellar spider, harvestman arachnid or crane fly is poisonous to dogs.

Thus in the highly unlikely event that a dog gets a mouth bite from a daddy long legs (say, the cellar spider), there would be no poisoning.

And even if a dog eats a daddy long legs, chances are that there will be no major problems.

As a pet lover, make sure to learn about pet more and give your pet dog a good and comfortable life!

Rajkumar Ravichandran

Welcome to Learn About Pet. My name is Rajkumar Ravichandran and I love all pets, travel, and amazing food. I write about my passion and personal experience caring for multiple pets in this blog! ❤️