All Tarantulas Can and Will Bite

[sdeveikis]

Where does the line form for sociopathic roseas?

Taking a number for this line

 

[Kymura]

couple years ago, Psycho Blush and Moody Tidal

 

[TeddyBearTarantula]

We all know why I'm here

I purchased a Brachypelma hamorii from Poland a couple of years ago (back when they were still B. smithi). She was an absolute saint, never kicked hairs and was so docile that it was absurd, she was one of the few tarantulas that I handled back when I still handled my tarantulas.

She remained like this up until her second moult in my care, after which her temperament changed drastically. When you touched her legs with the tongs she would immediately about-face, throw up a threat posture and repeatedly slap at anything within reach.
She's gotten nastier with subsequent moults, she doesn't even throw up threat postures anymore, she just bites without warning.

On the plus side, still not a hair-kicker

My B. hamorii is still defective.

• The Grym Reaper
• Jul 23, 2017
• 8
• brachypelma brachypelma hamorii brachypelma smithi hamorii mexican redknee tarantula threat threat pose threat posture

She still thinks she's a P. cancerides.

I wish we understood Tarantulas better as in what affects their moods. I,know there’s the obvious stuff but it would be interesting to know what happened from the tarantulas perspective to turn it so abruptly. You hear all kinds of stories of full personality changes after a moult. I wonder if their brains moult lol xxx

My Brachypelma vagans is probably the meanest little dude I’ve ever seen lol. He runs around his enclosure in circles, stopping only to threat posture and strike at the air. He will strike at the water every single time I fill his dish. If I’m doing maintenance on a tank near his, he will be in a threat pose the whole time, sometimes standing up so high he falls over backwards. He doesn’t retreat to his hide, and if I need to remove a water dish and replace it (because he fills them with substrate the second they’re placed) I usually have to place a catch cup over him just to prevent him from striking at my tongs or me. He’s only about 2.25 inches, so I’m interested to see how long this lasts. On the bright side, he doesn’t kick hairs lol

Haha Dannica I would love to see a video of this. I bet its hilarious.

 

[StampFan]

My Euathlus parvulus juvie threw up a nasty threat posture on me when throwing critter in with tongs last week. Lunged a couple of times, and not at the food.

My juvie Euathlus sp red has attacked a deli cup lid, and my tongs on occasion.

They are all tarantulas, and they all really just want us to go away and leave them alone.

 

[PidderPeets]

She’s usually a total sweetheart, but she wasn't too happy that I tried to distract her with a cricket to get at her water bowl



Another good example is my AF A. avicularia. She’s usually a very calm, easy going lady, but I must have caught her in the earlier stages of premolt as she hadn't completely sealed off her den yet. She hadn't eaten in a while (which I initially attributed to her pickiness), and so I offered her a madagascar hissing cockroach which she usually never refuses. However, her usual investigation of the intruder was not followed by her typical tackle and munch. She instead waited until the roach approached her, and then responded with a threat pose the likes I've never seen, and even a strike!

And while it's not a tarantula, I don't think anything will beat the most intimidating threat pose I've ever seen. Dysdera crocata are scary.

Woodlouse Spider

• PidderPeets
• Jul 13, 2018
• 10
• crocata dysdera dysdera crocata dysderidae woodlouse hunter

Dysdera crocata. I have never in my life seen such a pissed off spider. I took this thing out of...

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Not sure if I have a species known as somewhat more docile that acts the opposite, but my B. vagans sling is very aggressive (for its size).
View attachment 272629

You could be onto something. They may not sleep as we conceive the term, but they may go into a less alert state, sort of tuning out everything except their sense of touch and vibrations. When either of those two senses are triggered they might go directly into full-alert status, either defense or feeding mode.

But that's just speculation, I don't think there would be any way to confirm it.

My G. pulchripes threw a bit of a defensive posture followed with a strike on tongs recently. Seeing as how she is and my B. hamorii are the only ones I have that I would even consider prodding with a finger in order to get her to move if I felt it was necessary, that underlines the unpredictability of tarantulas. There have been times when the pulchripes barely bothered to move when encouraged with tongs, just lazily crawling away.
It could also have something to do with the time-span since the last feeding, of course.

I seen them look to be napping or Atleast, sleeping to the extent of you disturbed you get a threat posture or sometimes you just wake them up. It looks almost like oh no my Ts dead hunched over.

 

[Dovey]

Sleep is one of those states of being, like the ability to feel pain, that the more we study the more we find that most animals experience it to one extent or another. I recently read a study that indicated that bearded dragons dream, that they experience REM sleep just as we do. I could have told the scientist that this was so, having observed my beardie in the throes of deep dreaming. I often wonder if he dreams of hunting or a being chased. Could go either way!

 

[Venom1080]

Poecilotheria are generally calm for ow arboreals. But they will throw a posture here and there.

stirata and ornata are the meanest Poecilotheria I've owned.

 

[Dannica]

I wish we understood Tarantulas better as in what affects their moods. I,know there’s the obvious stuff but it would be interesting to know what happened from the tarantulas perspective to turn it so abruptly. You hear all kinds of stories of full personality changes after a moult. I wonder if their brains moult lol xxx



Haha Dannica I would love to see a video of this. I bet its hilarious.

Since posting this, chad has officially been sexed as a female, and is now pushing three inches. I have one video of her attacking water, but I try not to fold since I need two hands to prevent chad from escaping into my home and plotting my death. I can pm you the video, it’s quite annoying, because of my commentary lol.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Sleep is one of those states of being, like the ability to feel pain, that the more we study the more we find that most animals experience it to one extent or another. I recently read a study that indicated that bearded dragons dream, that they experience REM sleep just as we do. I could have told the scientist that this was so, having observed my beardie in the throes of deep dreaming. I often wonder if he dreams of hunting or a being chased. Could go either way!

so cool! Lizards dream too
Animals of all kinds are infinitely more complex then scientists thought like just 100 years ago.

 

[cold blood]

Since posting this, chad has officially been sexed as a female, and is now pushing three inches.

And people say unsexed juvies for sale are always males.

 

[Oreo]

We all know why I'm here

I purchased a Brachypelma hamorii from Poland a couple of years ago (back when they were still B. smithi). She was an absolute saint, never kicked hairs and was so docile that it was absurd, she was one of the few tarantulas that I handled back when I still handled my tarantulas.

She remained like this up until her second moult in my care, after which her temperament changed drastically. When you touched her legs with the tongs she would immediately about-face, throw up a threat posture and repeatedly slap at anything within reach.
She's gotten nastier with subsequent moults, she doesn't even throw up threat postures anymore, she just bites without warning.

On the plus side, still not a hair-kicker

My B. hamorii is still defective.

• The Grym Reaper
• Jul 23, 2017
• 8
• brachypelma brachypelma hamorii brachypelma smithi hamorii mexican redknee tarantula threat threat pose threat posture

She still thinks she's a P. cancerides.

Gotta show your own teeth to assert dominance. You are the pack leader.

 

[ErinM31]

We all know why I'm here

I purchased a Brachypelma hamorii from Poland a couple of years ago (back when they were still B. smithi). She was an absolute saint, never kicked hairs and was so docile that it was absurd, she was one of the few tarantulas that I handled back when I still handled my tarantulas.

She remained like this up until her second moult in my care, after which her temperament changed drastically. When you touched her legs with the tongs she would immediately about-face, throw up a threat posture and repeatedly slap at anything within reach.
She's gotten nastier with subsequent moults, she doesn't even throw up threat postures anymore, she just bites without warning.

On the plus side, still not a hair-kicker

My B. hamorii is still defective.

• The Grym Reaper
• Jul 23, 2017
• 8
• brachypelma brachypelma hamorii brachypelma smithi hamorii mexican redknee tarantula threat threat pose threat posture

She still thinks she's a P. cancerides.

Who started this myth that Brachypelma are docile? My B. hamorii always had attitude — kicked hairs more when she was young, now mostly gives threat poses and attacks the wooden tongs when I remove boluses or buried water dishes that happen to be too close to her. It’s something to see her go after prey though and I never saw a tarantula dig so fast as when she detected a mealworm had burrowed into the substrate!

My mild-mannered A. chalcodes was more apt to give a theat pose while gravid. My little A. marxi slings often can’t decide whether they want to raise their bums in preparation to flick hairs or give a threat pose and their attempts at a combo are rather cute than threatening.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

And people say unsexed juvies for sale are always males.

Just from certain retailers

 

[StampFan]

For the second week in a row my 2 to 2 1/2 inch Euathlus parvulus just went nuts trying to feed. This time right up my tongs and almost out at me. Then threat posture. And I was only using the 1 inch feeding hatch luckily. Second worst sling up-the-tongs incident I've ever had.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

She’s usually a total sweetheart, but she wasn't too happy that I tried to distract her with a cricket to get at her water bowl

View attachment 282216

Another good example is my AF A. avicularia. She’s usually a very calm, easy going lady, but I must have caught her in the earlier stages of premolt as she hadn't completely sealed off her den yet. She hadn't eaten in a while (which I initially attributed to her pickiness), and so I offered her a madagascar hissing cockroach which she usually never refuses. However, her usual investigation of the intruder was not followed by her typical tackle and munch. She instead waited until the roach approached her, and then responded with a threat pose the likes I've never seen, and even a strike!

And while it's not a tarantula, I don't think anything will beat the most intimidating threat pose I've ever seen. Dysdera crocata are scary.

Woodlouse Spider

• PidderPeets
• Jul 13, 2018
• 10
• crocata dysdera dysdera crocata dysderidae woodlouse hunter

Dysdera crocata. I have never in my life seen such a pissed off spider. I took this thing out of...

big fangs for such a small spider.
I witnessed a woodlouce spider being attacke:& eaten by ants . It was too injures I couldn’t save it.
Tried to keep them in captivity never had success even around pill bugs.

 

[PidderPeets]

big fangs for such a small spider.
I witnessed a woodlouce spider being attacke:& eaten by ants . It was too injures I couldn’t save it.
Tried to keep them in captivity never had success even around pill bugs.

Very big fangs indeed. I'm about to write out a proper thread in a bit in the True Spider section, but due to my own stupidity and lack of information on their eggsac habits, I lost her earlier today and am now left with about 30 eggs sitting on an incubator. I'm hoping I can find her tonight when she should be more active, but my room is so cluttered I'm thinking it's probably unlikely.

She took two smaller isopods in the two weeks she was in her enclosure, so she seemed to be doing alright

 

[dragonfire1577]

@Sarkhan42 where is that lovely rose hair photo you had?

 

[Sarkhan42]

@Sarkhan42 where is that lovely rose hair photo you had?

Gone with my old phone as far as I know

 

[ChanTheMan]

I've noted that some tarantulas (including the avicularia in the picture) seem to have iridescent green/blue coloring on the undersides of their front legs. Which species have this besides Psalmopeus and Pternochilus?