Anyone Never Handle Their Tarantula?

[Pastskater]

Well, it is true, I have never held my "Godfrey" and am willing to bite the bullet and do it. I have few in the past and he being the least of the worring sort "Rose hair"...he is an adult 3 year old and in possible final stages of life. I have had him sexed and am not really wishing to make him more of a enbittered spider, he being on a mission or "Suicide boy" what I call him, because he won't be mating and then killed or just killed or eaten, I feel that it would not be fair:wall:


Might I do it for him to get to know me?
might we do it to over come my fear, because of his situation, as well as his age?:8o :? Might I do this to show my little one it is time for us to learn him, and our fears? She is 2 1/2 and she loves spiders, and that is why the last sentence is then up...for her and me to begin to learn more of these beautiful creatures
What to do?
I am posting this because you have asked for our kind to reply

Now, I seek my destiny of a vivarium paradise with a tropical spider,(for me to build) and questions to be asked by me and the answers I hope some can provide.

 

[gambite]

I probably already posted in here, but I dont handle my T's much at all, and when I do it is only the ones I know I dont need to worry about much, like my Brachys, Avics, and G rosea's. As awesome as my H macs, Haplos, OBTs, E utaumon, etc., all are, I am content to watch them through the tank.

 

[dragyn5]

Lost photos...

I can have Alan look and see what photos he has and I can email them to you.

Heidi

 

[m3z]

I handle all 15 of mine. It just depends on the mood of my spiders i have a cobalt that i handle and a orange unsambara some of the meanest spiders there are so you should really get to know your spiders before you handle them

 

[MizM]

I can have Alan look and see what photos he has and I can email them to you.

Heidi

I have the disk you gave me with all the photos on it.... but everything is still in storage!!!

 

[burmish101]

For me the novelty of handling wore off years ago. Mind you i'll poke and prod any of my new world t's around with my hands so I can get them from point A to point B lots quicker (yay for venom that weilds the power of the q-tip!) but due to getting around 9 bites or so mostly from old worlders I learned pretty fast to keep my hands well away from those guys LOL ;P

 

[Lennie Collins]

For me the novelty of handling wore off years ago. Mind you i'll poke and prod any of my new world t's around with my hands so I can get them from point A to point B lots quicker (yay for venom that weilds the power of the q-tip!) but due to getting around 9 bites or so mostly from old worlders I learned pretty fast to keep my hands well away from those guys LOL ;P

Never owned Old World Tarantulas BUT agree with you on the first part of your post. I handle mine mostly now to show friends that tarantulas are not out to seek and bite(destroy) humans.

 

[wedge07]

My newest acquisition my B. albo is a teddy bear. I love to handle this guy. But now that he has his little burrow built I rarely see him. My avic is fairly easy to handle, just a little speedy not too bad. Rosa is way too skittish but I can't say I am afraid of her. I still use my bare hands to clean her enclosure, she just needs a little nudge to move. I really think her little displays are kind of cute and funny, she thinks shes a big bad Pokie or something.

I think I need some more Ts.

 

[Neophyte]

I used to like handling my T's because it gave me a bit of a rush. These days I'm more interested in observing them them anything else and prefer to leave them alone.

The more educated I got, the more nervous they made me I guess.

I have a friend who comes over every now and then and likes to play around with them. I just watch her That's enough for me.

 

[myTwilleatU12]

Handling?

I think handling your T's is up to you not a decision that should be made by others its your tarantula! In my opinion if you do handle be very careful and take all the safety precautions while doing it.

 

[BatGirl]

handle some... some I would never even consider!

I've let all my tarantula's out to play by letting them climb around on me (see: http://home.earthlink.net/~firebat007/Romana3.AVI, on the lacy canopy of my bed (the white lace looks like webbing, heh, heh), but only one at a time... however, one of my collection NEVER gets handled:

My Burmese Cobalt Blue - way too poisonous and extremely aggressive, mean, vicious, etc. This is an old world species which can cause severe injury and/or death (and let's not get into it here on the death thing... see: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=141183&page=13 pages 13-15 for more info).

Advice ~ consider handling ONLY new world tarantulas gently and cautiously so as not to startle them, and be REAL careful of the skiddish ones (like the Costa Rican Zebra - aka PetCo's "venuzian tiger" which is an erroneous made-up name!). Make sure you wash your hands before and after, and ALWAYS keep it away from your eyes - never blow or breath on them. As far as old world tarantulas - don't even consider it!!! Just say NO!

It took all my nerve just to help my Cobalt Blue with her last molt - a fluke at best, but even then I never 'handled' her. (see:http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=170564)

 

[UrbanJungles]

I've let all my tarantula's out to play by letting them climb around on me (see: http://home.earthlink.net/~firebat007/Romana3.AVI, on the lacy canopy of my bed (the white lace looks like webbing, heh, heh), but only one at a time... however, one of my collection NEVER gets handled:

My Burmese Cobalt Blue - way too poisonous and extremely aggressive, mean, vicious, etc. This is an old world species which can cause severe injury and/or death (and let's not get into it here on the death thing... see: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=141183&page=13 pages 13-15 for more info).

Cobalt Blues aren't deadly...seriously now.

 

[xhexdx]

Yeah...how can you flat out say they can cause death and then request we don't get in to it here?

They're also not aggressive. Or poisonous. They're venomous.

And where'd you get the 'Burmese' part from? Just call them H. lividum like we do in the hobby. :}

 

[ClosedBook]

Handling

Out of my 34 I only handle two. My A. avicularia and my A. metallica.

 

[JimM]

Yeah...how can you flat out say they can cause death and then request we don't get in to it here?

They're also not aggressive. Or poisonous. They're venomous.

And where'd you get the 'Burmese' part from? Just call them H. lividum like we do in the hobby. :}

LOL, that was my reaction.
"It can kill you, but please, let's not get into that here"

I hate the LOL emoticon here, it looks snarky.
We need this one

 

[Xian]

Yeah...how can you flat out say they can cause death and then request we don't get in to it here?

They're also not aggressive. Or poisonous. They're venomous.

And where'd you get the 'Burmese' part from? Just call them H. lividum like we do in the hobby. :}

I agree Joe. Seems some people don't recognize the difference between a venomous death or a death caused by a secondary infection.(referring back to the other thread.)

H. lividum could at least be referred to with a correct common name, it's not Burma, they are from The Union of Myanmar.

 

[JimM]

Listen, P. ornata will pull your arm off and beat you with it, but let's not get into that here.

 

[xhexdx]

listen, p. Ornata will pull your arm off and beat you with it, but let's not get into that here.

rofl !

 

[BatGirl]

Yeah...how can you flat out say they can cause death and then request we don't get in to it here?

Dear Mr. Denial: Did not say they WILL cause death, just that they CAN. All old would species CAN cause extreme harm or in rare cases death. And as far as the 'don't get into it here' hint - it is because SOME are so obsessive in their denial that a tarantula from any place on the planet or time could EVER cause any death (or that all tarantula deaths are from some sort of infection - broken record alert!) as noted in the link provided... just recommending that we just keep the 'off topic' stuff there and not here shall we? Oops, too late

They're also not aggressive. Or poisonous. They're venomous.

Webster definition #1 for venom = poisonous :?

See 'The Guide to Owning a Tarantula' by Jerry G Walls, picture on pg.19, which indicates "...dangerously aggressive..." (and based upon my experience owning three of them, this is confirmed - but perhaps that is too anecdotal for some, heh, heh):razz:

And where'd you get the 'Burmese' part from? Just call them H. lividum like we do in the hobby. :}

This is the where they are from, Burma, and this is the common name issued by the "Committee on Common Names of Arachnids of the American Arachnological Society". So, go pound sand if I use this name...

 

[BatGirl]

it's not Burma, they are from The Union of Myanmar.

I recognize neither the legitimacy of the ruling military government nor its authority to rename the country... it is Burma, and the OFFICIAL common name of the tarantula is Burmese Cobalt Blue. ;P

btw - the local dictatorship call it "Myanmar Naingngandaw" (brain disengagement alert!)