Dealing with Spazzy/Lightning Speed Tarantulas

[Stopdroproll]

How do you guys deal with it? What precautions do you take to make sure they don't bolt?

I have a GBB that spazzes out at the slightest disturbance. I'm afraid to even open the lid to give it water because it can easily bolt out and it tries to push off the lid. There's webbing on the top of the enclosure, so he will react to lifting the lid.

 

[Jacobchinarian]

At least it's just a gbb try having a p ornata hurl itself out of it's cage at the slightest disturbance Lol. I heard of a trick were you tap on the cage or blow on the tarantula so it will hunker down and hide so you can work on the cage without it running or spazzing.

 

[J Morningstar]

Watering through a hole in the tank with a syringe, also a small vent hole that can be slid out of place then locked down.

 

[tarantulagirl10]

Watering through a hole in the tank with a syringe, also a small vent hole that can be slid out of place then locked down.

Funny you said that. I just got a new syringe from work the other day to water my tiny and FAST P irminia slings through a little hole hehehe...I thought I came up that that genius idea :wall:

 

[malevolentrobot]

after observation of their attitudes i found that my pokies dash down and are generally retreating (to the point i have had to nudge them for rehousings) if given something safe to hide behind during maintence. they are generally super easy to deal with now.

my P. murinus and M. balfouri rather than dashing generally will hold ground if feeling threatened by my intrusion, so i just use that to my advantage and work around them with a second pair of forceps or toss in food at the same time, knowing they will probably stay around where they are or go hug a roach instead of running up my tongs.

my A. versi is a game of cat and mouse, chasing and redirecting it to where its supposed to go, but since its not potent i don't worry much as long as its not parachuting off of anything drastically high.

with my P. irminia... i prayed. no, really. and transferred it to a much larger enclosure, since every time seemed to end in some type of slamming the lid down just in time (or in a few cases a few seconds too late). looking back, it probably shouldn't have been in a top loading enclosure when its instinct was to go UP and OUT.



as for actual solutions... hobo has a pretty nifty containment pouch method you can search for, i think it's in his picture thread. haven't used it yet, but it seems like its sound.

 

[Aschamne]

IDK, I usually just end up chasing a T that decides to bolt. The last one I had the luxury of chasing was a 2 1/2 S. calceatum.

Art

 

[Alexandra V]

My x. immanis s'ling is a speed freak, and I always freak myself out a little when I have to change water, etc.

What I found was similar to what was said above: if they have a burrow or somewhere to hide in, they always seem to end up in there and I can go about my business in the rest of the enclosure, with the tarantula in a relatively safe place.

For instance, I got the s'ling at an expo, and he came in a good sized deli cup with substrate and everything so I just gave him water, and he already had a burrow set up. However, I noticed some loveliness growing under the substrate, so a complete change of homes was in order. That was nerve racking, and pretty difficult because I couldn't get him out of the burrow, and once I did, he was darting around at warp speed. In my experience: burrows/hiding spots = the best for cage maintenance, but the worst for cage changes.

 

[xeluc]

For my OBT and P. cambridgei slings, I stick my tongs through a baggie and put the baggie over my jar when feeding and doing maintanance. Works great for me, no chance of escape. you could probably use a gallon bag for larger arboreal enclosures at the very least.

 

[pouchedrat]

Try Holothele incei who've decided to web up to the very top of their enclosures..... so every time you open it to feed them, you have them DASH towards the food and you have a mini heart attach each and every time and pray that they retreat back into their hole again.

OMG or the blue fang girl! I fed her once with tweezers, and she instead ran UP the tweezers and out!!! ALL in a blink of an eye!

I think my OBT is much more calm than my blue fang girl or the holothele incei group... and the GBB? She's a good girl compared to all the others.

 

[Formerphobe]

I stick my tongs through a baggie and put the baggie over my jar when feeding and doing maintanance.

Oh! Excellent idea! I've been sliding apiece of acrylic over the top of my OBTs enclosure leaving just enough space to insert the tongs. The baggie idea will work much better!

 

[Stopdroproll]

For my OBT and P. cambridgei slings, I stick my tongs through a baggie and put the baggie over my jar when feeding and doing maintanance. Works great for me, no chance of escape. you could probably use a gallon bag for larger arboreal enclosures at the very least.

I agree, sounds like a good idea with the guys in my top load enclosures that like to bolt upwards..

 

[loudan]

well when i water them i just usually put em on my bed,and if their in an odd place for me to do anything,i got a lil paint brush il rub their feet with it and they usually waddle away,for tank cleanings and such i bring em in the bathtub cuz i hear they cant climb bathtub material,i use a cup to put the t's in so i can clean the tank without being paranoid:}

 

[Musicwolf]

well when i water them i just usually put em on my bed,and if their in an odd place for me to do anything,i got a lil paint brush il rub their feet with it and they usually waddle away,for tank cleanings and such i bring em in the bathtub cuz i hear they cant climb bathtub material,i use a cup to put the t's in so i can clean the tank without being paranoid:}

You heard wrong . . . at best "bathtup material" slows them down just a little bit.

 

[Merfolk]

I use a plastic bin that is larger than the enclosure and contains it with a suficient gap in between. I never had a T fly away when feeding but when I have to do stuff that might send them flying away, it is useful. Usually they go down to the bottom and try to fit underneath their tank. If they go up, the lid is ready.....

 

[Hatiwolf]

Wow in 6 years ive never had this problem once (though I do have several h. mac slings living in the apartment). Let everything know you are coming before you say hi. Make sure it is aware of your presence. Secondly ... dont panic. When you open any cage, do so on a clean countertop with nothing to hide behind except catch cups etc (tools you intend to use only rather than a trashed countertop that will allow murphys law to take effect). If something does bolt ... calmly wait until it stops and catch it without scaring it by jumping in its direction. The last time we rehomed obts and O. aureobitialis we simply put both containers in an aquarium and kept the lid handy. Simply be prepared and its no biggy if something does get out. If you are working with a species you are afraid of, get a 10 gallon aquarium, 2 bricks and a huge plastic tote. Enough water in the tote to cover the bricks then set the aquarium on top of them and then do your work inside the inner aquarium. If you intend to panic if something runs, please get your video camera rolling before you start so we can all get a good laugh.

After watching the guy at the pet store freehand about 10 2.5" horned babboons so we could try to visually sex them in seperate containers ive had a lot more experience in staying calm around tarantulas that bolt. Ive been herping and chasing any creature that moves for the last 25 years (moreso in my childhood). Stay calm and move slowly. Otherwise you might kill your prey by dropping a lid on it or cause it to run from your quick jarring movements that transfer vibrations through the surface it is on.

*correction* We did have the O. aureobitialis bolt when my wife was helping unpack last year. It went up the tweezers and onto her arm before she yelped and flung it 5 feet. I laughed and slowly put a cup over it on the floor then moved it into the jar myself. From watching the video on youtube about them she was so high strung that disaster was sure to happen.

 

[catfishrod69]

try having those little speed demon H. maculata slings bolt out of the deli cup and across the room before your eyes relate to your brain what happened....

 

[Bill S]

There's webbing on the top of the enclosure, so he will react to lifting the lid.

I try to make a habit of clearing any webbing attaches to the lid just to avoid these situations.

When I'm working with species that I think will try to make a fast escape I sometimes move their container into a larger container or "safe area" such as a bath tub. As someone else noted - yes, they can climb bath tubs and larger aquariums. The point of having the small container inside of another is that they tend to only run short distances, so an escape from their cage is likely to only put them into a larger area where you can control or recapture them more easily.

 

[Stopdroproll]

I have been doing my "operations" in bigger tub containers. I will probably have to invest in a larger one since my faster growing T's have larger enclosures now.

 

[Formerphobe]

I use a plastic bin that is larger than the enclosure and contains it with a suficient gap in between.

That's the plan I had for transferring my 0.5" OBT from shipping vial to enclosure... A very merry chase it led me, before recapture!

 

[catfishrod69]

i have a long taxidermy needle, and use it alot for some of my maitanence, and poking holes in small sling cups and such....i also use it for some of my slings like P. cambridgei, and H. incei, and also my 4" OBT's....i open the lid all the way around but dont take the lid off, then slide the needle across the entire top, it graps all the webbing from the lid and pulls it to one side, then the lid is free of web, and you can take the lid right off until it webs it again....