Exotic Escapes

[MilkmanWes]

Have had plenty of hamsters get out.

 

[David Burns]

Kirdec,

I agree with you that there is a limit to the number of Ts a person can keep responsibly. Do you think 40 is a breaking point for most people? I think that number could vary under many different variables.

I don't have any problem against someone having 150+ Ts as long as they take excellent care of them, however I totally understand its not against the law to neglect a T.

Ts prefer to be left alone and not disturbed, so it takes about 5 minutes a week to properly care for one. So the limiting factor for the # of Ts you can keep would be the amount of time you have to spend on them.

There are several breeder/brokers of Ts that have 1000s of Ts and I would bet their stock gets proper care. When I have an eggsac hatch I have 100s and I give them the care they require.

 

[meatbeef]

I'm curious how many keepers of exotic animals have had an animal escape. Tell your story on how the escape happened, or what you do to insure it never happens.

Kid Dragon, you started this thread very nicely asking a question, and for us to maybe share a story. As soon as a couple people replied to your post, off you went with your whole "I'm king whoopy pants of the tarantula world" BS I've seen you do to others (I've read your negative comments with Sheris OBT situation)

Deal with the fact that mistakes happen.

I've never had an escape, and I'm thankful I never have. But I won't preach like you because the fact of the matter is it could very well happen. It could be an unforseen circumstance or a mistake on my part that causes it.
I'm no future telling gypsie though...
Lets just hope the same doesn't happen to you and bite you in the arse...

That would be pretty great though(JMO) ;P





::

 

[David_F]

I've had plenty (read: a few...but that's plenty for me ) of escapes. A few OBTs. Those things seem to teleport any time I need to rehouse one. The first ball python I kept got out at least once a week despite my best efforts at securing the cage (I was young and stupid...Now I'm just stupid ). A week or so ago my rat snake got away for a few minutes when I turned my back doing some tank maintenance. And just yesterday afternoon an orange head roach got loose in my room. That was fun. A couple things all of these "escapes" have in common: None of the animals were lost for more than a few minutes at a time and, for the most part, the animals simply got around the usual precautions I take. The ratsnake got out of the box I put him in when I clean his tank. I've used the same box for over a year. The OBTs are just fast. BPs do nothing but test their environment looking for weak spots. Well, okay, they sleep a lot too.

Going about routine maintenance, week after week, the same way over and over again doesn't guarantee anything. May seem like I'm a bit irresponsible to some but I think I do a pretty good job by working in a closed area.

Don't worry Kid Dragon, you'll get your turn at catching an animal one of these days. Hey, you might even like it enough to turn something loose in the house at least once a day. It is kind of exciting to wrangle a spider or scorp. I'm sure your gator would be fun.

 

[CedrikG]

Kid Dragon, you started this thread very nicely asking a question, and for us to maybe share a story. As soon as a couple people replied to your post, off you went with your whole "I'm king whoopy pants of the tarantula world" BS I've seen you do to others (I've read your negative comments with Sheris OBT situation)

Deal with the fact that mistakes happen.

I've never had an escape, and I'm thankful I never have. But I won't preach like you because the fact of the matter is it could very well happen. It could be an unforseen circumstance or a mistake on my part that causes it.
I'm no future telling gypsie though...
Lets just hope the same doesn't happen to you and bite you in the arse...

That would be pretty great though(JMO) ;P





::

well said mate

 

[cacoseraph]

i've had two escape situations

1) i was too hectic and left a cap off a C. vittatus enclosure. 2 went for a walk, 2 stayed in the cage. room mates found one, room mate's cat helped us find the other. first one was walkabout for ~16 hours, the second for almost a full 24

2) a ~1.25" OBT ran up the side of his little enclosure and jumped to the ground... it froze for a second and let me recapture. same guy ran up side of enclosure and got his front legs out before i shut it. didn't damage him, but my gods those things can hustle

 

[Ultimate Instar]

The real question is: Can the escapees make it in the wild? It just doesn't matter if you lose a tropical species if you live in Alaska. (Except for your emotional attachment to the pet, of course.) I've kept exotics for more than 20 years and I've had a few permanent escapees but never any that could survive for long. If lawmakers had any sense (they don't so this post is irrelevent), they would legislate pet ownership by climate zones. And BTW, introduced plants, zebra mussels, snakehead fish, imported fire ants, etc. are a far more important ecological threat compared to the average T owner.

Karen N.

 

[David Burns]

The real question is: Can the escapees make it in the wild? It just doesn't matter if you lose a tropical species if you live in Alaska. (Except for your emotional attachment to the pet, of course.) I've kept exotics for more than 20 years and I've had a few permanent escapees but never any that could survive for long. If lawmakers had any sense (they don't so this post is irrelevent), they would legislate pet ownership by climate zones. And BTW, introduced plants, zebra mussels, snakehead fish, imported fire ants, etc. are a far more important ecological threat compared to the average T owner. Karen N.

Good point. Here in Winnipeg, we have a temp fluctuation from 40c to -40c. It is rare that it hits either of these extremes but it does happen. A T could not survive a winter here, so Sheri's OBT has no chance outside. And BTW, humans are an introduced species.

 

[cacoseraph]

The real question is: Can the escapees make it in the wild? It just doesn't matter if you lose a tropical species if you live in Alaska. (Except for your emotional attachment to the pet, of course.) I've kept exotics for more than 20 years and I've had a few permanent escapees but never any that could survive for long. If lawmakers had any sense (they don't so this post is irrelevent), they would legislate pet ownership by climate zones. And BTW, introduced plants, zebra mussels, snakehead fish, imported fire ants, etc. are a far more important ecological threat compared to the average T owner.

Karen N.

survive for long... AND find a mate (unless it's parthenogenic... but i haven't heard of any tarantula that is... *drool*...)

and be a fast enough breeder to catch on in an area...

i'm not saying it can't happen (obviously, just look at poor florida) but it's not likely either

i mean, heck, look how much trouble ppl have *trying* to breed stuff

 

[Sheri]

I think breeding in captivity is an entirely different thing than breeding in the wild.

I wonder how many would need to be released of each sex in say... one square kilometer in a favourable climate to establish themsleves....

 

[moricollins]

I've had 2 T's escape, one that i lost last night, and found 3 hours later (curled into a small caverny thing on my shelving unit)

I've been lucky to find my escapees within a matter of hours (my spider room helps with that immensely).

Mori

 

[MilkmanWes]

one square kilometer

There is no K in mile, you should check your spelling more carefully.

 

[Tarangela]

I had an OBT escape once. It was about 1" or so. It had slipped through one of the holes in the container I had it in. I figured it was long gone, but 3 months later, I found it had been living under one of my 10 gallon enclosures!

It was barely moving, legs all curled up, but trying to walk. I got it to some water asap, and it just layed in the water, and drank, for hours. I then fed it, and it got back to normal health. It was its mean, nasty self in less than a week!

It ended up being a male W/ a very short lifespan

But it was crazy!!

 

[Darryl Albers]

I think breeding in captivity is an entirely different thing than breeding in the wild.

I wonder how many would need to be released of each sex in say... one square kilometer in a favourable climate to establish themsleves....[/QUOTE



Hey , you know us guys ,, well search and search for the ladies untill we fall down !!! judging by the risks these t boys take though , i would probably say the are pretty good at finding what they are looking for even over a substantial area .

 

[Scott C.]

C. crawshayi - Adult Female - I went to Vegas on business and left my charges to my brother. Don't know the details, but either the lid was left open or the pin was not replaced(slide top lid). Spider was found by my brother, or found my brother for that matter, the next morning before I got back.
P. murinus (OBT) - Adult female - The light on the cage covered a small gap in the lid. Light was removed for use elsewhere, and the gap was unoticed :8o . Found out same day. The T had left a very faint web trail that I followed with a pencil and a flashlight. Trail led along the wall behind the table the cage was on and onto a bookshelf where the old girl had already established a massive web mat on top of my frogs cage. This is the escape that bothers me the most for the obvious reason of complete idiocy on my part.
C. schioedtei - Unsexed juvenile - I was misting cages when this little bugger shot out and ran under a shelf before I could cup it. There was a space between the base boards and through it it went. I punched three well placed holes in the drywall immediately and extracated one very funny looking dusty T. Unfortunetly to date the T has molted twice. First molt- lost a leg. Second molt- Has what looks to be herniated abdomen. Don't know if it's because of the ordeal, but it was seemingly healthy before the escape, having grown in my care from a sling.
No T's have went MIA permanently..... Yet. Hope I don't sink the hobby.

By the way, I have about 70 T's. Been keeping them for approx. 2 years.

 

[Mistwalker]

My A. metallica escaped for a moment. Didn't have the lid fastened on properly, and it fell open, with her on it, and she ran to the back side of the tank, lept to the wall, and started making her way up it when I caught her again.

Lasted all of ten seconds.

Sorry for destroying the entire hobby

 

[Psoulocybe]

i used to have to keep feeder lizards around.

Impossible to keep up with.

Damn thins wouldn't die either since there were fresh prey items wandering the house.

I would spot them occationally... but just let them be. They did a good job at de-bugging my apartment.

 

[Nerri1029]

well change my answer to include T's...

I have a divided 20 gallon tank. 3 sections..

the two left most contained my CR Zebras ( A. seemani ) 2 adult females

to help dry out the substrate I propped open the lids only 1/4 inch.. with heavy weights on the lids.. NO way they could get out into the room..

I didn't notice the gap between the two lids and the divider...

So .. one did invite the other over for dinner

dammit dammit dammit

 

[cryptly]

Never had an actual escape, but have had a few close calls unpacking slings that were under an inch in size. The little guys hide so well in the padding sometimes I don't see them until they're running up my tweezers and onto my hand, or over the side of the vial and onto the table. All were quickly caught and placed into their new homes.

 

[Gem]

When i got my first T (B. Vagans) i stupidly took the whole lid off the kritter keeper istead of just opening the smaller lid when i went to feed her, within the space of about 2 seconds she had gone from being totally stationary to being down the back of the radiator. I just sat on the floor and cried (big softie) and after about two hours of sitting staring at the radiator, she oh so casually strolled out non the worse for her little adventure :? . Won't be doing that again in a hurry
Gem x (the soft head )