G. rosea moulting on her front

[cold blood]

Just give her a solid 2-3 weeks before feeding her....it will take a while for her to harden up and recover.

 

[AraneaPulchra]

Your son is great! I love children who loves their pets, the more when it is one they can't cuddle^^.

Congrats to the successfully molt .

Aw, thank you. He's a good boy. He loves her more even than he loves our cat. Despite my profile pic, she is handled very rarely (maybe 4 times since we got her), and on the two most recent occasions he chose not to hold her as he didn't want to stress her out.

 

[AraneaPulchra]

Just give her a solid 2-3 weeks before feeding her....it will take a while for her to harden up and recover.

Thank you - that's really useful. I am keen to give her food as she must be starving, but will certainly wait until it's safe to do so!

 

[miss moxie]

Thank you - that's really useful. I am keen to give her food as she must be starving, but will certainly wait until it's safe to do so!

Hah. Given that this species is well known for going a year or more without eating, I'm sure she won't be starving any time soon.

 

[keks]

My G. porteri didn't eat for ~ 8-10 month. She not even became thinner. This spiders are incredible.

 

[darkness975]

Aw, thank you. He's a good boy. He loves her more even than he loves our cat. Despite my profile pic, she is handled very rarely (maybe 4 times since we got her), and on the two most recent occasions he chose not to hold her as he didn't want to stress her out.

Handling isn't really good for them so the less the better in all honesty .

 

[Ungoliant]

Despite my profile pic, she is handled very rarely (maybe 4 times since we got her), and on the two most recent occasions he chose not to hold her as he didn't want to stress her out.

That was a mature decision on his part (and one that is also in the tarantula's best interest).

 

[AraneaPulchra]

She's lying very flat with her abdomen resting on the floor with the occasional small movement/ twitch of a leg. She's clearly able to move though, as she's moved from one side of the enclosure to the other. From what I've researched, this seems to be post-moult behaviour, so hopefully nothing to worry about?

Also does anybody here handle their tarantulas or is it a total no-no? As I said, I do it very rarely (maybe once every three months or so) and I understand it's for my enjoyment rather than hers, but if it's actually harming her and risking her longetivity, then I will stop.

 

[ShyDragoness]

She's lying very flat with her abdomen resting on the floor with the occasional small movement/ twitch of a leg. She's clearly able to move though, as she's moved from one side of the enclosure to the other. From what I've researched, this seems to be post-moult behaviour, so hopefully nothing to worry about?

Also does anybody here handle their tarantulas or is it a total no-no? As I said, I do it very rarely (maybe once every three months or so) and I understand it's for my enjoyment rather than hers, but if it's actually harming her and risking her longetivity, then I will stop.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/bleeding-leg-help.297600/#post-2675691 this thread might help you decide, ultimately its down to you

 

[cold blood]

but if it's actually harming her and risking her longetivity, then I will stop

See and that's the thing that keeps people debating

Will holding it automatically have detrimental effects...no. But the fact is that it could at any given moment. I've seen ts that fell like 4 inches and burst...which I always think of when I hear people say,
"just do it safely", because even seemingly safe handlings near the floor, have resulted in bad things...always for the t.

So will it, well, not every time, but any single time, it most certainly could....its just a risky proposition that can end up in catastrophe, regardless of how many times prior it went uneventfully. To me the animal's life is not worth risking because a human wants to be getting touchy.

IMO handling them is counter-intuitive based on what we do know about them, I see handling for education as like a drivers ed teacher teaching how to do doughnuts or drive dunk better....but that's JMO. People argue that it shows they aren't evil aggressive things to be feared, but it goes too far in showing that, instead portraying them as always consistent, calm and even cuddly.

We have a lot more ts available to us now than we did way back when...the vast majority are very much poorly suited for human contact. IMO handling is a dinosaur left from a time when we only had a handful of docile ts available to us, and a whole lot less knowledge about them as well.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Also does anybody here handle their tarantulas or is it a total no-no?

I used to but since realising fairly early on that the Tarantula derives no benefit from it whatsoever I've stopped.

I went and got a small corn snake and that fulfils my "cool but still handleable pet" needs, I'm more than content to just watch the spoders spoder about.

 

[Rittdk01]

^^^^I've handled my two rosehairs countless times. Neither one has ever shown any aggression or tried to do more than sit on my hand. My first experience with tarantulas was holding a friends rosehair, Rosie. When I would get them out I would sit the enclosure on the floor and gently tap them onto my hand. I don't handle them anymore, besides to clean the tanks.

 

[Andrea82]

She's lying very flat with her abdomen resting on the floor with the occasional small movement/ twitch of a leg. She's clearly able to move though, as she's moved from one side of the enclosure to the other. From what I've researched, this seems to be post-moult behaviour, so hopefully nothing to worry about?

Also does anybody here handle their tarantulas or is it a total no-no? As I said, I do it very rarely (maybe once every three months or so) and I understand it's for my enjoyment rather than hers, but if it's actually harming her and risking her longetivity, then I will stop.

There are just so many things that can go wrong when you handle. The spider gets spooked, resulting in
: a runner, followed by days of trying to find it before the cat, dog or neighbour does.
: the spider running off the hands, falls and ruptures its abdomen and dies
: the spider biting. Even with the most 'docile' species, this risk always exists. A bite usually results in the bitten person flinging it across the room in a reflex, resulting in a dead spider.
Another warning concerning this species, G.rosea/porteri are notorious for their extreme mood swings. One minute it sits calmly on your hand, next you know is a spider lodged in your hand by two fangs.

For me, that are too many risks.
I've handled my first, because I was fascinated by the fact that I could let an exotic, big ans hairy animal walk or sit on my hands, and could get real close.
Then the itching started. Oh...right, the urticating hairs....G.rosea/porteri have them too.
But I stopped handling when I learned about the risk. The only time I get in contact directly is when my Homoeomma (ex. Euathlus) sp. Red handles me when she decides my hand is a good place to sit and clean herself.

All interaction is with paintbrush, chopsticks, tongs or tweezers, for their safety as well as mine.

 

[Venom1080]

I don't handle them anymore, besides to clean the tanks.