"Gun Shy" around my Tarantulas.

rwfoss

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 8, 2005
Messages
128
Watching the changes in both my wife and I since entering the hobby this past year, has been very interesting. Recently, I had an interesting (and heart pounding) experience with my adult B. vagans. Upon opening the lid to her tank for feeding, she teleported onto my finger and grabbed on with all legs. She did let go almost immediately, and after I finished wetting my pants, I realized that she had not bit me. This was the first time that a usually calm T acted like this.

A week later, we were feeding the T's again. My wife used the long tongs to take a dead cricket from the same B. vagan's tank. Again, in a blur of black velvet, the T was climbing up the tongs towards my wife. That same night, one of my normally calm E. pachypus spiders began attacking the sides of it's tank as I tried to open the lid to feed it. (This spider usually refuses to move for ANYTHING.)

Unfortunately, I am now finding myself a little "gun shy" around some of my T's now. I used to have no problems reaching into the tanks of most of my T's, but now, I feel nervous.

Is this something that other former arachnophobes have experienced - almost like a sort of regression?

Rick
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 22, 2004
Messages
3,886
I guess you could say the same thing about me. But the increased respect I have now is more due to that I am expecting more mishaps than what I did while I was still T-young.
 

bonesmama

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 28, 2004
Messages
1,017
Hehe! My adult G. rosea scared the crap out of me a few times like that! She was my first T, and freaked me out until I realized she was just curious about what was going on in her "house". She checks out everything-even the stream of water when I fill her bowl. Your vagans is probably doing the same thing! I had to force myself not to jerk my hand away when she does that, and now I'm fine again,some days she'll walk onto my hand as if she's saying "Hello"!
 

TarantuChimp

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
May 12, 2003
Messages
149
I have had a few scrapes like that not with anything truely beastly like OBT's
my A.seemanni came running out at my hand and i wet myself I was paying attention but went into a daze about somthing....I think she was just wondering what the hell was this other 5 legged creature in her cage.

Luckly it was'nt an aggro spider like OBT or my small but very angry teenage Lividum
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 22, 2004
Messages
3,886
Actually, funny that I'm only thinking about that now, a few days ago I tossed my vagans a roach and it landed so closely that the T only stretched her legs out and placed them on the roach. Then she felt for movement and adjusted her feet a bit during the next minute and after that she slammed her teeth through it. So I'd be crapping myself if I'd see her hold on to one of my fingers like that! :eek:
 

KJE

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 21, 2004
Messages
808
I was a true arachnophobe just over a year ago. I have now been collecting t's for a year. Sometimes my arachophobia comes back. It just happened a couple of weeks ago when my husband and I were rehousing one of my 3" P. irminia. It didn't do anything except run fast, but I screamed and jumped away like it was going to kill me. My husband had to yell at me to get me to refocus because I was freaking out.:eek:

I have another 3" P. irminia that needs rehoused, but I'm too afraid to do that right now. I keep putting it off, but I know I'll have to do it in the next week or two.

When you've had a true phobia that you've worked to overcome it does sometimes come back for a short time. I find myself having to talk myself back into not being afraid of the t's. I find that it happens less frequently as time goes by. Afterall, I love my babies!
 

Czalz

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 15, 2005
Messages
232
I think you'll just have to get over the fear of "potentially" being bitten if you plan on handling your t's. Otherwise, you'll have to get longer foreceps:)
I have handled them for long enough(and never been bitten) that I just do my thing, and if they bite, they bite. At this point I am almost looking forward to my first bite.

I will have to admit that one of my parahybanas has gotten exponentially more defensive than she used to be, so I'm a little slower to position her for being picked up. The last two times I have handled her, she wasn't so happy about it, and had venom visibly dripping from her fangs. She tried to tag me once, but she just wasn't quick enough, and I got my way in the end.:D

I think alot of it has to do with perception. I have had avic avics take a hold on me for dear life, but never were they trying to bite me. If I had percieved them as trying to bite, and made sudden movements in response to that unwarranted fear, then I probably would have been bitten.
I don't think (from your description) that in either case was your t trying to "get you". It was simply responding differently to something that's not in it's cage everyday.
 

willywonka

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 2, 2003
Messages
146
rwfoss said:
I am now finding myself a little "gun shy" around some of my T's now.

Rick
Just think of it as a healthy respect for your T's. It might prevent you from getting tagged.
 

stonemantis

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
1,187
With most of my Ts when I am cleaning out their enclosures they want to rush the opening. I used to close it right away until one day my P. lugardi sling rushed over the top before I could close it. I was freaking out because I read they can be quite aggressive. So I cautiously placed my finger next to it. It immediately touched my finger and ran back into it's enclosure. So I come to the conclusion that Ts are very curious and just want to examine anything that disturbs their home. The only time they are aggressive is when they feel threatened and quick movements seem to do this.

IMHO Personal experience is the only way to fully understand anything and overcome your fears n the process.
 

Jmadson13

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 12, 2005
Messages
1,073
It's not uncommon to have such scares even with a docile specimen. Atleast, though this wasn't an agression but rather a "feeding" response.Your spider noticed the difference between your hand and it's food. I wouldn't recommend dealing with your spiders with an attitude of utter abandon but sincerely believe that you have little to worry about from these specimens.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

stonemantis

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
1,187
brigebane said:
It's not uncommon to have such scares even with a docile specimen. Atleast, though this wasn't an agression but rather a "feeding" response your spider noticed the difference between your hand and it's food. I wouldn't recommend dealing with your spiders with an attitude of utter abandon but sincerely believe that you have little to worry about from these specimens.
I that story is about five years old and I have through trial and error learned that Ts are quite gentle and would rather be left alone. Now my P. lugardi is 4" female with lots of attitude but its more bark than bite.
 

Czalz

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 15, 2005
Messages
232
brigebane said:
I wouldn't recommend dealing with your spiders with an attitude of utter abandon but sincerely believe that you have little to worry about from these specimens.
I think you have a good point here. I wasn't encouraging carelessness in my previous post, but rather a confidence of sorts. I wouldn't recommend to anyone to just "do their thing, and if they bite, they bite", that's just my take on it, but I know what I'm doing with mine, and that makes a HUGE difference. I didn't realize until just now how careless that sounded. I am very relaxed around my t's, but I know which ones are "poodles", and which ones are "wolves", as well, and how to act accordingly.....hence (I believe) the reason I have never been bitten.....yet.
I did want to clarify this, since my first post here did seem to encourage carelessness.;)
 

Ewok

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 23, 2005
Messages
853
I had a scare with my cobalt last week, I was doing something in its cage I forget what. But i wanted to look at it, so i pulled back a piece of moss that was covering it and the spider just sat there for a second but then all of a sudden it did a threat pose and struck at me. It missed but I pulled my hand out of the cage quick,:(
 

Jmadson13

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 12, 2005
Messages
1,073
czalzsmith said:
I think you have a good point here. I wasn't encouraging carelessness in my previous post, but rather a confidence of sorts. I wouldn't recommend to anyone to just "do their thing, and if they bite, they bite", that's just my take on it, but I know what I'm doing with mine, and that makes a HUGE difference. I didn't realize until just now how careless that sounded. I am very relaxed around my t's, but I know which ones are "poodles", and which ones are "wolves", as well, and how to act accordingly.....hence (I believe) the reason I have never been bitten.....yet.
I did want to clarify this, since my first post here did seem to encourage carelessness.;)
Definitely no stabs at your posts czalsmith. You made some very valid points and I do believe as you do that "if" the spider is defensive you treat it accordingly. Even some of the most flighty and defensive specimens in my collections are ones that I regularly handle with little or no incident. As a matter of fact my favorite hand pet is a P. murinus, though P. lugardi are typically more docile{D
 

rwfoss

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 8, 2005
Messages
128
czalzsmith said:
I think you have a good point here. I wasn't encouraging carelessness in my previous post, but rather a confidence of sorts. I wouldn't recommend to anyone to just "do their thing, and if they bite, they bite", that's just my take on it, but I know what I'm doing with mine, and that makes a HUGE difference. I didn't realize until just now how careless that sounded. I am very relaxed around my t's, but I know which ones are "poodles", and which ones are "wolves", as well, and how to act accordingly.....hence (I believe) the reason I have never been bitten.....yet.
I did want to clarify this, since my first post here did seem to encourage carelessness.;)
A lot of very helpful posts on this thread. It's funny, but my wife (the REAL arachnophobe) says that she "kinda" wants to be bit. She has that "if they bite, they bite" attitude at times. Just the same, she is very careful around the T's, and won't have anything to do with the aggressive species. In other words, I related to your post! :)

Rick
 

Merfolk

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Messages
1,323
I am so lucky with my Parahybana. My finger has been next to her fangs so many times, if she was aggressive, I would have been bitten accordingly. But the little one turns his/her head aside, almost saying 'no, I don't wanna bite!!'

Then proceeds to escalate my hand. I just dislike when her legs got tangled in my forearm's hair!!
 

Starving1artist

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 31, 2005
Messages
50
Re: I still get goose bumps!

I have recently become a B.Smithi owner. She`s my first "T" and I purchased her as a 4 in. adult since she`s my first spider and a little more forgiving if I do something wrong than a sling.

I did all the research for her and ofcoarse read the bite stats from this site but that still doesn`t prepare you for your first real "touch" with your "T"!

My girl grabbed my hand when I went to pitch a cricket infront of her and the cricket ran to the top of my hand and my Smithi went for the cricket. I froze! I couldn`t get over the strength those legs have, prayed for her to be accurate with her fangs.

I survived her attack but the cricket didn`t. She took the cricket off my hand after she delivered a bite to it. I think I stood infront of her tank rubbing my hand reaccounting the incident for 5 minutes. She on the other hand seemed unaffected by what just took place.

I had a bad dream that night about her getting out of her tank.

I now drop the cricket in and let her hunt it. I don`t plan on letting her out and gave her a very large tank 15 gallon just for her to move about and exercise herself within the tank!

I`ve had people want to hold her and I say "if I don`t hold her you`re not holding her". I know now how fast I went from being calm and cool to high anxiety in a matter of seconds.....Starving
 
Last edited:
Top