Handeled my obt

[Arborealis]

I would never have had the guts to do this with my OBT before she passed. Then again, she was larger than normal and threat posed and slapped the ground if you even looked in the cage. I had to rehouse her numerous times and pack her into a container when I moved and admittedly my heart was racing even when I took all necessary precautions. I'm glad you didn't get bitten. I have seen people handling OBTs in videos and always shake my head a bit. lol. Obviously you knew the risks you were taking and were willing to deal with the consequences should you have been bitten so.. go you. ^_^

 

[cmcghee358]

I'm just really excited that my obt is docile. I love holding my T's. I only do it every few months or so though. It's not something I do regularly. Besides, whats wrong with bragging? The obt has a reputation, and I held it with not even a close call. I am responsible about holding my T's, but I really do enjoy it, and it gives me a happy feeling I can't get anywhere else. If this means I am giving the hobby a bad name, then oh shoot, I am giving the hobby a bad name. Some one call the tarantula police, before I magically ruin the hobby for everyone because I hold T's, which I have been doing for over ten years, with no incidents. I have also held a brown recluse before, so you better come here and take my T's away quick. Who knows what I will do next.

While I can understand your frustration; a diatribe rife with sarcasm doesn't open up anyone else's mind in this situation.

The underlying concern is, if you were to get bit, and had to seek medical attention; that attention would reflect negatively on the hobby. Sometimes the media runs with the story. We, as hobbyists, prefer as little attention to our hobby as possible. And any attention that we get, we'd hope would be positive. So yes, we as a hobby are worried that your actions could negatively affect the rest of us.

So now I hope you understand where some of those posts were coming from.

 

[Tarac]

I'm just really excited that my obt is docile. I love holding my T's. I only do it every few months or so though. It's not something I do regularly. Besides, whats wrong with bragging? The obt has a reputation, and I held it with not even a close call. I am responsible about holding my T's, but I really do enjoy it, and it gives me a happy feeling I can't get anywhere else. If this means I am giving the hobby a bad name, then oh shoot, I am giving the hobby a bad name. Some one call the tarantula police, before I magically ruin the hobby for everyone because I hold T's, which I have been doing for over ten years, with no incidents. I have also held a brown recluse before, so you better come here and take my T's away quick. Who knows what I will do next.

Handling Ts for 50 years means nothing in the scheme of things, ask people like the late Bear Man or the Crocodile Hunter... oh wait, their endless experience precludes them from being asked anything these days . You are now calling your OBT "docile" which may not be the case, you simply had one uneventful interaction and you are not the first person on that front.

More importantly, and I suspect the backlash here is about, is that it spreads this idea to other people reading the thread and has potential to in and of itself become a problem. You could potentially be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back in terms of legislation in your area... that is one way it happens. Someone gets bitten, has a bad (or in this case a completely expected and well-known) reaction, is hospitalized and suddenly X town in PA bans tarantulas, maybe even make a little news report about a reckless kid who was playing with a "highly venomous giant spider" that ends up in more places than just your town. At that point the "tarantula police," AKA FWS equivalent in your area, may indeed show up at your door and take away animals you have demonstrated you cannot keep responsibly. Rather disrespectful to selfishly disregard everyone else's investment in T's when you say something like this:

"If this means I am giving the hobby a bad name, then oh shoot, I am giving the hobby a bad name"

A recluse is an entirely other beast in terms of attitude and frankly points to your intention when you posted here- regardless, it's not aggressive. OBT is more than well known for it's bad disposition AND unpredictable nature. One day it's fine, tomorrow you try it and get tagged, badly. My advice- take heed to all the other older, even more experienced tarantula keepers here and do us favor by not becoming one of the reasons why people continue to fear and possibly legislate against more Ts. I think that is what people take issue with, certainly what I feel when I hear someone "bragging" about it. Although for me, in order to properly brag one must first accomplish something that is difficult to do, not something ridiculously easy yet highly discouraged for so many reasons. Don't be short sighted and don't be upset if your bragging doesn't go over well to the more informed. That's a small risk you take when you try to do something like handle an OBT- a bruised ego.

 

[jgod790]

Just wanted to point out: What you do is your decision, I'm merely saying that anyone NEW to the hobby and not yet USED to own T's should NOT try this unless willing to take a really bad bite - and "in general" there's a high probability for that. I'm glad yours is an oddball of the genus and it is indeed amazing to hear something like that. Personally, I just don't think it's worth the risk - you'll probably disagree and that's totally fine. No offense intended at all!

I see what your saying, thank you.

 

[inkedandholey]

The way i see it is as long as you know the risks every one of them has a different personality and you may have a calmer one. i say if you know those things and you are comfortable go for it.