OBT Escape Saga continued...

[Sheri]

Yes, it's all good now.
This circumstance was a little unusual because it was an obt...
As for dogs, I've owned dogs for the better part of my life... there is a gigantic difference between a dog that is not friendly towards children, and one that starts to bite.
One needs training and a new situation, the other needs to be put down.
Emotion aside, anyone who knows dogs can tell the difference. Thankfully, this is not too common of an occurance, but risk management and critical thinking dictates that you act decisively once a dog shows the behaviour I am talking about.

My dog now was a little off around kids, but after intense training and working with him everyday to manage it, has totally improved. But not once did he put his teeth on my children.

 

[fingersoup]

(for example, if someone kept Cobras and let them free roam, that IS dangerous and irresponsible).

Lol Some of those free-range organic cobras. :}

 

[Killersquid]

Hmm.... I don't have any experiance with tarantulas escaping, but I'm very good at lost pets in the house.... I'm only used to things like hamsters getting away. I even figured out a way to find my sisters, it was about 10 feet in an open vent, I tied a carrot to some fishing line and threw it in, then tied it to the vent cover. Keep in mind I didnt know it was in there. A few hours later I pulled it out and found bite marks. My dad eventully went under the house and got it out. I really think that cricket idea will work. Also, put take around the bottems of the walls...`.


Whats so dangerous about this spider? I thought tarantulas were harmless to humans. Or is it that your chilidren are young making them less imune to the venom?


Besides, us 13 year olds are good at catching animals, because we act so much like them...

 

[julesaussies]

Hmm.... I don't have any experiance with tarantulas escaping, but I'm very good at lost pets in the house.... I'm only used to things like hamsters getting away. I even figured out a way to find my sisters, it was about 10 feet in an open vent, I tied a carrot to some fishing line and threw it in, then tied it to the vent cover. Keep in mind I didnt know it was in there. A few hours later I pulled it out and found bite marks. My dad eventully went under the house and got it out. I really think that cricket idea will work. Also, put take around the bottems of the walls...`.


Whats so dangerous about this spider? I thought tarantulas were harmless to humans. Or is it that your chilidren are young making them less imune to the venom?


Besides, us 13 year olds are good at catching animals, because we act so much like them...

You probably didn't notice but this thread is over 2 years old was already resolved. OBT's (P. murinus) are very defensive T's and have strong venom. While not medically significant venom; enough to make an adult feel pretty crummy for a week or two so she definately did not want to risk exposing her 2 or 5 year old to it.

 

[Killersquid]

Sorry.... I was reading a little quickly..... did Mr. spider die?

 

[Sky`Scorcher]

Wah

Well, as some of you know, I had an OBT escape from the communal enclosure, tag me and then hide behind a bookshelf which with my lightning fast thinking, taped up to prevent escape until I could retrieve him when the kids weren't home...

David Burns is over right now, helped me to remove the bookself so that one could catch the spider and the other could move the shelf.

Well.

My smart thinking was outwitted. The OBT is nowhere to be found. This is not the best case scenario with 2 kids in the house. And plenty of food, no doubt, with escaped crickets.

Now...bear with me...

Obviously, stock up on sticky rodent traps and place everywhere. Got it.
If I was an OBT, where would I be?
Would you think high or low?
I know, either freaking or.

If I choose to fumigate the place, how long do you think I should have the rest of my animals away from the house for?

And does that pretty much guarantee that the spider is dead?

Do you think I should just do it right away to be safe?

Arg. Not a story I am going to tell the ex. It reads fuel for custody battle ALL over it!

I have decided that this certifiably sucks hardcore.

Ok, this made it to the reasons why i should not keep an OBT, so far I've had no escaped T's and I make sure not any does. I always open their cage up in a very wide room and one that doesn't have many holes the T can go into.

Goodluck

 

[SandyMuffinCakes94]

Glad you got your spider back , i had a cobalt blue escape from me... it freaked me out mainly because i was worried about my dog. I found her in the same night though in the closet going shopping for clothing hehe.

I said i was done with the hobby but the pet store had a OBT that i had to have and i wouldn't trade him for the world. And i honestly think that having a tarantula escape is a good experience for better or worse you do learn from it.

 

[Draiman]

Glad you got your spider back , i had a cobalt blue escape from me... it freaked me out mainly because i was worried about my dog. I found her in the same night though in the closet going shopping for clothing hehe.

I said i was done with the hobby but the pet store had a OBT that i had to have and i wouldn't trade him for the world. And i honestly think that having a tarantula escape is a good experience for better or worse you do learn from it.

Have a look at the age of this thread...

 

[SandyMuffinCakes94]

Have a look at the age of this thread...

Yeah i did ... i dont see no rules regarding posting old threads besides the guy before me posted this month i figured it was ok and if that chick still reads this board im sure she will appreciate it i was just being nice.

 

[Sathane]

I have a large female OBT that escapes regularly and she always ends up in the desk in my spider room, behind the top drawer.

Mind you, my spider room is sealed and the rest of the basement is freezing so, is she did find a way to get out (doubtful) she'd probably stay away from the cold.

I would get out a couple of flashlights and take each room apart one by one. Chances are it's found a nice dark corner and it camping out.

As for the children, I'm assuming they've been educated enough not to poke at fuzzy orange things they may find creeping around the house?

EDIT: Ah, looks like you found it anyway. Sorry you had to kill it. :\

 

[Sathane]

Have a look at the age of this thread...

Yes, people still read old threads and comment on them too.

 

[Draiman]

Yes, people still read old threads and comment on them too.

Sure they do; I simply don't see the point, especially in this case where the original poster is no longer a member of the forum (intriguing to see that she used to be a mod).

 

[Sathane]

Wow. By reading this entire thread you'd think someone had a cobra lost in their house.

It still amazes me how experienced tarantula keepers handle an escape.

The facts are that a tarantula bite will not kill you, Sure it will hurt and suck for a few days but no one has ever died from a T bite and I'm pretty sure you won't be the first. Secondly, an escaped T is not going to hunt you down in your sleep and feed on you. It escaped to get away from you in the first place. As for wondering why we keep animals like this with the potential danger they pose - Why do we keep any animals since we can never be certain what they might do? Your cat may decide to claw you up one day. Your dog might feel like chewing on a child. Your hamster might bite you too. The list goes on...

There seems to be an alarmist attitude to nearly everything these days. Kids are no longer allowed to play tag at school because someone might fall and skin their knee. If a peanut comes within 500 yards of a school playground the bomb squad needs to be called in for it's safe removal. When is this going to stop?

With care and education we can mitigate the issues that may be stressful and inconvenient but there is no way to completely eliminate the chances of an escape just like you have no guarantee that any of your other pets won't cause any harm or damage.

Anyway, with all that being said, I guess what I'm trying to say is - If you are that worried about your Ts becoming a problem, feel free to PM me and I can make arrangements to have them shipped to me.

Knowing that no matter how careful we try to be, especially where other family members are involved (incuding my 2 furries and bow-wow "children), we are always subject to the occasional escape of our 8-legged beasties. When it happens, we are subject to various potential consequences when these escapes occur.

The question that comes to my mind is -- Considering that we always run the risk of an escape, is it REASONABLE to have an animal in our home, that in the event of an escape, renders the need for deadly force to avoid injury to our other family members?

 

[nexen]

Wow. By reading this entire thread you'd think someone had a cobra lost in their house.

It still amazes me how experienced tarantula keepers handle an escape.

serious thread necro here.

But I had to comment anyways - didn't she have a toddler?

This isn't a playground knee scrape, a cat scratch or a hamster bite we're talking about here. This is a bite from a potently venomous, seriously defensive, and fast animal that happens to be colored like a play toy.

I know a grown man who said he was crying for nine hours due to a P.murinus bite. A board member told me she'd rather give birth to her two sons at the same time than to get bit by this species again. Read the bite reports thread for even more anecdotes. Now imagine your toddler going through that.

Teaching a toddler to not draw on a flat screen television with crayon takes catching them in the act several times. I know this from experience. Teaching a toddler to stay away from a tarantula is nigh impossible until they actually get bit.

I'd definitely nuke the poor critter too, even if I loved it dearly.

 

[Sathane]

I'm not debating whether it should have been put down the way it was or not or whether the OPs concerns were valid or not. They definitely were considering the age of her children.

I wasn't aware of the age of her children either. My comment was directed to the poster who said this "Considering that we always run the risk of an escape, is it REASONABLE to have an animal in our home, that in the event of an escape, renders the need for deadly force to avoid injury to our other family members?", hence the comment regarding cats and dogs that go nuts with no warning. It's not just the animals that we keep caged that can be dangerous.

Personally, the enjoyment I get from my Ts is worth the potential for harm that I expose myself to. My girlfriend's children know better than to mess around in the T room (they're 12 and 15), so, in that case, if they happen to get tagged I can bet they'll only do it once.
As for the other animals in the house. My girlfriend's cats have already killed a few of my inverts, including 2 emperor scorps and a trapdoor spider.
This was before my room was sealed and they loved to knock tanks off shelves or open the KK to scoop out my trapdoor spider. If they did manage to get in there and got tagged all I would hope for is that they did it in front of the surveillance camera so that I could watch it later.

Don't worry. I'd definitely be posting that to YouTube so all could enjoy...

 

[lucarelli78]

Sure they do; I simply don't see the point, especially in this case where the original poster is no longer a member of the forum (intriguing to see that she used to be a mod).

Makes you wonder; what do you have to do to get banned?