Tarantulas = pandas?

[CritterKeeper21]

It seems like tarantulas try to die at every possible opportunity and it just reminds me of pandas.

EDIT:READ MY LATER POST I'M NOT KILLING TARANTULAS DON'T WORRY I'M SORRY

 

[Nightstalker47]

I tend to see things the other way, in general, they are extremely resilient and adaptable creatures. If you're experiencing a lot of deaths, you should probably revise your husbandry.

I mean that in the nicest way possible. I would be happy to help if you want a second opinion on how you are doing things, pictures would be a start.

 

[EtienneN]

the number of deaths you experience goes up with the number of tarantulas you have. Certain ones like L. violaceopes are notoriously difficult and finicky at the sling stage. Avics are also less forgiving of husbandry errors. What are the circumstances of these deaths? Please give us some more information so that we might better help you.

 

[Vanisher]

I have had a few death in 19 years of keeping, so you must be doing something wrong. Can you give a more detailed description

 

[CritterKeeper21]

I have had a few death in 19 years of keeping, so you must be doing something wrong. Can you give a more detailed description

I tend to see things the other way, in general, they are extremely resilient and adaptable creatures. If you're experiencing a lot of deaths, you should probably revise your husbandry.

I mean that in the nicest way possible. I would be happy to help if you want a second opinion on how you are doing things, pictures would be a start.

the number of deaths you experience goes up with the number of tarantulas you have. Certain ones like L. violaceopes are notoriously difficult and finicky at the sling stage. Avics are also less forgiving of husbandry errors. What are the circumstances of these deaths? Please give us some more information so that we might better help you.

ACK! NO SORRY, I've never had a tarantula. My main hesitation is all the ways people caution that a tarantula can hurt itself. Like falling from height, sticking their fangs through screen tops, falling into water dishes, gouging themselves on parts of their enclosure. Plus all the people talking about how their tarantulas just stop eating for months. The way people talk about some parts of tarantula care reminds me of some of the ways I've read zoo keepers talking about pandas. That's why I put it in this forum instead of the tarantula one. I meant to be more clear when I posted originally so sorry for any concern I caused.

 

[Serpyderpy]

The difference being that a tarantula can go for months without food without any detriment to the animal itself, and falling into a water dish doesn't mean it will drown. Falling from a height, nibbling on screen lids and accidently hurting themselves in the enclosure are all things that can be rememdied from using basic common sense and research and setting up the enclosure correctly. Tarantula husbandry causes them to flourish.

Compare this to a panda, an animal with a (supposedly) higher level of intelligence than a tarantula, whose husbandry in the zoo field could be absoloutely spot on perfect and these animals will still find a way to screw that over. They'll climb things and just throw themselves off it instead of climbing back down, they'll eat all the bamboo they can get and literally do nothing all day, and, unlike endangered species of tarantula, these things literally will not mate. At all. Like it's absolutely ridiculous the amount of money these things have hemorrhaged away from other animals that actually need it all because the public wants a giant bear that literally does nothing all day to keep on living because it's cute.

I'm not salty about pandas, not at all.

 

[The Seraph]

The main difference is that the reasons for a tarantula potentially dying arise from being in captivity. They rarely have the risk of falling and they do not have screen to get stuck on in the wild. If course being in the wild also has its own risk but as others have mentioned, keep a tarantula properly rarely results in problems. With pandas, however, they only eat bamboo, a plant very low in nutrition, they have no interest in breeding and they do a bad job of keeping babies alive. They are very bad at propagating while Pterinopelma and Lasidora and I am sure many more do not have that problem (sure most of their slings die in the wild but in captivity there is a very high survival rate). They can also reproduce relatively often unlike pandas which are in heat 2-3 days a year.

 

[s dave]

The difference being that a tarantula can go for months without food without any detriment to the animal itself, and falling into a water dish doesn't mean it will drown. Falling from a height, nibbling on screen lids and accidently hurting themselves in the enclosure are all things that can be rememdied from using basic common sense and research and setting up the enclosure correctly. Tarantula husbandry causes them to flourish.

Compare this to a panda, an animal with a (supposedly) higher level of intelligence than a tarantula, whose husbandry in the zoo field could be absoloutely spot on perfect and these animals will still find a way to screw that over. They'll climb things and just throw themselves off it instead of climbing back down, they'll eat all the bamboo they can get and literally do nothing all day, and, unlike endangered species of tarantula, these things literally will not mate. At all. Like it's absolutely ridiculous the amount of money these things have hemorrhaged away from other animals that actually need it all because the public wants a giant bear that literally does nothing all day to keep on living because it's cute.

I'm not salty about pandas, not at all.

But they're soooooo cute! Well red pandas are at least. While I agree with some of your feelings, I do want to save the giant panda. But I want to save the white rhino, sharks, tiger, and pokies just as much. I wish mankind would just take better care of the environment as a whole.

 

[EtienneN]

Please don’t get discouraged from tarantula owning due to all these what-if horror stories. They really are easy to care for. Just use common sense, or rather your spidey sense, and I’m confident things will be okay for you and your tarantula.

 

[Garetyl]

The main difference is that the reasons for a tarantula potentially dying arise from being in captivity. They rarely have the risk of falling and they do not have screen to get stuck on in the wild. If course being in the wild also has its own risk but as others have mentioned, keep a tarantula properly rarely results in problems. With pandas, however, they only eat bamboo, a plant very low in nutrition, they have no interest in breeding and they do a bad job of keeping babies alive. They are very bad at propagating while Pterinopelma and Lasidora and I am sure many more do not have that problem (sure most of their slings die in the wild but in captivity there is a very high survival rate). They can also reproduce relatively often unlike pandas which are in heat 2-3 days a year.

IIRC, pandas usually produce two cubs and only produce enough milk to nurse the healthiest one as a form of natural selection. Unfortunately for the species, people took that as pandas being bad parents and took to nursing the weaker, less healthy cub, and sometimes even took both. Most captive pandas never learned to nurse or care for their cubs from their mothers, and were imprinted on humans.

It happens a lot in birdkeeping as well. Human imprinted birds are more likely to abandon, attack, and even kill their own eggs and chicks.

 

[Warren870]

It happens a lot in birdkeeping as well. Human imprinted birds are more likely to abandon, attack, and even kill their own eggs and chicks.

I've never witnessed this. Granted I'm only going off my experience with geese. I purchased 37 goslings 6 years ago that were 3 weeks old. They imprinted on me since I was the one the fed and cared for them. It was actually rather adorable going about my daily chores with a flock of goslings following me around. As they matured some of the ganders were sold off and I did have a few go missing. One of the cons of freeranging. Anyway to make a long story short I've found that my geese are better mothers then my chickens and ducks. I've yet to lose a gosling left with its mother compared to the chickens and ducks who regularly lose a chick/duckling. Maybe I've just had great luck with geese and not so good luck with the other barnyard birds.

 

[Garetyl]

I've never witnessed this. Granted I'm only going off my experience with geese. I purchased 37 goslings 6 years ago that were 3 weeks old. They imprinted on me since I was the one the fed and cared for them. It was actually rather adorable going about my daily chores with a flock of goslings following me around. As they matured some of the ganders were sold off and I did have a few go missing. One of the cons of freeranging. Anyway to make a long story short I've found that my geese are better mothers then my chickens and ducks. I've yet to lose a gosling left with its mother compared to the chickens and ducks who regularly lose a chick/duckling. Maybe I've just had great luck with geese and not so good luck with the other barnyard birds.

I'm going off parrot experience and literature here. It might be different for chickens and geese, but I've had issues with one of my non hybridized lovebirds (ironically, she's very similar to a panda in appearance, being big, fluffy, and black and white in all the right places). My brother would really like a baby from her, as she's gorgeous and constantly lays eggs, but she clearly has no clue what to do with them and was obviously human raised (toilet trained, exceptionally human friendly, even after long stints of no contact due to eggs). She'll pop them out while perching, peck them open, keep them too warm or too cold, not trade shifts with either of her boyfriends, defecate in the nest, abandon them, ECT ECT. I'm hoping I can nab an egg and give it to a different bird once she lays this next clutch! I have some m/m pairs who won't stop trying for eggs.

 

[Warren870]

@Garetyl would using an incubator work? I have one with an automated egg turner that I'll use when I'm wanting to produce more chicks but don't have any broody hens at that moment.

 

[Garetyl]

@Warren870 it would, but parrot chicks are very delicate and require round the clock care for weeks. I'd much rather turn them over to a nice pair/trio of dads and offer supplementary feedings. I've read horror stories of people burning a hole through their crops with formula that's too hot or slowing their crops and killing them with food that isn't warm enough. Also, it's very easy to drown them with their own food.

I'd much rather deal with a spider eggsack or pandas than them!

 

[Warren870]

@Garetyl I do believe I'd rather deal with T eggsacks and pandas as well

 

[cold blood]

ut they're soooooo cute! Well red pandas are at least.

completely and totally UNrelated animals...red pandas are not bears.

 

[Predacons5]

On a positive note...I think tarantulas are like pandas...

Some of them are freakin' cute! (Especially as slings!!!)

I jokingly call them my 8 legged teddy bears. You can call them 8 legged panda bears if you like - idk.

 

[Predacons5]

completely and totally UNrelated animals...red pandas are not bears.

Yup, they're more closely related to raccoons.

From what I've seen so far, pandas have been classified as bears.

 

[viper69]

Plus all the people talking about how their tarantulas just stop eating for months

Why is this natural process of satiety an “issue”???!!!!

 

[s dave]

completely and totally UNrelated animals...red pandas are not bears.

I was aware of that and just making a joke. Sorry for the confusion