The story behind your first bite?

[Luka98]

I've never been bitten and i do my best to keep it that way but as my biggest T is growing so are his fangs and i can't help but think "man that wouldn't be pleasant". Anyways let's hear some stories and possibly some tips if it ever happens because i feel like my first instinct would be to chuck it across the room if it ever tagged me and held on.

 

[cold blood]

There is no reason to think one would ever be bitten unless the keeper is an avid handler.

Simple precautions like tongs, long tweezers and catch cups mean theres rarely a situation where direct contact is necessary. In nearly 20 years, I cant recall a serious close call.

 

[basin79]

As above. Unless there's an extremely unlikely occurrence commonsense makes a bite nigh on impossible.

 

[nicodimus22]

I was probably 2 or 3, and Mom offered me a piece of hot dog on a fork. The rest is history.

 

[Luka98]

There is no reason to think one would ever be bitten unless the keeper is an avid handler.

Simple precautions like tongs, long tweezers and catch cups mean theres rarely a situation where direct contact is necessary. In nearly 20 years, I cant recall a serious close call.

I knew it doesn't happen often but i didn't know it was that rare, cool thank you

 

[SDCustom78]

16 years, never happened once for me. Sure the "unexpected" has happened with a brief escapee during routine maintenance but I always pre plan out what im going to do to try an avoid any "surprises". Never even "accidentally" had one crawl on me. Like @cold blood said, appropriate tools as well as a back up plan. Maybe its "luck", but so far, being overly careful has been working for me so im not about to fix what isnt broken.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

I've linked to my story several times, but I can't relive it again. I just can't!

 

[basin79]

I knew it doesn't happen often but i didn't know it was that rare, cool thank you

What you have to remember is the vast majority of tarantula keepers treat them like a fish in respect to interacting with them. Admire them but leave them alone.

Tarantulas don't want to bite humans because tarantulas don't want to come into contact with them. Let them do their thing and you'll remain puncture free (accept for lotto jackpot winning circumstances odds).

 

[antinous]

I got bit by my younger cousin, pretty painful. Babies that are teething are evil

 

[Luka98]

What you have to remember is the vast majority of tarantulas keepers treat them like a fish in respect to interacting with them. Admire them but leave them alone.

Tarantulas don't want to bite humans because tarantulas don't want to come into contact with them. Let them do their thing and you're remain puncture free (accept for lotto jackpot winning circumstances odds).

Yeah i never handle and don't plan to, i use 14 inch tongs and straws when rehousing, cleaning or watering and drop in prey rather than tong feed so i don't sweat it too much but man oh man a thread got revived of some guy crying after getting bitten by a juvie OBT and it got me thinking

 

[Nightstalker47]

Yeah, I have not been bit in all my years of keeping. There have been some close calls though, one was particularly riveting lol.

The Borneo black incident, which is about as close as it gets...and definitely not a spider you want to get tagged by.
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/how-not-to-rehouse-a-spider.294940/
Theres no doubt in my mind that this also heavily varies from person to person depending on which species they work with. I work with lots of nasty asian arboreals, and just have quite a few hyper defensive specimens. I will say that even some of the NW terrestrials can get the jump on you, especially the larger species.

My AF stirmi is a particularly nasty specimen, really fast and unpredictable. I always use tongs during maintenance so my hands are not in the danger zone, but had I not she would have probably gotten me by now. She moves deceptively fast and wants to eat literally everything, getting her water dish cleaned and back in her enclosure can be a real hassle at times. Matter of fact, she was just doing it again today...as soon as something touches the ground, shes on it.

She was on the complete opposite end of the enclosure seconds before this picture was taken.

 

[Teal]

I'll let you know if it ever happens!

My goal is to never put any of my Ts into a position where they feel like they need to bite me, and to never be close enough if for some reason they do decide they need to have a go at me.

 

[basin79]

Yeah i never handle and don't plan to, i use 14 inch tongs and straws when rehousing, cleaning or watering and drop in prey rather than tong feed so i don't sweat it too much but man oh man a thread got revived of some guy crying after getting bitten by a juvie OBT and it got me thinking

Well to put it in perspective I'd sooner take a bite off any of my tarantulas over my pup (if he went daft and properly bit me).

Commonsense and confidence. That's confidence not arrogance. Tarantulas are simple animals. They aren't hard to fathom. And that's not a slur on tarantulas. I love them.

 

[EtienneN]

I got bit by my younger cousin, pretty painful. Babies that are teething are evil

OMG the same thing happened to me! It hurt so bad I had tears in a my eyes. I didn't think little kids were that powerful!

 

[boina]

Let's see, I've been bitten by:

A hamster
A budgie
My moms parrot
Several dogs (spent some time retraining 'dangerous' dogs)
even more cats (I worked with stray/feral cats)
several rats (I'm breeding feeder rats and they escaped and had 'fun' with wild ones, then came back and now my strain of rats is a bit, well, wild...)
a few horses
a hedgehog (he was injured and needed treatment)
a couple of geese
a swan (that hurts)
quite a few minks (they always bite...)
a coyote (in a zoo)
a 7" boa (bled a lot)
and I probably forgot something.

Never by a tarantula.

 

[basin79]

Yeah, I have not been bit in all my years of keeping. There have been some close calls though, one was particularly riveting lol.

The Borneo black incident, which is about as close as it gets...and definitely not a spider you want to get tagged by.
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/how-not-to-rehouse-a-spider.294940/
Theres no doubt in my mind that this also heavily varies from person to person depending on which species they work with. I work with lots of nasty asian arboreals, and just have quite a few hyper defensive specimens. I will say that even some of the NW terrestrials can get the jump on you, especially the larger species.

My AF stirmi is a particularly nasty specimen, really fast and unpredictable. I always use tongs during maintenance so my hands are not in the danger zone, but had I not she would have probably gotten me by now. She moves deceptively fast and wants to eat literally everything, getting her water dish cleaned and back in her enclosure can be a real hassle at times. Matter of fact, she was just doing it again today...as soon as something touches the ground, shes on it.
View attachment 293294
She was on the complete opposite end of the enclosure seconds before this picture was taken.

Come on @Nightstalker47. There's no such thing as a nasty tarantula. They don't pace around their enclosure trying to get at you.

I know it appears I'm picking at your wording, (well I am but not at you) but as owners I think WE need to stop using words like aggressive, nasty, evil etcetera. We know what we mean but others will literally take those words literally.

 

[Luka98]

a 7" boa (bled a lot)

yeah it's not that bad with most snake species (except blood pythons and green tree pythons they have a mean set of teeth imo)

Several dogs

As @basin79 said i'd definitely take a tarantula bite over a dog bite, i was breaking up a dogfight and i got chomped by a husky and he tore my leg up right through the muscular tissue, what's surprising is i didn't even feel it at first, i'm wondering if it's because of razor sharp teeth or shock.

a few horses

what

a coyote (in a zoo)

WHAT

 

[boina]

yeah it's not that bad with most snake species (except blood pythons and green tree pythons they have a mean set of teeth imo)

As @basin79 said i'd definitely take a tarantula bite over a dog bite, i was breaking up a dogfight and i got chomped by a husky and he tore my leg up right through the muscular tissue, what's surprising is i didn't even feel it at first, i'm wondering if it's because of razor sharp teeth or shock.

what

WHAT

Horses can be jerks. And I worked as a zoo keeper for a while .

 

[The Seraph]

a coyote (in a zoo)

Why was there a coyote in a zoo? I understand you live in Germany but they are basically smaller, terrible wolves.

 

[basin79]

yeah it's not that bad with most snake species (except blood pythons and green tree pythons they have a mean set of teeth imo)

As @basin79 said i'd definitely take a tarantula bite over a dog bite, i was breaking up a dogfight and i got chomped by a husky and he tore my leg up right through the muscular tissue, what's surprising is i didn't even feel it at first, i'm wondering if it's because of razor sharp teeth or shock.

what

WHAT

Believe me. I've been bit with an ETB and a retic. The retic hurts so much more. Teeth aren't as big but the power pulling many more smaller teeth is ridiculous. And I'm only typing about a 13ft retic too. But I'd sooner take that than a proper large dog bite.