Untrue Tarantula Myths You've Heard?

[Cirith Ungol]

Funny about that book you are mentioning 'NY'!

"The great spider book" by the biggest Swedish printer had something pretty nice about Ts too actually. If I recall correctly (and I learned all this valuable info by heart so I would be a better T keeper... NOT) it said things like that a T blondi was the biggest spider in the world with a legspan of about 7cm (whatever that might be in iches? I don't know, maybe 3-4?), that it lives in the trees where it creates giant webs to catch birds..... or was that in another book about spiders... well who cares it was in a book and books always tell the truth!!

 

[NYbirdEater]

Funny about that book you are mentioning 'NY'!

"The great spider book" by the biggest Swedish printer had something pretty nice about Ts too actually. If I recall correctly (and I learned all this valuable info by heart so I would be a better T keeper... NOT) it said things like that a T blondi was the biggest spider in the world with a legspan of about 7cm (whatever that might be in iches? I don't know, maybe 3-4?), that it lives in the trees where it creates giant webs to catch birds..... or was that in another book about spiders... well who cares it was in a book and books always tell the truth!!

I saw some ink sketches of that in an old encyclopedia I think. The book I mnetioned was a kids book, and illustrated, just the fact it was sponsored by NG made me extra pissed. Although I did stop reading NG because it lacked substance, or maybe I just grew up.

 

[Magician]

Ha Ha

- " T's fangs can not perice human skin"
(from irc)


-It's against the law to own pet trantualas that aren't devenomized and is a federal offense.
-Roommate's visting friend and his girlfriend


- "the T jumped a foot up into the air"

_ "There are only four speices of trantualas that can kill a human"

"If you dont handle a trantuala it will get mean and bite you,any animal gets used to being handled"
^ typical


I've also heard the 'did you dye that spider,why isnt it brown or black" thing...


However,one rumor about spiders was proven true:
Some T's do have thier eggsacs inside cacti/succlents; where they make thier webinside or burrow in i guess? And when you buy these the T's can come out (Possibly the mom to,i guess) (And yes,one cactus did explode from spiders,but i doubt that was from T's).

Some urban legends are true.

 

[becca81]

I've had a pet shop employee tell me before that tarantulas NEEDED to be handled. She said that they wouldn't live as long if you didn't, because they needed companionship.

This was the same moron who told me about her T shaking its neck...

 

[Bean]

However,one rumor about spiders was proven true:
Some T's do have thier eggsacs inside cacti/succlents; where they make thier webinside or burrow in i guess? And when you buy these the T's can come out (Possibly the mom to,i guess) (And yes,one cactus did explode from spiders,but i doubt that was from T's).

Some urban legends are true.

Errrr, you forgot the proof? I'm especially interested in the highlighted claim?

 

[pitbulllady]

However,one rumor about spiders was proven true:
Some T's do have thier eggsacs inside cacti/succlents; where they make thier webinside or burrow in i guess? And when you buy these the T's can come out (Possibly the mom to,i guess) (And yes,one cactus did explode from spiders,but i doubt that was from T's).

Some urban legends are true. [/QUOTE]


Sorry, dude, but that is 110% FALSE! It wouldnt' be an "Urban Legend" if were TRUE, now would it? A "true Urban Legend" is about as big an oxymoron as an "Honest Politician"! There has NEVER, EVER, ever, ever EVER been a case of where a cactus(or any other plant)exploded from ANY sort of spiders living inside it! You might have read that on Ananova.com, or TheOnion.com, both sites notorious for printing ANYTHING strange or bizarre, either as a joke, or simply because they can't be bothered to check facts first. You can get the REAL scoop at these sites: htt://www.hoax-slayer.com/cactus-spider.html or at http://www.snopes.com/horrors/insects/cactus.html

I couldnt' get my computer to open up the Snopes.com site, which is probably the best hoax and Urban Legend debunking site out there, so maybe it's down for maintainance or something, but maybe some of you can get there.

Still, wouldn't it be nice to buy a cheap cactus, only to have a few thousand B. smithis-all female-pop out? Only problem is the waste of a perfectly good cactus, since I collect cacti, too.

pitbulllady

 

[Immortal_sin]

yes, a person I know told me the exploding cactus story, claimed it happened to someone her mom knew LOL
I sent her the snopes link, boy was she embarrassed!

 

[Magician]

Well!

Ha Ha,


If that's untrue someone should send a letter to the History channel (which reported that this was true). In fact they even said some people tryed to debunk it but it still was..And let,i still doubt if this did happen, the cactus would literarly explode, maybe break apart?

Just goes to show how the rumors about our pets can be spread,even by mass media. And even the keepers can fall for them

 

[H-D]

I was informed by someone that their local reptile/invert shop 'removed' their G.rosea's urticating hairs for a fee, as in plucking them out one by one....

 

[WingedDefeat]

Every time I educate a person after they mention some untruth about tarantulas, they always looks so... dissapointed. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

 

[Apocalypstick]

This thread is priceless ! I have a stomach ache from some of these posts

Oh and by the way.... my T has also been reading with me.... yes folks, they can read too if they open the "one hundred" eyes they apparently have as a friend once told me

 

[Randy]

mine goes like that, i went to the petstore and i saw a brown Tarantula
(think its a p.Lugardi)
i didnt know what is was at first cos it was webbed up..
so i asked the petstore keeper,
"hey what species is this ? "
he said "oh its poisonous"
i was like wtf... so i repeated my question, " what species is this "
he was like "hmm .. " this is " Chocolate spider " !!
so i was like.. ok fine, just tell me how much is this T ..

another 1 was, rather stupid and not logic at all.. a girl in my school said a tarantula CAN jump across half a footyball field WOW~

 

[SpaceHawk]

Is this true??

My friend told me that Goliath bird-eaters can pierce a leather hiking boot. Rattlesnakes can't even do that. Is this true? He sounded pretty convincing.

 

[avicularia_reig]

sheesh

went to a petstore one day with my boyfriend, and they had a nice collection of rosehairs and some others. they were each in kritter keepers inside a display case. they evidently had a misting system in there so when we pulled out the kritter keepers they were dripping warm water. when i informed the pet store owner of their faults, the simply responde with "well all tarantulas are from the rainforest" if i remember right my rosehair and king baboon HATE water. i guess im wrong because evidently a bite from my rosehair would be worse than my king baboon...thats just what i hear :wall:

 

[Fenris]

My friend told me that Goliath bird-eaters can pierce a leather hiking boot. Rattlesnakes can't even do that. Is this true? He sounded pretty convincing.

I've heard this as well. In the Tarantula Keepers Guide the authors mention "mechanical damage" from a bite. Who wants to test this myth?

 

[nightbreed]

My friend told me that Goliath bird-eaters can pierce a leather hiking boot. Rattlesnakes can't even do that. Is this true? He sounded pretty convincing.

I saw a documentary about Sydney funnel webs that said they could bite through boots if thats true I would guess a Blondi might be able to, it would probably depend on the boots in question though, saying that though I also watched a documentary that said the Blondi was the most poisonous spider in the world

 

[galeogirl]

A co-worker informed me recently that tarantulas give live birth and that the babies burst out of the mother's abdomen a la Aliens.

You mean, all these years my tarantulas have been giving birth incorrectly?

 

[Fenris]

This thread just furthers my theory that most people are stupid and uninformed.

 

[MountinGal]

"Don't forget...never scream if you see a tarantula.They are attracted by screams and will just come closer and bite you.

HUH???

 

[Joe1968]

What about T. blondi "goliath bird eater", hence, the name that they eat birds in the wild, I read some books that says this is a misconception, that they rare or ever been seen actually catching birds in the wild, is this true?