# How To Calm Your Tarantula



## hcsk8ter (Mar 6, 2007)

So, we keep hearing:

     "Once you get your _______ (insert tarantula name here), it will be a docile and calm."

     Any truth to this?  I hear it over and over again.  If you can manage to wrangle your T out of its container it will be a docile mush.

     Possible theories are:

1)  It's calm because it is unsure of it's surroundings?

2)  You are not invading its home?

3)  It feels overpowered?

     Please share your stories.  I'm sure this isn't a definite.  Meaning for example, a P. Murinus outside of its cage probably still is no mush.

     I'd like to come to a general consensus on this topic and put it to bed as an urban legend or write it down as a possibility.  

Thanks.


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## Hedorah99 (Mar 6, 2007)

hcsk8ter said:


> So, we keep hearing:
> 
> "Once you get your _______ (insert tarantula name here), it will be a docile and calm."
> 
> ...


Basically, if you want it to be calm, leave it alone. Handling can cause stress and make it hurt itself or you. I have never heard taking a T out of its home to have a calming effect, actually I hear and have observed the exact opposite. Some T's have a tendency to not object to mild handling, some lose their marbles the second you open the lid and throw a threat display, run and hide, or flick hair. Its on a T to T basis and there really is no consensus.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## cacoseraph (Mar 6, 2007)

actually, i have read a number of times that people think that once you have a T out of their enclosure they calm down.

i know for myself some of my individuals seem more inclined to big burst of movement and more activity in their containers and sort of calm down once i get them out

of course, i have others that run until they deoxygenate, rechange, run till the deoxy, recharge, etc until i get sick of waiting for them to chill out.

i can also say i am most nervous transitioning a bug from their container to my tender flesh.  typically when i get bit by centipedes it is within 5-10 seconds of starting to hold them. once they have been on my for a moment they seem much less likely to bite me. of course i think taras are quite a bit more intelligent that centis so they can have more complex behaviour.  

and taras have one hell of a more complex sensor suite than cents do, so i would guess there is more that can spook them.


really, i would say safer handling involves reducing spook factors as much as you can. i kick the cat out of the room, shut the door, make sure no fans or AC is on when i am nervous about something envenomating me.

also, again for cents, i make sure they are well fed and not thirsty. also, when it is hot all bugs are much quicker and possibly more inclined to bite


also, P. murinus have never ever thrown a threat at me. i have handled tons of slings and a few juv/subadults and they all are kings of bolting, ime


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## jr47 (Mar 6, 2007)

i think they simply know that what they were doing didnt work so they try something else or do what crickets do and stop and hope that whatever is after them loses interest.
       i raised snakes for years and they many times are the same. they will usually stike a few times and figure out it isnt working so they stop. some dont. different breeds react different. and i think t's are no different. i have 8 g.rosea's, 1 adult female, 7 slings. each one react's in a different way when handled or when the container is opened. some run and hide, and others attack the first thing that moves. so in my opinion its kind of hard to narrow down when you can take 20 g. rosea's and each one react's completly opposite than the next.  i think the only thing for sure with these guy's is to always expect the unexpected.


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## cheetah13mo (Mar 6, 2007)

cacoseraph said:


> actually, i have read a number of times that people think that once you have a T out of their enclosure they calm down.
> 
> i know for myself some of my individuals seem more inclined to big burst of movement and more activity in their containers and sort of calm down once i get them out
> 
> ...


I'll second the above. Most of mine that I get out calm down quite a bit once they are out of familiar surroundings. Not all of them act this way though. Like everyone keeps hearing "each T is different".


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## Becky (Mar 7, 2007)

Personally, i like seeing my T's go into a threat posture, dripping venom, fangs out.. at my presence in their tanks.. Keeps it natural  I have some calm, docile T's (rosea, G. aureostriata etc) which i can handle (and i have in the past) but generally, leaving them alone is best. Seeing my Haplopelma minax go into threat and striking the floor, and my C. crawshayi hissing.. is best i think  Spider acting naturally in unnatural conditions...


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## phil jones (Mar 7, 2007)

i say they are a lot like us  some are calm happy easy going - some are nutters and real lunatics will bite and strike at any one or thing  thats just my opinion == phil


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## mischaaussems (Mar 7, 2007)

I recently tried to rehouse an adult female haplopelma lividum. But it was very aggressive, it kept attacking me, and I had to say I was really scared s..t, it was lightning fast, but hey that's what haplopelma's are known for. Some of my T's seem more at ease when outside their tank.


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## Cerbera (Mar 7, 2007)

*How to calm a cross T...*

This is a potentially interesting thread, and we could all benefit from some hints and tips on things you can do to calm down a cross T. I'm talking about in-tank, though, which is a slight diversion off to the left of the original topic.

Might be quite a short debate, though - to which the only answer is 'go away and try later'....

So - anyone found anything at all, other than 'leaving it alone' that makes an otherwise grumpy or agitated T, become calm or calmER. And by calm, I don't mean cold, so no need for freezer and fridge suggestions this time round...

Personally, I have only ever found one small thing - if you stroke the ground in front of some T's with a paintbrush, and allow them to jump on it if they so wish but then try and gently carry on around them, in time, I find, they learn to ignore it, or at least appear not to need to jump on it as much in future.

Pretty weak hey, but all I got... 

In answer to the original question about whether leaving the tank affects the calmness levels going on, there is another factor to consider. Could it be because in order to get from its tank to out of it, time has passed, in which the T might realise that it is not being attacked, or has had time to adjust to the intrusion, and is no longer being taken by surprise ???


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## phil jones (Mar 7, 2007)

the paintbrush sounds a good thing but what if the ( t ) runs up it   LOL +++  phil


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## spid142 (Mar 7, 2007)

*how to*

So far, I havent thought of/ noticed any way other than wait for the T to back down and get-over its grumpy mood.  Seems like when they scrunch-up(legs close to body) after a grumpy fit, they don't react as much to your presence then.  Id like to know of anyones other observations.


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## Transylvania (Mar 7, 2007)

I dunno, my old juvie smithi seemed to react exactly opposite: She was a pet rock in her tank, but the minute I put her in a jar and placed her on my bed, she always freaked and bolted all over the bed. From then on, I decided never to take my Ts out of their tanks (unless it's an emergency, of course).


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## cacoseraph (Mar 8, 2007)

Saddlepatch said:


> I dunno, my old juvie smithi seemed to react exactly opposite: She was a pet rock in her tank, but the minute I put her in a jar and placed her on my bed, she always freaked and bolted all over the bed. From then on, I decided never to take my Ts out of their tanks (unless it's an emergency, of course).


tarantulas have fairly complicated chemoreceptors in their feet. who knows if you used some kinda laundry soap or anti static or clothes freshener that bothered the tarantula. i try to never put any of my bugs on the carpet (for the cleansers sometimes used and WHO LNOWS WHAT from the bottom of ppl's shoes!) or clothes washed in detergents or with any like, adulterants added. when i wash my clothes i use very little soap and wash them in hot water to hopefully get rid of as much residue as i can.

the most important thing when taking a tarantula out of their cage is to be clever about it. i play with my bugs all the time and have never hurt one... and i play with all my bugs except my deadly type scorpions... as long as i am in a position to control things enough nothing that bad can really go wrong. it's once you start becoming  complacent or not thinking about things that stuff tends to go awry


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## Dodgypill (Apr 5, 2020)

cacoseraph said:


> actually, i have read a number of times that people think that once you have a T out of their enclosure they calm down.
> 
> i know for myself some of my individuals seem more inclined to big burst of movement and more activity in their containers and sort of calm down once i get them out
> 
> ...


I think the answer is unsure of surroundings... when ever you rehouse or buy another they seem to explore very slowly or not at all for few days... posible truth to theory i think , but still could differ from specimen to specimen


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## RezonantVoid (Apr 5, 2020)

Dodgypill said:


> I think the answer is unsure of surroundings... when ever you rehouse or buy another they seem to explore very slowly or not at all for few days... posible truth to theory i think , but still could differ from specimen to specimen


Very true, but they answered the original question 13 years ago

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Dodgypill (Apr 6, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Very true, but they answered the original question 13 years ago


Hahaha I'm a little late then lmao  ... must have been bumped up, i just click the new posts option


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## Tim Benzedrine (Apr 6, 2020)

Yeah, it's an older thread, but research has come quite a ways since it was originally posted. Really, I can't believe nobody has posted this yet, but the best way to calm them? Tasty bass guitar licks.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thanks 1 | Agree 2 | Funny 2 | Winner 1


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## RezonantVoid (Apr 6, 2020)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> Yeah, it's an older thread, but research has come quite a ways since it was originally posted. Really, I can't believe nobody has posted this yet, but the best way to calm them? Tasty bass guitar licks.


How dare you forget magnet therapy and feeling the tarantulas soul energy

Reactions: Funny 3


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## darkness975 (Apr 7, 2020)

No.

Leave it alone.


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## Dodgypill (Apr 7, 2020)

Was that a thing ???? Haha


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## Vanessa (Apr 7, 2020)

Why is it that people can't find Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens husbandry threads that are less than a week old, and still on the first page of the forum listing, but somehow garbage like this is found after 13 freaking years?

Reactions: Agree 4


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## aprilmayjunebugs (Apr 7, 2020)

Dodgypill said:


> Was that a thing ???? Haha


Type Festes and Wellenough into the search. Prepare for hours of reading material.


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## Tfisher (Apr 7, 2020)

Just talk to the vet about getting arachnid Xanax...  

If the vet doesn’t see Xanax as being the answer you can always offer a shot of whiskey...


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## ZackP1023 (Apr 7, 2020)

Enroll all your tarantulas with bad attitudes in Anger Management classes and get them into seminars on how to improve their lives so they aren’t having a bad day every day.


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## ArachnoNut (Apr 8, 2020)

Wait.. you pet them right


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