# How bad is stress for a tarantula?



## UralOwl (May 1, 2012)

I've got a Grammostola sp. "Maule" sub-adult which I've had for just a little over a month now, incidentally, she's also my first tarantula. She settled into her new home pretty quickly, though was a bit stressed for the first day. She's very calm most of the time, but she does occasionally gets stressed when I'm feeding her or changing her water dish as well.
I have done my fair share of reading on Ts before I got her and from what I've read, when a tarantulas 'huddles' its legs close to its body and over its eyes, it means it stressed which is exactly what my tarantula does.

Anyway, I was just wondering if this 'stress' is serious for a T? Obviously no kind of stress on any animal can be a good thing, but can it shorten a tarantula's life or even cause a bad molt (if it's stressed while molting, that is)?


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## Curious jay (May 1, 2012)

UralOwl said:


> I've got a Grammostola sp. "Maule" sub-adult which I've had for just a little over a month now, incidentally, she's also my first tarantula. She settled into her new home pretty quickly, though was a bit stressed for the first day. She's very calm most of the time, but she does occasionally gets stressed when I'm feeding her or changing her water dish as well.
> I have done my fair share of reading on Ts before I got her and from what I've read, when a tarantulas 'huddles' its legs close to its body and over its eyes, it means it stressed which is exactly what my tarantula does.
> 
> Anyway, I was just wondering if this 'stress' is serious for a T? Obviously no kind of stress on any animal can be a good thing, but can it shorten a tarantula's life or even cause a bad molt (if it's stressed while molting, that is)?


Stress does shorten the lifespan, how much it shortens it I'm not too sure.
Any interference while a T is molting can cause death in a worst case scenario.
Does your T have a hide in the setup? Mine will usually retreat to their hides or just walk out of the enclosure lol, do you must or have damp sub? As these Ts I believe have the same care as a G.rosea (bone dry substrate no misting) post a pic of your setup see if we can give any help on anything in the setup that maybe stressing the T.


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## goodoldneon (May 1, 2012)

I imagine the stress attributed to living outdoors, in the wild, fighting for survival, against not only predators, but the environment, etc – is far worse than anything we can throw at them (unless you’re sadistic, and house your tarantulas communally, or with like, snakes or honey bears or something or other). Which is to say, I think the stress tarantula owners put on their pets is not likely to cause any lasting harm – if any. 

Keep in mind, they've survived (and thrived) for 350-400 million years.

Reactions: Like 5


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## SamuraiSid (May 1, 2012)

+1 to both above. I dont believe anyone has ever studied physiological stress in captive tarantulas to give you a real answer. Stress is real, and it will shorten the life span, but by how much isnt known, and I doubt its much of a concern. They're incredibly adaptable creatures, but this isnt to say that I suggest constantly bothering them.


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## Zoomer428 (May 1, 2012)

Stressing them makes them mad and shortens lifespan...any activity to the t i think premolt too and post molt 4-5 days post molt can harm it


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## goodoldneon (May 1, 2012)

Zoomer428 said:


> Stressing them makes them mad and shortens lifespan...any activity to the t i think premolt too and post molt 4-5 days post molt can harm it


Care to cite your sources?


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## Jared781 (May 1, 2012)

goodoldneon said:


> Care to cite your sources?


Its been said 1000 times on here.. im not saying its true; heres my point.

Its like, in School how people are contstantly passing notes; its just a matter of time until the teacher catches the current holder! In this case someone random will mention it and then get called on for "References"??? AND its most likely just an OPINION

So, what are you?


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## Skeri (May 1, 2012)

IMO it just sounds like your T is a bit skittish. If you are taking care of your T properly, which in this case I am going to assume you are considering you said you did research before your purchase, the stress should be minor and should not result in any serious problems.


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## UralOwl (May 6, 2012)

Sorry about the somewhat late reply, forgot to check this thread for a couple of days.



> Stress does shorten the lifespan, how much it shortens it I'm not too sure.
> Any interference while a T is molting can cause death in a worst case scenario.
> Does your T have a hide in the setup? Mine will usually retreat to their hides or just walk out of the enclosure lol, do you must or have damp sub? As these Ts I believe have the same care as a G.rosea (bone dry substrate no misting) post a pic of your setup see if we can give any help on anything in the setup that maybe stressing the T.


She does have a hide in the enclosure, but I've never seen her use it except for her sitting on top of it now and again. I never mist her cage, I just always make sure there's enough water in her dish. She's perfectly relaxed most of the time, it's just occasionally when I change her water dish or feed her that she sometimes get a bit freaked out.

Edit: Forgot to add this, here's a photo of her enclosure: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/818/img00627201204261239.jpg/
Apologies about the quality of the photo, it was taken using my crappy mobile phone's camera and the enclosure is in a fairly dark spot in my bedroom.
I know the enclosure looks a bit drab and boring, it only consists of the hide, water dish and tarantula, lol. The T doesn't seem to care though.



Skeri said:


> IMO it just sounds like your T is a bit skittish. If you are taking care of your T properly, which in this case I am going to assume you are considering you said you did research before your purchase, the stress should be minor and should not result in any serious problems.


Yeah, she's definitely a bit on the nervous side. I am indeed making sure I take could care of her.  I'm aiming to try and feed her about 8 crickets every month (which according to the 'Tarantula Keeper's Guide' is a perfectly fine amount). I last fed her about 2 days ago and she didn't make any hesitations to grab the cricket, lol. Likewise I don't expect her to moult any time soon since she never turns down an offering of food.


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## SamuraiSid (May 6, 2012)

The enclosure is fine, and the way you keep her is fine too. Aynthing else in the enclosure is for the enjoyment of the spectators, IMO.

But I have to disagree withy Goodoldneon's first post. Im not interested in an arguement, just stating my opinion. (opinion not fact) Because T's have lived for hundreds of millions of years in the wild I think they have adapted well to that environment. Its taking them out of the wild, and how we care for them that is completely alien to them. I think we could potentially cause more stress than their natural envirnment, and placing them in conditions where everything is controlled that will stress them out. I still think the stress issue is of minute importance though


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## UralOwl (May 7, 2012)

SamuraiSid said:


> The enclosure is fine, and the way you keep her is fine too. Aynthing else in the enclosure is for the enjoyment of the spectators, IMO.
> 
> But I have to disagree withy Goodoldneon's first post. Im not interested in an arguement, just stating my opinion. (opinion not fact) Because T's have lived for hundreds of millions of years in the wild I think they have adapted well to that environment. Its taking them out of the wild, and how we care for them that is completely alien to them. I think we could potentially cause more stress than their natural envirnment, and placing them in conditions where everything is controlled that will stress them out. I still think the stress issue is of minute importance though


Good to hear I'm doing a good job, lol. 

That's probably true, I've heard of several other animals (though not arachnids) dying for no apparent reason after being taken from the wild to be sold in the pet trade. Quite frankly, if the animals were perfectly healthy when they were caught, it was likely stress that killed them in my opinion.


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## tarantulaholic (May 10, 2012)

Ever since I move my T's enclosure under the cabinet and dark. They all thrive well. Seems T's love dark and quite place. : )


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## natebugman (May 10, 2012)

SamuraiSid said:


> Because T's have lived for hundreds of millions of years in the wild I think they have adapted well to that environment. Its taking them out of the wild, and how we care for them that is completely alien to them. I think we could potentially cause more stress than their natural envirnment, and placing them in conditions where everything is controlled that will stress them out.


I know you said you weren't interested in an argument, but how about a discussion? I find this to be a fascinating idea. 

If I'm understanding what you are saying correctly, tarantulas are so well adapted to their natural environments that we, as keepers, by attempting to maintain optimum conditions for our pets, can create greater stress on the animals than natural stressers? So, when I open the cage to fill the water dish for a spider that was captive born and bred and has been watered in the same manner all of its life, this creates more stress than if it were a wild tarantula suffering through a prolonged drought in the wild? Or me opening the cage and putting in a cricket once a week puts more stress on her than periods of extended starvation or threat of predation when leaving the burrow in the wild to capture prey? I'm not saying it's not possible, it's just difficult for me to believe, or maybe I'm taking your point to an extreme?

SamuraiSid, I do agree that the stress induced by the OP's interaction with his tarantula during feeding and cage maintenance is very minute.

This is what I think about "stress" and pet tarantulas:

     Take care of your tarantulas as well as you can. If you find out you are doing something wrong or possibly harmful, change it. Don't purposefully agitate or irritate them. (I'm not going to get into the handle/don't handle debate) That will keep their stress as low as possible. THEN STOP WORRYING ABOUT STRESS!!! You are just creating extra stress for yourself. Every living thing has to deal with stress no matter where they live. Get over it.

Have a nice day!

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