Acanthoscurria Geniculata

CEOAirsoft

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 17, 2016
Messages
8
Do these tarantulas get defensive and/or flick hairs a lot? And how irritating are their hairs compared to other Ts? I know every tarantula has a different personality but I'm just wondering "in general".
 

CyclingSam

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 22, 2016
Messages
214
Mine is a 1.5 to 2 inch juvenile and it has never flicked hairs. It is pretty fast though and has given threat postures and struck. I hear they calm down with age.
 

Paulhodgkinson

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 26, 2016
Messages
40
Mine is always out in the open and whenever I lift the lid he just scuttles back into his little hobbit hole. Never flicked or struck. He has just had a moult though, (now around 4") so he may have changed his personality. He moulted three days ago, looks great and he hasn't left his moult mat since. Just turns around occasionally.
 

Paulhodgkinson

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 26, 2016
Messages
40
Do these tarantulas get defensive and/or flick hairs a lot? And how irritating are their hairs compared to other Ts? I know every tarantula has a different personality but I'm just wondering "in general".
I think it depends on the person as well, some it doesn't seem to bother, some it causes a bad reaction
 

Flexzone

Arachnodemon
Joined
Mar 1, 2015
Messages
721
In general their a bit on the high strung side in temperament, Mine's would rather flick hairs opposed to give a full on threat display.. I do have to be careful especially if I'm doing maintenance and they deem my tongs not food lol cause they're pretty aggressive eaters. Its funny how different their individual "personalities" can differ cause one of my sub-adult females is for the most part pretty easy going where she won't give me that much trouble...whereas my other one will produce a stridulating sound, flick hairs and stand her ground. and might I tell you their uh for me burns opposed to itches.
 

Paulhodgkinson

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 26, 2016
Messages
40
My little boy picked up a GBB moult and his fingertips started to itch like crazy and they were bothering him for an hour or so. That was a lesson learned. They don't have to be flicked to do the business.
 

RMJ

Arachnosquire
Joined
May 9, 2016
Messages
98
My 2 year old girl 7" in dia has only ever flicked hairs when rehousing, her attitude in general is pretty chilled unless its dinner time! or at least when she thinks it is i.e. changing water bowl :D she throws up a threat posture and a few times has tried tasting the tongs!

Other than that I don't find her too defensive and her hairs don't cause me any problems :), my collection is rather limited compared to others though.

yesterday was a perfect example of water bowl changing time hahahahha

viv3.JPG
 

CyclingSam

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 22, 2016
Messages
214
My 2 year old girl 7" in dia has only ever flicked hairs when rehousing, her attitude in general is pretty chilled unless its dinner time! or at least when she thinks it is i.e. changing water bowl :D she throws up a threat posture and a few times has tried tasting the tongs!

Other than that I don't find her too defensive and her hairs don't cause me any problems :), my collection is rather limited compared to others though.

yesterday was a perfect example of water bowl changing time hahahahha

View attachment 220521
I love your enclosure. I would be interested in seeing a full picture of it.
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
This spider is a caricature of a defensive tarantula. It will attack anything and everything that enters its home... more precisely, it will attempt to eat anything that enters its home. It's actually unfair to call it defensive - I legitimately think that it assumes everything is food. Bite first, ask questions never. I say this because I've never seen mine kick unless I'm trying to wrangle it into a catch cup. Nothing near what some Brachypelma do, kicking hair if you walk by too quickly. Do note that their setae are pretty nasty in my opinion, just a couple steps below T. stirmi.
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 3, 2016
Messages
508
Mine just sits there like a lump and eat everything. It's kinda of a couch potato. always out in the open even when you open the lid, not very skittish. (can't speak for every genic out there, only the one I have).
 

skar

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
434
I've had two, still have a female.
The male I had never flicked hairs but did the famous defence stance alot. He was actually a brocklehursti.

The current female genic, she occasionally tries to hair yet I've not seen a defensive stance for two years.
They both eat/ate anything that touches the substrate.

I've never been haired so I do not know what it feels like. I hope to keep it that way.
 

matypants

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 21, 2015
Messages
42
For what it is worth, my girl is closing in on 4.5" - 5". She is very easy going. Housing maintenance is a breeze. I just reach in and clean up waste or remove a bolus from the corner while she generally moves out of the way and watches. She lets me remove and clean her water dish while she sitting right next to it with nary a hair flick or defensive posture. I once startled her by removing her water dish by waking her up. Her response was to simply scamper a couple of inches away. When she was much younger she was quick to give a defensive posture or flick hair, but she is really mellow for the most part. Rehousing is not her favorite but she makes me laugh more than flinch. And like everyone I agree that these tarantulas love their food. And I love her to death.
 

matypants

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 21, 2015
Messages
42
Oh, and she is terrified of ping pong balls. I put one in her enclosure and she stayed behind her bark hide occasionally peaking around the edge for hours. Later she scampered into her hide and stayed there for two days until I removed it. Aww.
 

tnerd93

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 17, 2016
Messages
11
mines a nutcase for some reason lol, but ive heard quite a few of them can be crazy, so just depends on your luck i guess
 

Hydrazine

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
411
This spider is a caricature of a defensive tarantula. It will attack anything and everything that enters its home... more precisely, it will attempt to eat anything that enters its home. It's actually unfair to call it defensive - I legitimately think that it assumes everything is food.
Well, yep, that's my Ozzy in a nutshell. 7-8cm legspan, maybe pushing 9, EVERYTHING IS FOOD attitude.
Leads to quite amusing situations when refilling the water dish. Ozzy thinks water stream is food, gets a faceful of water as (s)he lunges forward.

Yes, I still don't know the sex after all the time (got Ozzy as a tiny baby), the little bastard is a molt mangler through and through.
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
5,845
Do these tarantulas get defensive and/or flick hairs a lot?
No, while they are considered nice hair kickers my experience with those differs.

And how irritating are their hairs compared to other Ts? I know every tarantula has a different personality but I'm just wondering "in general".
They are a benign Theraphosidae, just that, since they are 24/7 hungry like Slimer, someone could think that they are defensive, which they aren't. They are just hungry poor babies, they think that everything is food. Plus, they are always out in the open. A.geniculata is a class A spider, a must u_u
 

mistertim

Arachnobaron
Joined
Sep 4, 2015
Messages
548
They aren't defensive, they just assume that anything that comes within striking distance is food, until they conclusively prove otherwise. Not a good place for hands, certainly (though no T enclosure is...regardless of the species), but they aren't meanie pants. I've only seen my genic kick hairs once...usually it just chills while I do maintenance/watering. Great spiders...grow fast, get big, always out and about, crazy feeding response, and quite pretty.
 
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