Aggression!!!!

haasdas

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 6, 2010
Messages
1
I got a B. Vagan yesterday it is about 8-9 cm. I wanted to see the under side of her rump to try and see if it is male or female so I tried to get it up against the glass. Well I didn’t really get very close because when I got near it went into semi insane mode on its back legs showing its fangs. This was about the point where I decided a pencil would be a good idea but having a few strikes at the pencil made me give up.

Now I have read that B.Vagans can be agro/defensive but in a more general question can signs of aggression/defensiveness mean there is something wrong with the spider or is aggression/defensiveness a good thing?
 
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Sleazoid

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Jul 18, 2010
Messages
242
All three of my B. vagans are all very defensive. On that note defensive is a better word than aggressive. Aggressive isn't technically the right choice to describe its behavior. I wouldn't call it "good" per say, but it isn't a bad thing as long as you don't handle.
 

Blackbeard

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Messages
17
A tarantula can change in character as it gets older.
Typicaly it will become bolder and more defensive if it does.
Increased temperament can also be a sign of premolt.
I wouldn't worry about it.
 

Bill S

Arachnoprince
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Oct 2, 2006
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... On that note defensive is a better word than aggressive. Aggressive isn't technically the right choice to describe its behavior...
Although the vast majority of the "aggressive" behavior referred to in tarantulas really is defensive (at least in describing interactions between tarantula and person), true aggressive behavior does indeed exist. To automatically assume that ALL tarantula behavior is defensive is almost as inaccurate as calling it all aggressive. There may well be the odd cases when a tarantula thinks that finger looks edible or the patch of skin on that arm tastes good.
 

Tindalos

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 1, 2009
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158
i love B.vagans, they are my favorite T
because they are so temperamental.
some days mine will be gentle other days would make
my H.lividum seem like a rosie.

but if i can get her out of her enclosure, she is sweet.
few of my T's are like that, only defensive inside their enclosure.
 

ArachnoYak

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
224
I have a huge female B. vagans that was just like that, always rearing up and striking. So I spent a few days working on that with her and now I can pick her up anytime I need to.
 

Sleazoid

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 18, 2010
Messages
242
To automatically assume that ALL tarantula behavior is defensive is almost as inaccurate as calling it all aggressive. There may well be the odd cases when a tarantula thinks that finger looks edible or the patch of skin on that arm tastes good.
We say defensive because they do not have the intelligence to think of us as anything other than a predator. If someone was three-hundred times the size of you picked you up and was about to have you for dinner what would you do? You would try everything you could to make yourself seem more dangerous/big so it wouldn't eat you. They know we are bigger than them and they can not eat us so defensive would be the word. Not aggressive. Even if we throw in a prey item that is too big for their taste they throw up a threat posture or run. If they were aggressive at that moment they would just attack it, kill it, then wouldn't even begin to eat it.
 
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Dr.Cyclops

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
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0
My B. vagans did the exact same thing when I first got her - when I first put her in her cage she went total agro on me and pretty clearly wanted to kill me (I have never been so petrified by something so tiny). But she has totally mellowed in the 3-4 months that I've had her. I would say she's definitely handleable, but very easily spooked.
 

brian abrams

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
75
B Vagan aggression

I have 40, and ALL are very prey aggressive; up there with N Chromatus, A Genic, GBB, etc. When upgrading them to a larger cage, most of them wont turn & attack the paint brush, but over several of them will (and a # of them will hang on). They are DEFINATELY much more defensive than your average Brachy.
 
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