Anyone Never Handle Their Tarantula?

The_Monk

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Does anyone never handle their tarantula? Just curious because a lot of people have some pretty aggressive t's and wondered how you cleaned the tank?
 

becca81

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I never handle any of mine. I use long tweezers and forceps when I need to do maintenance. I've used the "coke bottle" method to move spiders around (OW and NW) and just plain tupperware.

Turkey baster to fill up water when I need to.
 

Schlyne

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I never handle any of mine. Forceps, a paintbrush, "coke bottle" method and a piece of cardboard.

Water spray bottle.
 

Mandi

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i handle my rosea from time to time but thats usually because shes curious and crawls on me while im doing maintenance. She likes to play tug-o-war with the stuff in her tank, including my hand which i find rather amusing.

The rest of them though i use tweezers, and would never handle them, or my rosie either unless she invites her self out.

I dont do the baster thing though, i just put the water dishes in an easy to get to area and either open the tank really quickly or drip the water through the mesh
 

Lorgakor

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I handle several of mine. But the ones that I don't handle I use long forceps and tweezers and a brush. I just remove water dishes with my hands or with the forceps, and food boluses with my plastic tweezers.
 

Pofecks

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I don't handle any of my T's, 12' tweezers are used when cleaning the dead cricket bodies up. I put fresh water in all their tanks everyday and use extreme care while doing so. Depending my female T.blondi's mood, I sometimes gently cover her hide entrance with a piece of cardboard when doing the more time consuming maintenance tasks. I don't handle my T's because they might get hurt.
 

Puppet Master

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I dont handle my 2 P. lugardi's, and My G. rosea is a sweetheart and dosnt seem to care if I put my hands in her cage to remove things, I dont know what the "coke bottle" method is but if I need to move my T's I put a small kritter keeper in front of them and use a brush to urge then forward.
 

bagheera

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My policy is never. Transfers are done with bottles or cups. The exception to this is my 9 y/o B. smithii, she freaks if a cup comes near her. When I first adopted her I tried to get her in cup. It was a no-go. However, she is perfectly happy to be picked up, and set down somewhere else. She just goes limp. Go figure!
 

Windchaser

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Before this thread turns into yet another handling debate, I would suggest that those who are interested in this topic do a search. This is one topic that has been discussed many times and it has always turned into a major debate.
 

The_Monk

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sorry I did try a search before hand but didnt turn up much, guess my keywords were rubbish! LOL
 

Lopez

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I don't handle mine (I manipulate them for pictures and so on, but don't "handle" them)

I don't do any tank maintenence.
 

Windchaser

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The_Monk said:
sorry I did try a search before hand but didnt turn up much, guess my keywords were rubbish! LOL
I guess, I tried a search with the word "handling" and got 38 pages of threads on the topic.
 

Lorgakor

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The question was more about cage maintenance than handling. How do you do cage maint. without coming into contact with the tarantula? Am I correct The_Monk?
 

Czalz

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my t's

I handle all of my t's, but still opt for the 12" foreceps to do cage cleaning, just because it's easier (cages in bookshelves etc.) :cool:
 

Gesticulator

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Now that I have some species that I consider un-handleable, I have a new respect for all my T's. I do the maintenance with either tweezers or my hand, depending on the T and how easily it gets perturbed as well as if it is in an arboreal set up or not. I admit though that I do handle my avics once in a while but only to crawl on my hand for a photo or something or to show some of my sons friends, that they don't have to be afraid. Nobody should ever take it for granted that a T won't jump, run or bite. I agree that they are best left alone, but an occasional touch to a T that is well within one's comfort level isn't harmful either.
 

mimic58

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I dont handle my t's anymore nor do i wish to, They are all a bit big now and tend to try eating my hand when i go near them :rolleyes:
 

becca81

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Lorgakor said:
The question was more about cage maintenance than handling. How do you do cage maint. without coming into contact with the tarantula? Am I correct The_Monk?
I think this is what The_Monk intended. However, most people who do handle use some type of equipment for maintenace with their Ts that are more defensive, so the question didn't make a whole lot of sense.
 
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