Anyone Never Handle Their Tarantula?

[rgfx]

All my Ts are well chilled when I'm doin maintenance, and I just use my hand usually. I wonder if I'm being given a false sense of security...
I never handle them, except when one of my cheeky a.versi slings trys to get out, I'm too paranoid about the little beggars teleporting.
Even my 4" avic can still teleport. (and shoot a fantastic amount of poo down the glass, there's no way I wanna get a faceful of that!)

 

[cloud711]

im just wondering if ever your cleaning the entire tank how do you deal with aggressive burrowing species(king baboon)? do you dig them out or something? and then put them in a container. thanks

 

[Cirith Ungol]

You have to carefully dig them out. I've not tried it yet but I am very certain that when disturbed enough the C.c. will first try to escape deeper into it's burrow but will then bolt to the surface if it realises that there is no escape. An alternative is that it might try to hide at the end of a tunnel until "something" comes too close and then it will strike. But as soon as the T is clear of substrate it has to be captured with a fitting container and removed.

If done calmly and slowly enough it might be possible to not aggravate the T too much so that all of the removing process can go smoothly without any incidents.

If digging out a Haplopelma (lividum for example) I believe that the T will come to the surface very quickly and will try to escape or kill/injure the intruder. In that case you have to be sure that every entrance is covered either with jars or lids. Haplopelma lividum (only Haplopelma I own) is amongst the fastest T's I've seen with my own eyes and it could escape in no-time if you're unlucky. I am doubtfull that a slow and peacefull/stressless removal is possible with that species in comparison to C.c.

 

[rosehaired1979]

I hold mine but only if they want to "come out and play" aka try to escape but other than that I do not hold my Ts.

 

[wolfpak]

i handle my t. blondi

 

[The_Monk]

I wait till the t goes into her hide and then very carefully place something over the entrance, usually a piece of plexi glass. I still use forceps to remove things.

The question was about tank maintenance but I was also interested to see if people did pick up their aggressive t's in order to do it. Sorry if the wording on my question was bad!

 

[Elson]

I've stopped handling old world species since i got bitten by my H.albostriatum . Used to handle some old world species like H.albostriatum , H.schmidti , P.lugardi and P.murinus . Yes P.murinus , thought it was a docile species and handled it many times without getting any bites from him !!

 

[Gesticulator]

I wait till the t goes into her hide and then very carefully place something over the entrance, usually a piece of plexi glass. I still use forceps to remove things.

The question was about tank maintenance but I was also interested to see if people did pick up their aggressive t's in order to do it. Sorry if the wording on my question was bad!

Well, "Monk" I think you have devised a system that you are comfortable with, which is what makes it work. :clap:

 

[greenbay1]

I have a hands off policy for the sake of the Ts. I use the 12" tweezers to do spot cleaning and I use the plastic litre and 2 litre bottles to rehouse them. I have 2 Ts that I use for educational purposes in the schools and I handle them fairly regularly.

 

[CedrikG]

probably everyone know that I dont handle my ts as Im always in the middle of handling debate

 

[jw73]

I handled my Ts twice. When handled second time my T run away and now I don't handle them. I am too afraid of escape.

 

[Hedorah99]

I only handle four of mine and it has been mainly for sexing purposes that I have picked them up. One the very rare occasion I'll take out my rose hair or smithi to show them off to some friends. My pink toe is handleable but prone to taking off like a lightning bolt. The same pretty much goes for my A. seemani. Basically I don't handle them because I am scared of what they will do to me, its more like i am scared what i will do to them or what they will do to themselves. I like them all to much to hurt them or have them jump and rupture their abdomens.

 

[Imegnixs_Cinder]

This is a very sad story of exactly why I don't handle mine anymore.
My first T a stunning adult female blonde (I think it was a blonde anyway didn't know too much back then). I picked her up just fine and my husband saw me being brave and decided to have a go too. All went just fine till he went to put her back down again. She latched onto him and wouldn't let go, he of course not being overly keen on spiders let alone on Tarantulas panicked and freaked out and jumped and the tara fell onto my kitchen floor.
Her abdomen split right open and she was crawling around the floor while I ran around trying to figure out best way to catch her in the state she was in. Ended up having to scoop her up into a pint glass. She of course died and now I wont handle them partly because seeing her crawl around the floor totally wigged me out but mainly because I learned the hard way just how dangerous it is for the Tara to be handled.

 

[cloud711]

i handle my g rosea once a week. but i surely wont handle old world species.

 

[Vanisher]

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?

Very seldom! I look upon them like aquariumfishes.! My opinion are that T:s get stressed with too much handling! Just studying them gives me anough pleasure.! CHEERS!!!///Johan

 

[king7]

you can do maintenance without ever having to hadle a T.

i like to handle all of my T's (apart from OBT,cobolt blue.there just to quick).its good to show them to freinds and family.i also let other people handle them if i think they can,if i have any doubts i wont let them.

 

[natakamani]

I handle my Gypsy pretty frequently, but only if shes inviting herself, ie, crawling around the top of the tank. She was hand reared, so I know she's comfy with people hands and faces, and she will actually pout if I dont hold her when shes asking. She'll usually go once or twice around the edges of the top of the tank, and then go into her hide and web over the entrance if I dont respond. I think it all depends on the spider and its temperment. Even if you have one like my girl though, you have to understand that they might have a bad day, and if they bite you, you probably deserve it, so just sit still and take one for the team.

 

[2shelbys]

I rarely ever handle mine any more beyond moving them to new housing as they grow. When doing this I either place something over them and slowly slide cardboard under them or just place their whole enclosure into a larger one and let them venture out when they want to. I prefer to bother them as little as possible to avoid them getting stressed or losing (intentionally or not) urticating hairs and ending up with a bald spot. They look so much better without them. Also, I have to admit that after nearly 30 years of keeping various spiders and scorpions the fascination of handling them has worn off some what.

 

[metallica2501]

I handle some of my t's. my favorite is my rosea shes very calm and actually doesnt not like to go back in her cage when i bring her out. once in while ill pick up my l. parabyhana. i do not handle agressive ones like my lividum or murinus i respect those. basically it comes down to the temperment of the t and whether i feel comfortable handling it. One thing to remember, is that these animals do not like to be handled the handling brings us pleasure and excitment but stress to them. also one has to be very careful handling the t, it can potentially be hazardus to its health in the sense of dropping it and killing it. another is getting biten by it( knock on wood i havent) however iv'e had close instances with the murinus and lividum doing cleaning. the most important thing is to respect them, do not be cocky thinking ohh i can handle it, thats when things happen to most people.

 

[common spider]

I handle mine very little.