Are Cobalt Blues really the devil incarnate?

[Godzilla2000]

I walked into my fave Petshop today and I was chatting with the lady behind the counter asking her if the Tarantula shipment has come in yet. I told her I was looking to purchase a Cobalt Blue from them. She looked at me, her eyes wide with fear and astonishment, and asked me point blank if I was nuts. I told her that I was. Now I'm a very hands off kind of person when it comes to my Tarantulas. Would a Cobalt Blue be all the bad since I rarely out my hands in the enclosures anyway? I've devised a little partition to separate my hands from the tarantula by blocking them on the other side of where the water dish is. I was thinking of using this for the Cobalt Blue as well when it comes time to give her water. But really. Is a Cobalt Blue really that evil?

 

[Immortal_sin]

mine are not. Once they've completed their burrows, you probably won't ever see them. Feeding is a snap, as is watering. Mine have deep burrows, and I can open the enclosure and do all the maintenence I want...they won't come out. I think they only get really defensive if they feel they have no place to retreat to.
Others may say differently, but I find mine are almost the easiest Ts I have to care for

 

[Nixy]

We don't have one....Yet...

But if they're Anything like usambars. YES!

But from the reading I think their more defencive then openly agressive if they have burrows to retreat into and don't feel open an exposed.

But I would trust the views of those that own them over me.

 

[pategirl]

I don't think any T's are actually evil, but the cobalt blue is one of the most defensive I've seen. They really dislike people messing with them, their dirt, or anything else they have in their homes. Mine does anyway. I've read that they stay in their burrows most of the time, though mine doesn't have a burrow yet. If you don't put your hands in the enclosure very often at all, I'd say you shouldn't have that many problems. I'm no expert, though. Far from it.

 

[Ravnos]

This is what mine looked like when I brought her home. They are not evil, but they are definitely not subtle about their urge to be left alone.

Rav

 

[Nixy]

Great picture Ravnos.
Makes ya wonder if you ever got that penny back.

 

[Ravnos]

When working with defensive species, a good set of long tweezers is a must.

Rav

 

[Godzilla2000]

I am really going to invest in a nice long pair of tweezers since I will be getting a few semi-defensive slings as well as the H. lividum. I just think it kind of funny the reaction that lady at the petstore gave me. But then again she was the one whom couldn't even fetch a harmless little Pinktoe from it's enclosure.

 

[Nixy]

I have a pair I use with our demons. I was just being a smart ass about the penny.
I'd suggest the rubber tipped ones.
I don't know if striking bare metal would harm a T or if they would Hit hard enough to break a fang but I would rather sit on the side of caution.
Makes me feel better about using any hard object around creatures that can be damaged but harder metal tips.
I'm just weird that way.

 

[Godzilla2000]

Actually that really makes sense. Alot of Spider Retilers and wholsalers I see eithe sell rubber tipped tweezers or plastic forceps. I guess they would know best since bare metal can harm a tarantula shoul it strike out at you.

 

[LPacker79]

The only time I've ever seen a threat posture from my lividum was when I was apparently taking too much time cleaning cricket parts out. She came to the mouth of her burrow and told me in clear "spider language" that my trespassing wasn't appreciated. I got the message, finished up and got out of there.
I don't think they're as "evil" as people think, they just don't like being bothered.

Leanne

 

[bodc21]

Well my cobalt was very calm for me for awile... i have held her a few times and in past posts about this same subject i tried holding her as mature somthing changed she went into a threat posture so i gently put her down by her burrow and off she went never to be seen till the other night when she escaped on me gettin her back in was a task all on itself,i would say all t's are diff my male rosey is far more deffensive then my h.lividum id go with the personality part of it every t is going to have a diff personality-jason

 

[critters007]

I've found that they are not as bad as their reputation suggests. They can be quiet deffensive but as long as you're careful when doing cage matenence you shouldn't have a problem. They can be surprisingly fast though. Still I've never had my cobalt through a tantrum like my usumbara does. It probably also depends alot on the induviduals temperment.

 

[Lopez]

I don't think any tarantula is *that* aggressive - defensive is more the word.

If you don't go waving your hands in the tank then I fail to see why you couldn't keep anything, right up to things like Brazilian Wandering Spiders. It isn't exactly going to punch through the glass and come after you now, is it?

 

[vulpina]

My cobalt is not too bad either. Once it's burrow is completed and it is settled in good they're rarely seen, just don't linger around the burrow entrance doing maintenance and you should be ok. As long as you are not a person who wants to handle the spider everything should be fine. All spiders have a different personality, I've seen rosies who are nasty.

Andy

 

[safetypinup]

Originally posted by Godzilla2000
I am really going to invest in a nice long pair of tweezers since I will be getting a few semi-defensive slings as well as the H. lividum..

One thing to keep in mind....Haplopelmas are very agile climbers, and can shoot up a pair of tongs in a matter of seconds, with little warning...
Not trying to dissuade you from getting your H. lividum...Just thought you'd like to know that
Seriously, though....I love my H. lividums. Basically, if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone, and they spend most of their days holed up in their burrows, not bothering anyone. If you start messing with them, though, it can get pretty ugly pretty quickly.
Good luck

 

[Arachnopuppy]

I concur with safetypinup about the lividum climbing up your tweezers. It happened to me once and I didn't even know it until my lividum was on my arm. One thing to keep in mind about it. If you are a panic-and-jump-around-flapping-your-arm-around kind of person, this would be a great event to hurt your tarantula. I'm just warning you ahead of time because it literally happens so fast that your sense of logic probably won't kick in right away.

About my experience with it, I frozed knowing that by moving I would actually make it worse. Since the tarantula was on my right arm, I reached out my left arm to get a cub nearby and slowly put it on the tarantula. My heart rate remained a couple times faster than my normal heart rate for quite some time afterward.

 

[Joy]

I concur with what others have said: once established in a burrow, they can be maintained with virtually no risk to the keeper. Transferring the spider from container to container is the only tricky part IME, but normal precautions suffice, and in point of fact I've had lividums who behaved quite docilely in this situation--more so than some Brachypelmae!

Joy

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by lam
Since the tarantula was on my right arm, I reached out my left arm to get a cub nearby and slowly put it on the tarantula.

Would this be a bear, lion, or maybe even a tiger cub?
You really are the wuss, keeping endangered baby animals around just to toss them at an angry T at the first sign of aggression ;P

 

[Arachnopuppy]

Originally posted by Code Monkey
Would this be a bear, lion, or maybe even a tiger cub?
You really are the wuss, keeping endangered baby animals around just to toss them at an angry T at the first sign of aggression ;P

Hahahahahaha. I'm not sure what kind of cub it was because I keep so many of different species ready for such an occasion and it was a long time ago. I think for that particular time it was a liger cub. [Looks over at my little cage full with cubs of all kinds] Yup, I have some ready at anytime.