Are male T's more defensive than females?

Dementeddoll

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Nov 25, 2016
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Hey guys well my moms T passed away and since I didn't wanna give her none of mine since they are better than your regular grammostola porteri I got her one of those. Lmao, long story short I personally have always been lucky to have owned pure female T's some guys was selling this guy for 10bucks. Full grown male so I was like eh....I bought it without hesitation as this would be a gift for my mom. It came with one of those plastic enclosures and right now that I was just getting the old bug corpses outta there and putting fresh water for it to drink this little bugger is quite defensive. Idk if my mom is gonna like that. Even though my mom has some big guts but idk. My first encounter with a male that's why I'm asking.
 

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chanda

Arachnoking
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So... her tarantula just died and you're replacing it with another tarantula that's likely to die soon? Once a male matures, he has maybe a year or two left at most, and if you don't know how long ago this guy matured, it could be a lot less.

As for temperament, I haven't noticed much difference in terms of defensiveness - but I've also never had both males and females of the same species. (At least not that I know of - I have some unsexed juveniles that could prove me wrong.) I've had a male Aphonopelma who was a total sweetheart and a male GBB who kicks hairs every time I open his enclosure. My female G. rosea has always been cooperative but my female B. albopilosum has definite mood swings.
 

Dementeddoll

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Hmm, I was just wondering. He's by far the most defensive one I've encountered. Lmao, well yeah....it was all I could get my hands on. Shoot, I would have got her a sling but I doubt she'll take good care of it. She'll just ignore everything I would tell her about a sling. Lol
 

BobBarley

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My matured male Grammostola rosea is definitely more skittish than my female Grammostola rosea. On his off days, you might even call him defensive. From what I've read, matured males are generally more skittish and flighty than matured females of the same species.
 

Dementeddoll

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My mom is quite the savage though I gave her a grumpy female before and I told her to watch it and she still grabbed it when it was trying to attack her. Haha, idk she's ruthless. Lol
 

EulersK

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Shoot, I would have got her a sling but I doubt she'll take good care of it.
My mom is quite the savage though I gave her a grumpy female before and I told her to watch it and she still grabbed it when it was trying to attack her.
Maybe your mother shouldn't own an animal if that's how she behaves. She neglects an animal that is 100% reliant on her, and she grabs a tarantula that is only attacking because it feels threatened? These aren't toys.

To answer your question, no, males aren't usually willing to stand and fight. They'll run for the hills before that. Watch out for escapes, they want nothing more than to get out of their enclosure. But like @chanda said, it's a mature male. That's like buying a dog with cancer for someone who's dog just died.
 

cold blood

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I hadn't noticed an overwhelming difference until after males mature.

Sure, I've had many males that were more skittish than average, but I've had equally as many skittish females, I do know that MM's tend to just be flat out more skittish.

That species is known for moodiness, and there are a lot more females out there.
 

mistertim

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My mom is quite the savage though I gave her a grumpy female before and I told her to watch it and she still grabbed it when it was trying to attack her. Haha, idk she's ruthless. Lol
Please don't get her another tarantula. She obviously doesn't have the skill set or temperament to deal with them. There isn't anything so far in this thread that I'm "haha-ing" about...not sure why you find all of this so funny. I'd hope that as a tarantula owner you would be a bit more conscientious about the whole thing.
 

Misty Day

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My mom is quite the savage though I gave her a grumpy female before and I told her to watch it and she still grabbed it when it was trying to attack her. Haha, idk she's ruthless. Lol
You and your mom really need to rethink keeping these animals if you think her grabbing a fragile and scared animal while it was trying to defend itself is amusing.
 

Haksilence

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quite t the contrary, even in Old world species ive found the mature males to be far more tolerant and mellowing out in their defensive tenancies (albeit maybe more skittish)
Examples:
B albo i raised was fairly ill tempered, constant threat posture, once matured is one of my most mellow ts and is very easily managed.
S calc immature male i received was as nasty as their reputation allows, once he matured he was still as skitish and fast as every, but no longer threw threat postures or struck at the tongs used to manipulate him into the females enclosure like he had when doing maintenance when he was immature.
A genic same as b albo
B boehmei used to be hands down my worst kicker, matured out and has yet to kick a single time even with the increased disturbance from whoring him around to my females.

i would say MATURE males tend to be more mellow than their 0.1 counterparts or their immature selves.
 

KezyGLA

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I havent really noticed much of a difference. I am unsure if there would even be a way to tell.

G.porteri/rosea are notorious for being bipolar.

When it comes to males maturing and being more aggressive I am not too sure either.. They certainly seem more skittish.
 

Dementeddoll

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First off some of you are plain out bashing me and I never said I found anything amusing. I don't bother my T's if I see them moody. I leave them alone. Sometimes their cool and hand able and they have their days when they just wanna be alone and I leave them so don't assume things without knowing me. Think before you speak. It's a simple question and I didn't ask for the negativity. Thank you to the ones who didn't bash me.
 

Chris LXXIX

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First off some of you are plain out bashing me and I never said I found anything amusing. I don't bother my T's if I see them moody. I leave them alone. Sometimes their cool and hand able and they have their days when they just wanna be alone and I leave them so don't assume things without knowing me. Think before you speak. It's a simple question and I didn't ask for the negativity. Thank you to the ones who didn't bash me.
No one here was/is bashing no one. Just happens that 'handling' is (and always was) a controversial issue, when mixed with "lol" and things like (quote) "I told her to watch it and she still grabbed it when it was trying to attack her."
or (quote, again) "She'll just ignore everything I would tell her about a sling. Lol" a bit of dowhnill is to be expected.

Btw doesn't exists Theraphosidae that are "hand able" on certain days/moment. Let's try to be serious.
 

Tarantula Chris

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Nov 29, 2016
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The word "haha" proceeded "attack her", that's probably why people think you found it amusing, And your mum was the one people were talking about when saying its was wrong to act in the way she did by trying to "grab" it.
This is an Arachnid forum so just because some of the replies weren't answers to the initial question you asked doesn't mean people aren't going to be pissed off when tarantula's are treated cruelly.
I imagine it's probably for the best that either you advise your mum on tarantula care or she doesn't have one.
 

KezyGLA

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The people here just don't want anyone getting hurt.. Especially any tarantulas in your care.

You can handle Ts, but there is no benefit apart from your own entertainment. This is why people are very touchy and concerned on the matter. A bite or a dead T is not entertaining.

There are certain topics here that will get out of hand on these forums, fast.
 
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