B. Smithi or B. Albipolosum more handleable?

[scarhbar]

I'm going to state the obvious "well every tarantula has a different temperament" before you all say it Because I know haha. My A. Geniculata is about as mean as a mad OBT 90% of the time, while other people say their Genic's don't care if you handle them at all. I know they are very vastly different, but I want your guy's experiences?

I have an A. Albipolosum now, and it's pretty darn docile. Fairly skittish, but then again; it's only 1" big haha. I also have a P. Metallica sling and my 3.5" A. Genic devil, who I never plan on handling. I've never owned a B. Smithi though, but they fascinate so much. In general, which one do you find more friendly? Most people seem to list off B. Smithi's first, but I think that's because they are so popular. Let me know below, while I get a definitely sex on my Genic's molt

 

[Poec54]

We don't handle.

 

[BobGrill]

We don't handle.

I had a guy call me a wussy (replace the W with a P for what he actually said), because I told him handling his H.maculata was a very bad idea, after he had posted a picture of him doing this

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[PanzoN88]

We don't handle.

i also agree with this statement

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I swear, i remember an Italian porn comic (here in Italy) pure - but funny - garbage at it's finest made in the late '80.
Plot: (plot..) a man discover (all of a sudden, lol) that could have sex only while "handling" (please note the " " i used, because wasn't exactly the hand) a Latrodectus tredecimguttatus - our "widow", pretty famous in those years, btw - walking on him during that.. what still amazed me was the response of those fictional female characters.. something like "You're a weirdo but oh well."
In the end both died in three seconds (lol) screaming. Probably because they "handled" the spider in the wrong day, who knows, who knows.
You see? Even "vintage" Italian garbage porn comics (Not Milo's class erotic ones, of course) could teach something wise: never handle a spider.

 

[scarhbar]

We don't handle.

I understand they are not cuddly play animals. No way in hell would I want to hold it on a regular basis, but lets say I want to take it my daughter's class and bring it out to show kids that not all spiders are bad. Or maybe to my little sister's biology class to show the different parts of arachnids. I think if I took my A. Genic to that class, it would give everyone arachnophobia. I just want a "friendly-ish" species that I can show people not to be so scared of them. And by "friendly-ish", I mean one that only wants to kill me a little.

 

[le-thomas]

I understand they are not cuddly play animals. No way in hell would I want to hold it on a regular basis, but lets say I want to take it my daughter's class and bring it out to show kids that not all spiders are bad. Or maybe to my little sister's biology class to show the different parts of arachnids. I think if I took my A. Genic to that class, it would give everyone arachnophobia. I just want a "friendly-ish" species that I can show people not to be so scared of them. And by "friendly-ish", I mean one that only wants to kill me a little.

Albopilosum is the way to go on this. But don't handle. Honestly. And please, for the love of god, don't let kids touch tarantulas. IMO children should not go near a fragile and potentially harmful/hostile animal; it just doesn't make any sense...

 

[MikeC]

If you absolutely insist on handling to any degree (which I don't recommend), the Albopilosum would be the better of the two.
Smithi's have a tendency to be either extremely tolerant, or fuzzy death-beasts. I've never seen one in the middle. They all kick hairs readily, though.

I also don't think handling a tarantula is the right way to get people less afraid of them. Not only will it do the exact opposite if its having a bad day and bites you (not happening if you don't hold it), but it gives the wrong impression down the line that handling is widely accepted.

 

[scarhbar]

Albopilosum is the way to go on this. But don't handle. Honestly. And please, for the love of god, don't let kids touch tarantulas. IMO children should not go near a fragile and potentially harmful/hostile animal; it just doesn't make any sense...

I don't trust anyone else to hold my T's honestly. So I would never let the kids hold it. Just to show them that they aren't so mean. I don't think I'd trust my wife with her OWN B. Albopilosum honestly.

 

[Beary Strange]

I don't trust anyone else to hold my T's honestly. So I would never let the kids hold it. Just to show them that they aren't so mean. I don't think I'd trust my wife with her OWN B. Albopilosum honestly.

You could achieve the same thing by teaching them about them instead of creating this false idea that it's ok to hold tarantulas. For example: they aren't mean, they're defensive and rightly so. They're delicate creatures in a grabby, smashy world--evolution has instilled the flight or fight instinct in them for a reason.

 

[Poec54]

What handling does is encourage people to handle themselves (the 'don't try this at home thing' never works). Then a few of them handle things they absolutely shouldn't and post pics and video online.

The entire process is detrimental to the hobby. If anything takes down the hobby it will be bites from handling. Don't be a part of it. They're not playthings, you can get the point across about not being afraid of them without handling.

 

[just1moreT]

A dead one is best kind to handle still get haired though ,but I do handle some live ones ,to those sp.inquired about ,not bad ,but all will bite now and a then,but should be able to tell when you put your old sweaty hand in there if they going bite or ready for a hand ride .

 

[cold blood]

Better yet a bunch of molts of differing sizes and colors. Now they can even get a good look at the fangs and with a magnifying glass, the hooks on the feet....just wear latex gloves to avoid the itchies.

 

[awiec]

I handled a potato once [aka G.rosea] and said potato decided to introduce my hand to her fangs. Her owner's response? "Well she never did that before" and I'm certainly not new to dealing with spiders, but for some reason on this day, at this time she was not having it. The whole "handle to show they aren't scary" don't work so good cause the general public is dumb and will try it themselves; you don't teach people to respect rattle snakes by handling them do you?

 

[le-thomas]

you don't teach people to respect rattle snakes by handling them do you?

I honestly might sig this :worship:

 

[awiec]

I honestly might sig this :worship:

Sig away if you so please. Though while I do not support handling I won't stop anyone from doing so and very few people on this board will condone handling either

 

[Poec54]

cause the general public is dumb and will try it themselves; you don't teach people to respect rattle snakes by handling them do you?

Excellent! Handling demonstrations have brought handling to the epidemic it is now, with idiots and show offs doing all kinds of things with defensive tarantulas with strong venoms. Things were different 30 years ago, but there's too many high strung tropical and OW species in the hobby now. In spite of any warnings, people forget those on their way home from a handling demonstration, and pick a spider to hold themselves based on it's pretty colors and markings.

Handling is the biggest threat to the hobby's continued existence. Don't expect support for it here. There's too many politicians and anti-exotic pet groups ready to pounce when a bad bite goes viral.

 

[KristinaMG]

Better yet a bunch of molts of differing sizes and colors. Now they can even get a good look at the fangs and with a magnifying glass, the hooks on the feet....just wear latex gloves to avoid the itchies.

^^This! We sent my first grader to show and tell with a variety of molts and everyone loved it!

 

[Tomoran]

^^This! We sent my first grader to show and tell with a variety of molts and everyone loved it!

Yup, I did the exact same thing. I teach freshmen, and inevitably my interest in tarantulas comes up. I won't bring any of my spiders into school, but I do have a molt bin that I bring in to share. I also explain to them that I never handle tarantulas, and try to get them to understand and appreciate why they should be a hands-off pet (and why NOT handling them doesn't make you any less of a human being and has nothing to do with fear). The last thing I need is a bunch of teenage boys proving their masculinity by buying and holding tarantulas.

As for me, if I want to cuddle with one of my pets, I have four attention-hungry dogs for that.

 

[Beary Strange]

you don't teach people to respect rattle snakes by handling them do you?

Or aquarium fish. You don't have to really work too hard to impress on people not to try and hold their pet fish. People understand that it will cause them real harm and that there's really no need; they're pretty, admire them from the outside. What we need is for people to adopt that same attitude about tarantulas. There may not be a guarantee you're going to harm the tarantula, like with fish, but you are greatly and needlessly increasing the odds by handling.