Brachypelma Psychopilosum!

Englischdude

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
7
Hi all.

My 5 and 8 year old daughters are the proud owners of a b. Albo and an euathlus sp. Red. Untill now the albo has only shown moderate signs of intolerance in the form of hair kicking, but this morning she has shown very agressive behaviour. We went to change her water dish, we had to move her by touching her abdomen with a straw, she immediately turned around, attacked and maintained a full on threat pose for several minutes!! She is well fed and not due for a moult. Has anyone else experience such aggresive behaviour from this species?

Maybe just to check, this IS a b. Albo right and not a haitian brown? ;)

Here a photo just to be sure...

20161112_091413.jpg
 

ledzeppelin

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 8, 2013
Messages
433
It is an albopilosum :) But how do you know it's not due molt? My brachypelmas get defensive when they enter premolt.. Most of my Ts become skittish in premolt but brachys go full defense mode.. How often is the T bothered? Might be over interaction?
 

Englischdude

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
7
It is an albopilosum :) But how do you know it's not due molt? My brachypelmas get defensive when they enter premolt.. Most of my Ts become skittish in premolt but brachys go full defense mode.. How often is the T bothered? Might be over interaction?
Thanks for your quick reply. I am not a fan of handling, with the spec red it is unavoidable because the nosey lil bigger is up and out as soon as i pop the lid on her terra, however the albo comes out maybe once a month while doing a routine clean of her tank. Other than the water dish and feeding and now in winter the occasional misting she is just observed and not bothered.
 

ledzeppelin

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 8, 2013
Messages
433
Ps. And she molted about a month ago.
Oh that may explain the temper.. Recently molted tarantulas are still rather weak and fragile, and easly feel threatened. A T of this size won't eat for about a month sometimes. They are fragile after molting and they realize that. Any chance they feel slightly threatened will turn them vicious and defensive sometimes.
 

chanda

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
2,229
My B. albopilosum is moody like that, too. I never touched her as a sling, but once she got to be adult-sized I held her a few times for classroom demonstrations, and she was a total sweetheart - right up until the day she wasn't. Out of the blue, she started giving me threat poses when I opened her enclosure for any reason, including feeding, watering, or cage maintenance. She was neither pre- nor post-molt. I wouldn't call her aggressive. Some days, she's her old, cooperative self, but she certainly has days when she'd rather be left alone - hence her name, Surly Temple.
 

Englischdude

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
7
Thanks for your responses. She is not fully grown, it is estimated that she is about 1.5 years and has a body length of about 4cm, but since this morning an attitude of about 4 miles. If she does not get a grip on her attidude she will be going walkies in my neighbours blondi terra, then we will see if shes as tough as she thinks she is ;)
 

Crone Returns

Arachnoangel
Joined
Mar 22, 2016
Messages
990
Thanks for your responses. She is not fully grown, it is estimated that she is about 1.5 years and has a body length of about 4cm, but since this morning an attitude of about 4 miles. If she does not get a grip on her attidude she will be going walkies in my neighbours blondi terra, then we will see if shes as tough as she thinks she is ;)
Yeah, my B. albopilosum turned into a cranky beast when she grew into a teenager. Startles you, that's for sure. But she went back into her dorky, droll funny self after the molt. Take it easy with her, hopefully she'll grow out of it.
 

Bread

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
26
The key word here is water dish, the sacred water dish should not be touched under any circumstances according to my T's, it's ground for a missile/fang strike.
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
5,845
Pfff... I have an old like hell female that is grumpy like a witch and loves to threat pose (and strike to the air) for nothing in her bad day. She's slow like those old Lamborghini tractors and poor baby, so old that sometimes I have to almost throw the prey directly in her mouth, since she's so ancient :kiss:
 

chanda

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
2,229
The key word here is water dish, the sacred water dish should not be touched under any circumstances according to my T's, it's ground for a missile/fang strike.
Oh yes, the sacred water dish - which, according to my albo, is to be kept full of substrate and webbed over at all times! Woe betide the misguided soul who dares to empty it - or commit the even greater sacrilege of filling it with water!
 

ShaunMot

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 11, 2016
Messages
24
Strange, I've never had any defensive postures from my fully grown female albo, I can do what I need to do in the tank with no issues
 

Crone Returns

Arachnoangel
Joined
Mar 22, 2016
Messages
990
Pfff... I have an old like hell female that is grumpy like a witch and loves to threat pose (and strike to the air) for nothing in her bad day. She's slow like those old Lamborghini tractors and poor baby, so old that sometimes I have to almost throw the prey directly in her mouth, since she's so ancient :kiss:
They made Lamborghini tractors?!:astonished:
 

Bread

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
26
It's a different company, but the same guy founded them, they also make marine engines.
 
Top