costa rican zebras sure do kick alot of hair

[SmackMasterT]

i've only had my zebra for 2 and a half weeks and whoa his butt is already bald! he must kick a heck of alot of hairs.

 

[da_illest]

yea, they do... mine is only a juvi and at the slightest disturbance it kicks up a whole bunch of hair... I hate hair kicking T'S with a PASSION!!! i'm now more into Old World species with BIG time attitudes... Among them i have an OBT (p. murinus), H. maculata, C. marshalli, and another one which isn't old world but doesn't kick urticating hairs because it has them on it's palps i think, it's an E. murinus... by far the meanest one i have yet is my OBT..

 

[SirDraco]

So far, my Aphonopelma seemanni hasn't kicked any hairs. However; she seems quite skittish. She also has removed all peat moss from the hide I constructed for her and pushed it towards the entrance.

And, did I mention, she loves to eat - 7 crix two days ago. Grabbed 3 of them immediately and went right to her hide to munch!

 

[manville]

I have not seen my A seemani kick hairs at all. It is only about 1 inch + though.. I have not seen any of my tarantula kick hairs at all..maybe i am not noticing it well enough

 

[da_illest]

I have not seen my A seemani kick hairs at all. It is only about 1 inch + though.. I have not seen any of my tarantula kick hairs at all..maybe i am not noticing it well enough

oh you'd notice it! trust me..

 

[Gretchen W.]

Mine is definatly a hair kicker. He's also qite the digger. Woke up the other morning to find a huge mound at the entrance of his burrow. Now I see his legs peeking through the mound. My rose hair has never flicked hairs. My B.smithi has once..he's just a little guy...it was kinda funny watching him kick his little butt
I know one thing for sure...I will NEVER attempt to handle my seemani.

 

[Bark]

Does anyone else not have trouble with the hairs???

My pre-molt Smithi kicked a whole bunch of hairs when I was moving her and I didn't have any reaction to it whatsoever.

 

[rtshaw80]

Does anyone else not have trouble with the hairs???

My pre-molt Smithi kicked a whole bunch of hairs when I was moving her and I didn't have any reaction to it whatsoever.

One of my smithi's kicks hairs at me any chance it gets, but its rather docile once in the hand. Haven't really noticed any reaction to the hairs on the smithi, but my T. Blondi'll definitely make me itch.

 

[rosehaired1979]

Mines more of the skittish type

 

[siucfi]

hair kicking SOBS

I agree my zebra is completely bald and wants nothing to do with me.

 

[thetonestarr]

This thread is suuuuuuuuuuuuuuper old so I hope nobody minds necromancy, but it turned up while I was looking for opinions on A.seemanni hairs, so I'm going to chime in.

I just got my Aphonopelma seemanni on Tuesday, and he's kicked hairs at me three times. However, I have not noticed any irritation from the hairs at all. My Nhandu carapoensis is the only other one I have that frequently kicks and HIS hairs are awful. Accidentally got one in my eye and it was almost game over for me for that entire weekend, but the A.seemanni hairs don't seem to have any effect at all.

 

[coolnweird]

This thread is suuuuuuuuuuuuuuper old so I hope nobody minds necromancy, but it turned up while I was looking for opinions on A.seemanni hairs, so I'm going to chime in.

I just got my Aphonopelma seemanni on Tuesday, and he's kicked hairs at me three times. However, I have not noticed any irritation from the hairs at all. My Nhandu carapoensis is the only other one I have that frequently kicks and HIS hairs are awful. Accidentally got one in my eye and it was almost game over for me for that entire weekend, but the A.seemanni hairs don't seem to have any effect at all.

Just be aware, reaction to urticating setae can worsen over time! There's many long term keepers who have such drastic reactions to hairs after years of exposure that they swear off new worlds all together

 

[thetonestarr]

Just be aware, reaction to urticating setae can worsen over time! There's many long term keepers who have such drastic reactions to hairs after years of exposure that they swear off new worlds all together

Yeah I'm an awfully new keeper - got my very first (a Grammostola pulchripes sling) in late March.

Jumped in a little crazy and I have 13 T's now. 4 are subadult (A.seemanni, N.carapoensis, one of my L.striatus, and my only old world, C.olivaceum), 1 juvenile (G.pulchra - she WAS a sling when I got her but 2 weeks ago, she molted and looks exactly like a tiny adult G.pulchra now), and the rest are slings (I'll list all of them another time).

As such, since I'm very much used to slings atm, I'm still learning proper subadult/adult care and handling. Slings don't make it as evident that they're annoyed at what you're doing.

 

[coolnweird]

Yeah I'm an awfully new keeper - got my very first (a Grammostola pulchripes sling) in late March.

Jumped in a little crazy and I have 13 T's now. 4 are subadult (A.seemanni, N.carapoensis, one of my L.striatus, and my only old world, C.olivaceum), 1 juvenile (G.pulchra - she WAS a sling when I got her but 2 weeks ago, she molted and looks exactly like a tiny adult G.pulchra now), and the rest are slings (I'll list all of them another time).

As such, since I'm very much used to slings atm, I'm still learning proper subadult/adult care and handling. Slings don't make it as evident that they're annoyed at what you're doing.

Welcome to the hobby! I started in Oct '19 and got up to 10 Ts by Apr '20, so about half of my babies are still slings, or just barely reaching juvenile. Growing slings up is great experience, as your skills develop along with the spider! It's definitely easier to spot body language on a larger specimen, especially since most slings would rather run or freeze than stand their ground.

 

[thetonestarr]

Welcome to the hobby! I started in Oct '19 and got up to 10 Ts by Apr '20, so about half of my babies are still slings, or just barely reaching juvenile. Growing slings up is great experience, as your skills develop along with the spider! It's definitely easier to spot body language on a larger specimen, especially since most slings would rather run or freeze than stand their ground.

Thanks! I've been fairly familiar with tarantulas for the better part of 20 years - used to work at a pet store where I sold them, then my brother worked at the same store after I left & actually bought a few.

I never got into the hobby myself because (1) when my wife and I got married, she was extremely arachnophobic, (2) we were poor, and (3) I enlisted in the Army and felt exotic pets were too much trouble when my availability to care for them wasn't dependable & we were frequently moving.

I'm 4yrs out now, settled into our new large home, working from home, and the wife's phobia is now manageable. So, when my brother's sole spider (G.rosea) died earlier this year, we both started talking about getting into it with slings. He bought 3 and stopped (P.cancerides, N.tripepii, T.vagans); I bought 4 and INTENDED to stop, but realized that what I got (G.pulchra, G.pulchripes, B.smithi, L.striatus - all slings) were going to be very boring for a long time, so I fleshed it out a bit more to give myself more variety and excitement. I have some fast growers, some slow, some terrestrial, some arboreal, some young, some older, etc.

The aforementioned L.striatus sling just molted last night - my 5th molt now (in order, G.pulchripes, G.pulchra, P.cambridgei, A.seemanni, L.striatus) - so it's staying decently interesting! I have a great urge to pick up more (desperately want some old worlds; would love an OBT and a communal set of M.balfouri, among others), but (1) need to keep myself under control, (2) I know I'll be upgrading enclosures eventually and I don't think I'll have space for all of these!, (3) I might overwhelm myself if I go too deep in.

 

[IronMaiden]

The seemanni I have never flicks hairs ever. The bottom never has bald spots from flicking. I guess I'm just lucky.