De-venom a tarantula?

Andy

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Someone at uni said their friend had a tarantula that was de-venommed.
I laughed and said the seller probably made it up to sell it to unknowing people.

You cant de-venom a tarantula can you? How would it kill its prey? :?
 

cheetah13mo

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No, On top of needing venom to help with the digestion of food, after you open up the exoskeleton, to remove the venom glands, there would probably be enough blood loss and it would probably be enough of a shock for the T that it would not survive.
 

Ando55

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Taking into account what Jeremy said, here is my thoughts:

I've seen a similar thread discussing this topic...my opinion it's a bunch of nonsense. First off I think the thought and possible act itself is horrid. To take away a Tarantula's fangs is ridiculous. It's like taking away what came with the package. I.E.: New driver buys brand new Porsche Carrera GT2, but he lowers it's power by swapping in a lower power engine to make it easier to drive. Why take away something that's meant to come with the package? I think if an individual accepts a de-fanged T they are missing out on the essence of the Tarantula itself. Also I believe if they do take off it's fangs, they'll simply regenerate it in the next molt or a few after. I'm still pondering however how would a T eat if it can't inject it's venom..it's plain wrong to do it!:(
 

Ungweliante

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Also tarantulas aren't really venomous enough to warrant devenomisation, with the exception of a couple of species...and even considering those there is room for debate.
 

Andy

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No no you misunderstand, it was de-vennomed not de-fanged. lol
Aparently when it bit (and it did alot) it hurt like hell.
I suggested the pain was the venom since two little pricks cant exactly hurt.

Ill just keep on laughing at him next time I see him. lol
 

Code Monkey

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You can no more devenom a tarantula and expect it to live than you can de-stomach you and expect you to live.

Clipping the fangs is a common practice when the animal is intended for food (like banding the claws on a lobster), however without a lot of luck, pre-mushed prey, and more luck the animal is doomed.

But there is simply no way to remove the venom glands without rendering the animal completely unable to eat. such a surgery would destroy the chelicerae and that would leave the animal unable to catch, subdue, and masticate prey.
 

Stylopidae

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Taking into account what Jeremy said, here is my thoughts:

I've seen a similar thread discussing this topic...my opinion it's a bunch of nonsense. First off I think the thought and possible act itself is horrid. To take away a Tarantula's fangs is ridiculous. It's like taking away what came with the package. I.E.: New driver buys brand new Porsche Carrera GT2, but he lowers it's power by swapping in a lower power engine to make it easier to drive. Why take away something that's meant to come with the package? I think if an individual accepts a de-fanged T they are missing out on the essence of the Tarantula itself. Also I believe if they do take off it's fangs, they'll simply regenerate it in the next molt or a few after. I'm still pondering however how would a T eat if it can't inject it's venom..it's plain wrong to do it!:(
It's more like taking out the engine and replacing it with a midget and a hampster wheel.
 

scjones22

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sounds like an assination attempt on your T if it were to be done.
 

Mina

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In short, no, not if you expect the T to live through the "operation" or any afterwards. That may have come from the fact that the people trap and sell T's for the purpose of being eaten, remove their fangs so that they can be handled and later cooked without the people involved being bitten. It goes without saying that should one of these T's escape, even if it didn't bleed to death, it would starve.
 

gumby

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My thought is wouldnt it just regenerate the venom produceing organ after a while???
 

Hedorah99

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My thought is wouldnt it just regenerate the venom produceing organ after a while???
In theory it might, but it would need to eat to begin to even regenerate the glands and tissue, which it cannot do because you removed the glands and tissue which it needs to regenerate. So in other words, no.
 

Derek W.

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My thought is wouldnt it just regenerate the venom produceing organ after a while???
(not sure if i used the quote thing the right way)

Could they actually regenerate stuff like that? I mean they have evolved to regenerate legs and spinnerette's and stuff like that, but that's probably just because they could expect to lose them in a bad situation and needed a plan B. Something like a venom gland though would probably be different wouldn't it?
 

Code Monkey

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(not sure if i used the quote thing the right way)

Could they actually regenerate stuff like that? I mean they have evolved to regenerate legs and spinnerette's and stuff like that, but that's probably just because they could expect to lose them in a bad situation and needed a plan B. Something like a venom gland though would probably be different wouldn't it?
Doubtful. For instance, the leg requires that the coxa be intact, because that is where regeneration actually occurs. Damage the coxa itself and that leg is gone permanently. I've never heard of a spider with a removed chelicera regenerating (which is what would prompt the regeneration, not just removing a venom gland since that's impossible to do while leaving the chelicerae intact).

Bottom line is that the venom glands occupy portions of the chelicerae and the cephalothorax, given that there's no way to do surgery to a T, the whole notion is nonsense even if regeneration is possible.
 
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