Eye penetration

[Lost_Tarantula]

I am considering getting a B. smithi, but after reading that they kick often, and after reading about serious damage done by eye penetration, I am a little wary of the whole thing. I am not so much worried about myself; I am more worried about putting the other people in my house at risk over my selfish tarantula desires . So.....any advice or experience with these tarantulas?

Paranoid as ever,
LT

 

[Brandon]

LT,
I myself own many hairkicking spiders, in no way has it ever effected any of my 4 other families members. It will sometimes make you itch but other than that i would get it!

Sincerely,

Brandon

 

[Botar]

LT,

I'm with Brandon on this. In no way would I put my daughter at risk and I have no concern at all about hair kickers. I've even got a picture of her holding our B. smithi.

Botar

 

[MrT]

LT, get yourself a pair of safty glasses at home depot to wear while feeding and handleing.
You never know, the smithi you get may be very calm, and not be much of a hair kicker at all.
I have two and one kicks and the other doesnt, unless I really piss it off.

Ernie

 

[King_Looey]

Our old smithi was bald as a badger and the meanest thing on 8 legs. Used to scare the pants of us all.

 

[Code Monkey]

I'll repeat what I said in another thread on this subject: in twenty years of working with Ts I've only gotten hairs in my eyes on a couple of occasions and every time was my fault for rubbing my eyes after working in the tanks, and no instance was serious enough to require medical attention and was handled by a simple water/saline flush.

Tarantula hair is a danger to the eyes in the way your garbage disposal is a danger to hands.

 

[Tarantula Lover]

Originally posted by Lost_Tarantula
I am considering getting a B. smithi, but after reading that they kick often, and after reading about serious damage done by eye penetration, I am a little wary of the whole thing. I am not so much worried about myself; I am more worried about putting the other people in my house at risk over my selfish tarantula desires . So.....any advice or experience with these tarantulas?

Paranoid as ever,
LT

Hey, i am 12, and have 9 other family members-7 brothers and sisters, 6 younger than me, and i have a B.smithi(sling) and is so cute, calm and docile! It never flicked! It shouldn't be a problem!

James

 

[JacenBeers]

I have only gotten hairs in my eyes in the same way as CM, by rubbing my eyes. And I dont think anybody should be saying that a B smithi never flicks hairs, James. Because yours doesnt does not mean it is safe for every spider. Mine was the worse hair flicker that I have ever come across.

 

[atavuss]

Originally posted by Lost_Tarantula
I am considering getting a B. smithi, but after reading that they kick often, and after reading about serious damage done by eye penetration, I am a little wary of the whole thing. I am not so much worried about myself; I am more worried about putting the other people in my house at risk over my selfish tarantula desires . So.....any advice or experience with these tarantulas?

Paranoid as ever,
LT

I stumbled onto a way that keeps urticating hairs from even getting airborne. I bought a HEPA filter to put in my herp/invert room for the odd rat pup that dies and smells before I can find it. I started putting the HEPA filter on the desk where I do cleaning, feeding, etc. for the t's. I run the filter on high and if any hairs are kicked or stirred up when I open the kritter keeper you can actually see the clumps of hairs slowly waft into the filter!
Ed

 

[Joy]

Re: Re: Eye penetration

Originally posted by atavuss
I stumbled onto a way that keeps urticating hairs from even getting airborne. I bought a HEPA filter to put in my herp/invert room for the odd rat pup that dies and smells before I can find it. I started putting the HEPA filter on the desk where I do cleaning, feeding, etc. for the t's. I run the filter on high and if any hairs are kicked or stirred up when I open the kritter keeper you can actually see the clumps of hairs slowly waft into the filter!
Ed

Yes, and I meant to thank you for this tip, Ed. I got a HEPA filter after you posted about it a while ago, and have it on when I am working with some of my more irritable Brachys. It works beautifully.

Oh, and I've never gotten urticating setae in my eyes, and neither has any of my other family members. It's a risk to bear in mind, but as CM says, there's no need to stress about it.

Joy

 

[Lost_Tarantula]

That's great.
Already have her. They price was $100, but I got it for $50 instead. She's beautiful, but I can't wait until a post molt. Remember, I have no colorful tarantulas, so anything with something other than brown impresses me.

I'll take a picture of her later and post it in another thread.

Thanks for the reassuring words.

-LT

 

[atavuss]

Originally posted by Lost_Tarantula
That's great.
Already have her. They price was $100, but I got it for $50 instead. She's beautiful, but I can't wait until a post molt. Remember, I have no colorful tarantulas, so anything with something other than brown impresses me.

I'll take a picture of her later and post it in another thread.

Thanks for the reassuring words.

-LT

how big is she and how did you manage the half off on the price?
Ed

 

[veronyka]

That's so cool! B smithi is my favorite. I got mine for 40 when she was supposed to be 100 too. But you shouldn't have any trouble with hairing, mine flicks at me all the time but I never put my hands near my face after I've been near her, and I have severe allergies and no problems. You shouldn't have to worry

 

[Lost_Tarantula]

Originally posted by atavuss
how big is she and how did you manage the half off on the price?
Ed

I'm horrible with estimating, so I'll post a pic of her with a ruler or something. But if I absolutely HAD to guess....since she's kinda hunched up...maybe 4"?

As for the price. I picked her up from her tiny, dank hell hole at a Petco. It was $100, but when I went to the register to pay, the cashier ran my card (which I have for the discounts on crickets), and apparently the card saved me $50. Go figure. :?

I thought $100 was steep to start with, but I wouldn't know anyway. Just used to seeing the Curlyhair they have for $13.

 

[atavuss]

Originally posted by Lost_Tarantula
I'm horrible with estimating, so I'll post a pic of her with a ruler or something. But if I absolutely HAD to guess....since she's kinda hunched up...maybe 4"?

As for the price. I picked her up from her tiny, dank hell hole at a Petco. It was $100, but when I went to the register to pay, the cashier ran my card (which I have for the discounts on crickets), and apparently the card saved me $50. Go figure. :?

I thought $100 was steep to start with, but I wouldn't know anyway. Just used to seeing the Curlyhair they have for $13.

ahhh! a petco smithi! I bought four of them when they were marked down to 39.00 from 99.00. I think three of them turned out male..........methinks a vendor somewhere is dumping all their sexed males on petco.......
Ed

 

[Lost_Tarantula]

Originally posted by atavuss
ahhh! a petco smithi! I bought four of them when they were marked down to 39.00 from 99.00. I think three of them turned out male..........methinks a vendor somewhere is dumping all their sexed males on petco.......
Ed

Interesting...it was funny. I asked if he (the local petco "expert") knew what sex this Redknee was, and he said they were all female. He then attempted to tell me about tibal spurs, which if I am not mistaken, are not present on an immature tarantula, such as this one. This was supposed to be passed off as proof that it was female. :?
Didn't bother to argue with him, I was in a hurry and wanted a smithi.
I hope it turns out female. It's large enough to sex a moult now, so next time I'll figure it out.