Well I guess I get the stupid question of the day award, but please give serious answers. Say when I get my own place and decide that I don't want to deal with pesticides that I just get a T to go around getting pests. What T would work that doesn't make a huge web and can deal with Northern VA's humidity? I don't want something that will bite me unexpectedly. If it were big enough to eat those annoying little mice that would be a big plus!
Free roaming T's?
- Thread starter ThomasH
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2005
- Messages
- 1,123
You can stop feeding her now, she's dead.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2007
- Messages
- 319
rofl, that just made my day
- Joined
- May 9, 2007
- Messages
- 82
haha. a free roaming pet spider. I love it.
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
- Messages
- 914
i was going to release some of my ts too in my room but only the ones that i keep communal lol
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2007
- Messages
- 63
Probably a better idea just to release some house gecko's. Accomplish the same thing, and they won't bite you. My buddy has 3 happily living in his basement as we speak.
I think that is a job best left to true spiders. Boa, I live in a 137 yr. old house. There was a small hole about the size of my thumb that went through the wall to the outside. This was a perfect opportunity for an experiment. I took a piece of acrylic and cut it to fit in the top corner of the wall and ceiling. I had an access hole for feeding. I got a garden spider (argiope) and put it in there. It stayed for weeks while feeding. I decided to not feed and it went out the hole into my garden. Funny thing is every now then it (or another) will show up and I will continue to feed. I took it down to re-model. But it looks something like this:
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2007
- Messages
- 243
are we talking about inside the house or outside? If there are any native tarantulas in the area, I'd stick with those. Just make sure they have enough places to call home. The main problem facing outdoor tarantulas in modern environments seems to be a lack of gopher holes. People thwart off gophers and ground squirrels, which make lots of hidey holes for tarantulas and such.
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2007
- Messages
- 211
If you set up a place to burrow, you could probably let loose a "pet hole" species and it will likely set up a home and not leave it. If I had a free-roaming T, I would be most concerned about stepping on it accidentally. A burrower will catch the pests as you require, and will also not likely be trampled.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2005
- Messages
- 1,406
Whatever you decide to do, do us all a favor and stick to LOCAL species. All we need is a gravid P. murinus or something get loose and cause all kinds of problems. Not to mention what a non-native species can do to a local population of native ones.... please be responsible.
-Nate
-Nate
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2005
- Messages
- 1,322
I live in Quebec and our minus 36 winters are sufficient to prevent any invasion. I wouldn't do it in my house because of guests and cats, but we plan to have a greenhouse in our future house, with plants entangled in the upper frame... Avics wonderland!!!!
- Joined
- May 26, 2008
- Messages
- 1,066
I think it's more appropriate with lizards and the like to roam the house. Like my uncle has about 6 or 7 big lizards (I have no idea about the names) free roaming in the house. He said he released 10 but 3 left the house for good, and the remaining number has been stable for several years. The house is virtually bug-free without any insecticide. When I talked to him about BoaConstrictor's idea, he said he can't protect the spiders. Like if a neighbour catches a lizard, he/she will likely know it belongs to my uncle and return it. The neighbours won't catch a T. They will just crush it to death.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2007
- Messages
- 319
Animal lovers letting loose (purposely OR accidentally) their "unusual" pets is the reason you can't own ferrets and a few other things in some states. I'd rather not see the same happen to this particular fancy.
Yeah, I have to agree with other posters here. There are too many good reasons not to let a tarantula loose in your house. Consider using a few carniverous plants to catch bugs, they work well and won't bite you in your sleep.
As for the mice, just use traps. You can get live traps and release the mice outdoors if you like. You could try to feed them to a snake, but parasites are always a concern. Probably best off encouraging wild species to take care of pests. I set up an owl house where I live, and he keeps the rodent population down to a minimum. Good luck.
As for the mice, just use traps. You can get live traps and release the mice outdoors if you like. You could try to feed them to a snake, but parasites are always a concern. Probably best off encouraging wild species to take care of pests. I set up an owl house where I live, and he keeps the rodent population down to a minimum. Good luck.
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2007
- Messages
- 3,062
No on the T. blondi
--the nature boy
Nah...a S. calceatum will take out everything within five miles. No more girl scouts knocking on your door to guilt you into buying cookies! :clap:
--the nature boy
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2008
- Messages
- 381
For no many reasons: NO!
1) If one gets loose it could become invasive. Letting your T roam about the house is asking for Ts to get banned, ruining it for everyone.
2) Any of the Ts that you would want loose while you are sleeping have urticating hairs and would spread them everywhere. Imagine it walking across your pillow and then you putting your face in it an the hairs getting in your eyes.
3) They would likely get hurt either from falls, sharp household objects, or household chemicals that they come into contact with.
5) You are in a position that you could hurt each other.
6) They are not dogs.
1) If one gets loose it could become invasive. Letting your T roam about the house is asking for Ts to get banned, ruining it for everyone.
2) Any of the Ts that you would want loose while you are sleeping have urticating hairs and would spread them everywhere. Imagine it walking across your pillow and then you putting your face in it an the hairs getting in your eyes.
3) They would likely get hurt either from falls, sharp household objects, or household chemicals that they come into contact with.
5) You are in a position that you could hurt each other.
6) They are not dogs.