getting a togo starburst need advice

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by TheEternal
Mine's the same way, but I still have a DEEP respect for the species. I know what she's capable of.

Mine so far has been just very secretive, not an outright aggressive move from her (?) either, but, as you say, there is mucho respect there. I know I have no interest in potentially spending 48 hours feeling like I tried to put away a few bottles of tequila and got snakebit somewhere in the ensuing blackout.

Still, since we do hear about these more or less mellow individuals of species well known for doing such fun things as biting chop sticks and paint brushes without much in the way of warning, I wonder if the attitude is heritable? Could we breed better behaved Usambaras and Togos if we tried? Just something I wonder about...

 

[Nixy]

I wonder that myself Code.
Our orange bitey bitch beast is just that.
I see people handling their's and wonder if mine just came out of the Nasty side of the gene pools with her fangs up from the git.
Our P. cambridgi is a beast too now that she molted into her mossygreen/black colors.
She Looks mean and by gods Is as mean as she looks.
I could change her water with little worry as she liked to stay in the corner hiding.
But Now since her moult she comes out fangulating at me and all up in threat postiers ready to put the munchies on me. And she is FAST. Real fast. Spooky nasty fast. So I have a great deal of respect for her and her space.

Thay have an H. mac at the store but as much as I want it I am hesitent.
We have two mean nasties and when I look at the one there it's attitude is as bad as the two demons we have.
So I'm going to stick to generaly safer species till the twins get a fw more years under their belts.
Better safe then sorry.
There is plenty of time for the more challenging species.
I figure why push it.

 

[vulpina]

My H. maculata is very defensive, going into a threat pose whenever you mess around its enclosure. It hasn't developed the hiding like Code Monkey said, I see mine all the time, it doesn't web alot, just sits behind the cork bark, but it is very visible. Venom wise all I have heard is they are fairly potent, so be careful.


Andy

 

[MizM]

Gee, I was wondering that too!

My German Shephard "The Pedigreed Princes" was bred from a long line of big-boned, even tempered, pure black stock. She is 98 pounds of pure brains, if she's in the back yard and fooling around barking, I tell her to "go potty" and she immediately takes care of business. If my boys wrestle with other kids in the house, she nips the other kids on the butt, but ONLY on the butt. The breeding really shows.

So I was wondering... why is one orange bitey thing sitting calmly on someone's hand in a picture on this site, and mine lunges at anything that moves?

It would be interesting to track a bunch of slings from mellow parents and see how their temperament turns out.

 

[SurfinJB]

Yeah I have what seems to be a very gentle goliath BE but I don't think I'd want to be the first to hold him. Any voluntiers? Then again my Pitbull came from a guy that I recently found out had been breeding them to fight for 11yrs- yet my dog is the sweetest dog you will ever meet. With dogs I think its training besides breeding and individuality of the dog -with T's well I'm still working on the shake and roll-over thing

 

[MizM]

My G. rosea has been held so much that she automatically gets in position in my left hand with her head up between my thumb and forefinger cuz' he knows I'll make a loose fist around her and she'll feel secure. Never really thought about it... but I guess THAT'S something that she "learned"... if T's actually learn!!

 

[Ultimate Instar]

I have several "defensive" species and I never see any kind of aggression. Hell, I take the tops off of the cages when I feed them and I keep them in my bedroom. My collection includes C. fimbriatus, P. murinus "usambara", H. lividum, and C. crawshayi. I really wish I knew why they behave the way that they do.

Karen N.

 

[Lopez]

I can feed/water both my Pterinochilus without worrying about them coming out - both are very fond of their burrows.
It's only at night they seem to do much - I noticed the Usambara at the top entrance of it's web yesterday and I succesfully fed it a mealworm beetle by hand (okay, forceps
The spider took the beetle very gently from the forceps and proceeded to eat it.
If I put tongs near the yellow one it jumps up and grabs them. They are very unpredictable.