H. lividum Handling??

[Formerphobe]

Welcome to the hobby and congrats on your first T!

Consider a different scenario: What if you do get bitten? Will your parents think kindly of the person who sold you the H. liv as you lie there in the floor writhing in pain with your bitten body part swelling up like a tick?
Someone else used the gun analogy - "Who sold my child the gun he just shot his foot off with?!?!"
See what I mean? Might not bode well for tarantula keepers/sellers in general. The general populace already thinks we are a few french fries short of a Happy Meal...

Part of the responsibility of T-keeping is to be a good ambassador. Get a calm T that your mom and sister might grow to like, or at least appreciate. (You can always add less tractable OW species later.)
An Avic might fit the bill, but they can be flighty and tend to shoot poop. Projectile poop might not endear them to your family members either...
Raising a brachy sling is pretty neat and is what got one of my daughters interested in Ts. She now has a couple of her own.
My 87 year old arachnophobic mother has even sat with me to watch some of them molt, and I've caught her with the black light watching the scorpions on more than one occasion. A couple years ago, she wouldn't even set foot in my room.

Educate, educate, educate. The more they understand, the more they will tend to be accepting of your hobby.

Oh, internet communication can be difficult to interpret. Many people give short, concise answers with no fluff and you don't have the tone, inflection or body language to go with it.

 

[groovyspider]

yeh i agree

i agree with the acimation of your parents you gotta show them you have the exp. to deal with the more advanced species i mean it took me for ever to prove i was ready for my Crotalus atrox (o by the way much worst of a bite than your lividum) you cant jump from hot an cold.. you gotta warm up a little ok??? take it easy let these guys shoo you away from the ow's

 

[deathkorps]

ive done months and months of research on tarantula behaviours and care and everything else.

Being that i too am pretty new to the hobby of Tarantula awesomeness. If you if fact did all these months and months of research, then you would have known right from the get go that that particular species isn't a happy hold in your hand and pet T. I understand that it's exciting for you to have quite an attractive T, I myself would love to get OBT even if have they a need to try eat our souls! Doesn't mean i'm gonna get one anytime soon, that endeavor is gonna be YEARS down the road once i have a much more comfortable experience dealing with defensive T's and better understanding their temperment. I started with G.Rosea, I started with one then looked at where i kept him and i guess he decided to have a permanent house party cause now i have 3. I'm happy with them, they even allow me to handle them some days. Now i'm stepping it up a little a getting a L.Parahybana sling from a member on here, i have minimal intentions of handling that one once its bigger because of its urticating hairs being extra itchy. I do applaud you for wanting to get into the hobby, and i think its great that you're young getting into it. just don't even bother trying to hold that T you have. like everybody else has already said, it ain't gonna end well! enjoy your T for what it is, extremely pretty when it decides to show itself. I lurked and hid on this site for a while before i started even bothering to post stuff, because i was busy reading as many previous posts on this site as possible. I still do most of the time still, unless i feel the need to throw in my newb opinion. I'm not trying to sound like i'm talking down to you, because i'm not. I don't really ever do that, take what everybody says here as constructive opinions. From what i've read in all kinds of previous posts, aside from the never ending debate about feeding T's vertebrates or not, thats all any of the posts i've read have been construcitve and helpful. It's all in how you read the post, i had a roommate that believed on her life that every text i sent her was all sarcasm because thats how she chose to read them.

okies i've said my piece lol.

 

[synyster]

@ Tballz

It's all ok and like I said, I did not want to pick a fight. I've had a bad week and probably took a bit of it out on you, but it's not rare that new people come here, ask questions, then tell us off since their not getting the answer that they wanted to get. The way you answered Joe sort of brought alot of us to this conclusion. He might not have wrote the T hobby bible but if you read the stickies, he wrote the AB research thread bible ;P

Bottom line, everybody learns here, newbies and oldies alike. Sometimes you'll get that answer you don't want to hear but when that happens, take the info and do what you can with it.

And again by no means should you handle a Haplopelma for no reason. I've seen to many T's die this week and just don't want you posting about how your spider hit the wall and died when you had that instinctive reaction to getting bit

 

[tarantulaballz3]

Thanks.. I do understand that the lividum was off the charts for being a beginner species, but the fact that I did the monthd of research made me feel like I did have the experience to at least admire it...because my starting thread just asked if there were people that held there cobalt and how they did it...i never really say I wanted to hold it(or maybei did?? Idk) but I'm sorry for coming off strong,thats not what I'm hear to do..

 

[serialthrilla91]

All the points have been covered (wrong reasons, handling not advised for any T, etc, etc.), I know there is really no reason for me to post in this thread. I'm just doing so because after reading the first two posts from OP, I had committed to it haha.

 

[Amoeba]

Yeah dude welcome to the hobby and I don't know if anyone gave you the good ol' congrats but congrats on owning an awesome T. Keep it long keep it well. Sorry we all gave you the 3rd degree but there are alot of boneheads in the world. I understand the want to mess with your new T (not handling or touching even but like obsessing over humidity and temp and it's well being) If I were you I would get a NW (I am partial to terrestrials but an Avic would do as well as any). And my final bit of advice (lol) is listen to the advice, I know Joe hasn't written the T bible but there are some users that have *cough* Pikaia *cough* but thats besides the point there are some people that have been keeping and studying Ts for longer than either one of us have been alive and you have to respect that. Anyway that turned into a rantish deal pretty quick :biggrin: Welcome to the Hobby Welcome to the Boards Welcome to A.A. (Arachnids Anonymous)

 

[xhexdx]

All in good time...

 

[Amoeba]

All in good time...

Lmao Joe I'm guessing this is to the book thing. You and Rebecca could be the next Schultz couple

 

[zonbonzovi]

Good to see things calm down a bit. I urge everyone to take a gander at similar topics from several years back and notice how much less contention there was(most of the time, anyway). Nice, huh?

Anyway...ballz(can I call you that, it makes me chuckle?)...in my excitement, I too brought home an H. lividum on a whim as my first tarantula. I remember shaking & sweating every time I had to interact with it, esp. after doing my post purchase research. Never did handle her but I was very curious about her anatomy and wanted to get a better look. A good sized, clean deli container w/ lid is fantastic for this purpose & if you feel comfortable w/ corralling her into it. This way you protect the both of you and can get within a couple of inches for a detailed once-over. They are remarkably fast, so I'd recommend placing the deli over the spider and carefully slipping the lid underneath. Be careful of the legs. She'll probably strike, but as long as you're shielded by the deli, there is no risk. Take a breath and work slow. Search around for a video if my description doesn't quite help. They're remarkable & beautiful, underrated beasts...enjoy them.

 

[Kris-wIth-a-K]

Doing this would make my day... Getting it on video would maybe make my week.....

 

[xhexdx]

You'd enjoy watching a 15-year-old get tagged by a lividum?

 

[Shell]

Doing this would make my day... Getting it on video would maybe make my week.....

Wow, what an incredibly ignorant thing to say.

He's young and maybe didn't get off to the best start on here, but he's trying and making the effort now. There was really no need for a comment like that.

 

[Quazgar]

Welcome to the hobby and congrats on your first T!

Consider a different scenario: What if you do get bitten? Will your parents think kindly of the person who sold you the H. liv as you lie there in the floor writhing in pain with your bitten body part swelling up like a tick?
Someone else used the gun analogy - "Who sold my child the gun he just shot his foot off with?!?!"
See what I mean? Might not bode well for tarantula keepers/sellers in general. The general populace already thinks we are a few french fries short of a Happy Meal...

Part of the responsibility of T-keeping is to be a good ambassador. Get a calm T that your mom and sister might grow to like, or at least appreciate. (You can always add less tractable OW species later.)
An Avic might fit the bill, but they can be flighty and tend to shoot poop. Projectile poop might not endear them to your family members either...
Raising a brachy sling is pretty neat and is what got one of my daughters interested in Ts. She now has a couple of her own.
My 87 year old arachnophobic mother has even sat with me to watch some of them molt, and I've caught her with the black light watching the scorpions on more than one occasion. A couple years ago, she wouldn't even set foot in my room.

Educate, educate, educate. The more they understand, the more they will tend to be accepting of your hobby.

Oh, internet communication can be difficult to interpret. Many people give short, concise answers with no fluff and you don't have the tone, inflection or body language to go with it.

+1 to everything said here.

H. lividum are fascinating, when you see them. I have 2 slings I haven't seen in months...Brachys and Avics are great T's for beginners or those wanting to warm other people up to the T's. I think I've said this a few times already on AB, but I think my A. versicolors are probably the cutest T's ever. Blue balls of fluff with amazing personality that I don't see how anybody couldn't like. I do agree they can be fast and the shooting poo thing is...interesting. Brachypelmas have brilliant colors that a lot of people like and are laid back enough that parents probably would not have issues with them, though I wouldn't necessarily recommend B. boehmei for nervous parents due to the excessive hair flicking.

Sounds like your biggest challenge right now is educating your parents on tarantulas and making them overcome their misconceptions.

 

[Kris-wIth-a-K]

It would be no more less than if one of you veterans were to get tagged. It happens even with the precautions. I never said go ahead and do it because, yes, that would be ignorant. Just saying if he were to... Get it on video..

 

[Dr Acula]

I've held mine before. Almost ran up into my sleeve but aside from speed, didn't show signs of aggression.

 

[Singapore_Blue1]

You shouldn't even be encouraging him to try it period!!! That is the point.. He is 15 and has no actual handling experience and you want him to free handle a H. lividum on video just so you can get your jollies off of it??? Oh, and us veterans...1) Most wouldn't be dumb enough to try and hold a H. lividum 2) If we did decide to hold one we wouldn't put it on video and post it for 15 year old kids to get the bright idea oh he can hold it so I am going to try it.....3) Your advice to get it on video is thus irresponsible and reckless...

---------- Post added 08-28-2011 at 06:40 AM ----------

I have held mine as well however I don't advocate someone else doing it....That being said I also have held many T's over many years so my experience plays a role...

 

[Aschamne]

First off, I am an advocate of the do what you want its your T mentality. But in this case I do agree the OP needs to gain some handling experience first. Also I do not think the OP would be happy with the usual beginner species, so I am going to recommend him to at least start off with something more on the lines of Acanthoscurria or Phormictopus. Either one of these genus have some fascinating species that are pretty defensive, but a bite that while being uncomfortable would not be anywhere near the pain of a Haplopelma bite. But in the end it is still the OP choice, and no matter what he is going to make it himself(think back to when you where 15).

Art

 

[PrimalTaunt]

But in the end it is still the OP choice, and no matter what he is going to make it himself(think back to when you where 15).

I hope he has more sense than the 15 year old me and listens to advice of more experience people rather than ignore it because teenagers know everything and are invincible. I was a horrible kid and would hate the younger me if I were to meet him.

 

[BigJ999]

Ahh your first T was a Haplo Yes they are pretty defensively aggressive but they aren't actually all bad I have two Haplopelma's but yeah not the best spider for a beginner. But when I got back into the hobby I got a King Baboon the first order lol