handling agressive T's

jr47

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 4, 2005
Messages
595
this is almost funny. to begin with it takes no education to put two spiders in a tank and watch them doink. i bought my first spider and it made a sack. i wasnt sure what to do cause i knew nothing about it. well they hatched, i fed them, they grew. and by the way, out of the 205 i put in containers i lost only 7. from what i have gathered that is really good.
and out of the 7 i kept. 2 years later they are still doing very well. so obviously its pretty easy to take babies. put them in jars or whatever. drop in some food now and then and watch them grow. doesnt take years of experience or a college degree.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
this is almost funny. to begin with it takes no education to put two spiders in a tank and watch them doink. i bought my first spider and it made a sack. i wasnt sure what to do cause i knew nothing about it. well they hatched, i fed them, they grew. and by the way, out of the 205 i put in containers i lost only 7. from what i have gathered that is really good.
and out of the 7 i kept. 2 years later they are still doing very well. so obviously its pretty easy to take babies. put them in jars or whatever. drop in some food now and then and watch them grow. doesnt take years of experience or a college degree.
well, good for you. you apparently stupided onto the right combo of conditions... but if you read breeding reports and lit in general you will find out that it is not always that easy

you aren't doing much to validate yourself as a font of knowledge here my little friend

edit:

and i guess i got to explain/note every little thing i take as general assumptions when i'm talking with my friends of people at work but... a single data point a trend does not make ;)
 
Last edited:

Transylvania

Gondorian
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 26, 2006
Messages
593
It's all about what you personally want to do, and if anything bad happens you take the blame and no one else. But it's not the end of the world. Lots of us overemphasize the importance of handling vs. not handling, but really it's none of our business what other people do with their pets. Let others enjoy the hobby in the way that they enjoy it and that includes whether they choose to handle or not. ;)
 

jr47

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 4, 2005
Messages
595
well, good for you. you apparently stupided onto the right combo of conditions... but if you read breeding reports and lit in general you will find out that it is not always that easy

you aren't doing much to validate yourself as a font of knowledge here my little friend

edit:

and i guess i got to explain/note every little thing i take as general assumptions when I'm talking with my friends of people at work but... a single data point a trend does not make ;)
I'm not overly concerned with validating myself here. more so to people that feel the need to get on here and call names and try to prove they are better than others.
but you are probably right. I'm sure i just stupided my way through it. is that a real word or did you just make that up for me. i am by the way far from stupid. but i am going to refuse to debate anything with some one that must stoop to name calling like a little kid. if it makes you feel better then please continue your little rant.
 

Ewok

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 23, 2005
Messages
853
LOL!!!!

HAHAHAHAH.....good thing I already know you wouldn't actually mean something like that.......LOLOLOLOL

Hahaha , yeah I was just joking...*looks around* ack , what if you all find out I really did mean it, my reputation would be ruined... ruined!


When handling Tarantulas. you have to factor in S.H.S*, it may affect some tarantulas in a negative way, others it might have no effect.


*sweaty hand syndrome
 

NBond1986

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
147
[]Kaliningrad[];897693 said:
]
When handling Tarantulas. you have to factor in S.H.S*, it may affect some tarantulas in a negative way, others it might have no effect.


*sweaty hand syndrome
Yeah....and some of those kinky tarantulas.....they might just plain like it!
 

arachi american

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
45
i forgot about this thread....

cacoseraph, youre the man...

in the spirit of youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=medicinemanhb

mine are mostly snake feeding videos at the moment, i just found out my camera has video functionality, and brandon went and moved to tennessee, so until i find a cameraman and someone with some adult t's in the area (all my t's are juvies right now except the maculata, which everyone has seen videos of) its just retics and stuff i can find time to film at work. there is a video of a female haplopelma minax on there but the lighting is terrible. she displayed a new (to me) set of behavior at least. usually i'm handling arboreals so when they jump, they snag your fingers mid air, making for a nice soft catch-n-swing and theyre back on top of your hand, but this one liked to ball up in the air (12-18" max) and sort of ricochet around until it stopped, then flip over real quick. definately had me on my toes.

somebody in the LA/OC area hit me up, lets handle some spiders {D
 

C_Strike

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
444
I have to admit to witnessing the tarantulas 'getting used to being handled'
As said previous, their very apprehensive of whats under their feet.
After a few handling experiences, they seem more comfortable walking on you.
Again as said before, no tarantula will bite you without stimuli.. If you think there has been no cause, you jsut arent seeing the cause.
The stress factor of holding it doesnt hold ground for me.
As caco has said, ifthey feed, grow, mate and produce viable sacs then what is this stress taht wer talking about?
Its not as if they wont encounter stress in the wild.. who knows, a curious snake, or mammal checking whats inside the hole its just found on the side of the hill....
The fact that the tarantula can become stressed in some manner is natural.
Its a natural part of life, and stress is a factor every organism faces during its life. The body has a tolerance to stress, i would be shocked to hear of any animal that would die purely because of the stress endured from being picked up once..ESPECIALLY When the creature isnt even aware of the fact of what has picked it up, or what its walking on... living or not?
If the same spider walked on an unusual textured tree, it would probably react the same, with the same apprehension for the first few times.
As far as the T is concerned, its jsut on a peculiar, and warm new type of ground.
Probably doesnt make sense but hey!!
I have to say though... although i have a few times i wouldnt recommend holding the big buggers.
Purely for the fact that due to their size, their blooming hard to hold.
If the stand on your hand, their on both of your hands!.
If their on your arm, they cant balance.
I wont be holding her again because of this

I dont make it a common occurance, but occasionally hold different species i own.
Part of my own reasons for this also stands in the..'can i do it' factor.
I know for a fact i would rather be bitten over and over again than hurt one of my Ts, everytime i hold one, im always prepared for the worst.
I dont think lots of people that hold ts should, because of how they will react if bitten, thats unfair on the T.
 

Becky

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 17, 2006
Messages
641
The fact that the tarantula can become stressed in some manner is natural.
Its a natural part of life, and stress is a factor every organism faces during its life. The body has a tolerance to stress, i would be shocked to hear of any animal that would die purely because of the stress endured from being picked up once..ESPECIALLY When the creature isnt even aware of the fact of what has picked it up, or what its walking on... living or not?
Deer are a prime example of animals that the smallest bit of stress they keel over and die, so you're shocked now? Pick up a baby deer if you find one, or an injured adult deer and i guarantee you it'll die within minutes or hours due to the stress.
Another example is birds. Birds also die from stress.

I agree that if you get bitten and react accordingly fair enough, but how do you know, until you get bitten how you're going to react? So there is always the chance you're going to panic/flinch and harm the spider. Thats my main reason for which i am against handling.
 

josh_cloud

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 25, 2007
Messages
204
deer? you must make your animals nervous. i've rescued many animals. i found a baby deer years ago whose mother had been killed. i tried to leave the deer in the woods but it followed me home! it lived in my home for 6 months before he got the urge to wander, and then i let him go. i've had raccoons, squirrels, snakes, birds, opossums, armdillos, tarantulas and scorpions. not to mention regular domestic animals. now to get back on topic, i handle all my t's. animals communicate with body language, not words. take the time to learn what they're saying and always remain calm so that you don't hurt one of your t's!
 

Snowball

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 18, 2007
Messages
136
Lol, this thread is entertaining. Not...the aspect of possably injuring a T, just...everyones bickering. It's actually releiving me of quite a stressful day!
 

Venom

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 21, 2002
Messages
1,700
This thread needs to end.

Handling is a personal decision. There are risks for you, and risks for the animal. If you accept the risks for the animal-well, it belongs to you, just understand you could end up losing it. If you accept the risks to you, don't be stupid. Understand some T's have rather serious bites, and could land you in a world of unpleasantness. NOBODY should be saying "Don't you dare handle that," as it is a personal decision. You have the right to be stupid. If you want to buy expensive t's just to lose your investment, fine. If you want to buy semi-venomous T's to test their venom on yourself, that is stupid, but fine, have it your way. What you do NOT have the right to do, is get bitten, and write it up online saying the spider accidentally bit you, and how serious it is, and how everyone should avoid this spider, or ban it or whatever. Sorry, it was NOT the spider's fault, it was you. If you are going to be stupid, be silent. You don't have the right to endanger the hobby for everyone else by making it appear our T's are more dangerous than they really are. If you insist on being bitten, keep that info to yourself.

I have no problem with experts responsibly handling what they know they can. If you want to go hold S.calceata or H.lividum and have the know-how to do it, and the understanding that if anything goes wrong, YOU are responsible, then sure, go for it. You decide for yourself what you can safely do. Just be responsible for your own actions, and don't take on more than you have the ability to deal with.

Now GROW UP everyone!
 

MasamuneX7

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 16, 2005
Messages
70
I had no experience handling Ts of any kind, not even Rosies when I decided to handle my H. lividum. It was scary at first because she was so fast, but I was quickly accustomed to it. I don't have problems handling any species of T now.
 

Selenops

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 13, 2006
Messages
844
The undying thread. I feel no compulsion and in the back of my mind, I am always apprehensive that overhandling may affect my spider's behavior or maybe even it's feeding habits. No science behind my apprehensions but when one has a happy healthy spider that is the greatest reward of all.
 
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