Handling: Calling out Immortal Sin

[skinheaddave]

Holley,

Do you have any tips for those of us who would like to handle more flighty/agressive Ts?

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Nixy]

Good liquar, good insurance and soundproof room.
So our screams are masked....

 

[Phillip]

I'm not Holley but....

The only real trick to it is to get them moving as opposed to rearing up and striking. On the species that tend to turn around and come after whatever touches them simply use forceps to let it strike at them. Once it has given up on attacking the intruder it will choose option 2 which is to retreat. At this point you simply walk them up the side of their container and over the edge into your hand. You can also do it on the floor but I have had better luck not having the more defensive species go into a light speed run on me if they are moving over the edge of the tank as they seem to slow down rather than just fly right over it. The main thing is that you can't restrain their movement or they will feel threatened and bite. Now do keep in mind that I am not promoting nor am I condoning the handling of the more defensive species but having both done this and seen it done too many times to count I know from experience that there are no magic powers involved. Simply be calm and don't do what makes the spider feel threatened kind of like handling a bitey snake. If you grasp tightly say an amazon tree boa then it is more likely than not going to tag you where if you let it pass through your hands and act like a tree branch so to speak they tend to handle just fine. It all comes down to understanding the behavior of the animal.

Phil

 

[NorthwestInverts]

in short...don't panick! read their body language, they will definetely be reading yours. and "make yourself the ground, a tree, etc..." be confindent but respect them. There is not alot to it really. I received a huge 9"+ blondi 2 weeks ago that was absolutely defensive (to say the least, striking with fangs bared, not just little "bumps" but actual bitey bitey.) everytime I even got near her....4 days later she was crawling about my hands with no show of fear or defense. I personally think it's about confidence and and being able to read their body language. There are for sure no big secrets to it. to each his own.

 

[skinheaddave]

Well, I just handled one of my juvenile B.vagans. Not particularily agressive, but definitely flighty. It was definitely cool, though for some reason, spiders still make me a lot more nervous than scorpions. I think it is because I have scorpion body language down pat, but am still learning spider language. Anyhow, I think I'll continue to move slowly up the chain -- see you in the bite report forum.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Godzilla2000]

Originally posted by skinheaddave
Holley,

Do you have any tips for those of us who would like to handle more flighty/agressive Ts?

Cheers,
Dave

I personally think you're nuts to want to hold a flighty defensive spider. In the back of my head is the fact that it might bite me. I've had my Cobalt rear up and throw me a defensive, nasty posture so I respect my defensive spiders alot. My other more important concern would be for the safety of the animal. If something like the slightest noise or jerk of the hand scares it, defensive tarantulas can leap off your hand like a bullet out of the muzzle of a gun. If it were to take a nassty fall it could kill itself. Trust me. My Cobalt regularly leaps around her Pet Pal at night. I've gauged her vertical jump as being close to 7 inches in height. And that is within a split second. So my best advice is not to handle the defensive breed of spiders at all.

 

[skinheaddave]

Re: Re: Handling: Calling out Immortal Sin

Originally posted by Godzilla2000
I personally think you're nuts to want to hold a flighty defensive spider.

That's an entirely different issue, though, isn't it?

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Godzilla2000]

Re: Re: Re: Handling: Calling out Immortal Sin

Originally posted by skinheaddave
That's an entirely different issue, though, isn't it?

Cheers,
Dave

I guess this is one of those say a stupid phrase get a stupid phrase back kinda things. ;P I challenge you to handle an Orange Bitey Thing there dude without it biting you.

 

[Immortal_sin]

just saw the thread....you should ask Pategirl...and Joy, they are the queens of handling defensive spiders!
But what Phil said is true....you have to be able to read body language, and make them think you are part of the scenery.
My M robustum had her fangs extended partway the entire handling period, but since she thought my hand was just another surface, she didn't bite it.
Also, I've found that once they are out of their own comfortable territory, and not feeling like they have to defend it, then they can relax.
A great example are my Aphonopelmas...they are hellish in their burrows! The greatest threat displays ever
But once you get them away from the burrow, they are much more mellow.
And that holds true with the defensive ones I've handled:
C crayshawi, M robustum, P fasciata, P regalis, H maculata (ok, that was cheating...she was dehydrated!), A geniculata, etc
Anyway, sometimes I feel compelled to handle a defensive spider, and then I do it. However, there have been times that I felt like it, and due to the attitude... I thought better of it for that evening!

 

[XOskeletonRED]

The only truly defensive T I have is an Orange Baboon. I've handled him once before, but that's only because he shot out of the top of the tank faster that my eyesight could catch him but my hand sure did. *lol* It took me about fifteen minutes to figure out how to let him go without him getting the best of me when I released him. Good thing I'm very careful and fast with my hands and didn't hurt him. I did handle my other Ts purposely though. I think the most defensive of the others would be Golden Earth Tiger female, then the Salmon Pink, but she's so big, she's slower than my hand. It took me a while after scorps to get anything down with Ts. I only handle them upon initial shipment arrival because they are the slowest moving in most cases, at that time. After they reach the enclosure, they are home...permanently, and are very seldomly bothered by any means.

adios,
edw.

 

[skinheaddave]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Handling: Calling out Immortal Sin

Originally posted by Godzilla2000
I challenge you to handle an Orange Bitey Thing there dude without it biting you.

Maybe someday. I have a juvenile P.murinus that has never struck defensively. He does, however, have an extensive network of tunnels/webbing and is quick to retreat. I doubt his disposition would be so cheery if I denied him his home. Besides, I fundementaly agree with you that defensive/flighty species shouldn't be handled. I just want to redraw the line at which I call it quits.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Gillian]

My defensive one would be my blondi..
She's hissed, and pointed "the barrel of her gun", but that's it..(I've been haired, so, believe me..I respect her

Is it just me or, am I seeing things?? My blondi has a perfectly round abdomen. When she's feeling defensive..it appears to become pointed..:?
Peace,
Gillian

 

[belewfripp]

I have one little bit of polite disagreement to make with Phillip and Holley and that is about the spider thinking you're part of the scenery. I agree that when done the way Phillip mentioned, the spider does seem to interpret one's hand that way at first (and also that this is the best way to handle these types). But as sensitive as a Ts senses are, I find it hard to believe that after a minute or two the spider hasn't caught on that everything isn't quite how it seemed at first, from the warmth of a human hand to the smell that must be quite different from your average rock or tree branch. Perhaps they continue to remain calm because they haven't been made to feel threatened, yet. There are plenty of docile Ts that hardly ever seem to feel threatened by their keepers, I don't think it is a stretch to say that when a feisty T is 'tricked' like this, by avoiding the alarming part, the spider isn't feeling threatened, i.e. it isn't necessarily big, smelly mammals that bother them so much as big, smelly mammals nosing around in their burrows and business.

Or I could be completely wrong.

Adrian

 

[Justin Stricklin]

I'd like to see someone hold an "orange bity thing". You'd have to pay me alot of money to do that.
Justin

 

[Immortal_sin]

Adrian, what you say makes perfect sense....but perhaps once they are out of familiar territory, and over the shock, maybe they tend to settle down a bit? I saw this over and over at the ATS convference last year with Rosemary. A BUNCH of us held her mature male P regalis, something I'd probably not attempt here at home.
Sure, he was quite skittish, but he would settle down. He had to know that each person even was different, but apparently didn't think it a sufficient threat for biting.
And SHD...maybe you should ask Conipto about handling....I just looked at his 'part deux' thread....

 

[Godzilla2000]

Originally posted by Justin Stricklin
I'd like to see someone hold an "orange bity thing". You'd have to pay me alot of money to do that.
Justin

Actually, somebody in these forums did. And they got pics too. I forgot who it was.