How can I make a tarantula friendly?

[Moakmeister]

And I know this is possible.
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of meeting a tarantula (I forget if it was a rosie or a Red Knee) named Peanut. She was at an elementary school, on tour from a museum. The handler was holding Peanut in her hand, and allowing people to pet her abdomen. This tarantula might as well have been asleep. She was the calmest thing ever. I was volunteering at this exhibit, and I got to spend several hours with Peanut, and she never did anything to indicate stress or anger, even though hundreds of kids touched her. Her abdomen's hair was incredibly soft. When I asked the handler why Peanut was so calm, the handler said that Peanut had been around humans for most of her life, and did not associate them with danger. Does anyone know how I could train a tarantula to enjoy being handled?

 

[obie]

from my experience every tarantula has its own personality there is nothing you can do to make them calmer just depends on the individual T its self

 

[scott308]

It is not possible to "train" a tarantula. Tarantulas don't have brains, they have a bundle of nerves, which makes them incapable of learning. Some species tend to be more easy-going than others, although that can still vary from spider to spider, and even a tarantula that has been calm can change their behavior. Handling does nothing positive for the spider, it only exposes it to unnecessary risks. Also, the hairs on the abdomen are a defense mechanism. Tarantulas will flick those into the air, and they will irritate the eyes, nose, mouth of a predator, so petting a tarantula is not the best idea.

 

[shining]

And I know this is possible.
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of meeting a tarantula (I forget if it was a rosie or a Red Knee) named Peanut. She was at an elementary school, on tour from a museum. The handler was holding Peanut in her hand, and allowing people to pet her abdomen. This tarantula might as well have been asleep. She was the calmest thing ever. I was volunteering at this exhibit, and I got to spend several hours with Peanut, and she never did anything to indicate stress or anger, even though hundreds of kids touched her. Her abdomen's hair was incredibly soft. When I asked the handler why Peanut was so calm, the handler said that Peanut had been around humans for most of her life, and did not associate them with danger. Does anyone know how I could train a tarantula to enjoy being handled?

It is not possible.

 

[viper69]

And I know this is possible.

This is NOT possible. They do not have the cognitive ability to learn such things. They are wild animals, case closed.

The person who told you this information doesn't know anything about T behavior.

 

[Andrea82]

My tarantula are perfectly friendly. How?
because i leave them be, and only disturb them for food, water and maintenance, and i don't handle them.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

And I know this is possible.

I hear you, man.

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of meeting a tarantula (I forget if it was a rosie or a Red Knee) named Peanut.

By far one of the kind, delicate, pure and noble statements I've read here.

Does anyone know how I could train a tarantula to enjoy being handled?

You need to enter in symbiosis with the Theraphosidae. It's almost impossible to explain with words... it's not a question of decades of experience, cold blood, reckless useless stunts or what. Pointless to ask such questions to others.

You need to crush, first, that "dimension" shamefully connected to logic and boring things like that. After all, a Portoguese soldier of Prester John army managed to cuddle an unicorn, yet no one believes such stories.

You know why? It's better to label those incontrovertibles facts as legends, instead of crushing the "door" of knowledge.

Blemmyes? Legends. Unicorns? Never existed. Monopods... uh, what? Manticore? Never heard that. See? Those are only examples that perfectly explains why the world is messed up and great thinker and revolutionariest like yourself not considered the way deserved

 

[louise f]

No no and no!! There's no such thing as a friendly tarantula.
Yes you can handle some species untill they get enough of your crap and bite you. (But i wont recommend holding them ) you can't tame a T period !! It is a predator a wild animal.
Get a dog or a cat if you need a friendly animal

 

[creepa]

Go for the blue ones..., like Haplopelma lividum or Lampropelma violaceopes, these are the best to train.

Give them lots and lots of hugs and kisses and they become friendly verry quick....

 

[Vanessa]

Tarantulas, like all other wild animals who have almost non existent cognitive abilities, have different tolerance levels when it comes to human interaction. Those tolerance levels are sometimes shared by groups of individuals, but they are always determined at the individual level. Some tolerate you more, or longer, than others. And they tolerate you until they don't. If you are lucky, they might be an animal who flees when their tolerance runs out - if you are unlucky, you get bitten.
The only thing predictable about them is that they are completely unpredictable.

 

[CyclingSam]

Sometimes I think my A. geniculata has learned that the large looming mass in the room is responsible for providing food. Sometime when I walk over to look at my T.'s she will come out of her hide and runs into the the side of the enclosure. She also goes nuts and starts looking for food. When I do throw the food in there she often misses and it takes her like 5 tries to get her prey. Probably just a typical crazy A. geniculata.

 

[Robyn8]

Go for the blue ones..., like Haplopelma lividum or Lampropelma violaceopes, these are the best to train.

Give them lots and lots of hugs and kisses and they become friendly verry quick....

P. murinus too, they always seem to be longing for affection.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

P. murinus too, they always seem to be longing for affection.

They aren't the "orange monsters" always depicted, only shy T's that reacts to fear acting like Jack Nicholson in "Shining". Aside for that detail, overall they are lovely overgrown babies

 

[creepa]

P. murinus too, they always seem to be longing for affection.

And dont forget the ones they call earthkittens like Haplopelma schmidti and Cyriopagopus sp. Sulawesi black...

They love a good hugg...

 

[Vanessa]

Instinct and cognition are two different things. While an animal might not have cognitive abilities, that does not mean that they cannot form a response to outside stimuli and act accordingly when it is in their best interest.
When it floods, they often seek higher ground. They might even be able to anticipate cyclical flooding because it is part of their experience. That doesn't mean that they understand flooding, or reason with themselves that it is time to go high because it might flood. It is an instinctual response to an environmental change that has become part of their experience that aids in their survival.
Another behaviour that illustrates ingrained, instinctual, survival behaviour is that many of them have evolved to be nocturnal. Being nocturnal means that they have more prey, and less predators, than if they were diurnal. That is not a conscious choice based on reasoning and logic by individuals - it is a trait evolved over millions of years from the basic instinct to survive.
Saying that they are acting in an specific manner due to associating your presence, or interaction, with being fed might not be impossible - however, it is not your interaction specifically that they are acting upon, but the overall interaction that you are having with their environment. Your movements mimic those of prey that they would experience in the wild and they act accordingly. That is very different from developing a positive association with you specifically.
However, when these conversations about handling come up - that is not what is being implied. What is being implied is that the tarantula has the ability to reason that you specifically are a safe being, one that means them no harm, and that they do not need to act defensively to your interaction with them because they are familiar with you personally. People believe that they possess the reasoning ability to differentiate you from a deadly predator and associate you with being safe. They are not capable of coming to that conclusion and they never will regardless of how often you interact with them in a non deadly manner. Beings with far higher intelligence cannot always make that distinction - how can you expect it from a being with the most basic of intelligence and who lacks the physical parts of the brain responsible for that level of cognition?
They don't know who you are personally and they never will, they don't like or dislike you, and they will never be able to differentiate you from a dangerous predator. They are tolerating you and there is never any guarantee that they will continue to do so.
People need to not only understand that, but they need to respect it as well. Respecting creatures who differ from us, and learning to appreciate them specifically because of those differences, is what is going to save these creatures in the end. Forcing them to adhere to what we are comfortable with, or what serves our purposes, is what creates a barrier to respect and understanding which often leads to their extinction. Nature has them on this planet to serve a higher purpose than to be a plaything for humans, their value is not determined by us, and we have no right to attach a value to them based on what they do for us. They are here to serve their own purpose without taking into account human presence at all... let alone what we get from them.
Please respect that.

 

[cold blood]

And I know this is possible.
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of meeting a tarantula (I forget if it was a rosie or a Red Knee) named Peanut. She was at an elementary school, on tour from a museum. The handler was holding Peanut in her hand, and allowing people to pet her abdomen. This tarantula might as well have been asleep. She was the calmest thing ever. I was volunteering at this exhibit, and I got to spend several hours with Peanut, and she never did anything to indicate stress or anger, even though hundreds of kids touched her. Her abdomen's hair was incredibly soft. When I asked the handler why Peanut was so calm, the handler said that Peanut had been around humans for most of her life, and did not associate them with danger. Does anyone know how I could train a tarantula to enjoy being handled?

The "handler" of peanut, is an idiot.

Letting people "pet" a t is just ridiculous.

Your question is like asking, "how do I make my car love me back, I really want to snuggle with it, but it just seems cold and rigid. I know I can make this car love me back, I met a crazy person that said it was possible, what do I do."

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Your question is like asking, "how do I make my car love me back, I really want to snuggle with it, but it just seems cold and rigid. I know I can make this car love me back, I met a crazy person that said it was possible, what do I do."

Well, here my man one of the most shamefully culprits for that rapture is this old drunk man.

 

[Andrea82]

Well, here my man one of the most shamefully culprits for that rapture is this old drunk man.

Well, at least that car WAS really talking. I've met some patients whose car wasn't talking, but they were adamant that it was....mainly to tell them to cause a crash or ignore red lights...


@VanessaS
I love how you always put so much respect and knowledge in your posts. Missed you, glad you're back!

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Well, at least that car WAS really talking. I've met some patients whose car wasn't talking, but they were adamant that it was....mainly to tell them to cause a crash or ignore red lights...

I love those situations and those kind of weirdos. I'm glad that in Italy the system an helluva of time ago decided to close the state owned mental health care asylums. I love in particular those that believes to be Saints reborn or a man (now died) that loved to walk in the streets here dressed like a 'Nam soldier, muahahahahahahah, pretending he was one. The key for laughs IMO is to follow what they say not only with "yes" but following their statements, articulate etc

When my family had a Bar (well, my Bro still owns one) me & Bro literally collected for laughs those kind of people, as our private Barnum circus

 

[Andrea82]

I love those situations and those kind of weirdos. I'm glad that in Italy the system an helluva of time ago decided to close the state owned mental health care asylums. I love in particular those that believes to be Saints reborn or a man (now died) that loved to walk in the streets here dressed like a 'Nam soldier, muahahahahahahah, pretending he was one. The key for laughs IMO is to follow what they say not only with "yes" but following their statements, articulate etc

When my family had a Bar (well, my Bro still owns one) me & Bro literally collected for laughs those kind of people, as our private Barnum circus

With the risk of derailing this thread further...
Yes, there are 'cases' (i hate that word) where it manifests lightly or in a benign form, without risk for either patients or others. But i'll never forget the 18-year old crying her heart out on a table because she just couldn't save the world, and how the world would explode because she couldn't stop it. I was only two years older. She didn't eat, or drink because she wasn't worth it because she failed mankind.

Or a boy, five years older than me who tried to take out a collegue's eyes with a plastic knife because, according to him, she had the evil eye, and was there to kill him. He even sought our help because he was only defending himself.
The collegue lost sight on one eye, and severe vision loss on the other.
It can be funny, psychosis, but all too often, it is not.