How fast can a tarantula be?

Well there aren't many interesting videos and I haven't seen one about people making T's run on purpose by provoking them. But here's a YouTube video or two.

 

I'd never say they're lightening fast, to be honest.

They're reasonably quick. There are faster animals around. If T's are lightening fast, then how would you describe faster animals?

They can look quicker over very short distances, like this video:

https://instagram.com/p/BIh2mn3AnEO/

Even if a tarantula could do 20 inches in one second, that's only 1.1mph lol.

 

How fast can a tarantula be?

Surprisingly.

 

Too damn fast if you ask me haha. I've had a Nhandu chromatus pull a stunt like this:

 

How fast? Faster than you can react.

 

Gotta look at scale mph not raw mph

 

Faster than even a camera can capture. My P. Metallica was in one spot one moment and clear across its enclosure the next millisecond. They can literally teleport in the blink of an eye. It's amazing and teaches you respect for caring for them.

 

No you don't.

In Physics (I'm a theoretical physicist by the way), speed of electrons are still measured in mph/kmh, just like any speed is measured from a certain point. The size of the object isn't a consideration when calculating ones velocity.

 

Well, as a reference, avics are said to be one of the slowest arboreals.

Multiple times during feeding I have dropped a cricket into an avics tank, looked away for literally 4 or 5 seconds, look back and the Avic has the cricket, but the spider is in the same location that it was when I looked before...now that's speed, having caught cricket and returned to its web that fast.

Just my experience, and like I said avics are considered slow arboreals

 

It depends on what your asking. Are they fast at striking or fast over distances? These are two different questions IMO.

I do have quite a few tarantulas that are considered fast and here is my take on tarantula speed.

An ambush predator is going to strike quickly. If they did't we would know about them cause they would have died out. No matter if it's a tarantula or a snake they are quick when ambushing. I think this is where the 'teleportation' idea comes from. I don't think they teleport any more than I think my ball python teleports. They both do strike quickly though.

Over distances I really don't feel they are any faster then some of the lizards (green anole) we have here. I've not had one yet that I couldn't easily head off using a catch cup with little more effort than when catching a lizard for my nephews. The above OBT got away not because it was overly fast but because the idiot filming the video had tongs in one hand, a camera the other, and no catch cup.

There are some species that are considered really fast (such as Taps) that I don't own so I can't speak for them.

 

T's catch you out or more accurately surprise you. You either see then completely still or very slowly moving around or not at all. Then when you do see them whilst feeding etc they show you what they're capable of.

In a Street race you'd beat one.

In trying to close the door or put the lid on a tub you may not. They can run along the sides of their enclosures faster than you think. Watch a surprised pokie for example. A pita patter on the glass and a blur.

 

They can startle you with quick bursts of speed. Like most ambush predators they are motionless a lot of the time (which can fool you into thinking they are normally slow) and then can strike very quickly.

I have a number of pokies and they can be quick. On occasion they have come out of the enclosure and I've easily rounded them up with the catch cup. That's why I work with all my Ts in a nice open area. It gives me time to react when they make a break for it.

I feel like it's the confined enclosure that makes people think they teleport. A tarantula making a few laps around a 32 oz deli cup sounds impressive until you take that distance and lay it out on the floor. Then it's not as far as you thought and there are a lot of animals that can easily cover the same distance when it's adjusted for size.

They can be quick and you should always work with them expecting that. I have several catch cups on my work station with in easy reach at all times.

 

Yep, don't panic is the answer. An empty cricket tub is all you need to catch a T should it escape.

My juvi/semi adult P. Subfusca is a fast little sod. I thought the worst when she was out of her cork bark tube on the floor of her enclosure under the leaves of a plant. Touched her with a feather and boom. Face hugger running around.

My little Ctenus red fang seems faster still. But she's in a smaller tub. She does teleport though.

 

well to answer your question OP some T's are pretty quick in short bursts but there are quicker animals out there. For example my first herp was a golden gecko (gekko badenii) from Vietnam. Possibly the fasted animal I've ever owned. We are talking as fast as a t goes around a deli cup, going around a 12x20 room. And all the while it was capable of propelling itself like a missile from wall to wall should running not be effective enough in evading my capture. This gecko also liked to bite, so it was a learning experience and it taught me to respect it, just like you should always respect the ability of a T.

 

How does that work?

 

I'm perfectly aware (I'm a mechanical engineering and physics major), but that's kinda irrelevant here. When we are talking about speed we are talking about how fast they can travel from point a to point b in relation to their body size. When viewed in this model they are incredibly fast animals. To look at it from a literal standpoint is deceptive since any human could react to a object moving 1.1mph but a tarantulas ability to traverse distance in relation to its size is what makes them formidable

 

Like @Poec54 said, they're faster than you can react which is why I never try to "catch" one of my fasties if it makes a run for it. I just stay calm and still and keep an eye on them until they stop. They go in bursts until they find somewhere to hide or they feel that they have gotten away from the danger. Trying to catch them while they're still running is more likely to end up in a bite or an injured tarantula. Anyway, here's a vid of a P. cambridgei showing its speed (as well as an idiot keeper...notice the spider was doing just fine and dandy until this ass decided he needed to impress his friends).

 

From my experience with p.regalis there extremely fast I only got it today and I already had to rehouse it so I opened its container up and I nearly cried because I th out I trapped it's legs that's how much I like it but they will bolt it trust me