Is this a stressed out T?

[Tbizzle]

From a local farm. Looked like the T is regularly handled for novelty. Possibly a travelling show.

 

[Drizzliz]

Looks like a T that's due to molt any day (very dark abdomen where hair is lacking).

Although if its regularly handled, it's quite possibly stressed as well. The lack of hair could be because of the imminent molt, not necessarily due to kicking from stress.

 

[Tenebrarius]

no stress posture, but molt looks imminent.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

It's in heavy pre-moult, any bald patches (these are a result of kicking hairs) turn black when a moult is imminent. Leave it alone other than to make sure it has a full water dish and don't attempt to feed until it has fully hardened after moulting.

 

[Paul1126]

I like how you say it could be stressed from being handled for novelty and proceed to handle it for novelty

 

[Arachnophoric]

That particular image looks like the T isn't too upset, but it's hard to tell anything from a still photo when the animal is being handled/manipulated. A good way to tell if a T is stressed is if it does something called a "stress curl", where it'll draw its legs in tight around it's body and shield itself. Stress can also present as constant movement as they try to get away from whatever is bothering them.

0.1 Pelinobius muticus

• Arachnophoric
• May 4, 2017
• 3
• pelinobius

One of the only good pictures I got of this gorgeous girl before she disappeared into the...

Please don't handle a T, particularly when it's in heavy premolt/recently molted. I'm going to take a guess and say the bald patch is from kicking hairs, which they do when they feel threatened/want to be left alone. Tarantulas do not enjoy/get anything out of being handled as they're antisocial creatures that live alone in nature outside of breeding and hatching offspring, and it actually poses a significant danger to handle them if they fall/get dropped from heights exceeding more than twice their legspan. If you MUST handle, please try to do so while sitting down low to the ground, preferably over something soft and in an open space where the T can't get under/in anything i.e. furniture if it suddenly bolts. Tarantulas can have sudden moodswings/changes in behavior and go from calmly walking or sitting in place one second to flinging itself off your hand the next over something as simple as accidentally breathing too hard on it.

 

[Flashback]

That particular image looks like the T isn't too upset, but it's hard to tell anything from a still photo when the animal is being handled/manipulated. A good way to tell if a T is stressed is if it does something called a "stress curl", where it'll draw its legs in tight around it's body and shield itself. Stress can also present as constant movement as they try to get away from whatever is bothering them.

0.1 Pelinobius muticus

• Arachnophoric
• May 4, 2017
• 3
• pelinobius

One of the only good pictures I got of this gorgeous girl before she disappeared into the...

Please don't handle a T, particularly when it's in heavy premolt/recently molted. I'm going to take a guess and say the bald patch is from kicking hairs, which they do when they feel threatened/want to be left alone. Tarantulas do not enjoy/get anything out of being handled as they're antisocial creatures that live alone in nature outside of breeding and hatching offspring, and it actually poses a significant danger to handle them if they fall/get dropped from heights exceeding more than twice their legspan. If you MUST handle, please try to do so while sitting down low to the ground, preferably over something soft and in an open space where the T can't get under/in anything i.e. furniture if it suddenly bolts. Tarantulas can have sudden moodswings/changes in behavior and go from calmly walking or sitting in place one second to flinging itself off your hand the next over something as simple as accidentally breathing too hard on it.

My T has done that before.....sometimes it looks like that when I come home....It's not in the hide or anything, just out in the open like that..... I wonder why it's stressed sometimes.

 

[Azolachifulai]

My tarantula is like this after molt

 

[Smotzer]

My tarantula is like this after molt

normal after a molt, but looks like a lot of height in between substrate and top of enclosure.

 

[Matt Man]

T is not in a stress posture so I will say No. It is also, as others have mentioned, in pre molt. The conjecture about it being stressed because it is handled is, well, conjecture considering it isn't showing signs of stress