Let's hear some escape stories!

[Katiem253]

Recently while at a dingy local exotic pet shop, I came home with my new G. rosea. As a college student with an extremely arachnophobic boyfriend, bringing home a third tarantula wasn't quite ideal...but she's definitely grown on me (and I couldn't let her sit in the conditions that store had her in for any longer).
She's earned the name Morgan. How? Well, she's my escape artist, so she's named after Morgan Freeman and his role in the "escape" movie Shawshank Redemption.
The first time, it was our fault. We didn't realize she'd make it over the top of the tank and had left the tank uncovered when we first placed her in it.
The second time- our fault again...my A. avicularia has lived perfectly contained for months now with just a wet towel covering it's tank (Great for keeping the tank humid between classes and work). For some reason around 4 a.m., I suddenly woke up just in time to find Morgan figuring out she could lift up the towel and climb out.
Finally...and the best of all....after finally getting the proper lid, last night at some point my blanket slid off my bed just enough to bump the lid off her tank, giving her enough room to crawl out...I woke up this morning to her sitting on top of me grooming herself and staring at me as if to say "Yeah, I got out...and I'll do it again."
Only if my boyfriend was there to wake up to THAT.

I'm sure there's others out there who have "Morgans", let's hear THOSE stories.

 

[Alexandra V]

Haha what a little escape artist you have!

I've never had any T's escape, but I did catch a HUUUUUGE golden orb weaver (she had at least a 4" leg span, I swear) in my backyard last summer and was keeping it in a container to observe for a bit (I was going to release it afterwards). I had it in a deli container in my closet and when I opened it to dribble some water in for her, I got distracted by the phone ringing and just sat the top on the container without snapping it on. After the phone call I had forgotten that I didn't put the lid on properly and went about with my getting ready to leave to go to the comic book store, which involved me grabbing my reusable bag, which I kept right beside the orb weaver's container.

At this point I'll mention that the guy who owns the comic book store is DEBILITATINGLY arachnophobic. So I got the copies that I wanted and went to the cash to pay. I put my reusable bag up on the counter and the poor guy opened it and I'm sure he just about died! sitting in the bag is this huge spider, my golden orb weaver, who had clibed out of her container and hid herself in there while I was getting ready. I felt terrible for the guy, but in retrospect, my goodness was it funny!

P.S. from what you said in your story and the pic you posted, I just wanted to point out that G. Roseas need to be kept dry, so dry substrate with just a water dish will do, no need for the damp towel or anything like your avics need. Also, you don't need to feed it vertevrate prey (if you want to from time to time that's your prerogative, but just making sure you know it isn't a necessity).

 

[Meecht]

The lid on your G. rosea tank is so loose, a simple bump from your blanket was enough to dislodge it? What's to keep the T from simply moving the lid? If you don't think that will/could happen, check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-TCuFjrepk

You should secure the lid a little better.

As for me, I have yet to have an escape, but I've only been keeping Ts for a couple months now. Out of my G. rosea, 2x LP, and PZB I figure it will be either LP that will escape when they get bigger because I'll underestimate their strength.

 

[killy]

Here's my story(ies) - with pics! ...

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=188688

 

[Toad]

I've only had one escape, it was a juvenile B. smithi, about 3ish inches at the time of escape. I had him in a modified plastic box, the lid was super snug. Prior to his actual escape, I had noticed that a few times, when feeding him, his lid seemed to not be closed entirely, but I never thought anything of it. I was gone for a few days, and when I got back, I found the lid to his enclosure slid just enough to get a spider body out. We tore the reptile room apart (where my spiders are), as well as the rest of the house for days. When we couldn't find him, we just assumed that one of our large lizards got him. It wasn't until about 16 months later that we, well my fiance actually, found him. My fiance was going to put on a pair of pants that were on the floor, and as he stepped into them, something crawled across his foot - it about gave him a heart attack! By the time we found the spider, he had grown significantly, and about a month after putting him back into the cage, he went through his ultimate molt, and eventually made my female quite happy. We figure that he must have happily lived off the loose crickets and feeder roaches that he could find in the house.

 

[Crysta]

The second time- our fault again...my A. avicularia has lived perfectly contained for months now with just a wet towel covering it's tank (Great for keeping the tank humid between classes and work). For some reason around 4 a.m., I suddenly woke up just in time to find Morgan figuring out she could lift up the towel and climb out.
Finally...and the best of all....after finally getting the proper lid, last night at some point my blanket slid off my bed just enough to bump the lid off her tank, giving her enough room to crawl out...I

lol, theres lots of things wrong with this..*face palm*
You shouldnt keep your avic with just a paper towel, she may someday become explorative, escape and possibly die.
Somehow that's just bad husbandary. Would you keep an orange baboon tarantula (OBT/P. murinus) like that? lol


Tarantulas are pretty strong critters, I reccomend moving it away from your bed so it doesnt bump the spider and putting a few books on top of the enclosure, evenly spread out.

If you dont keep your tarantulas safely, the people that visit you will wonder, why is there no lid? are you crazy? kinda puts all of us in a bad spot... because the majority of us, I hope, do not just keep a papertowel as their lid.....

Also to keep up humidity in your avics tank you can get a plexiglass lid, drill some holes in it, and cover the tank, also by adding water to the soil.

 

[Offkillter]

It was my second day as a proud Avicularia versicolor owner.I went to check my ever growing brood,as often I do.When much to my surprise I realized one of my Avics was nowhere to be found.At first I was convinced it was an optical illusion,surely he must be in there.Upon further examination I was swept by the unsettling notion that after unboxing and housing my newest edition I neglected to double check the latch to it's enclosure.It was gone!

Now trying not to upset my semi arachnophobic wife I calmly began to scour the area around my T's. My wife mind you is a highly intelligent woman and quickly saw through my thinly veiled ruse. What was a calm search to find my rouge T became an all out demolition of my living room.We searched every conceivable nook and crevice with no luck! I was starting to freak! Then suddenly like an epiphany my eyes directed me up the wall directly above My little versi enclosure.About sixteen inches above it's cage hung a wire tree of life I had made many years ago.In it's branches sat that little Avicularia.Content as could be in a web it had spent most of the night constructing.I was relieved to say the least.

 

[killy]

I've only had one escape, it was a juvenile B. smithi, about 3ish inches at the time of escape. I had him in a modified plastic box, the lid was super snug. Prior to his actual escape, I had noticed that a few times, when feeding him, his lid seemed to not be closed entirely, but I never thought anything of it. I was gone for a few days, and when I got back, I found the lid to his enclosure slid just enough to get a spider body out. We tore the reptile room apart (where my spiders are), as well as the rest of the house for days. When we couldn't find him, we just assumed that one of our large lizards got him. It wasn't until about 16 months later that we, well my fiance actually, found him. My fiance was going to put on a pair of pants that were on the floor, and as he stepped into them, something crawled across his foot - it about gave him a heart attack! By the time we found the spider, he had grown significantly, and about a month after putting him back into the cage, he went through his ultimate molt, and eventually made my female quite happy. We figure that he must have happily lived off the loose crickets and feeder roaches that he could find in the house.

Wow, what an amazing stroke of circumstances - I wonder if I'll have the same kind of happy ending with my first A genic that you did - it's been about a year since he escaped - I kind of doubt it though, as bugs are scarce in my abode ... of course, maybe he's the reason they're scarce!

 

[ArkGullwing]

lol, theres lots of things wrong with this..*face palm*
You shouldnt keep your avic with just a paper towel, she may someday become explorative, escape and possibly die.
Somehow that's just bad husbandary. Would you keep an orange baboon tarantula (OBT/P. murinus) like that? lol


Tarantulas are pretty strong critters, I reccomend moving it away from your bed so it doesnt bump the spider and putting a few books on top of the enclosure, evenly spread out.

If you dont keep your tarantulas safely, the people that visit you will wonder, why is there no lid? are you crazy? kinda puts all of us in a bad spot... because the majority of us, I hope, do not just keep a papertowel as their lid.....

Also to keep up humidity in your avics tank you can get a plexiglass lid, drill some holes in it, and cover the tank, also by adding water to the soil.

Not that I disagree with your statements, I just wanna point out that it's a wet "towel" not a paper towel. Granted that doesn't make it much better but still XD

 

[wesker12]

c.fasciatum - fastest spider i have ever seen in my life and Ive seen alot. A sling vanished - thought it had burrowed but when i dumped out the sub it wasnt there...realized it must have escaped while I was watering it. Still mia

leave out wet paper towel filled deli cups for it corners and had several large house spiders come but no sling

poor lazy is gone I think

 

[Arachnobrian]

Here's a strange one.

One night after several beers, I decided to feed the spiders.

The lid was slid open about 1 1/2" for feeding of my adult GBB, and I accidentally left it open.

The next morning I noticed it was open and closed it, the strange thing I noticed was my GBB was exactly where she should be, but.....she had webbed the entire top of her lid.

My guess, she noticed the lid open, and decided to stake a claim to new territory.

 

[Katiem253]

We've definitely been naive in the security of the tanks, I'll admit that. My friend gave me the tanks which they originally had for fish, so the lid were long gone. We've had to be creative until my roommate could finally drive us down to a store that has the proper size lid (which we finally got to do yesterday).
The first time, we'd just gotten distracted while the tank was uncovered, and the 2nd time was wishful thinking to get us through to the morning. Both of which I admit was my fault and my stupidity.
The lid that slipped off I'd fashioned out of an old canvas I never used for one of my art classes. It was worth a shot as a temp...not.

Aaand the pinky was due to my friend wanting to spoil his scorpion, but they came in 3s, so we gave Morgan one as well.

 

[Echolalia]

Well last night, My 2" P. regalis sling got out of it's enclosure as I was doing maintenance and bolted under my bed. But I crawled under there and caught him with a cup I'm really glad too, it's one of my favorites, and my very first escape! Just had to be a pokie

 

[gromgrom]

This isnt T's, but one of my eight Androctonus australis scorplings got loose. found it in my lat bin two weeks later, lethargic and stuffed. its completely fine now

 

[Endagr8]

Here's a few stories:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=142859

 

[Querx]

O.B.T.....

Nuff said...