My goofy pinktoes and handling

[MissHarlen]

Contrary to my profile pic and most recent gallery post, I really try not to handle any of my Ts. My pinktoes like to challenge this preference and come out of their enclosures, and I end up trying to coax them back in while they use my hands as a jungle gym.

My Caribena slings head straight for the outside world whenever I open their tanks, which is one reason I'm not a huge fan of Jamie's arboreal sling enclosure. The upside down set up is odd for maintenence. My big Avic is in a too small container right now, so of course she tries to make a run for it whenever the lid comes off.

Any handling I do is accompanied by trying to get them back in and me saying "Get back in your house!" as I fumble around.

My pinkies are likely the only tarantulas I will let crawl on me and rarely will I ever open the rank with the intention of getting them out. They just like to mess up my plans xD

 

[viper69]

Sounds like you have at least 1 rehouse do, and to find better ways to prevent these escapes. Avics are one of the worst to have an escape IME because they will leap 5 ft or more, and may fall to their death etc.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Avics are one of the worst to have an escape IME because they will leap 5 ft or more, and may fall to their death etc.

Or to rehouse, they just flat out refuse to go where you want them to.

I remember when I got my A. sp. Pet Shop and it took me about 10 mins to transfer it to a suitable padded container to transport home, that involved it climbing all over my forearms and jumping back into the crappy braplast box they'd kept it in twice, bloody nightmare lol.

I rehoused my P. pulcher yesterday, coaxed him out of his old enclosure and into a large container so I could take some photos, placed the new enclosure into the container and prodded him once to get him to move towards it, he ran straight towards the new enclosure, clambered up the outside of it and went straight inside and to the bottom of the enclosure... I was like "Not that I'm complaining but what sorcery is this?"

 

[JDS123]

Sounds like you have at least 1 rehouse do, and to find better ways to prevent these escapes. Avics are one of the worst to have an escape IME because they will leap 5 ft or more, and may fall to their death etc.

genuinely curious about avics and other arboreals durability considering the heights and nature of the strengths in jumping. Wonder if its been studied much. Another day another thread. You obviously have been around the block a bit, if you know of anything let me know with a link or something. I guess it wouldn't bee an easy thing to test unless its been observed more in the wild. Im not about to start a avic drop test lab lol. Anyways, take care bud. Seems like it would be a cool study, I cant afford that trip to the other side of the world though.

 

[Ungoliant]

genuinely curious about avics and other arboreals durability considering the heights and nature of the strengths in jumping. Wonder if its been studied much.

Due to being less bulky and built for arboreal life, Avicularia are probably a little less vulnerable to falls than terrestrials. However, even when they take leaps of faith in nature (to escape predators), they are probably more likely to encounter leaves or branches on their way down (as opposed to landing on a hard floor).

So even though they may be more vulnerable to a fall, if I were going to handle a tarantula, I would pick one of the docile terrestrial species. Avics are flighty, and I would feel terrible if one jumped to its death in my care.

That being said, I view tarantulas as display pets and not something to handle.

 

[viper69]

I completely agree with you @The Grym Reaper . For a T that is shy, they sure are the worst when it comes to cooperating. They are SOOOO stubborn. Ive dealt w/their stubbornness many times!

 

[viper69]

genuinely curious about avics and other arboreals durability considering the heights and nature of the strengths in jumping. Wonder if its been studied much. Another day another thread. You obviously have been around the block a bit, if you know of anything let me know with a link or something. I guess it wouldn't bee an easy thing to test unless its been observed more in the wild. Im not about to start a avic drop test lab lol. Anyways, take care bud. Seems like it would be a cool study, I cant afford that trip to the other side of the world though.

It hasn't been studied that Im aware of. 99% of T studies are taxonomic, 1% involve studying their venom. Very, very few studies are based in physiology.

 

[JDS123]

It hasn't been studied that Im aware of. 99% of T studies are taxonomic, 1% involve studying their venom. Very, very few studies are based in physiology.

I know I'm seeing more and more that over all these years, Ts and centipedes too are not overly studied other than lots of hobbiest studies.