My King Baboon sling escaped !

[Dilbrain]

Last night, at about 11pm, I decided to remove the uneaten 1/2 cricket from my King Baboon's little deli-cup enclosure.
I removed the lid and, using tweezers, picked up the carcass. The sling was not above the surface. Suddenly the sling appeared from one of the many tunnels and climbed out of the cup at an amazing speed.It 'jumped' onto my lap and then onto the floor...
My T tanks are shelved above my PC workstation which is under the stairs.
The KB disappeard from sight.
I spent 3 hours trying in vain to find the little bugger but it was nowhere to be seen. At 2am I deceided I'd better get some sleep, I have to leave the house at 6am for work..... :8o
I was most pi$$ed off, with 2 young kids in the house the last thing you want is a Baboon spider on the loose, however tiny it may be. I was also upset for the sling, what if it died of cold, it is nearly freezing at night time and the house isn't always heated.
Anyway I woke at 5am and decided to have another look.
I carefully pulled the chair from underneath the desk and looked at the floor area.
Bloody hell , there it was ! ;P
I managed to coax it onto my hand, as no cups were handy.
And it is now back in it's enclosure!
I learnt a lesson and will be more careful in the future.
The wife doesn't need to know and my kids are safe again!
On the downside, the little bleeder bit me, I felt a tiny pinch when I picked it up.
It is now 3 hours later and I feel fine. It's only an inch across and I doubt if any venom was used. Can slings actually bite deep enough to do any damage?
:?

 

[jamesc]

I doubt that you will notice any effects at all. But it's a very small price to pay for a very happy ending. Congrats.

 

[SouthernStyle]

Always Good When ya find a T that has Deceided to go on the Run! Congrats!

 

[malowie]

congrats! u were sooo lucky =)

 

[Dilbrain]

Thanks !
I feel very fortunate, I would have been gutted if it had either never shown up or I found it squashed....
I will take a load more care in the future, probably place the deli cup inside a larger container before opening the lid.

:?

 

[Binky/Carol]

I would think next time do any T work in the bath tub. With the drain closed of course. Just in case cause its small.

Carol

 

[green_bottle_04]

I would think next time do any T work in the bath tub. With the drain closed of course. Just in case cause its small.

Carol

i agree!!!! i do the exact same thing!! my little Brazilian Salmon has gotten out almost everytime i go to feed it! it really helps when you dont have all day to chase the little guys....unless for some reason you enjoy chasing spiders...if thats the case do it in the living room!!! :} :razz:

 

[NixHexDude]

I had to chase my roommate's curvehorn throughout my bedroom when I helped him transfer it. It was quite the amusing spectacle. His gf was screaming lol.

 

[syndicate]

glad to hear u found the little guy.whenever i do all my cage maintance:cleaning watering every week i always keep an empty deli cup and vial close by incase anyone trys to run.

 

[spid142]

glad you caught the T

Little buggers can run cant they? Ive only had 1 escape, so far, and I was very nervous, til I caged her. I do my major transfers in the bathroom, with the door closed, but for general crix feeding, etc. I stay in the T room. Mainly, be aware of where the T is at all times, helps, but Im sure a lot of keepers have had one escape now and then. A KB would definitely make me nervous if I had kids that might run across it on its 'exploration' . Glad you found the T.

 

[Dilbrain]

Thanks!

Since the recapture I have rehoused it into a larger deli-cup with higher walls.
Considering KB's a re slow growers this one has doubled in size in a few weeks.
Unless I actually recaptured a different spider.......? :?

 

[Sr. Chencho]

Appreciate the heads-up!

Dilbrain, glad you could recapture your KB. Your escape has given us a wakerupper when feeding. Sometimes when I see my King B. "underground" I uncover his enclosure, set him aside, and fish for a cricket in another container. NOW I'm thinking of the possiblity of him escaping while I'm not looking. From your description of great speed, he'll be long gone and hiding somewhere in my guest bedroom/ T room before I knew it. From now on I'm feeding my KB by everyone's suggestion, very carefully. Thanks for posting your unexpected and surprise adventure.
Fred

 

[treeweta]

when cleaning out KB spiderlings I do it in a big tank, once they are out of their regular container they seem to 'panic' and run and those things can go fast. Its quite typical for all T's to bolt once out their normal cage, quite disconcerting if its a 10 inch goliath but at least they dont try to squeeze between the wall and a sofa!

 

[Dilbrain]

Dilbrain, glad you could recapture your KB. Your escape has given us a wakerupper when feeding. Sometimes when I see my King B. "underground" I uncover his enclosure, set him aside, and fish for a cricket in another container. NOW I'm thinking of the possiblity of him escaping while I'm not looking. From your description of great speed, he'll be long gone and hiding somewhere in my guest bedroom/ T room before I knew it. From now on I'm feeding my KB by everyone's suggestion, very carefully. Thanks for posting your unexpected and surprise adventure.
Fred

No worries ! It's cool if something good comes out of this.
Since his recapture he hasn't gone underground, seems to be pacing the perimeter ready for his next escape.

 

[Cerbera]

Escaping the easy way...

Just a thought - would a spider find it a slower, or more difficult to exit if it wasn't in a deli cup ? I find, generally, that for escape-prone species, a tall glass jar gives one time to see a spider on its way out, and the slightly inward curving top of some jars definitely slows a spider down, and interrupts any 'dash' it might be trying to make.

Of course, terrestrials shouldn't be kept where they can climb and fall, but with small slings I find this is never a problem as their weight is so light they almost never fall, and if they do, their own bodyweight is not enough to do them damage at that size.

A deli cup, on the other hand, offers a frighteningly short and easy escape route for any spider kept in one, I would have thought, complete with nice grippy sides, and a relatively gentle incline up and out. Not trying to cast blame, but to suggest that the deli cup itself might contribute to the ease of the attempt.

 

[Lilija]

I'm glad you found it, having a sling go AWOL is distressing. My N. chromatus did that once, because I used to do all my spider stuff on the kitchen counter. It bolted, up my arm, over my shoulder, and somehow hopped back onto the counter, while I was floundering around trying to get it. We found her residing in a buncha bananas down the counter, like 20 minutes later.

Now, I do all my sling feeding on this huge empty stainless steel table, or for rehousing, in the tub.

 

[Dilbrain]

Just a thought - would a spider find it a slower, or more difficult to exit if it wasn't in a deli cup ? I find, generally, that for escape-prone species, a tall glass jar gives one time to see a spider on its way out, and the slightly inward curving top of some jars definitely slows a spider down, and interrupts any 'dash' it might be trying to make.

Of course, terrestrials shouldn't be kept where they can climb and fall, but with small slings I find this is never a problem as their weight is so light they almost never fall, and if they do, their own bodyweight is not enough to do them damage at that size.

A deli cup, on the other hand, offers a frighteningly short and easy escape route for any spider kept in one, I would have thought, complete with nice grippy sides, and a relatively gentle incline up and out. Not trying to cast blame, but to suggest that the deli cup itself might contribute to the ease of the attempt.

I concur 100 % !
His new container is about 4 inches higher, as soon as he grows noticeably I will increase the enclsure size/height.

 

[spid142]

height

Hmm, I dont know if height really matters, the regalis that escaped from me, got up and over the side of a large KK (the KK it was in when I bought her at the petstore), down the side, and ran across a foot of carpet, in the space of an eyeblink. That gave me respect for how fast some Ts can move. Anytime I open a container, a possible escape is in the back of my mind.

 

[ZOKU]

Congrats on finding it... :clap: That was a close one! Haha.