Newbie questions- Aphonopelma Anax as a therapy spider

[Andrea82]

How much effort does it take to lift the lid? Don't mean to scare you, but T's are escape artists a d have nothing but time on their hands. If your unsure, you can put a heavy book on top of it.
It's okay to get him out and raise the substrate. Just make sure everything is in order after that.
You can also opt for leaving it be, since you're moving on monday, you'll have to put it in a traveling container anyway. Then raise the substrate in your office, give it a good waterdish and you're goid to go. I would however leave it be for at least a week to settle down. Make sure the dish is full, feeding can wait. No jostling the cage or moving/handling for a week.

 

[Vanessa]

I'm looking at an adult Brachypelma Albopilosum. I really like the red knee, but sounds like they are super fast so I'm nervous about that. The curly hair ones sound really docile and fuzzy.

I think the B. albopilosum is an excellent choice. I wouldn't go for a B. smithi, only because they are often hair kickers. You can't even look at my two without them kicking up clouds of hairs. If your patients got those hairs on them, it wouldn't be a positive experience. My B. albopilosum never kick hairs - even when rehousing them.
Plus, they are hardy, inexpensive and easy to find as juveniles and adults.

 

[viper69]

I think the B. albopilosum is an excellent choice. I wouldn't go for a B. smithi, only because they are often hair kickers. You can't even look at my two without them kicking up clouds of hairs. If your patients got those hairs on them, it wouldn't be a positive experience. My B. albopilosum never kick hairs - even when rehousing them.
Plus, they are hardy, inexpensive and easy to find as juveniles and adults.

The same can be said for B. albo. as well. Neither is a good choice if one is concerned about the setae.

 

[viper69]

By the way- is there any concern about that the T can get out of this enclosure I put together? It is an attached lid, so I just lift it up and it opens. There is no clasp or anything. I imagined the T wouldn't be nearly strong enough to move it to get out, but I'd hate to be wrong....

Depends on how heavy the lid is. They are stronger and are more determined than you know. They move primarily by hydraulics. Their determination is significant when set to task, no less than any inmate who has nothing but time on his/her hands.

For escape via vent holes, if your Ts carapace can fit through the hole, your T can escape as a general rule.

Here's a nice video for you

And another

 

[viper69]

Euathlus sp. red/yellow

They are going to RULE the WORLD!!!!! I love mine, even my MM Yellow.

 

[Octagon]

Depends on how heavy the lid is. They are stronger and are more determined than you know. They move primarily by hydraulics. Their determination is significant when set to task, no less than any inmate who has nothing but time on his/her hands.

For escape via vent holes, if your Ts carapace can fit through the hole, your T can escape as a general rule.

Here's a nice video for you

And another

[/Q

Prison Break! Thanks for posting those very entertaining videos. One could almost see the wheels turning in the first one during those long pauses - "should I go forward or back?" Or "Hope I don't get stuck!" So cute when the big butt finally popped through and he/she tumbled out, righted himself, and carried on calm, cool and collected.

 

[Octagon]

Depends on how heavy the lid is. They are stronger and are more determined than you know. They move primarily by hydraulics. Their determination is significant when set to task, no less than any inmate who has nothing but time on his/her hands.

For escape via vent holes, if your Ts carapace can fit through the hole, your T can escape as a general rule.

Here's a nice video for you

And another

Sorry viper69, my previous post is not actually empty. My comment in response to your delightful videos ended up added onto the end of your actual quote in my post. Sloppy typing on this iPad.

 

[Garth Vader]

Wow! Those videos. I bought a little latch for the enclosure. I'll attach it tomorrow when I have to take him out for the move to my office. Hopefully the last move for a while!

One last enclosure question- how many holes should be there for breathing? I drilled a bunch in the top but thinking of drilling more tomorrow. I drilled about 15 small holes in the top.

By the way- my family and friends are so shocked and freaked out that I have a T! It's so funny. I tell them he's much easier to deal with than my dogs or my toddler, although I have spent most of this weekend researching and learning!

 

[viper69]

Wow! Those videos. I bought a little latch for the enclosure. I'll attach it tomorrow when I have to take him out for the move to my office. Hopefully the last move for a while!

One last enclosure question- how many holes should be there for breathing? I drilled a bunch in the top but thinking of drilling more tomorrow. I drilled about 15 small holes in the top.

By the way- my family and friends are so shocked and freaked out that I have a T! It's so funny. I tell them he's much easier to deal with than my dogs or my toddler, although I have spent most of this weekend researching and learning!

1. You should find out what type of plastic that box is made of if possible, not all types of glues etc work well or work on all materials. For example, hot glue is poor for that and most other uses. I hate using it.

2. Put up a pic. The number sounds right, can't tell the size of the holes.

3. You should tell them YOU are FREAKED out that they don't have a T, a beneficial animal and not a pest.

 

[Garth Vader]

I was planning to use gorilla glue to attach the clasp. It should work fine. Hot glue is a mess for most things and doesn't hold very well. Here is a pic of the holes. There are 20 total and they are small. I was thinking of adding 5 to each side too. Oh and yes the lid is currently taped down because I'm a nervous one.

 

[viper69]

I was planning to use gorilla glue to attach the clasp. It should work fine. Hot glue is a mess for most things and doesn't hold very well. Here is a pic of the holes. There are 20 total and they are small. I was thinking of adding 5 to each side too. Oh and yes the lid is currently taped down because I'm a nervous one.

I can't speak to GG nor your container's unknown material. Good luck w/that!

The number of holes is fine. Ts have very low O2 requirements, you'd be quite surprised.

Just make sure the carapace cannot fit through the holes and you're fine.

Looks like your sub distance to the lid is significantly greater than 1.5x the DLS of the T, not good, T will fall, injury or death w/that height.

What happened to the Storables??

 

[Vanessa]

Ideally, there should be holes in the sides in order to get a bit of air circulation. Although this species is kept on the dry side, so buildup of stagnant air shouldn't be too much of a concern.

 

[Garth Vader]

I can't speak to GG nor your container's unknown material. Good luck w/that!

The number of holes is fine. Ts have very low O2 requirements, you'd be quite surprised.

Just make sure the carapace cannot fit through the holes and you're fine.

Looks like your sub distance to the lid is significantly greater than 1.5x the DLS of the T, not good, T will fall, injury or death w/that height.

What happened to the Storables??

Hopefully the GG is ok! This is the storables container and the angle makes it look like the sub is lower. There's about 2.5 inches from sub to the top and I'm going to redo it tomorrow too when I move him to my office so I'll double check. Thank you for all your help!

 

[darkness975]

While I do not recommend handling normally, in this case I understand why it might be (occasionally) necessary. Any person, including yourself, that touches a Tarantula with their bare hands will need to thoroughly wash their hands afterwards. You may not want to tell your patients that the "hairs" could blind them if it gets in their eyes but what you should definitely do is tell them not to rub their eyes or nose or anything until they wash them thoroughly. The best way to get urticating setae off of the hands/arms/wherever they are is to use tape to pull them off. Then wash thoroughly.

 

[Mauri]

While I do not recommend handling normally, in this case I understand why it might be (occasionally) necessary. Any person, including yourself, that touches a Tarantula with their bare hands will need to thoroughly wash their hands afterwards. You may not want to tell your patients that the "hairs" could blind them if it gets in their eyes but what you should definitely do is tell them not to rub their eyes or nose or anything until they wash them thoroughly. The best way to get urticating setae off of the hands/arms/wherever they are is to use tape to pull them off. Then wash thoroughly.

Also before just as important

p.s my Hentzi doesnt seem like a good handable T. Given the chance to come out onto my hand she hasnt taken it. She is a real sweet pea though in terms of her temperament.

 

[darkness975]

Also before just as important

Actually @Mauri you brought up a valid point.

@spidertherapy78 I am not sure if this will affect the healing process for your patients or not but using un-powdered disposable gloves (the kind for cooking) is a good idea to protect the spider from any lotions or oils that people may have on their skin and in turn is an added layer of protection from the urticating setae.

This is not a foolproof plan though. Washing before and after is still important.

 

[Garth Vader]

While I do not recommend handling normally, in this case I understand why it might be (occasionally) necessary. Any person, including yourself, that touches a Tarantula with their bare hands will need to thoroughly wash their hands afterwards. You may not want to tell your patients that the "hairs" could blind them if it gets in their eyes but what you should definitely do is tell them not to rub their eyes or nose or anything until they wash them thoroughly. The best way to get urticating setae off of the hands/arms/wherever they are is to use tape to pull them off. Then wash thoroughly.

Thank you. I will consider this, although for now I'm not handling my T at all. I actually think I can do a lot of exposure without putting him in any kind of danger or run the risk of bites/ urticating setae. I actually did a session with the T today and it went really well. My client held him in her lap while he was still in his transport container and she watched me put him in his enclosure. I explained to her why we weren't handling him, and she was VERY curious. It is pretty neat to see disgust turn into curiosity! Seeing him move around startled her, but only for a few seconds. She really did imagine they are vicious beasts and learning that they like to be left alone and can be seriously injured if handled and dropped was interesting to her. It was also validating to talk about the natural human startle response to spiders, and that they are often startled by us too. I told her what I'd read here, that sometimes people who have had Ts for years get startled by them and it is normal, and that is different than being phobic. I think my new T is a great therapy tool! His name is Nigel by the way. He's settled in to my office now. By the way, he has handled his moves really well from what I can see, and I plan to leave him alone for a while now. No posturing or anything, and I did offer him a cricket and he ate it immediately. Edited to add: I know it's recommended to not feed them after a move but I don't think Petco took care of him. He had very tiny crickets at the bottom of his "hut", uneaten. He's had 4 crickets since I bought him Friday. I'm planning to let him chill this week and feed him this weekend- does that sound like a good plan? Also- he's pretty big when stretched out- nearly 2 inches it seems so he's bigger than I originally thought or else he's growing, which is doubtful!

 

[BobBarley]

Edited to add: I know it's recommended to not feed them after a move but I don't think Petco took care of him. He had very tiny crickets at the bottom of his "hut", uneaten. He's had 4 crickets since I bought him Friday. I'm planning to let him chill this week and feed him this weekend- does that sound like a good plan? Also- he's pretty big when stretched out- nearly 2 inches it seems so he's bigger than I originally thought or else he's growing, which is doubtful!

Just make sure his abdomen doesn't get super plump and you should be fine. They won't grow at all until they molt. The only difference in size you should see is the abdomen getting plump or getting skinny. It physically can't grow any larger until it molts. Good luck with him!

 

[Garth Vader]

Just make sure his abdomen doesn't get super plump and you should be fine. They won't grow at all until they molt. The only difference in size you should see is the abdomen getting plump or getting skinny. It physically can't grow any larger until it molts. Good luck with him!

Ah, of course. I'm reading a book about Ts right now so learning all about molting, etc. I'm used to mammals so this is quite new to me.

This is likely the result of staring at him too much! I also think he might just be stretching his legs out more as he's moving around. He hid a lot and seemed kind of curled up when I first got him and now his legs are stretched out more and he's doing things like chilling on the side of his enclosure.

I'll watch his abdomen! I also read they look shinier when they eat too much. Not sure what that would be like but I'll keep my eyes out. My colleague keeps catching me staring at him in our kitchen/break room (where he lives). He's fun to watch.

 

[BobBarley]

Ah, of course. I'm reading a book about Ts right now so learning all about molting, etc. I'm used to mammals so this is quite new to me.

This is likely the result of staring at him too much! I also think he might just be stretching his legs out more as he's moving around. He hid a lot and seemed kind of curled up when I first got him and now his legs are stretched out more and he's doing things like chilling on the side of his enclosure.

I'll watch his abdomen! I also read they look shinier when they eat too much. Not sure what that would be like but I'll keep my eyes out. My colleague keeps catching me staring at him in our kitchen/break room (where he lives). He's fun to watch.

Yup, I'd watch my t's for hours if I could! The reason he was a bit more curled up when you first got him was because he was stressed out. Most call it a "stress curl", not to be confused with the "death curl". Shinier if he eats too much? Hm. I don't know about that. It gets shiny, black and plump (kinda looks like a grape) when he's in heavy premolt though.