Pick up method.

mr_jacob7

Arachnoknight
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Jan 20, 2007
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I know you guys shun handling Ts, but i just can't get over the feeling of the little dots all over your hands and arms. {D

anyways, my G.Rosea is very skttish when i try to get her to climb onto my hand with a little prodding. However, i heard in a book that the best way to grab your T is with your 1st finger, and thumb, between the 2nd and 3rd finger on each side. I'm a little scared to try it, so, i'm wondering if you guys had any opinion on this. i know you do, i just want to hear it. :) kk, thx.
 

Talkenlate04

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If you are going to bother at all the best method in my opinion is just to place your hand infront of the T and gently touch it from behind and she should walk right onto your hand. They can be spooked easily as well so you might want to touch her first to see what kind of mood she is in.

But as you may know try and keep handling low. Stress kills. I handle from time to time but more during transfers and tank changes that sort of thing. I dont normally just take them out to handle. That fixation I think wears off as you learn more about what do to for your T. (Ie; the good and bad things. )
 

ShadowBlade

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I know you guys shun handling Ts,
Don't include me in 'you guys'.;) There are plenty of us here that don't have a problem with it, (when done responsibly).

Letting them walk onto your hand is best IMO. Pinching to pick them up can harm them, or they can escape an inexperienced grip.

Start handling close to the ground, preferably on a bed or something. It doesn't take much of a fall to seriously injure a T. Until you get more comfortable with it.

-Sean
 

Sunar

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I start with a couple beers...then a good pickup line is needed.

~Fred
 

mr_jacob7

Arachnoknight
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i handled her earlier, when she was just a week in my care, and it went great. anyways, she seems to be sooooo much more skittish nowadays. does anybody know why THAT is?

(sarcastically) haha, Sunar, ur so funny...

nah, really, that was pretty good. :p
 

hcsk8ter

Arachnopeon
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Jan 7, 2007
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If its a species regarded as relatively docile, not a bad idea to put a paintbrush behind it and guide it onto your hand.

If its defensive, better off tiring it out with the paintbrush and then trying the above. Once they see they aren't very substantial, they are more likely to calm down.

Good Luck.
 

ember

Arachnosquire
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i handled her earlier, when she was just a week in my care, and it went great. anyways, she seems to be sooooo much more skittish nowadays. does anybody know why THAT is?
Stress, perhaps?
 
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Mattyb

Arachnoking
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I always place my hand infront of them and then tap their ass alittle and let them walk onto my hand...i believe they feel more comfortable this way.


-Matty
 

Alice

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if she got skittish while you had her, you do something wrong. sorry, but that's the truth. maybe you just handle her too much. i'm not pro handling, but even if i were, once a week for a few minutes would be the absolute max!

if she doesn't come onto your hand of her own, and is skittish when you try to force her, you are stressing her out. you are doing this for your enjoyment, and obviously she doesn't want to tolerate it. so why don't you just leave her be? it is not, ime, responsible behaviour towards a pet to make it uncomfortable and expose it to unnecessary stress.

just my two pence.
 

xgrafcorex

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i've only handled a few of my ts out of the lot..but i have used 2 methods and tried one other. i'd say first, its important to learn the general attitude of the particular spider..then decide how you want to go about picking it up. with my male rosea, hes so docile i can literally scoop him up with no problems so far. one time he seemed a bit hesitant, so i left him alone. my A. versicolor is a bit more skittish..so with that one, i will wait till i'm doing some maintenance or just happen to notice it hanging out near the lid at the top. i open up the lid and sometimes it will start heading towards the exit so i just put my hand right above it and the t just climbs on my hand. i do the same thing with my tiny B. emilia sling. for my B. albopilosum, i opened up the lid and nudged her over to the edge with a paint brush and got her to put a foot or two on my hand, but she seems to get a little nervous about the idea and backs off after that. so far i haven't been able to get her all the way onto my hand, but i only really tried once or twice..i usually just leave all mine in their enclosures though.
 

kristal_kaos

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No to holding Ts

My dad asked me why I have Ts if Im not going to hold them, says thats a waste of a pet...:embarrassed: I disagree. I feel as though some pets arent for 'cuddling and holding'....they are just for asthetics...meaning they are just their to be eye candy or just relaxing to watch...like fish;) . I wouldnt hold my fish, so I wont hold my Ts, either...too risky, and they were quite expensive, lol. :D
 

cacoseraph

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My dad asked me why I have Ts if Im not going to hold them, says thats a waste of a pet...:embarrassed: I disagree. I feel as though some pets arent for 'cuddling and holding'....they are just for asthetics...meaning they are just their to be eye candy or just relaxing to watch...like fish;) . I wouldnt hold my fish, so I wont hold my Ts, either...too risky, and they were quite expensive, lol. :D
maybe you should try answering the question asked instead of preaching a moral position?


i do a couple tests to gauge if i should hold something that day or not. gently blow on your bug... if it freaks that handling it is going to possibly be tricky. then prod it with a soft brush... again, if it freaks probably don't want to handle it.

if i get good reactions then i just prod guide it to me. most bugs go away from the prodded side, but some go towards it.

one thing... tarantulas (especially arboreals, for future ref) have a lot of chemoreceptors in their feet. they essentially taste and smell with their feet. some tarantulas just do NOT "want" to talk on you. you can either give it up as a bad job or do a little conditioning to lower your skin's like, "threat status" to them. my two large female pokies never want to walk on me but will eventually do it if i keep at it.

and preemptively:
no, i don't believe i have ever been bit by a tarantula and no this obviously isn't a bad idea as my regalis female produced a nice sac within a couple weeks of playing with her for a good hour out of her cage. most ppl who immediately naysay holding don't seem to have an awful lot of experience or data to back them up. i play with virtually all my bugs (not deadly scorps though) and i have babies coming out all my bodily orifices most of the time, which is a strong indicator to me that it is not terribly deleterious to hold them. the experiments to dis/prove that would be so hideously time consuming i just operate off of empirical data
 

ember

Arachnosquire
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maybe you should try answering the question asked instead of preaching a moral position?
Maybe you could try being less of an asshat, instead of invalidating kaos' opinion?

That post was well-written and not belittling the original poster's choice to handle, just giving kaos' view in his/her own experience. It did not seem preachy to me.

To handle or not is not the topic of this thread, but it is an unavoidable subtopic, especially because the original poster has mentioned concern that his spider has become skittish. I would feel uncomfortable in a group of responsible tarantula keepers if some people DON'T politely bring up the notion that tarantulas are solitary animals and that IN THEIR EXPERIENCE it may be better to look but not handle.

The rest of your post was very interesting to read and I hold zero beef with.
 

pinkzebra

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I don't handle often, but when I do I encourage the T to walk into a deli cup first. Then as they move out of the deli cup I put my hand in front of them and they usually walk right onto it.

As far as those who say it is too stressful...Do you really think Ts in the wild live stress-free? Does ANYTHING live stress free? I think one could make a case about a lack of stress being nearly as harmful. Handling of a T that is clearly saying no is one thing, adamantly refusing to believe that handling has it's place is another. JMHO and I'm not going to argue with anyone about it.

Jen
 

ember

Arachnosquire
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I don't handle often, but when I do I encourage the T to walk into a deli cup first. Then as they move out of the deli cup I put my hand in front of them and they usually walk right onto it.

As far as those who say it is too stressful...Do you really think Ts in the wild live stress-free? Does ANYTHING live stress free? I think one could make a case about a lack of stress being nearly as harmful. Handling of a T that is clearly saying no is one thing, adamantly refusing to believe that handling has it's place is another. JMHO and I'm not going to argue with anyone about it.

Jen
If you had a rose that became more and more skittish while in your care, would that qualify as "Handling of a T that is clearly saying no is one thing..."?

I am not anti-handling in all cases, and pretty much agree with the rest of your post.
 

cacoseraph

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Maybe you could try being less of an asshat, instead of invalidating kaos' opinion?

That post was well-written and not belittling the original poster's choice to handle, just giving kaos' view in his/her own experience. It did not seem preachy to me.

To handle or not is not the topic of this thread, but it is an unavoidable subtopic, especially because the original poster has mentioned concern that his spider has become skittish. I would feel uncomfortable in a group of responsible tarantula keepers if some people DON'T politely bring up the notion that tarantulas are solitary animals and that IN THEIR EXPERIENCE it may be better to look but not handle.

The rest of your post was very interesting to read and I hold zero beef with.

1) i will be whatever kind of hat i choose

2) perhaps you haven't been around long enough and/or read enough but invariably the mods lock any threads that devolve to pro/anti handling. so, ifyou want to guaranteed queer this thread then by all means, let us argue pros and cons of handling.

3) it is nothing but confusing and stupid to mix subjects in a thread, thus you should try to stick to the topic given. if you really feel a burning need you can make a new thread and link it to the original. anything else is thread jacking. it is especially rude to thread jack counter to the original poster's desire for info, imo.

oh yeah, i have seen some possible results from washing my skin off with a very weak soap solution prior to handling. it seems like maybe it is the oils that skin exudes that the taras don't "like".

and if you want to cheat, it seems like most animals are less skittish when they are well fed and hydrated. note though, that if you drop a FAT spider the chances of it being injured are much greater. for animals i really don't want to get bit by, i feed them and let them finish their meal and then handle them. this works really well for centipedes. since i have never got bit by a tara (or maybe once by a cute little suntiger sling) it's hard to say what is more and less likely to get me bit ;)
 

mr_jacob7

Arachnoknight
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"Bring the balance back!" (What song is that? :) it's a good one!)

guys, chill out. jeez, people are so touchy sometimes. please don't start a war.

anyways,

gently blow on your bug... if it freaks that handling it is going to possibly be tricky.
My spiddy always runs when i blow on it. she must be a breeze-aphobic. i always thpought that was just natural behavior... :?

also, you guys keep mentiuoning a paintbrush; can't i just poke her w/ my finger? it's what i've done before...
 

SPIDERBYTE

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Apr 17, 2005
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My rosie is a bit skittish at first, but I can usually if I put a hand on each side of her, and gently move them together (the T is kinda corralled, so if she wants to crawl away, she'll end up crawling over one of my hands first). I've had her at least a year and a half, and luckily she's one of the shy ones rather than the OBT in disguise type. Ive had a lot of time to get to know what she's like, at first I only used a brush to move her, and sometimes that still is a good idea, especially if you are unsure of the T's "mood" ;)
 

hcsk8ter

Arachnopeon
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Jan 7, 2007
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43
I agree with Cacoseraph 100%. A seasoned handler as he is, it wouldbe a good idea to listen if he is willing to impart his knowledge.

It would also be wise not to disparage a fellow forum member, as each of us have our own spin on things. Therefore, we are all entitled to our own opinion, so long as it is not malicious and aimed at another member.
 
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