Picking a T up...

HannibalCmp

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
46
Is it possible to pick a T up with your fingers so that you can flip him over without hurting him? Also I have had my Rosea for about 2 days and she hasn't eaten anything or drinken anything...unless she does it while I'm asleep. She hasn't moved much and I rarely see any webbing at all. How often do they web and why do they web?
 

Lycanthrope

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Messages
622
Is it possible to pick a T up with your fingers so that you can flip him over without hurting him?
im not quite sure what you mean by "flip him over", but if you mean pick him up to look at the underside as for sexing or something it is possible. its called a restrained hold, and here is how you do it: you want to use your index finger and gently press on the cephalothorax (carapace). then on either side of the ceph, between the front 2 legs and rear 2, you want to place your thumb and middle fingers, again gently . now you should have a finger on the top of the ceph, and a finger on either side of it, between the sets of legs, and i cant emphasize how important it is to be gentle. another thing is you want to be careful, as the t will think its being attacked, so be sure you know its temperment before you try this. not to scare you, but if the t decides to defend itself, you might find it is faster than you are. whatever you do do not try to grab its abdomen! its very soft and fragile, and you may rupture it and kill your t. hope this helped.;)
Also I have had my Rosea for about 2 days and she hasn't eaten anything or drinken anything...unless she does it while I'm asleep.
i wouldnt worry too much. im sure shes drinking while you sleep, but if shes not eating its no biggie. she may need to acclimate to her new home, she may be in premolt, or it just may be one of the rose hairs signature fasts. they do it for what seems like no reason sometimes, and ive heard the fasting can be pretty lengthy, up to 6 months.
She hasn't moved much and I rarely see any webbing at all. How often do they web and why do they web?
tarantulas arent overly active creatures, she will mostly just sit around a bunch. as for webbing, youll find she mostly just makes a bit on the ground. at first glance my rosies enclosure looks barren of webbing. until you go to pull out some cricket remains, then the whole top layer of soil pulls up like a throw rug.
 

Lycanthrope

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Messages
622
and why do they web?
oops missed that one. im not 100% on this but this is why I think they web. ive noticed that most of my terrestrials will set up strands of web across the enclosure. ive heard that this is to mark where they have been, making it easier for them to navigate. also it probably acts as a kind of trip wire, ive watched as a cricket walked across my t blondi's enclosure, hit a strand of webbing that went into the burrow, and bam, the t is out of the burrow and on top of him. another reason they web is before the molt, many will make a small bed out of webbing to molt on. then of course theres the ones who make their own homes out of webbing. this post was a bit disorganized, but hope it answered your question.
 

JDK

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
125
Originally posted by Phillip
Now I get the question. The statement about their brain shutting down when their feet don't touch anything is for the most part true. Some individuals and some species however don't go for the grabbing them thing. When I grab them by the Ceph I am usually doing it to one of the more calm species such as B smithi , B boehmei , G pulchra etc. but like I said some of them don't care for it. My large Chacos for instance while they don't get aggressive they flail their legs around like crazy trying to get loose. Another interesting side note is that if you lift even the more aggressive species by going underneath them with a large pair of tweezers once their feet are up they just freeze with all their legs spread. I've done this with Usambaras, Goliaths, Thorelli, and plenty of other nasty ones. It's pretty wild. Gotta give credit where it's due though that trick was shown to me by Swifty.

Phil
 

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Immortal_sin

Arachnotemptress
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 17, 2002
Messages
3,952
thanks JDK ...LOL!
here is the famous PZB photo of my 7 year old daughter holding her. Here is how we did it. She sits RIGHT SIDE UP on our hand. We gently cup her, with the other hand, and turn our hand over. I would NOT NOT NOT!!! recommend doing this unless your tarantula is totally calm and ok with this. This is a perfect way to get bitten!!!!
This female happens to be so calm as to be almost comatose.
 

Bob the thief

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 29, 2002
Messages
285
According to most of the books I have read the reason they web around the burrow is to act like a big dinner bell and amplify vibrations.
 
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