- Joined
- Jan 30, 2012
- Messages
- 3,794
ArachnoSmack: are you really sure that getting this T is the right thing for you? IMO, keeping an animal that you are highly anxious about is generally a bad idea and adds to the risk of both yourself and the animal in question. Even though you normally may have no problem to cope with faster Ts, you might act differently around one that you are afraid of. Just think it through before you get it, that´s all
On both accounts I would usually tend to agree and suggest the same. But considering my own experiences and choices I made over the time in the hobby raising T's, it's once more one of those things where it comes down to the individual - keeper as well as spider!
I was, well, somewhat anxious, back when I received my first Poecie a couple years ago. Was a P. subfusca "lowland" that turned out male. I probably lucked out or whatever since said T was excessively calm, never threatened, freaked out or tried to bite. When he matured and I decided to send him my breeder friend to do his deed with his female, I literally had to scoop him up with the tongs into the transport container - all the while the T was completely scared and not moving an inch! Granted - I did said transfer in my bathroom expecting him to freak out any second. Nothing of the sort happened. That by itself convinced me that there are certainly specimens out there that indeed are very easy to take of and deal with.
But above recollection certainly isn't the general experience - no matter the species of the genus. I've read and heard alot of very different experiences with them and due to the fact that I'm raising 3 more Poecies (2x P. miranda, 1. P.fasciata which I got in exchange for aforementioned MM) that are very much not as easy to deal with as my first one, the best advice is still to keep your fingers out of range and keep calm when it comes to them! Right now, those I'm keeping, the P. fasciata is very defensive (as expected) and the P. mirandas are both somewhat skittish, but less interested in standing their ground, they'd rather run (as in "run all over the place frantically") than stand their ground. Currently, that triplet of T's are those that I do maintenance and everything else necessary, only while on my a-game really. Not only because I really don't want to get bitten and experience the effects first-hand, but even more so not to give german authorities more fuel to their fire in terms of banning them from yet another part of this country! I will say that P. ornata is one species of them I simply don't want to try because for some reason (weird I know) I am of the feeling I wouldn't get along too well with one. Call me superstitious but better safe than sorry.
Chances are way higher they freak out when you do. Same goes for -if- they run onto you (never happened to me thus far) everyone will tell you "Don't swat at them, don't fling them - stay calm and direct them into a catchcup or back into their cage! Freak out and you'll probably be on the receiving end of their fangs and venom!". Therefore, I think "anxiety" is bad, being "alert" and very "attentive" is better. All of which comes with growing experience and those here, like Poec, that have kept and raised tenths or hundreds of them, will probably also go to tell us newer Poecie Keepers to never -ever- get complacent around them. As with every arboreal IMO, that's recipe for desaster one way or another!
Personally, I will say that having kept Psalms (irminia, cambridgei, pulcher, langenbucheri - of which I still own 2 adult P. irminia females and 1 adult P. cambridgei female) did in fact teach me very much about what to expect from my Poecies. Their behavior is very similiar like most long-term keepers will say. Granted, as with every species out there, it's a hit and miss what kind of temperament and, more importantly, "threshold" yours will have. In the long run, the best prevention of getting bitten is to heed the advice given by those more experienced here. Oh, and common sense also goes a long way with them
Last edited:
