Rant about tarantulas' behaviour

[ohnono]

Hi there. I'm new to the hobby (less than a year) and I am... confused? My spiders are nuts? I have six slings and they all behave themselves but my adults and juveniles are driving me crazy!
I know they are individuals and I've read about "docile" OBTs and "aggressive" Grammostolas but I believed those were pretty much exemptions from rules, so how's it possible that ALL my spiders are bloody exemptions?! Check this out:

My A.geniculata is a sweetheart. Such a darling creature. So gentle. She of course eats a LOT but she is soooo nice to those bugs it's disturbing . She never really attacks them, it's more like she's caressing them and apologizing for having to eat them. And she either completely ignores me when I'm doing maintenance or, more often than not, she walks up to me and slowly climbs onto my hand? I stopped using tongs around her altogether. She never bit me. She never kicks hairs. She is seven plus inches btw.

My 4" girl C.cyaneopubescens, on the other hand, is a total <edit>. I swear she is convinced she's Asian! She is unbelievably aggressive; as soon as I walk up to her enclosure she gets into a threat position, fangs out, and attacks everything in sight. I am terrified of her! And... she really doesn't web all that much?

B.smithi is always on the go... and I mean ALWAYS! I think she walks a mile every day. It's insane. I hate it. She acts like a mature male on steroids but she's definitely a girl (around 5"). The only thing she uses her hide for is to neatly put boluses in there. Sometimes she takes a bath - she literally walks right into her waterdish and pretty much submerges her whole body for a second or two, then walks out and shakes her legs like a frikking dog! And once she managed to open her enclosure and I found her calmly sitting on my bedroom door six feet above the ground! I almost had a heart attack! Her enclosure is duct-taped now.

My 3" P.irminia made a BURROW but never actually stays there. She is out in the open 90% of time. And I guess she enjoys it when I watch her poop because she literally poops only when I watch her. And she poops all over the place. Her enclosure is completely ratty, there's poop all over the glass, all over her cork bark, plants, substrate, water dish... EVERYWHERE! It is disgusting. FML.

And my favorite girl, my sweet and precious C.versicolor... is stupid as hell . She doesn't know how to hunt! If I drop a cricket or a roach in front of her she goes bananas and she bounces around her enclosure running after them but she always misses them and then just lays there looking exhausted. So I feed her by hand. Yes, I hand-feed her. Because she is terrified of tongs. She is also terrified of dubias and superworms.
And no, she never bit me. She takes bugs from my fingers in a very gentle manner. She is also around 5".

So there you go. Anybody else here whose whole collection misbehaves?

PS. Oh yes, they all have appropriately sized glass enclosures with appropriate amounts of substrate and hides and ventilation, my apartment is always nice and warm and moderately humid, it's pretty quiet, there are no bright lights, doors or windows nowhere near my spiders, all of them are well fed, nice and plump (not fat tho), they molt normally and generally speaking everything seems perfect other than, well, all of the above? So yeah...

 

[Teal]

Your descriptions made me laugh!

Every single time I post about the temperament of one of my Ts, a dozen people counter it saying their T of the same species behaves the exact opposite.

 

[weibkreux]

So far my Ts behave normally.

My B. albopilosum, vagans and auratum are pet rocks as always, seldom moving. Except my B. hamorii which acts like your B. smithi, always on the move around her enclosure, looking for holes to escape and plot murder.

Others are just slings that do what slings do. Burrow and hide.

 

[Teal]

So far my Ts behave normally.

My B. albopilosum, vagans and auratum are pet rocks as always, seldom moving. Except my B. hamorii which acts like your B. smithi, always on the move around her enclosure, looking for holes to escape and plot murder.

Others are just slings that do what slings do. Burrow and hide.

This is exactly what I mean... Our B. auratum is always on the move and our B. smithi is a pet rock

 

[weibkreux]

This is exactly what I mean... Our B. auratum is always on the move and our B. smithi is a pet rock

Talk about direct opposites.

 

[ohnono]

Thanks for replies guys!

Every single time I post about the temperament of one of my Ts, a dozen people counter it saying their T of the same species behaves the exact opposite.

Are we ever going to be able to understand these creatures? It makes me kinda nervous to be honest

Except my B. hamorii which acts like your B. smithi, always on the move around her enclosure, looking for holes to escape and plot murder.

Others are just slings that do what slings do. Burrow and hide.

Glad to hear about your Brachypelma but... erm... are ALL slings supposed to burrow and hide? Because, umm, mine don't? :wideyed: I have A.metallica, another C.versicolor and Y.diversipes and they are webbing like crazy, and also B.albopilosum, B.baumgarteni and G.pulchripes that of course do have a burrow but are mainly out in the open moving stuff around or just sitting pretty ... (All of them are between half an inch and inch and a half)

I'm even more confused now so thanks again

 

[weibkreux]

are ALL slings supposed to burrow and hide?

Oops, I mean my terrestrial T slings. They burrow most of the time if given a chance. Still it depends on the tarantula's individuality. Not all act the same as described above.

 

[PidderPeets]

Arboreal slings (at least true arboreals like Avics, and Caribena) stay above ground and have elavated web dens. I'm pretty sure Psalmopoeus and other species like those often build web dens on the lower areas of trees and even incorporate dirt into their webbing. Terrestrial slings generally make burrows, but not always. The enclosure size is often relevant, as a sling in too large an enclosure will often burrow. Slings in smaller enclosures often adopt the entire enclosure as their burrow and therefore don't often burrow.

All that being said, my tarantulas are pretty typical for the species. My LP had a phase when she was smaller where she was afraid of almost everything (I have a picture somewhere of her literally hiding in her water dish from a cricket barely the size of her body), but she's since become a hair kicking demon as she should be. My Avic and versicolor are both adorable goofballs, my G. pulchripes and G. pulchra are sweethearts.

I think my only atypical guys are one of my P. sazimai and one of my Hapalopus sp Colombia klein. The sazimai is about 3 inches in DLS and the Hapalopus is a little over an inch (which is approaching full sized for the species), and neither will accept live prey. They are absolutely terrified of anything and everything that I try. The sazimai has nearly escaped because I offered it a superworm and it teleported. But when I offer them prekilled food, they become bold and carry the food around with them as they go about their business.

 

[ohnono]

My LP had a phase when she was smaller where she was afraid of almost everything (I have a picture somewhere of her literally hiding in her water dish from a cricket barely the size of her body), but she's since become a hair kicking demon as she should be.

Thanks for your post, it was interesting and I learned from it, but this part made me lol. My LP is in on her way to me and I hope she will be here tomorrow... Hair kicking demon, you say? I guess I have a couple of those already but they refuse to kick hair. I like to think they want to stay pretty.
The way things are going, my LP is gonna be an angel... or she's gonna make a web on a ceiling. Or something.

 

[PidderPeets]

Thanks for your post, it was interesting and I learned from it, but this part made me lol. My LP is in on her way to me and I hope she will be here tomorrow... Hair kicking demon, you say? I guess I have a couple of those already but they refuse to kick hair. I like to think they want to stay pretty.
The way things are going, my LP is gonna be an angel... or she's gonna make a web on a ceiling. Or something.

Up until this most recent molt, she wouldn't even have a full set of hairs for a week after a molt before kicking it off. I would only open her enclosure once a week or two to feed her and that was it. And I'm the only one that goes in my room, so she isn't being bugged by other people. She just doesn't like keeping her hairs. But after this last molt, she actually went a few weeks without kicking off her hairs! And the other day, she threat posed at me instead of kicking. So I'm hoping she's starting to get over kicking. It sounds crazy, but I'd honestly rather her threat pose and bite at the tongs than kick hairs. It's less itchy.

 

[Aestas]

My P. ornata sling is in its burrow all the time. Even more than my terrestrial tarantulas :'D

 

[AnObeseHippo]

Yikes

 

[The Grym Reaper]

So there you go. Anybody else here whose whole collection misbehaves?

Not the whole collection but:

**cracks knuckles**

My B. hamorii is a psycho hellbeast
My B. boehmei never kicks hairs
My P. irminia is out every morning and evening and she's actually pretty chill
My P. metallica is always out (but he's also a scatty little bellend)
My P. cambridgei was so reclusive that he managed to make me look sociable
My B. emilia actually grows at a half-decent rate
My H. sp. 'Fire' actually eats and moults
2 out of the 3 Nhandu species I keep don't kick hairs
My C. cyaneopubescens is actually fairly calm
My A. chalcodes is bipolar

 

[Dragondrool]

Hi there. I'm new to the hobby (less than a year) and I am... confused? My spiders are nuts? I have six slings and they all behave themselves but my adults and juveniles are driving me crazy!
I know they are individuals and I've read about "docile" OBTs and "aggressive" Grammostolas but I believed those were pretty much exemptions from rules, so how's it possible that ALL my spiders are bloody exemptions?! Check this out:

My A.geniculata is a sweetheart. Such a darling creature. So gentle. She of course eats a LOT but she is soooo nice to those bugs it's disturbing . She never really attacks them, it's more like she's caressing them and apologizing for having to eat them. And she either completely ignores me when I'm doing maintenance or, more often than not, she walks up to me and slowly climbs onto my hand? I stopped using tongs around her altogether. She never bit me. She never kicks hairs. She is seven plus inches btw.

My 4" girl C.cyaneopubescens, on the other hand, is a total <edit>. I swear she is convinced she's Asian! She is unbelievably aggressive; as soon as I walk up to her enclosure she gets into a threat position, fangs out, and attacks everything in sight. I am terrified of her! And... she really doesn't web all that much?

B.smithi is always on the go... and I mean ALWAYS! I think she walks a mile every day. It's insane. I hate it. She acts like a mature male on steroids but she's definitely a girl (around 5"). The only thing she uses her hide for is to neatly put boluses in there. Sometimes she takes a bath - she literally walks right into her waterdish and pretty much submerges her whole body for a second or two, then walks out and shakes her legs like a frikking dog! And once she managed to open her enclosure and I found her calmly sitting on my bedroom door six feet above the ground! I almost had a heart attack! Her enclosure is duct-taped now.

My 3" P.irminia made a BURROW but never actually stays there. She is out in the open 90% of time. And I guess she enjoys it when I watch her poop because she literally poops only when I watch her. And she poops all over the place. Her enclosure is completely ratty, there's poop all over the glass, all over her cork bark, plants, substrate, water dish... EVERYWHERE! It is disgusting. FML.

And my favorite girl, my sweet and precious C.versicolor... is stupid as hell . She doesn't know how to hunt! If I drop a cricket or a roach in front of her she goes bananas and she bounces around her enclosure running after them but she always misses them and then just lays there looking exhausted. So I feed her by hand. Yes, I hand-feed her. Because she is terrified of tongs. She is also terrified of dubias and superworms.
And no, she never bit me. She takes bugs from my fingers in a very gentle manner. She is also around 5".

So there you go. Anybody else here whose whole collection misbehaves?

PS. Oh yes, they all have appropriately sized glass enclosures with appropriate amounts of substrate and hides and ventilation, my apartment is always nice and warm and moderately humid, it's pretty quiet, there are no bright lights, doors or windows nowhere near my spiders, all of them are well fed, nice and plump (not fat tho), they molt normally and generally speaking everything seems perfect other than, well, all of the above? So yeah...

My GBB is nuts! 'Course I haven't had much experience with all the species yet but he freaks out at the slightest vibration and will go into a threat posture when I try to feed him. He flicks hairs ALL the time! The little bugger! Still cute though so I guess I forgive him

 

[ohnono]

**cracks knuckles**

I died

But I'm happy to hear about another chill Irminia... hopefully mine will stay chill because she is the only one in my collection I'm actually really scared of because even though my GBB acts crazy, she is nowhere near as fast as this beast... I've READ they can teleport but the other day I actually SAW THAT for the first time and... you know... I cried a bit

My GBB is nuts! 'Course I haven't had much experience with all the species yet but he freaks out at the slightest vibration and will go into a threat posture when I try to feed him. He flicks hairs ALL the time! The little bugger! Still cute though so I guess I forgive him

Yeah, that's it! Crazy but hilarious. Looks like it's trying too hard to be scary... poor little beggar

 

[The Grym Reaper]

But I'm happy to hear about another chill Irminia.

She will throw up threat postures but only if you back her into a corner, I'm happy to have one that doesn't hide, almost didn't get one because most people say you never see them.

Conversely, I got a cambridgei because everyone said they never hide and I saw him 6 times (including unboxing him and packing him for shipping as an MM) in the year I had him

 

[SonsofArachne]

When I first got my G. pulchra she hated water, to the point where if I overflowed her water dish a little she would march around her enclosure on her tip-toes, her abdomen held high as if she was wading through a swamp. After a couple of molts she now hovers over her water dish for a good part of the day as if it was a oasis in the desert, even though I always make sure she has a full dish. She won't move even when I fill it and she gets splashed

 

[Venom1080]

tape shouldnt be relied on for making a enclosure escape proof. Especially for covering vent holes. have fun peeling off a spider without ripping off legs or tearing a hole.

Not using tongs and doing maintenance with fingers is one fo the best ways to get bit. and it wont be pretty from a 7" plus geniculata.

tarantulas will sometimes wander if cage conditions are particularly poor.

All arboreals with the exception of some avicularinae, will burrow when young. some into adulthood.

there it is. as bad a idea as doing maintenance with your hands is, hand feeding is the best way to be bit. common sense usually helps beginners avoid that.. but theres always some that think theyre "bonding".

 

[ohnono]

almost didn't get one because most people say you never see them.

Same here, but the guy I got her from told me she is out and about all the time. I thought he was maybe exaggerating a bit but he obviously wasn't which is pretty cool.

tape shouldnt be relied on for making a enclosure escape proof. Especially for covering vent holes. have fun peeling off a spider without ripping off legs or tearing a hole.

Not using tongs and doing maintenance with fingers is one fo the best ways to get bit. and it wont be pretty from a 7" plus geniculata.

tarantulas will sometimes wander if cage conditions are particularly poor.

All arboreals with the exception of some avicularinae, will burrow when young. some into adulthood.

there it is. as bad a idea as doing maintenance with your hands is, hand feeding is the best way to be bit. common sense usually helps beginners avoid that.. but theres always some that think theyre "bonding".

Oh boy... ok, here goes:
B.smithi enclosure is one of those with sliding doors that open from front and are somehow very easy to push open so yes I duct taped it from outside on each side and there's no way she can open it again. Who said anything about covering vent holes?!

Yes, I know "tarantulas will sometimes wander if cage conditions are particularly poor" but sometimes they will wander because it's tuesday and they want to... we actually DON'T KNOW why they do it, now do we? And judging by this very thread, my B.smithi is nowhere near being special in her crazy behaviour. Plus, just like with my P.irminia, the friend I got her from warned me she is nuts and she was with him ever since she was a tiny sling. She is six years old now.

I didn't know about burrowing arboreals. Now I know so thanks!

And as far as doing things with my hands is concerned, come on now... I might be crazy, but I'm far from supid and I am perfectly aware of the fact I am putting myself (and worse, my spiders! ) at some risk but... First - I work much MUCH faster without tongs so I'm outta there in a sec, and second - I don't really mess with my A.geniculata. I always go in when she is on the other side of her home. It is HER who always comes to me... sloooowly... I can't help it if she wants to bond!
Also, I am perfectly aware my C.versicolor is able to catch a bug by herself but I feel so sorry for poor little clumsy, it takes her so looong ... and I seriously couldn't care less if she bites me so there's also that
Joking aside, I've been bitten by a giant amstaff and somehow I survived so I believe I'll somehow survive even if my Geniculata bites me. Of course I would never do any of this with an OW, heck, I don't ever plan on keeping one at all!

 

[weibkreux]

I don't ever plan on keeping one at all!

You'll be missing the OBT hug threat!