Re-housing/ transfer temperature theory when dealing with fast/defensive T's

[Ceymann]

I have been thinking a bit about this theory I came up with and would like some opinions on if it might have any truth or usefulness.
It comes from my experience with Herps, defensive, quick to strike snakes in particular, lets say you keep your T room around 80, and you have some very fast, defensive spiders to rehouse.
Does anyone think that maybe moving them to a cooler room (~70) a few hours ahead of transferring them tone down their speed a tiny bit? possibly temperament as well? Thus making transfers a bit more easy?
I notice this with Loxosceles, when I am rummaging through our office garage in the winter and fall and I uncover one they tend to walk away rather than bolt like they do in the summertime when the garage is super toasty.

Thoughts?

 

[Tarantula20]

From my experience this should theoretically work, We know this works with scorpions so whats to say it won't work with T's.

 

[EulersK]

I always rehouse the fast/defensive ones in the middle of the afternoon. I also make it a point to have the lights on in my T room a few hours ahead. They're much more timid during the day - they don't get less skittish, but they are less likely to bite in my experience.

 

[Poec54]

I do rehouses of my fastest/most defensive species on a cool morning when they're winding down. Likewise, the worst time would be on a warm night. With a lot of NW terrestrials, it's not a big deal whenever you do a transfer, but with OW's and most arboreals, you probably want all the advantages on your side.

 

[Ceymann]

So my thinking is correct? a OBT that runs like a cheetah at 80 degrees may run like a lion at 70 degrees? Not a night and day difference, but maybe a bit slower?
also possibly less cranky with slightly lower temps??

Never thought about time of day/ light cycle, thanks EulersK and poec54 for mentioning that. Its been awhile since I have tranferred a OW or really any T, Im not nervous, but I would much rather not have to spend 30mins chasing a speed demon around my bathroom with a catch up. So like poec54 said just looking for all advantages on my side, esp since one of my next few T's will be H. hainanum which supposedly packs the nastiest bite of all the T's. I think they are gorgeous though, love that black velvety appearance.

 

[Ellenantula]

Short of refrigerating your fastie 10 minutes prior to rehousing (which I really can't really recommend); try early morning and use your intelligence to troubleshoot ahead of time what 'might go wrong." You ARE smarter than a T. So, obviously don't rehouse in a warm room at night, esp in a room filled with lots of hiding places! Some use the bag method for fastie rehousings (which didn't work out for me). I prefer to control the environment and use a tall table for all rehousings, in a room with minimal objects in case of a runner. Side-by-side enclosure usually works well for me, but if you can use catch-cup -- that would be great. I've had some luck with side by sides -- but realize Ts don't always do what you expect. Just plan well with the knowledge they may zig when you thought they would zag. lol


***No matter what you do -- have a catch cup ready!!!!

 

[Trenor]

I open the door to the T room and let the AC from the rest of the house drop the temp lower before the rehousing. I try to do mine early in the morning to early afternoon is possible.

 

[viper69]

I have been thinking a bit about this theory I came up with and would like some opinions on if it might have any truth or usefulness.
It comes from my experience with Herps, defensive, quick to strike snakes in particular, lets say you keep your T room around 80, and you have some very fast, defensive spiders to rehouse.
Does anyone think that maybe moving them to a cooler room (~70) a few hours ahead of transferring them tone down their speed a tiny bit? possibly temperament as well? Thus making transfers a bit more easy?
I notice this with Loxosceles, when I am rummaging through our office garage in the winter and fall and I uncover one they tend to walk away rather than bolt like they do in the summertime when the garage is super toasty.

Thoughts?

I understand where you are coming from as owner of herps and later Ts.

At 70 degrees I haven't noticed a change in speed or disposition for my NWs or my OWs. Once the ambient room temp hits 65 I do notice a slow down in their activity across all Ts.

I routinely kept my P rufilata at 70-75, and you would never call them slow or human tolerant, same for the OBT I owned, an Orange Hellspawn Demon

 

[bryverine]

use your intelligence to troubleshoot ahead of time what 'might go wrong." You ARE smarter than a T.

I agree that this is true, but I think it can be a bit like predicting weather (but worse). If you predict sun and get rain, you don't get bit.
You can't really outhink the erratic movements of those high strung OW. In fact, trying to overthink things may just inadvertently cause more problems.

***No matter what you do -- have a catch cup ready!!!!

Do this!

 

[Poec54]

I do all my cage transfers and pairings with a 32 oz deli cup, carefully placing it in front of the spider and gently nudging it's rear legs with the lid to get it to walk (not run) into the cup. I do all of these with the cages set on a tall bar stool in the middle of my spider room, so they aren't on the floor immediately if they run out of the cage.

To get them out of the cup, I partially slide open the lid on the cage they're going into, tilted at an angle, so that almost the only place they can go is in the cage. You want to plan this so that the spider's options are very limited and you're in control of the situation. I make sure that the lid at the other end covers the cage so that they can't shoot across the cage and out the other side (some will panic and do that). With the cup tilted at round a 45 degree angle, I use a 8" lollipop stick to touch their rear legs and get them to walk inside to the new cage. I believe Louise F said she makes a hole in the bottom of her transfer cups to put the stick thru.

Never needed to use the bathroom or bag methods.

 

[Ceymann]

Thanks for all the replies, its not my first rodeo but its been a while since I have worked with OW/ fast T's as I have been on a 12 year hiatus, so just wanted to see if there was any new methods to make it less time consuming and prevent escapes/runners. So far I have received some great new info and tips, thank you all !! such a great site with a wealth of knowledge and experience. Keep being awesome fellow T enthusiasts.

 

[mistertim]

Yeah you might as well have any advantage you can get. But you still have to be prepared for anything, obviously...so I always do fasties/arboreals in an open area, catch cup at the ready, paintbrush or bendy straw, and usually put both of the enclosures in a big tub to try and keep it contained if it does do a runner on me. Also not a bad idea to put a towel or something like that down and ruffle it up a bit, so if the spider does get out it is more likely to try and go hide under a crease in the towel than bolt halfway across the room.

 

[saturnthegrey]

I do the same as @Trenor I let the T room cool down then put the old enclosure next to the new enclosure inside of a large tub and give them a few nudges until it crawls into the new enclosure. If they try to make a run for it they have to run up the walls of the very tall tub before I put the lid on it. So far I've only had one that made it out before I got the lid on. It was an N. incei so they are pretty quick and small. I also had the tub on a table so it didn't have anywhere to go. My opinion is have a fall back plan to your fall back plan. Forgot to mention, my house is kept around 65F so a few minutes with the door open drops the temperate about 15F fairly quickly.

 

[saturnthegrey]

I do the same as @Trenor I let the T room cool down then put the old enclosure next to the new enclosure inside of a large tub and give them a few nudges until it crawls into the new enclosure. If they try to make a run for it they have to run up the walls of the very tall tub before I put the lid on it. So far I've only had one that made it out before I got the lid on. It was an N. incei so they are pretty quick and small. I also had the tub on a table so it didn't have anywhere to go. My opinion is have a fall back plan to your fall back plan. Forgot to mention, my house is kept around 65F so a few minutes with the door open drops the temperate about 15F fairly quickly.

 

[saturnthegrey]

I blame my phone for the double post. Every. Freakin. Time...

 

[mistertim]

I blame my phone for the double post. Every. Freakin. Time...

I thought maybe you were just very enthusiastic about your agreement with @Trenor 's post.

 

[saturnthegrey]

@mistertim oh I am!! Yeah!! Haha

 

[viper69]

I believe Louise F said she makes a hole in the bottom of her transfer cups to put the stick thru.

I do the same thing. It's really helpful with stubborn Ts like Avics.

 

[edesign]

I posted this a few minutes ago as a separate thread but since the question of actual T speed came up here it gives T speeds in body length/second for a ~2" A. hentzi at two temps, 62F and 100F (huge diff and I hope your T room/area isn't 100F lol), and states a 2.5X increase. Test was for leg coordination at different temps and they studied eight different specimens.

http://www.livescience.com/50348-tarantula-temperature-coordination.html

 

[Poec54]

I do rehouses of my fastest/most defensive species on a cool morning when they're winding down. Likewise, the worst time would be on a warm night. With a lot of NW terrestrials, it's not a big deal whenever you do a transfer, but with OW's and most arboreals, you probably want all the advantages on your side.

I can see why someone would 'dislike' this post. Pretty controversial and loaded with bad info. Good catch.