Scared of my tarantula now and could use advice

[Lokee85]

I always lecture my tarantulas. What's wrong with that?

Right? This is me when opening my B. hamorii's enclosure before I upgraded her: "Ok now, Misery, we're not gonna have any problems today, you and me. You're going to sit there and be chill and I'm going to give you a nice mealworm/cricket as a reward, ok?"
*Opens the enclosure and she tries to walk out*
"Ok brat, listen here...."

 

[Andrea82]

Right? This is me when opening my B. hamorii's enclosure before I upgraded her: "Ok now, Misery, we're not gonna have any problems today, you and me. You're going to sit there and be chill and I'm going to give you a nice mealworm/cricket as a reward, ok?"
*Opens the enclosure and she tries to walk out*
"Ok brat, listen here...."

You named your spider Misery?
Of course she misbehaves!
Jk

 

[Lokee85]

You named your spider Misery?
Of course she misbehaves!
Jk

I definitely think I set myself up on that one!

 

[Whitelightning777]

I named my T stirmi Mini me. Am I screwed?

 

[AngelDeVille]

My 5/8” L. Parahybana sling ran halfway up my 8” tweezers when I was removing excess moss.

I thought she had been distracted by a cricket enough to do some rearranging.

I grabbed the tweezers by the business end, spun them so if she kept in that direction she would end up back in her enclosure.

No, she turned back around and ran onto my hand.

I grabbed a paintbrush to get her to change direction and run down my fingers and back into her enclosure, did she?

No, she ran to the other side of my hand, and when I spun my hand around she was on my index finger still facing me, and I’m pretty sure she tried to bite me.

I kept trying to get her to turn around so I could poke her big fat butt with the brush, but she is a stubborn critter.

I think I may have flicked her into the enclosure, more than coaxed her with the paintbrush, but I finally got her in there.

She is fast, for being a slow terrestrial.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Silly!!

There's no such thing as a slow tarantula but they can move slowly on occasion. How frequently they choose to step on the gas pedal varies wildly from species to species and even from one individual to another.

Basically, leg span probably determines the top speed more then any other factor, in my opinion.

I don't tong feed any of my terrestrials for that very reason. Just drop the feeder next to the T from a few inches up. They'll feel the bounce. Check back in a day to make sure the feeder is gone.

 

[Michael bradley]

Right? This is me when opening my B. hamorii's enclosure before I upgraded her: "Ok now, Misery, we're not gonna have any problems today, you and me. You're going to sit there and be chill and I'm going to give you a nice mealworm/cricket as a reward, ok?"
*Opens the enclosure and she tries to walk out*
"Ok brat, listen here...."

Haha I’m the exact same with mine my gbb is the complete opposite to my hamorii, as in she is good as gold which in theory is the wrong way round lol

 

[Whitelightning777]

Any T is manageable if you have a plan. Chilling the most "exuberant" ones to 60 degrees or so helps in most cases as does common sense. In both cases, no cooling was necessary.

 

[Mini8leggedfreak]

Not sure if it was mentioned but I’ve read about T’s acting a little different after a moult.
I’ve got 2 euathlus parvulus that are skittish now after their last molt. Smaller spiders are a little more skittish too maybe that’s part of it

 

[ispectechular]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I know all tarantulas have their own personalities. I never got in the hobby to handle them either. @Venom1080 are you sure that would be a feeding response. I guess it could be but she is usually gentle when she attacks her prey.

Any suggestions going forward with maintenance(feeding, watering, and eventually the one and only transfer into a bigger tank)?
Thanks again everyone. I know I most likely just overeacted and didn't expect it.

If I a do a transfer, any tips to avoid this happening again I am guessing feeding her a bit before(1-2 days)? I saw Ts do this in videos like exotic lair's but in person it's completely different

I agree that it was a feeding response. When I first stared, I had a G. Rosea do that once. Found out that I should have been feeding a little more often but not worry because it was a feeding response. I held it a few times after that and never had an issue. Dont let it freak you out. No one was hurt, just misunderstanding of the spiders reaction.

 

[MikeofBorg]

It was a feeding reaction. It is probably hungry. My Aphonopelma chalcodes 5 inch+ female does that sometimes when she is hungry. After she realizes it isn't food she is chill and able to be handled after a good meal. I have sub adult male Avicularia avicularia that is afraid of tongs unless a cricket is on them. Bare tongs he runs and squirts poop. He is fine with a paint brush. Very docile and calm spider, not a single threat pose, just poo squirting if I bump him while taking out cricket and roach balls. The A. avicularia are quick though, they go from 0-200 in a microsecond. They almost seem to teleport they are so fast. It is amazing watching him run down a cricket or roach that gets near his web.

My other two Ts are B. hamorii 1/2 inch sling and an A. seemanni which is in pre molt and a pet hole, its just over 3 inches in leg span. This will be its first molt for me, whenever it decides to do it. Its been in its burrow 3 months now. It made it right against the glass so I can see it grooming and moving around inside the burrow, so I know its alive and well. Both of them are unsexed, the B. hamorii is too small and the A. seemanni has yet to molt in my care. I've had the A. seemanni 7 months, A. avicularia 1 year, A. chalcodes 1 month and the B. hamorii 2 months.

 

[Andrea82]

@Fade how are you doing? Still a bit shocked or are you getting more comfortable?

 

[Fade]

@Fade how are you doing? Still a bit shocked or are you getting more comfortable?

I am doing good. I just got startled is all. Thanks for all the kind words. I am still feeding her and giving her clean water regularly. Soon I plan to house her in her adult display enclosure just still deciding which enclosure I want to go with. Not sure if I should go with a 5.5 gallon or 10 gallon with plexiglass lid drilled with holes, or exo terra breeding box, or shoe box from container store.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Terra Blue professional enclosures with the reptilock are affordable and built like a battleship.

ExoTerra and ZooMed also make nice display enclosures. Make sure that you have great visibility and something to keep kids, cats and other miscellaneous critters out.

Tarantulas are meant to be seen in captivity. That's the point but don't forget to put in a generously sized hide.

Oh, & don't play tongs of war with your tarantula!!

 

[Fade]

@Whitelightning777 I googled that and can't find anything

 

[Andrea82]

I am doing good. I just got startled is all. Thanks for all the kind words. I am still feeding her and giving her clean water regularly. Soon I plan to house her in her adult display enclosure just still deciding which enclosure I want to go with. Not sure if I should go with a 5.5 gallon or 10 gallon with plexiglass lid drilled with holes, or exo terra breeding box, or shoe box from container store.

That's great to hear!
If you plan on buying more spiders, a breeding box or shoebox would be the way to go. If you keep it at one, a bit of a nice display would be preferable, I think. I would go with the 5,5 gallon with modified lid. Some nice plants and hide and waterdish will make it something nice to look at.
Just make sure to put enough substrate in so there isn't a lot of room to climb.

 

[Fade]

That's great to hear!
If you plan on buying more spiders, a breeding box or shoebox would be the way to go. If you keep it at one, a bit of a nice display would be preferable, I think. I would go with the 5,5 gallon with modified lid. Some nice plants and hide and waterdish will make it something nice to look at.
Just make sure to put enough substrate in so there isn't a lot of room to climb.

Thanks, I do plan to get some more. I only want to use display enclosures though.

 

[AngelDeVille]

Thanks, I do plan to get some more. I only want to use display enclosures though.

I'm keeping a sub 10 tatantula collection just because I want them for display. I'll have 4, 8"+ tarantulas out of the bunch I have now.

Only fancy enclosures for me!

 

[Domxx]

I got my curlhair almost 2 months ago. It was an unsexed maybe 3-3 1/2 inch T. She molted and I sexed her as a female. She has been a really cool pet. However recently, when feeding and replacing water I tried to touch her very gently with the tongs as she was on the side of the kritter keeper and very close to the top. She immediately bit the tongs and bolted back down to the substrate.

This freaked me out a lot, I expected her to hopefully move down to the substrate. Even if she felt threatened I would have expected hairs instead or maybe a threat posture. She has only flicked hairs. I do get how they are nearly blind and deaf so getting touched all of a sudden isn't fun.

I am now kind of afraid of her. She is my 1st and only tarantula. I have done so much research and watch so many videos from many youtubers just about tarantulas as I find them cool. I used to be a VERY serious arachnophobe. Now I am kind of deciding if I should sell her and get out of the hobby. I know a bite from a curly hair isn't serious, I know Ts especially beginner species tend to calm down as they get bigger or full grown size, she is around 4 inches.

I was wondering if any of you have had experience with this or any advice. Even if I would want to sell her and get out of the hobby, I am scared of transferring her out of the kritter keeper into a temporary deli cup with holes. I don't even know how I would sell her, I got her at my local expo that runs every single month. Obviously I can't have my own booth, so not sure what to do. Would I talk to the people that sold it and ask for money for her?

Before I was considering getting some more Ts like a pinktoe and a GBB(my favorite), didn't think I would even consider more dangerous species, or get 10s of Ts like many do as they are literally the easiest pet to care for.

Any help is greatly appreciated. She's a feisty one.

My advice would be to not touch the t when its up on the side like that as it probably got spooked and didnt feel grounded enough to protect itself, either that or it was a genuine feeding response, best way to check the temperament is to gently brush the back legs or abdomen (when its on the ground) i wouldn't let that experience put you off, the only way you are at risk is if you put yourself at risk. Ts usually bolt after they strike realising that its not a tasty treat! My mexican red knee has been known to threat posture at me when i do tank maintenance from time to time and like yours they have a 'docile' reputation, i still love her to bits x

 

[LurkingUnderground]

Well, my advice would be: take a step back and reassess the situation. What has really happened?

You touched your spider with the tongs and it bit the tongs, then bolted back into the enclosure.

1. The spider is safely back where it belongs.
2. The tongs got bit, not you - that's why we use tongs. You are fine.

Well, you saw a tarantula in a bad mood, but, and this is the important bit: Nothing happened. The spider is safe, you are safe, everything is fine.

Cats can do that too.