Stress?

[BoyFromLA]

What is stress?

In dictionary, it means:



When searched in Arachnoboards:



The results will bring up pages over pages with the related topics such as:

• Stress curl
• Stress pose
• Stress posture
• Rehousing stress
• Moving stress
• Shipping stress
• Lighting stress
• Vibration stress

In relation to stressed tarantulas, the Google search results will bring up ‘five signs your tarantula is stressed’:

1. Tarantula takes up a threatening pose.
2. Bald spot on the abdomen due to flicking of hairs
3. Tarantula is hiding behind its legs
4. Excessive climbing.
5. Abnormally high activity levels

Stress here, stress there, stress everywhere.

Let’s go back to the beginning for now.

What is stress again? It is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

Now, are tarantulas even capable of this? I do not know, I doubt it, really.

Then, what are all these stress issues with tarantulas? Are tarantulas really truly stressed? To me, the only stress I can confirm is human generated one. By overthinking, over worrying, over anything:

• Stress curl
  • A tarantula is not ready yet. Just give it some time
• Stress pose
  • Same thing
• Stress posture
  • Again, same thing
• Rehousing stress
  • All of sudden, 8.0 magnitude earthquake happened, trustworthy house is all shattered, a giant hand, and a cup appeared in a sky. Yeah, give it some time to recover from all this
• Moving stress
  • Earthquake doesn’t seem like to stop anytime soon, safety is no longer an option. Yes give it some time.
• Shipping stress
  • It is a good thing that claustrophobia does not occur to tarantulas. The end result wouldn’t be so beautiful if it ever did.
• Lighting stress
  • As long as it does not involve direct sunlight, or a heat lamp, it wouldn’t really matter, would it?
• Vibration stress
  • Rock, metal music can’t be compared to 8.0 magnitude earthquake, can it?
• Threatening pose
  • Cute… but really, I would be too threatened to a giant hand
• Bald abdomen by flicking of hairs
  • Not only just because of it is threatened, bothered, startled, but when in near molt, it is flicking of hairs too

In sum, I don’t think stress ever occur to tarantulas in my opinion, seriously. The behaviors that tarantulas show are just cause and effect, which is only natural, that requires some time, not stress.

 

[DomGom TheFather]

The behaviors that tarantulas show are just cause and effect, which is only natural, that requires some time, not stress.

I can say that about every twenty year old.

 

[DustyD]

Thanks for a very insightful post. I agree that stress is not the best description, unfortunately it has become ingrained in the lexicon in tarantula keeping. You used the word bothered under the bald abdomen point and that seems to encompass quite a few situations. Not sure the best way for the tarantula community to proceed.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

post #4 is an excellent explanation

Tarantula brains (or lack thereof....)

I have read many times here and elsewhere that tarantulas do not have a brain, cannot think, feel emotions, etc. The little reading I've done on this seems to base this conclusion on physiological data, e.g. organization of nerve clusters and the like, but I don't recall seeing a lot of...

arachnoboards.com

 

[Gevo]

I don't see any real issue with continuing to call it stress, provided that people understand that stress as a physiological response is not the same as emotional stress, and I think the hard definitions of the term "stress" are sufficient to account for that distinction.

When my tarantulas were rehoused, they were "stressed" because they had to develop a new sensory map of a new space and figure out the dimensions of their new home, the placement of various things in that home, etc. When I move my B. hamorii's enclosure for whatever reason, it runs deeper into its burrow to get away from the big beast fucking with its space, so when I can, I leave the enclosure in place and open the lid just enough to do whatever I need to do. I "stress" my burrowed and sealed tarantulas out less when I check on them every few days through the little windows into their burrows using a dimmer, warmer-toned flashlight to look in instead of my super bright phone flashlight that sends the hamorii scurrying up into its tunnel to avoid the searing bright light.

So, I think the concept of stress is helpful in the sense that it gives us a reference point to think, "hey, this rehouse is going to take a bit of time for my tarantula to adjust to, so I'm not going to freak out if it behaves a bit differently for a while" or "if I can do this thing in a different way that seems to keep my tarantula calmer, I'm going to do it that way." Using "stress" as a concept to guide us in paying reasonable attention to their comfort is okay. Where it becomes a problem is when keepers start projecting their own experiences and perceptions of stress onto their tarantulas: "I startled my wittle honeybunch the other day and now she's threat posing me and won't sit on my hand to watch Law and Order. How will I ever get my snookums to forgive me " or "My boy ran into his tunnel so scared and won't come out and he must just be so terrified cowering in there, wondering why mommy wanted to hurt him. What can I do to soothe my poor baby?" or "My grossly overweight rosea stopped eating the ten crickets I've been shoving at her. Do you think she's stressed out because I dyed my hair red and she doesn't recognize me anymore?!"

If a reasonable person wants to recognize certain behaviours as stress and refer to them as such, I'm not going to split hairs with them over it.

 

[Matt W]

searing bright light.

Tarantulas don't squint or have pupil dilation, so their stimulus response to bright light isn't like ours, i.e it's probably not "painful". I'm curious whether light intensity is something they respond to. They don't startle when I turn on room lights or even shine a steady bright light on them. But they do back away when I move a phone light around, which suggests to me that they're responding more to the movement of the light and/or shadows than its intensity. But I actually don't know much about tarantula vision and am curious about it.

 

[Tentacle Toast]

If financial markets can be stressed, so can tarantulas.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

That guys tarantula who was eating a plant might had been relieving it’s stress? And the tiny containers the one guys a genics were in were probably stressful.

 

[TLSizzle]

Stress eating is real lol

 

[spideyspinneret78]

Stress isn't necessary a purely an emotional response. It can also be physiological. An aversive environment, lack of food, injury, etc. can cause physiological stress and result in increased susceptibility to infection, for instance. The fight or flight response is a response to a potential threat, or a stressor. Even a plant can experience stress. Nutrient poor soil, lack of sunlight, lack of water, etc. can interfere with normal growth and make the organism more vulnerable to disease and parasites.

 

[fcat]

Stress isn't necessary a purely an emotional response. It can also be physiological. An aversive environment, lack of food, injury, etc. can cause physiological stress and result in increased susceptibility to infection, for instance. The fight or flight response is a response to a potential threat, or a stressor. Even a plant can experience stress. Nutrient poor soil, lack of sunlight, lack of water, etc. can interfere with normal growth and make the organism more vulnerable to disease and parasites.

I once had a long conversation with my pops' cat's vet about the stress of a hairball causing catastrophic (for lack of better words) blood glucose changes and acute kidney failure. She nearly died because she couldn't clean herself. Stress being a physiological response is the only kind that comes to my mind. It will shave years off your life whether you acknowledge it's there or not (as emotional responses are the only observable ones).

Makes me think...I've been in close proximity to humans that I wished exercised hygiene to maintain homeostasis

Edit: not a hairball...that's the thing they vomit up, I meant a hair mat, on her fur that she couldn't clean under or pull off.

 

[Raghild]

This was linked in one of my threads in response to using the word stressful, so I thought that I would post up my thoughts on the matter, and explain why I choose to use the word stress.

I did note that the definitions shared in the original post touch upon psychological stress but are excluding physiological stress which are also correct definition of stress if one delves further.

Because the use of the term stressed in regards to plants and animals is more typically used in reference to physiological stress, I feel that adding this definition is crucial in providing a better foundation of the definition before touching upon my use of the word.

Here are a few additional definitions of stress:

Physiology. Disturbed physiological function occurring in an organism or cell in response to conditions, events, or factors that are deleterious or threatening

Physiology. a specific response by the body to a stimulus, as fear or pain, that disturbs or interferes with the normal physiological equilibrium of an organism.

BIOLOGY
physiological disturbance or damage caused to an organism by adverse circumstances.

With that in mind, tarantulas do indeed have a stress response, and in most of the examples from the original post the stress being referred to is a physiological stressor.

One would not say 'I placed my new tarantula in a quiet location to let it settle in because it arrived overheated and a bit dehydrated after remaining in a heightened state of reactivity for a long drive on a hot day, which impacted its metabolic rate and key elements of its nervous system. I wanted to limit external stimuli to give its nervous system a chance to settle down so it can focus on rehydrating and reallocating bodily resources.

They would much more likely say 'travel stress' or maybe something along the lines of 'I placed my new tarantula in a quiet place to recover from the stress of being shipped'.

The blueprint for stress can be found in invertebrates - PubMed

Through an extremely complicated equilibrium called homeostasis, all living organisms maintain their survival in the face of both externally and internally generated "stimuli". This apparent harmony is constantly challenged. Survival through successful adaptation is maintained as close to steady...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

.

The effects of the stress response on immune function in invertebrates: an evolutionary perspective on an ancient connection - PubMed

Stress-induced changes in immune function occur in animals across phyla, and these effects are usually immunosuppressive. The function of this immunomodulation remains elusive; however, the existence of specialized receptors on immune cells suggests that it is adaptive. A comparative approach...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Grayman1984]

This is immensely helpful. I just picked up my first A. genic from a local Petco last week that was apparently in heavy premolt, because she molted in her new enclosure the next day, and has spent the last few days since then in a “stress posture” in her hide. I’m guessing she just needs time to adapt to her new surroundings.

 

[Brewser]

An Outer Force Causing Weekness