Tarantula Escape Stories?

[Tim Benzedrine]

It wasn't my spider, but my favourite tale here was about the one that took up residence in a shower drain. I forget who it was (Maybe Bugmom?), but they eventually "fished" it out with a mealworm on a string.

 

[YagerManJennsen]

Woke up one morning to "One of your spiders is in the kitchen!" Of all the spiders that could have escaped that night...it had to be the H. maculata. Mom had trapped her under a bucket So I used a paintbrush and coaxed her into a small KK and took her back to the spider room.

Another escape happened when I was a complete noob. A ~1 inch B. albo escaped through the airholes the the starbucks cup it was housed in, have not seen it since.

 

[dopamine]

I had an A. seemani that escaped twice and ended up in my sister's shoe both times.

 

[chanda]

I've never had a real escape, but right after I rehoused my juvie P. vittata to an Exo Terra Nano Tall, he completely disappeared on me. At first I figured he was just hiding, but after not seeing him for a week or so, I got pretty worried - and started taking a really hard look at the vent at the top where one could run tubing or wires into the tank, wondering if he might have squeezed out through that. Finally I got worried enough that I opened up the cage to look for him. I removed all the cork bark and cage decor, the water dish, even sifted through the substrate - no spider! I put back the (presumably empty) cage and prepared to tell my husband that we might have a tarantula on the loose. Fortunately, old habits die hard and I latched the cage door anyway - because that night, there he was hanging out on the cork bark and looking hungry!

It took several more David Blaine-style disappearances and reappearances before I finally figured it out. There's a plastic lip around the door opening (where the air vents are) and he was wedging himself inside that bit of plastic molding, just underneath the door. (I only discovered it because he carelessly left a leg sticking out one time.) Even after I knew where he was hiding, it still made opening the cage for feeding or maintenance a bit nerve wracking because he was in the perfect spot for a mad dash to freedom every time I opened the door. I was so glad when he finally got too big to fit into that spot and made himself a proper web tube/dirt curtain at the back of the tank!

 

[Trenor]

I've never had a real escape, but right after I rehoused my juvie P. vittata to an Exo Terra Nano Tall, he completely disappeared on me. At first I figured he was just hiding, but after not seeing him for a week or so, I got pretty worried - and started taking a really hard look at the vent at the top where one could run tubing or wires into the tank, wondering if he might have squeezed out through that. Finally I got worried enough that I opened up the cage to look for him. I removed all the cork bark and cage decor, the water dish, even sifted through the substrate - no spider! I put back the (presumably empty) cage and prepared to tell my husband that we might have a tarantula on the loose. Fortunately, old habits die hard and I latched the cage door anyway - because that night, there he was hanging out on the cork bark and looking hungry!

It took several more David Blaine-style disappearances and reappearances before I finally figured it out. There's a plastic lip around the door opening (where the air vents are) and he was wedging himself inside that bit of plastic molding, just underneath the door. (I only discovered it because he carelessly left a leg sticking out one time.) Even after I knew where he was hiding, it still made opening the cage for feeding or maintenance a bit nerve wracking because he was in the perfect spot for a mad dash to freedom every time I opened the door. I was so glad when he finally got too big to fit into that spot and made himself a proper web tube/dirt curtain at the back of the tank!

I would mod that area so he couldn't fit there anymore with out being visible. It's a good thing he didn't freak out and bolt/bite while you were moving all that stuff around in the enclosure.

 

[Coconana]

Haha, my favorite/most nerve wracking story happened to my mom, @Immortal_sin and I when I was about seven or so.

She had a MM P. Regalis run up the tongs during feeding or matinence or some such, and by the time she calmly called me into the room for help, I realized that he'd made it into her shirt and had curled up in her armpit. She just stood there with both hands raised and went 'hunny, can you go get the scissors so we can cut mommy's shirt off? (Insert the T's name that I've long since forgot here) is under my arm and we need to get him out.'

Like any good kid, I nodded and just went to go get the scissors. My dad asked me what I was doing, and when I told him I was going to cut mom's shirt off to retrieve a spider, he asked me if it was a good one or a bad one

It took about fifteen minutes to carefully cut her shirt off, but thankfully, nobody was hurt. The T was returned to his enclosure and my mom had to go sit down and probably contemplate a few things.

A day in the life

 

[chanda]

I would mod that area so he couldn't fit there anymore with out being visible. It's a good thing he didn't freak out and bolt/bite while you were moving all that stuff around in the enclosure.

This was a while ago - maybe a year or two? - and he's since been moved to a larger tank where he has his little dirt curtain behind the cork bark and spends most of his time there. I now have D. diadema in most of my Exo Terra Nanos. They have no desire to wedge themselves into odd places like that and are perfectly content to hang out on their cork bark in plain sight.

 

[Teal]

My favourite escape story...

I was young and still living at home. I forgot to close the lid on my AF P. chordatus enclosure.

In the middle of the night, my mum's loud, irritated voice woke me up - "JAAAAAAYYYYYY! WHAT THE *insert string of cuss words* IS THIS THING DOING IN MY BATHROOM"

P. chordatus "Rise" was guarding the toilet with a lovely threat display and my mother didn't forgive me for weeks!

 

[Vanessa]

Not technically an 'escape' story, but I have a really difficult time keeping my Euathlus sp. Red youngsters contained. The Euathlus parvulus too. The minute I open the enclosure to do any type of maintenance they are out and about. They don't exit in a panicked, run for your life, type of way - they just mosey on out with adorable determination. They're impossible to keep inside.
I have just given up trying to contain them. They don't get very far and I just keep a close eye on them.

 

[Ellenantula]

None. Had a few take an unscheduled dash-about when unpacking or rehousing -- but all, (thankfully) were immediately re-cupped.
Yeah, I double check lids after all feedings/maintenance.

 

[sdsnybny]

Not technically an 'escape' story, but I have a really difficult time keeping my Euathlus sp. Red youngsters contained. The Euathlus parvulus too. The minute I open the enclosure to do any type of maintenance they are out and about. They don't exit in a panicked, run for your life, type of way - they just mosey on out with adorable determination. They're impossible to keep inside.
I have just given up trying to contain them. They don't get very far and I just keep a close eye on them.

Try this with a 6.5-7" female Phormictopus cancerides that thinks it's an Euathlus sp Red. She just wanders out calmly every time I open the enclosure. I have only got one threat pose from her when taking "Her" water dish out for maintenance. Silly girl doesn't know she is supposed to be the Devil's spawn, shhh!! don't tell her.

 

[Moakmeister]

My favourite escape story...

I was young and still living at home. I forgot to close the lid on my AF P. chordatus enclosure.

In the middle of the night, my mum's loud, irritated voice woke me up - "JAAAAAAYYYYYY! WHAT THE *insert string of cuss words* IS THIS THING DOING IN MY BATHROOM"

P. chordatus "Rise" was guarding the toilet with a lovely threat display and my mother didn't forgive me for weeks!

Thats pretty bad lmao

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Try this with a 6.5-7" female Phormictopus cancerides that thinks it's an Euathlus sp Red. She just wanders out calmly every time I open the enclosure. I have only got one threat pose from her when taking "Her" water dish out for maintenance. Silly girl doesn't know she is supposed to be the Devil's spawn, shhh!! don't tell her.

By far one of the better (in that attitude sense, I mean) NW ever. Still I miss a dastard P.cancerides I had in the 2000. I named her Ton Ton for a reason

Not even from certain OW's ah ah.

 

[Paiige]

My first and only t at the time, my princess of a porteri escaped on me a few years back.

I lived in somewhat of a communal living space - a large warehouse that housed several people, as well as our entire production company's collection of deco, props, building equipment, etc., in addition to a handful of small furry creatures that would either play with or eat an escaped tarantula. I spent HOURS looking for her, enlisted the help of my (borderline arachnophobic) roommates (I was just waiting to hear the scream of one of them finding her) and locked our other pets in the bathroom. There was a rear area of our warehouse that got very cold - we had holes in the walls for ventilation for a kiln - so I went to get a sweater from my bureau to go look there, and lo and behold, she was snuggled in my sweater drawer.

 

[truecreature]

My only escape was totally my fault. I keep my 4"-ish female B. boehmei in a large KK, which have those little trap doors in the middle of the lid so you don't have to take the entire top off if you want to do something inside. This particular trap door had stubborn latches and it hurt my fingers to pry it up, so most of the time I'd just leave it unsnapped. I figured it wouldn't be a problem because the boehmei is your typical pet rock and I never once saw her on the walls of the cage.

Well, one day I go into my spider room and I immediately see a boehmei sitting nonchalantly on the carpet in front of her cage. At first I do a doubletake because sometimes I leave intact molts lying around that I've positioned into lifelike postures, but nope it's an actual boehmei. She'd climbed up the side of her cage, across the lid to the middle, tipped up the trap door, crawled through, and then strolled down the outside of the cage to the position I found her in.

Needless to say I always snap the door now.

 

[TarantulaObsession]

My one and only. Not sure exactly what happened but a few years ago I went go check on my eight legged babies and noticed my b.smithi was missing. I freaked out a little bit, searched high and low, thinking there's no way she could have left the room with such a tight fitting door. I searched for a few hours and then took a little break, went into my art room which is just the next room over and I see tiny little legs poking out from under a paper towel. It was the cutest thing ever. Too bad I lifted the paper towel and she reared up at me, she has a bad temper. I grabbed a catch cup and safely put her back in her home.

 

[Thistles]

Had a funny (because it ended well) escape today. I was feeding my slings, and couldn't see one of my Psalmopoeus ecclesiasticus in its deli. I figured it must just be in its burrow behind a dirt curtain, so I dropped in a cricket and moved on. Several spiders later, I was feeding another P. ecclesiasticus and the little beastie shot out of its burrow and straight out of the deli, across the table and down to the floor. I pursued, and it ran to a little corner under the table. I grabbed a flashlight and a catch cup and crouched down to see TWO P. ecclesiasticus huddled together in that corner.

I apprehended both fugitives and returned them to their respective delis after digging around in the first one to ensure that it actually was empty. These are the fastest tarantulas I've ever dealt with. They're like huntsmen. They make Tappies look slow. I guess the first did the same as the second, but was too fast for me even to see it go. Appropriate to the day, I am giving thanks that the second made its crazy flight, otherwise I wouldn't have even known the other had escaped until my next feeding.

These are the cutest little spazzes, and way beyond any other Psalmo I've kept. I highly recommend them. They bolt at any disturbance rather than staying hidden, and keep going at lightning speed. What little characters.

 

[Tony1618]

The one time that I tried to treat a T gigas sling like an avic (WRONG ANSWER!), she made me pay. Nonchalantly, I placed her enclosure next to her new enclosure and tried to coax her out with a paintbrush, with a couple of light taps. She jumped out of her enclosure and across the table so fast, legs flailing, that I was not sure whether to watch her and laugh or go for my catch cup. She ended up wedged in the molding on the side and underneath the table top. Of course there was no way to get a cup in on the small angle. I tried to move her a bit again and lightning fast she runs down the leg of the table. She ends her attempt at escape on my shoe, where she pauses for a moment and then took 6-7 quick laps on my sneaker, heel to toe, running in a circle. I was stunned by the absolute ridiculousness, had to wait until she got tired, and then was able to get my little Olympic sprinter into a cup. Disaster averted, my only regret was that I did not get the little speed demon on film running circles around me.

 

[SpiderDad61]

A happy ending....
When I bought my first B smithi, it was a 1/4" or so sling. I put it in an enclosure with tiny holes but that nite I checked on it and it was gone. I looked for days but nothing.
One day my then 7 yo daughter was playing w her toys on the floor next to the tv stand. She yells "daddy, a spider", happily. We see them all the time, so I thought it was a regular house spider. I go to look, and it was the lil B smithi. Laying inside a lego!!
I put it in an escape proof home and now, it's a beautiful T.

 

[Gods Spartan]

I walked into my T room and realized that I had left the lids open on my MM Rosehair Max's enclosure. My girlfriend at the time was on her way to my place. When she did arrive, I went out and said,

"You know I love you right? And I would never do anything to pit you in danger?"

"Yes" she told me with a puzzled look on her face.

"Good because Max is out and we need to find him."

Somehow, Max had escaped in the drawer of the desk that I kept his enclosure on. When I opened the drawer my girlfriend amazed me by actually moving her head down to his level as she had a look of amazement on her face. I know in this moment that my wife was a keeper!