Ticklefingers

buthus

Arachnoprince
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First things first... Handling venomous spiders should be considered dangerous and probably fairly stupid. Neither I, nor this forum encourages and/or condones stupid people.

Ticklefingers
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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Hey buthus is that you? If so, very nice. :clap: You truely are one with the widows.;) This is a great video because it really shows that black widows aren't terrible creatures out to get us, but in fact very docile spiders with a venomous bite.
 

buthus

Arachnoprince
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Hey buthus is that you? If so, very nice. :clap: You truely are one with the widows.;) This is a great video because it really shows that black widows aren't terrible creatures out to get us, but in fact very docile spiders with a venomous bite.
No...I dont touch those things..scare the bajeebees out of me. But, I require visitors to handle them if they want to hang out in the spidie room. ;)
... :? :D

Vid is too dark. but, not a black widow ...bishopi.
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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No...I dont touch those things..scare the bajeebees out of me. But, I require visitors to handle them if they want to hang out in the spidie room. ;)
... :? :D

Vid is too dark. but, not a black widow ...bishopi.

Haha, well that is top notch hospitality.

Ah, I knew I'd get the name wrong, still a widow though. :cool:
 

buthus

Arachnoprince
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Haha, well that is top notch hospitality.

Ah, I knew I'd get the name wrong, still a widow though. :cool:
Yep, thats what I call it. And you are welcome to drop by anytime. :D
...;)

I am not happy with the brightness (lack of) because she is really pretty...a dark bishopi, but nice bright red cephalothorax and legs.
Ill have to do it again when I get this camera figured out! :?

Who should I play with next? :? :wall: :D
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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Yep, thats what I call it. And you are welcome to drop by anytime. :D
...;)

I am not happy with the brightness (lack of) because she is really pretty...a dark bishopi, but nice bright red cephalothorax and legs.
Ill have to do it again when I get this camera figured out! :?

Who should I play with next? :? :wall: :D
Haha, ok, I'll bring my own widows though. :rolleyes:

The video is good, the lighting(like you said) is just off, cause I saw it as a L.hesperus. Maybe its just my computer?:?

What about a Latrodectus sp. Laos?

Have you ever got bitten?
 

Venom

Arachnoprince
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No...I dont touch those things..scare the bajeebees out of me. But, I require visitors to handle them if they want to hang out in the spidie room. ;)
... :? :D

Vid is too dark. but, not a black widow ...bishopi.
I don't understand...you ask non-keepers to handle what even an experienced hobbyist won't? It's risky enough for the experienced... I'd also be worried about liability if a guest, non-keeper were bitten. :eek:

So, I suppose partly I just don't understand the rationale behind having visitors hold widows to get into the "spidie room." :? Could you explain this one for me?
 

P. Novak

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I don't understand...you ask non-keepers to handle what even an experienced hobbyist won't? It's risky enough for the experienced... I'd also be worried about liability if a guest, non-keeper were bitten. :eek:

So, I suppose partly I just don't understand the rationale behind having visitors hold widows to get into the "spidie room." :? Could you explain this one for me?
Lol we were just kidding.
 

Venom

Arachnoprince
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Oh.:wall: :8o My bad, lol. I thought he was serious!
 

Taceas

Arachnolord
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No way in Hell! :eek:

Beautiful spiders, but I prefer not having to seek medical treatment. ;)

The only spiders I will handle bare handed are jumpers and the occasional crab spider that hitches in on some cut flowers, neither of which can really bite. Everything else, including my T's gets cupped.
 

buthus

Arachnoprince
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The video is good, the lighting(like you said) is just off, cause I saw it as a L.hesperus. Maybe its just my computer?

What about a Latrodectus sp. Laos?

Have you ever got bitten?
Not your computer...unless you have your settings dark or a crappy monitor making it even darker.

I've had Laos on me, mostly from minor messups during transfers and whatnot. I've played a little with them and have held some, but I am leary of the wimpy species like these Laos. They react with caution/fear when they touch you, they tend to want to hunker down more than "explore" and they seem to use their jaws to either test the grounds or help with climbing. They are also very clumbsy. I would suspect that others have handled them though.

Bitten? A male gave me a slight skin and muscle reaction. I have also had some questionable muscle "ticks" and skin irritation after dealing with the seperation/tranfer of a bunch of juvs/subs, but I'm not closing the book on that one ...once you start thinking something may have just happened your brain can take the story and run with it.





I don't understand...you ask non-keepers to handle what even an experienced hobbyist won't? It's risky enough for the experienced... I'd also be worried about liability if a guest, non-keeper were bitten. :eek:

So, I suppose partly I just don't understand the rationale behind having visitors hold widows to get into the "spidie room." :? Could you explain this one for me?
Oh boy, my sense of humor gets me in trouble once again. :D ...;P

Handling venomous spiders should be considered dangerous and probably fairly stupid. Neither I, nor this forum encourages and/or condones stupid people.

I hold great respect for these creatures (dangers and otherwise) and I am far more calculated and cautious when dealing with them than I have probably come off to be. I'm not into spiders and inverts in general because they are "cool" or dangerous. I have more to say regarding this, but the words in my head will most likely piss off 95% of the people in the so called hobby.

Things to CLEARLY understand...
When dealing with latros (in general)
You will increase the chance of being bitten when..
1. The spider has been manipulated in anyway..ie pulled from its web, pushed, poked, etc. Obviously some manipulation happens no matter what, but rule of thumb.. if u cause the spider to become defensive, (especially if it throws webbing at you) you just changed its running program from things are fine, but must keep moving to something is messing with me ver1.0
2.She is feeding.
3.She is gravid
4.She has produced sacs and especially if she is sitting on one. This seemingly is especially true with the American species, geos and most likely those mean btches from Madagascar.
 
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8+)

Arachnolord
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645
I read on the internet, so it must be true :rolleyes:, that there are no recorded bites from L. bishopi. Of course if it is true, it might mostly be due to it not having a close relationship with man, along with it's small range.

So, how does a photo/video op like this develop without much manipulation? Was she "pacing" as if she was ready to find a new home and you prepared everything and just let her crawl out to explore? Or was she in a temporary container while you prepared a new home, and then after she had cooled down you let her out-something along those lines?
 

Arachnophilist

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I noticed what looked like packing tape on the upper forearm.. what was that all about? wrap the arm with tight tape to stop the bloodflow should things go badly? lol
 

cacoseraph

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I noticed what looked like packing tape on the upper forearm.. what was that all about? wrap the arm with tight tape to stop the bloodflow should things go badly? lol
i saw that too

im guessing it keeps stuff from running up his arm if it really has a use. buthus is a weird dude, you know


great, now i'm going to have to make a video with the laos buthus hooked me up with. today seems like a good day to make some bad/stupid/funny vids, to me. heh.
 

Venom

Arachnoprince
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Oh boy, my sense of humor gets me in trouble once again. :D ...;P

Handling venomous spiders should be considered dangerous and probably fairly stupid. Neither I, nor this forum encourages and/or condones stupid people.

I hold great respect for these creatures (dangers and otherwise) and I am far more calculated and cautious when dealing with them than I have probably come off to be. I'm not into spiders and inverts in general because they are "cool" or dangerous. I have more to say regarding this, but the words in my head will most likely piss off 95% of the people in the so called hobby.

Things to CLEARLY understand...
When dealing with latros (in general)
You will increase the chance of being bitten when..
1. The spider has been manipulated in anyway..ie pulled from its web, pushed, poked, etc. Obviously some manipulation happens no matter what, but rule of thumb.. if u cause the spider to become defensive, (especially if it throws webbing at you) you just changed its running program from things are fine, but must keep moving to something is messing with me ver1.0
2.She is feeding.
3.She is gravid
4.She has produced sacs and especially if she is sitting on one. This seemingly is especially true with the American species, geos and most likely those mean btches from Madagascar.
Yeah, sorry for the mini-tirade. I was operating on the faulty understanding you were having other people handle the widow, which I thought was ludicrous. You know I eschew all recklessness with the hot species. But I know you know what you're doing. Sorry for jumpin' on ya. :8o
 

Arachnophilist

Arachnoprince
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oh yeah you gonna set us up with another venmous creature exploring the landscape of your face? lol and yeah I figured the plastic was a deterrant for runaways I just thought a pre made tourniquet would be funny :D
 

buthus

Arachnoprince
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I read on the internet, so it must be true :rolleyes:, that there are no recorded bites from L. bishopi. Of course if it is true, it might mostly be due to it not having a close relationship with man, along with it's small range.
I've read something about a bite report but I cant find it. But, now that I've had some time to "play" with these and compare their behavior and reactions, I conclude that they are a lot like geos ...big time runners. (even as adults ...compared to the blackies) That in the end is probably the best defense...get the heck away from the big mammal and hide! Geos dont readily bite either, but they are everywhere, so the odds even out a bit. So, you are more than likely correct regarding the lack of exposure to mankind. Their niche/range is tiny and up til lately, it has not been considered prime real estate. I have to assume that because bulldozers generally come before people and because the fact that their is no outside population to replenish the dozed population, once people move in, the poor little reds never get the chance to hunt down and feed on the trailer trash. Of course a few most likely make it, but by that time the fauna has changed and the competition has moved in reducing their chance to demonstrate their ability to adapt to living in places like garbage, electrical boxes, piles of cinderblock...etc
So, how does a photo/video op like this develop without much manipulation? Was she "pacing" as if she was ready to find a new home and you prepared everything and just let her crawl out to explore? Or was she in a temporary container while you prepared a new home, and then after she had cooled down you let her out-something along those lines?
Like I said, there is always a little manipulation no matter what you do. In her case, I opened the canister and waited for her to start investigating the new situation. Once I saw that she was ready to explore, I allowed her to climb my glove. Now this where the tape comes in play. (or lack of) I've used tape before to help prevent slings and adults from escaping up my arm, but this time I forgot and the first thing she did was run up my arm to my back of my head ...where she spent about 15 minutes or so webbing up a temp home. A little scary, but i just had to relax and do a few things in slowmo while I waited for her to come around where I could control her again. Even with the help of a mirror, the last thing you want to do is grab a widow when you cant clearly understand whats going down. Worked out fine...and once I had her in front of me again, I quickly applied some packing tape..which she never tested BTW...:rolleyes:
She was actually out and about for 45min or so.
Really FANTASTIC spider and I mean all around...not just pretty.
I hope people that keep these (or plan to) can look past the obvious ego trip "look at me holding a widow..na na booger!" factor and see that I am also honestly trying to show that these are rare and gentle gems that should be dealt with without ANY fear and panic involved. There are few of these left in the wild and the one that you end up killing by slinging it across the room in a panic because it was crawling up some webbing that got accidently attached to you ...is, in the grand scheme of things, a significant loss. If you cant treat widows with at least a basic level of Zen, then a hesperus or mactans is a better choice for you. With those, the lesson in Karma you learn from a screw-up will surely outweigh the loss of the spider.


great, now i'm going to have to make a video with the laos buthus hooked me up with. today seems like a good day to make some bad/stupid/funny vids, to me. heh.
Big deal. :rolleyes: ;P Your immune and central nervous system has become one big callus. You wont even know if you got bit. ...:? :rolleyes: :D
 

buthus

Arachnoprince
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Yeah, sorry for the mini-tirade. I was operating on the faulty understanding you were having other people handle the widow, which I thought was ludicrous. You know I eschew all recklessness with the hot species. But I know you know what you're doing. Sorry for jumpin' on ya. :8o
Hey Venom, meant to respond to your post(s), but got distracted.
Absolutely no need for apologies. Infact, you made a bad joke actually work. :D
I am very concerned about other people that are here dealing in anyway with my widows. Infact, I recently had a fairly experienced (in inverts, not widows) guest over and after he saw how I dealt with my spiders, he loosened up and became fearless. He was holding a cup with a mactans in it and the girl started crawling out of the cup and onto his hand... I freaked... dont do that!!! And I pushed the mac back into her container. She probably would not have bitten him, but then again, I would not allow that particular mac to crawl onto my hand let alone a guest.
If you wanted to come over and try holding a spider, be my guest, but I would never encourage such a thing...and if you feel that I HAVE by sharing this foolery, maybe you're right. But, if I took a pic of me weaving in and out of traffic going 90mph, and someone gets the urge to do it also because of what they saw... not my problem. :? :D
 
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