Tractability of Poecilotheria...

hcsk8ter

Arachnopeon
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Jan 7, 2007
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So I was going to take out my Poecilotheria Regalis today for some photos and it is was very difficult and she was very uncooperative.

Unlike most of my terrestrials, she is not very tractable at all. I point her one way, she runs under her hide, repeat, repeat. You get the picture.

She is quick but that wasn't the issue really at all. I took measures beforehand to approximate where she would end up.

The idea was to put her onto a flat plastic surface from the top of her container and then take photos. But she avoids it at all costs and will return to her hide.

I don't find her to be agressive at all, she'd rather be behind her hide at all times.

Anyone else have the same experience? Any suggestions? Would it be a stretch to say that T;s have their own temperaments? Can they have a temperament?

Also I realize, she is a "hot" species and I don't encourage other people to remove Pokeys from their cages.
 
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Katronmaster

Arachnoknight
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Aug 21, 2005
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198
Your Regalis actually sounds more docile than my G. Pulchra when it comes to coaxing her from her burrow. The slightest provocation warrants a full threat with fangs spread... Until you get her out of the cage, and then she's just your average marshmallow of a G. Pulchra.

I think all Ts have their own little 'personalities', or at the very least different personal levels of aggression and the occasional odd quirk.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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each individual is different. it is important to gauge an individuals tractability vs just assuming a species will always act one way. i would say it is safe to say there are trends some species generally adhere to, with the understanding that individuals are going to do whatever they want. kinda like the difference between descriptive and predictive statistics, in a sense.

further, i have some bugs that can be handled sometimes and other times bite everything the come in contact with. i would say there are a ton of variables contributing to an individual bugs "mood".
 

Mina

Arachnoking
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They are all different. In general most of a particular species tend to share certain temperment traits, but all Ts are individuals.
For instance, I know that most G. pulchras are sweet and calm, I don't remember who, but someone on the boards has one that is a killer. I, myself, have a P. cancerides that is a complete sweetheart. Gentle, shy, and handable. Yes, I've done it, no it wasn't planned, no I don't do it on a regular basis. It is still a P. cancerides after all. :eek:
 

spid142

Arachnobaron
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tractability

Mina, I think thats a good way to look at agressiveness/ tractability. My big gal regalis is pretty tolerant and will stay on her bark during my maintenance, but, I always remember - she could run if I startled her badly, and a bite would not be pleasant, after all, she's a pokie. Each T has an individual personality, and any one might be calm for her species, or more agressive than usual for her species, but still best to keep in mind a species generalized traits - would you really expect a pokie to be as docile as some red knees or rosies?
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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oh yeah, and one thing about free handling poeci's and many other arboreals... most of them seem to "hate" walking on skin. i expect they have even more complex chemosensors in their feet and our skin registers as a Do-Not-Walk-On.

i usually have to trick bigger more venomous arbs onto me =P

not that your q particularily pertains to free-handling, but i thought it was kind of an interesting point, none the less
 

138

Arachnoknight
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would you really expect a pokie to be as docile as some red knees or rosies?
i haven't had my p. regalis very long, but my rosie is the most aggressive T i have. i also have a p. lugardi and p. murinus and they don't even compare to how aggressive the rosie is. :(
 

phil jones

Arachnoprince
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all pokies are mad why would any one want to move them around :eek: unless they had to:? {D :D +++ PHIL
 

Gigas

Arachnoprince
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Welcome to the genus Poecilotheria. fast spiders that do pretty much what they was at twice the speed of light
 

Cerbera

Arachnobaron
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I don't find her to be aggressive at all, she'd rather be behind her hide at all times.
Well firstly - I have to ask - why are you trying to make it do something that it is patently telling you again and again that it doesn't want to do ? Surely the right thing to do is abandon that plan, and leave her where she wants to be? She'll be out in her own time.

But I can think of way to avoid the problem. It's rather obvious, but no1 has mentioned it so far, unless I am not reading things properly... Why not take the photo's through the glass without hassling the spider at all ? WAIT for it to get in the right position. It's only a bit of patience, and then the great photos come rolling in, glass or not.

Too dirty ? Clean it tomorrow, when the Pokie is in its burrow, and try again tomorrow night when it's clean and clear ! That seems to me to be the best approach, and I'd like to think my photos don't really suffer for it.

Personally, I go for the double cam approach. Set up your stills cam on a tripod pointing roughly at the tank in question, and also aim a web cam with night-vision at the general area. You can then watch that from your PC, while you work, chill, whatever, and when you can see the spider is in the right place, and lookin' cool, in you go, pop a light on, and take the shots... saves hours of waiting by a tank, I find, and never leaves me short of high quality photos.

I can't be the only one that questions whether its a fair or justified thing to do to go ploughing into their space and rest just for a photo op...

But who am I to know ? Some may love the 'excursion' (or 'incursion' as I'd describe it) - it might make their day more interesting - who knows. But there are other ways, nonetheless, so here I am mentioning them...

What is definitely also to be said, to anyone trying to take photos of (particularly) arboreal speeders 'out of tank' - who is watching the spider, while you are fannying about with focal lengths and framing, and changing your batteries ??? Surely that would be a file under 'asking for trouble' all on its own ?
 
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cacoseraph

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there is quite a bit of evidence that highest animals benefit from certain kinds of stress in captive environments.

while i readily grant that trying to infer anything from vert behavior to our pets is generally insane... i just mean to make the point that reducing spiders' stress down to zero is not needful and probably not even helpful

further, i would say that poor cage conditions are MUCH more deleterious to tarantula health than occasional responsible free handling or extracontainer activities


but really, we don't want to be rude and jack a thread, do we?


so, to be on topic, the way i manipulate most of my large more venomous trantulas is to tickle them with a brush on the side opposite that i want them to move towards. hard to carrot them, easy to stick them. i have never really had any trouble using this tech, but there are limits... i can't get an arb who doesn't want to skinwalk on to me no matter how much i worry them with the paint brush. for anything else this method is very useful to me... but you do have to develop a bit of a deft touch with it or you get your results. just stick with it and your skills will improve and your control over your spiders will grow :)
 

Brian S

ArachnoGod
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Taking pics outdoors is a piece of cake



I have even taken H maculata out for pics and they are far worse than any Poke

 

Brian S

ArachnoGod
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Sometimes a P ornata will give a threat display but hey thats part of the fun :rolleyes:
 

Doezsha

Arachnolord
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I just let my Ts do their own thing and take a pic wen they give me the chance, I also was thinking of takeing some of my larger Ts to the park thats a block from my house and snaping some oics in the grass of the baseball field, no trees for them to run up and nothing for them to hide under.I also was thinking of makeing a picture statation out of plexi glass, that project will come soon.
 
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