Vinegaroons aggressive?

khil

Arachnobaron
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Oct 5, 2010
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Hi. It seems vinegaroons are harmless, and would make a good big invert, and although i do not plan on playing with it every day or anything like that, i would like to handle it sometimes. Are they aggressive? Like how do you go about taking them out of their tank to handle? Thanks
 

fangsalot

Arachnobaron
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Aug 9, 2005
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i used to just gently scoop mine up.but you can also coex it to walk on your hand by softly nudjing it with a pencil or something.out of the 5 or six that ive handled,i remember one being a little grumpy,but i held it and it calmed down.and ive never been "vinigered".
 

Moltar

ArachnoGod
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Apr 11, 2007
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I think their defensiveness is somewhat similar to the reaction's you'll get from a typical P. imperator, "Emperor Scorpion", that is to say docile as heck. Besides, as harmless as they are it might be cute to see them flicking vinegar at you. (in baby talk) Who's a vinegary little sourpuss? YOU are! Yes you are...
 

zonbonzovi

Creeping beneath you
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Oct 20, 2008
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^What they said. I have 7 of them at various life stages. They tend to chill out a lot after being captive for a time. Just keep those mucous membranes away from the "tail" and all should be good. I've never had one jump from my hand but to be on the safe side, handle them close to the ground/table/etc.
 

Bill S

Arachnoprince
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Besides, as harmless as they are it might be cute to see them flicking vinegar at you. (in baby talk) Who's a vinegary little sourpuss? YOU are! Yes you are...
Just to correct a misconception - what they spray defensively is not vinegar. It's acetic acid - the same acid found in vinegar - but at a much higher concentration. Vinegar contains a mild dose of acetic acid - I just checked two bottles on my shelf and they contain 4.1% and 5% acetic acid. The stuff that a vinegaroon sprays is 85% acetic acid, 5% caprylic acid (which penetrates lipids) and 10% water. It's strong enough to burn skin, and you definitely don't want to get it in your eyes or on sensitive membranes.
 

dtknow

Arachnoking
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I was going to say-their "vinegar" is not as harmless as you might think. I know some people think it smells like salad dressing but I think the smell is much more piercing than that.

I still think these are some of the best inverts for handling(guess you should just keep them outta your eyes). I wish more people had success breeding them.
 

Bill S

Arachnoprince
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I wish more people had success breeding them.
They aren't difficult to breed. My wife has photographed the entire courtship sequence of the local Arizona species - a courtship that takes about 17 hours. She's raised several clutches of babies. Justin Schmidt has published on the courtship and reproduction of vinegaroons, and has had many successful breedings.
 
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