Your first interaction with your first T?

[Grimmdreadly]

I don't think it's as unreliable as people make out, I've only been proved wrong 3 times out of 16 unsexed specimens (all females that I initially thought were male, 2 of those were species that are known to be tricky to vent sex), so I'm currently operating at 82.25% accuracy so far

My reason for learning to vent sex is that I basically didn't trust people to send me what they'd advertised, allow waiting several months for a moult to find out you've been duped.

I do, however, agree that spermathecae sexing is pretty much foolproof provided you get an intact exuvia.



I believe you mean "penultimate", @Grimmdreadly explained "post ultimate" already so I'll leave it at that.

To answer the original question, other than housing/feeding her, I did handle* my little juvie B. albopilosum, she just calmly wandered around on the palm of my hand and then she just crapped on it, I chuckled to myself and put her back in her enclosure, fun times.

* I don't handle now unless a T bolts out of its enclosure when I open it and runs up my arm

I handled my female juvenile S.calceatum recently for that exact reason. This was the first time I've actually felt a bit of fear when a tarantula crawled up my arm...

 

[Vikingsblood]

My first interaction with my first tarantula...I was 7 or 8 years old and absolutely tarantula crazy. My dad found a huge female (we had no clue on the sex of course) B. smithi in a pet store for $20 (yes they were that cheap back in the day), back in those days( 1978'ish) its a pretty sure bet she was wild caught. I was so gung-ho on holding it that as soon as we got home i sat down on the couch and let her come crawling out of the cardboard container she was in. Laid my hand flat in front of her, and she crawled on my hand and up my arm, coming to a rest on my right shoulder where she stayed for quite some time. Of course my folks thought they had raised some kind of suicidal idiot by this point, lol. I handled her pretty much every day after that until we found that she had laid an egg sac and become pretty defensive. Of course both parents were freaking out and the sac got pulled and destroyed...i have often wondered if that could possibly have been the first B. smithi egg sac ever produced in the states, lol. Who knows...

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I handled my female juvenile S.calceatum recently for that exact reason. This was the first time I've actually felt a bit of fear when a tarantula crawled up my arm...

I've yet to have an OW do it to me yet (just my P. pulcher and E. cyanognathus slings), I will most likely soil myself a little bit if/when it happens

 

[GreyPsyche]

My girlfriends C. Versicolor sling walked up the paint brush SLOWLY and onto my hand. I just let it cause why not? It was in a safe position over the bed and my gf was cleaning the enclosure, she literally jumped into the catch cup as I brought my hand closer to the cup, lol, wasn't bad at all.

I don't advocate handling but I won't freak out if one crawls on me.

 

[Charlie69]

My first real interaction with a t, besides feeding and watering. Was when I tried filling the waterdish of my Caribena laeta for the first time. She jumped out, on the tip of my watering can. She bit the watercan. I was scared but grabbed the lid from my catchcup and waved it in front of her. She jumped back in the enclosure. And gave me a magnificent threatposture.

 

[kevinlowl]

I got home with a 1/4 inch G. pulchripes sling, sat down, and let it walk on my hand for a while (right over my table.) Even when they are tiny, they don't move like, say, house spiders. They have that slow and steady "feeling ahead" walk that they keep their whole lives.

Legs is now a 4" beauty:

For those about to freak out out about me handling, you can relax. I'm not a handler. This was a one-time thing for a new keeper.

How long have you had him/her?

 

[SkittleBunny]

I don't think it's as unreliable as people make out, I've only been proved wrong 3 times out of 16 unsexed specimens (all females that I initially thought were male, 2 of those were species that are known to be tricky to vent sex), so I'm currently operating at 82.25% accuracy so far

My reason for learning to vent sex is that I basically didn't trust people to send me what they'd advertised, allow waiting several months for a moult to find out you've been duped.

I do, however, agree that spermathecae sexing is pretty much foolproof provided you get an intact exuvia.



I believe you mean "penultimate", @Grimmdreadly explained "post ultimate" already so I'll leave it at that.

To answer the original question, other than housing/feeding her, I did handle* my little juvie B. albopilosum, she just calmly wandered around on the palm of my hand and then she just crapped on it, I chuckled to myself and put her back in her enclosure, fun times.

* I don't handle now unless a T bolts out of its enclosure when I open it and runs up my arm

I guess I do mean penultimate, I was worried that if it WAS male, it could die soon without fulfilling it's purpose. Im currently unemployed (disabled), Luckily I have thousands of crickets to feed my animals, But I know I would need to earn money to get the appropriate mate and I wanted to get a head start. That's why I wanted to figure out the sex before its possible maturing molt. I fed it 5 times a week on large crickets when I first got it and once it plumped up I feed it a regular 3-4 times a week on crickets 1/2-3/4". I'm looking for signs of pre-molt, but it could be months. I guess I'm excited to start producing tarantulas in the hobby asap!

 

[spotropaicsav]

I just watched mine....for a looooong time. Also let the family cat check it out through the Ts enclosure

 

[mconnachan]

My first interaction with a tarantula was to take pictures of a work colleagues P. Regalis, 7" MF, this was oh 15 years ago now, still remember him turning the bottle the spider was displayed on, so I could get good pictures, 10 minutes passed then he put the big girl back in her enclosure, after that I was hooked, line and sinker.

 

[nicodimus22]

How long have you had him/her?

Since September of 2013.

 

[Cordialis]

I don't think it's as unreliable as people make out, I've only been proved wrong 3 times out of 16 unsexed specimens (all females that I initially thought were male, 2 of those were species that are known to be tricky to vent sex), so I'm currently operating at 82.25% accuracy so far

My reason for learning to vent sex is that I basically didn't trust people to send me what they'd advertised, allow waiting several months for a moult to find out you've been duped.

I do, however, agree that spermathecae sexing is pretty much foolproof provided you get an intact exuvia.

I'm generally crappy at sexing T's no matter the method. As you can see, I've got the theory down pretty well, but practicing it? Not my strong suit.

Guess I should practice more and look at more pics or sth. However, the only reason I have to know the sex is to get a general lifespan expectancy since I don't breed any of mine.

 

[Nightstalker47]

Post ultimate is the molt after a male matures out. The molt where a male gets his boxing gloves and hooks is the ultimate molt. 9/10 it's his final molt and he dies, either being eaten after breeding or attempting another molt. If he survives another molt after the ultimate molt, he's post ultimate

I was under the impression most males died in the process of their post ultimate molt. Its very interesting to hear that you encountered some individuals that survived, did they retain the boxing gloves and MM physique or do they come out looking like an immature male again? Would love to see some pictures if you have any.