The Worst has Happened!!!

I got home from work around midnight. Came into the computer room to check the mail. Hubby come's home around 1 am, brother in law comes over around 1:30 am. I go out to check on the 8 legged little ones and what do I notice? The cup of water is spilled on the floor :? Hhhmmm, no biggy, just water. The dogs must have done it. As I check each tank and it's resident, everyone makes roll call..., except...., Oh no...., Oh god, maybe it's dug deeper in the dirt (shining the flashlight into the hide)..., nope, no legs. How do I explain this to hubby...., Ok, now I'm gonna pee my pants....


THE T BLONDI IS GONE!!!!

The HUGE 8-9" Male mouse eating machine with 1" fangs IS GONE!!!!

Ok, I'm not panicing.No, I AM PANICING! This is a very large spider loose in the house. It has to be fairly visible right?? So I casually grab the flash light and start looking under furniture, behind the entertainment center. My birds start squaking so I run in there to see if maybe my little budgie has become dinner but no THANK GOD!
So hubby comes over and asks "what are you looking for?" and the horrified look on my face says it all. My heart is pounding in my ears , I can't talk and all I can think of is waking up to a giant tarantula sitting on my chest! :8o He says "ok , which one of your critters has escaped?" and I look over to the largest tank on the shelf. So now both of us have "the Look", you know, when all the blood drains out of your face? So brother in law comes over and hubby tells the brother what happened. 3 people about to panic.
We spread out all with flashlights and I give instructions ( I think I did :? )to the other 2, "DON'T KILL MY TARANTULA IF YOU FIND IT! Just yell (or scream) for me and I'll come and get it" I'm sure I told them but my memory is a bit clouded from the panic attack I was having :8o
We are all looking in every conceiveable corner, hiding spot we can think of. I walk into the computer room, turn on the light and yell "I FOUND IT!". A huge T. blondi calmly walking into the room on the white carpet I run to get my bug net (its a butterfly net) which is the only thing I can think of doing at this point! I toss the net over the very angry T and use a magazine to scoop him up. My brother in law quickly brings over the entire tank from the other room and I gently place Mr Houdini back into his tank. It is 2 am and I must now visit the restroom... :8o

Wonder how he got out? So do I! The lid on the tank is plastic with wire mesh. It has 4 locks on each corner and 2 round 1.5" access holes with lids. These lids have to be turned half a turn before the tabs release. One of the lids was tilted open in the hole. Hubby and I assume he turned the lids and pushed it out to escape. That's the only thing I can think of because I haven't fed him about 3 days and the last time I opened it to give him water was about a week ago. I don't have to open it to mist the tank since it has a screen top. I have since TAPED each of the access holes and double checked the 4 locks. I doubt I'll be getting any sleep tonight though



and I'm a bit itchy....

yikes! glad you found him!

Now I'm a bit worried that hubby won't let me get anymore from the show this Sunday I just know this will come up in a conversation. I can hear it now..."Hun, are you sure you want to get more tarantulas? After that big one getting out, I don't think you can handle all of them."



Anyone want a male T blondi?

Nice story! Im glad you found him though

She just wanted to get out and see the world. Don't want to be living off mom's coat tails all her life.

Nice story. Glad you got her back so quick.

Glad you recovered him Diane.

Sounds a lot like my male blondi when I first got him (no longer with me, in florida). I still wasn't comfortable with him and he climbed outta his cage and it freaked mt out soo bad. I think I was sh*ttin bricks. I got him back in using his hide. The reason I opened his cage was to make a short video with my digicam, so my reaction is all on the video when he escaped. Everyone that has seen it has laughed histerically. I sounded like I was gonna die. I have, of course, gotten over this now and hold my adult female occasionally.

great story with a happy ending!! sounds scary.. any pics of the looks on your faces?

maybe stick a rock on your lid to be sure? they can be strong creatures..

Congrads on the happy ending. Is he matured? He might have other plans. Visiting the ladies for instance. My concern is, now that he knows how, he certainly will try it again! Just beware of that.

I am a little worried that not once did you voice any concern about the welfare of your T.blondi. :?
Escapes are never a good thing, however, your description of the incident paints your poor little friend in a bad light. (Eyebrows would be raised if you had said that your P.fera or L.mactans had made their way out)
While admittedly, they are indeed a large tarantula, they certainly are not capable of opening bird cages in search of dinner, nor are they tricky enough to manipulate locks on a lid. If mine escaped and ended up on my chest while I slept, I would just be darn happy to have found it.
Perhaps you and the big guy need to have some quality time together where you can observe his behavior a bit more. Other than the urticating hairs, they are actually quite a nice T. More bark than bite as the saying goes.
The lids that you speak of are probably the crappiest design that I have ever seen when it comes to keeping any pet.
Although not the most attractive for display, I use the handy old Rubbermaid clear storage boxes. Drill it out, snap on the old lid, and you're worry free!
Please don't get me wrong, I am not trying to criticize you, I just think the story fuels an already undeserved reputation.

My concern is, now that he knows how, he certainly will try it again! Just beware of that.

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I hope you are not being serious.......

Glad to hear of your T's recapture, I have had 2 escapes in my 15 or so years of T keeping, a P. murinus and an X. immanis, both were recovered safely.

Andy

I'm glad to hear that your familly reacted so well to the escape. A happy ending helped too! I'm not sure my familly would have been so understanding of a wandering blondi. I can see you being extra careful in future.

My large, adult female B.smithi regularly tries to escape. She's very strong and can easily lift the plastic lid to her tank. My wife makes me keep a big, heavy book on top of the tank. Sometimes the smithi climbs to the top of the tank and chews on the ventilation holes. It's a scary sound and it really freaks my wife out.

Diane S said:

and I'm a bit itchy....

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Ok, that part was very funny.

Seriously, though, do you think that another domestic animal might have "helped" him out?

You shouldn't worry too much about having him loose. He probably won't bite without provokation.

Chris

JPD said:

I am a little worried that not once did you voice any concern about the welfare of your T.blondi. :?

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You're joking right?

JohnxII said:

My concern is, now that he knows how, he certainly will try it again! Just beware of that.

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A snake may learn where the weak spot in his cage is, but I seriously doubt that tarantulas or any arthropod possesses this capacity.

Diane S said:

Now I'm a bit worried that hubby won't let me get anymore from the show this Sunday I just know this will come up in a conversation. I can hear it now..."Hun, are you sure you want to get more tarantulas? After that big one getting out, I don't think you can handle all of them."



Anyone want a male T blondi?

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LOL Diane, I thought my husband would allow NO more Ts. after the baboon escaped (still havent found her ) But he let me get Gillians T. blondi female. Im glad you found him!! I felt your panic! Wish I could find my Usambara....

great story with a happy ending!! sounds scary.. any pics of the looks on your faces?

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I took a photo of him with the butterfly net over him, kicking hairs at me but it turned out too blurry. I guess I was shaking quite a bit :8o

I am a little worried that not once did you voice any concern about the welfare of your T.blondi

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Of course I was concerned! I was scared to death I would accidently step on him or worse!~ the hubby could have stepped on him (I have 2 disasters to deal with!)
When I found him in the computer room I almost threw up! The image of me accidently rolling on him with the chair or kicking him while I walked in there made me nauseous.

While admittedly, they are indeed a large tarantula, they certainly are not capable of opening bird cages in search of dinner, nor are they tricky enough to manipulate locks on a lid

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My parrots cage doesn't need to be opened for the T get access(the bars are 1" apart) to the inside. I knew that he would be in more danger than my parrot but I was concerned for my parakeet who's cage I open when I come home from work. I let the birds have some free time out of the cage before and after work so it would be like handing over the parakeet on a silver platter. Add to the fact that the trail of water on the floor lead to the birds and my parrot was throwing a fit had me thinking of any conceiveable possibility that he might have wandered over there.
I checked on him as soon as I pulled myself together and he's fine. He just sat in the tank the first hour afterwards, cleaning his feet and moving his fangs(I know what he was really thinking! )He has been trying to get that darn lid off again. He perches himself on the corner of the tank and I can see him using his front legs to press on the circular lids. He'll change positions after a few minutes but he'll be getting no where with DUCKTAPE on the lids!!

A snake may learn where the weak spot in his cage is, but I seriously doubt that tarantulas or any arthropod possesses this capacity

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I never thought a spider would be able to manipulate a round locking lid either but watching him as well as seeing certain things the others will do may be convincing me otherwise. In most of the sling cups I have, I make a hole large enough for a small cricket to fit through without allowing for escape. If the sling is 1.5-2" the holes in the lid are no more than 1/8" in diameter so I can give them 3/8" sized crickets. I've noticed certain slings will wait by a hole in the lid and litterally pull the cricket into the cup almost as soon as the crickets head enters. Other times, they are not waiting at the site but will rush to it as soon as they feel any disturbance in the cup. Given the fact that a T has to know it's surroundings and everything in it makes me think they can do and know more than we suspect.
I'm not saying they have any sort of conscience intellegence but they do inspect thier territories so it would only make sence they would know what is there and what's not there. If they find something that is easily manuvered wouldn't you think they would test it or investigate what it might be? If they lived in a log wouldn't they know where all the possible exits might be, including possible exits that may have an obstacle?

This is why tanks with sliding glass doors and metal mesh firmly siliconed on top are used here.

And t´s that can unlock lids...no. Maybe you just forgot to close it properly. Thats how my few escapes over the years have happened, except one juvenile that chewed its way out of a plastic box.

/Lelle

And t´s that can unlock lids...no. Maybe you just forgot to close it properly

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I did have tape on the lids when I first got the tank set up but thought it was impossible for the T to turn one and get out. One of the lids is rather loose and turns pretty easy but I still didn't think it would happen. Well, however impossible it seemed, it has happened so the tape goes back on the lids until I can find a more secure enclosure. I'm very sure I didn't leave it open but there is the possibility that someone else could have messed with it. I did have my rosea escape about 10 years ago when my brother in law left the aquarium top off. I don't know why he would see any reason to remove the lid to the T blondi's tank but that is a possibility. :?
And I'll continue to do a head count first thing when I get home from work

I have to agree with Diane on this one. I have a 6" B albopilosum in a hexagon tank that has a hole in the lid for feeding and she stays perched in the corner of the tank where the hole is, waiting for dinner to drop in. As a matter of fact she'll litterally take the cricket out of my hand. I was keeping the lid fastened down with the hole in the nine O'clock position, however here recently I spun the lid with the hole at six O'clock (with the hole facing me) because its easier to reach. She still goes to the the corner of the tank where the hole used to be but I bet given time she'll catch on.
T's definitely learn their surroundings, where their water source is, they push up on lids, if it moves easily enough I can see them learning to spin it to get out.