A calm baboon

My baboon is really calm compared to what most seem like. Thought I would share.
Pterinochilus murinus

nice pic.

really OBT arent that bad like most people want you to believed, mine is calm too. my A seemani is more defensive than my OBT.

My OBT is very defensive, but its mood is very variable. One day she might treat me like a tree and climb up my arm without biting, and sometimes it just flips over in a threat pose with fangs stickin' out, promising a bite to any intruders.

And she means business!

Mine too!



Mine seem to be nasty all of the time, especially the female. Though, I havent tried picking them up, of course

Anyway, very nice OBT!

My little one lets me rub its rump. LOL It kinda likes it and doesn't leave any hairs. Strange things they are...

While it may occasionally tolerate you touching it, remember that it is unpredictable and could feel threatened at any moment. I have three and they are more nervous than defensive.

Also, you probably want to consider changing the substrate in your enclosure. Wood chips aren't really recommended and it is next to impossible for the spider to burrow in it.

becca81 said:

While it may occasionally tolerate you touching it, remember that it is unpredictable and could feel threatened at any moment. I have three and they are more nervous than defensive.

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I have to disagree with you there Becca(for the first time). I think tarantulas are the most predictable pet you could ever have.

Dr Pies said:

I have to disagree with you there Becca(for the first time). I think tarantulas are the most predictable pet you could ever have.

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Really? Please elaborate on how the behaviors of a wild animal are predictable.

becca81 said:

Really? Please elaborate on how the behaviors of a wild animal are predictable.

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What makes you think that a wild animal can be unpredictable?

If you had asked me without sounding <beep>, then I'd be glad to oblige.

EDIT: watch the language

What makes you think that a wild animal can be unpredictable?

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LOL! You're kidding right? Ask Sigfried and Roy if they think wild animals can be unpredictable.

DavidBeard said:

LOL! You're kidding right? Ask Sigfried and Roy if they think wild animals can be unpredictable.

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Lets just to stick to tarantulas..

The baboon spider was said to be unpredictable, I dont think it is.

Dr Pies said:

Lets just to stick to tarantulas..

The baboon spider was said to be unpredictable, I dont think it is.

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if you say so...some days mine is calm as hell, sometimes it attempts to kill me if i so much as breath in it's tank. how is that predictable?

TheWall said:

My little one lets me rub its rump. LOL It kinda likes it and doesn't leave any hairs. Strange things they are...

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mmm...how much research did you do on this species before you bought it? This is an Old World tarantula...they do not have urticating hairs like New World T's do, i would hope it doesn't leave any hairs on you. Hope you're quick cuz when it gets older...might have to test them reflexes Although, with that coloration I'd be inclined to think it should be showing some defensiveness by now. Wacky T!

i once had seen a approx 6" OBT...it was great...espacially there hissing sound i like that

Aaron

The OBT in my pic is very unpredictable. She can run like orange lightening, or she can decide to attack. If tou can call that unpredictable

Nick_schembri said:

The OBT in my pic is very unpredictable. She can run like orange lightening, or she can decide to attack. If tou can call that unpredictable

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i dont know....unpredictable?!!...with OBT you always can predict whats going to happen...

Aaron

I know I shouldn't even bother responding, but I am floored at how it has been said that a tarantula (a non-domesticated wild animal) can be considered predictable.

The only thing I find completely predictable about them is that one day they will die. They respond to stimuli in their environment with instinct, not with higher-level thinking skills. Even species that are known to generally be docile can suddenly be aggressive - you can't predict what type of behaviors may occur and by what they will feel threatened.

A tarantula that tolerates being handled, touched, or having tongs near its burrow one day may not tolerate it the next day (or the next second). Even when we generalize about the temperment of a certain species, there are always exceptions (the aggressive G. rosea, the docile H. maculata).

It floors me too and how someone with supposed experience thinks they aren't predictable.
Tarantula's always follow a pattern of behaviour that I and others have seen through over a decade of keeping them.
Experts have remarked on it, and amateur keepers have remarked on it.

I guess we are all wrong.

Dr Pies said:

It floors me too and how someone with supposed experience thinks they aren't predictable.
Tarantula's always follow a pattern of behaviour that I and others have seen through over a decade of keeping them.

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Yes there are some behavior that tarantulas will exhibit and others they will not. However, the pattern in which they exhibit these behaviors is not regular. They will typically show "warning signs" when they are feeling threatened before using defensive behavior. However, they will sometimes display different warning signs (or none at all) and go straight for the defensive behavior.

For example - if I am rehousing my T. blondi, I know that it is feeling stressed and will become defensive if I attempt to move it with the paintbrush and it doesn't move, planting its legs in the substrate. If I continue trying to prod it, it will begin kicking hairs, go into a threat pose, or attempt to strike the paintbrush. If it always followed this pattern of behavior I would consider it predictable.

However, there have been times when it has *not* followed this pattern. It is moving along nicely with the paintbrush, exhibiting signs of not being stressed, when it suddenly turns, strikes the paintbrush and/or begans suddenly kicking hairs. There are times when it does this just by the the paintbrush coming near it, or me opening the enclosure and doing maintenance near it.

There are a range of predictable behaviors that we know tarantulas will display (they're not going to suddenly begin singing and dancing the Macarena, for example). However, when they display these behaviors is not predictable.

When the thread-starter touches his P. murinus on the abdomen, there are several different reactions that the spider could have. It could tolerate it, it could slowly move away, it could run away, it could gather its legs together, it could turn and give a threat display, it could turn and bite the intruder, etc. There is no way of knowing which of these behaviors that the spider will display when being touched. Even when you think you "know" a particular tarantula, that doesn't mean that it couldn't suddenly change it's normal MO.

I agree with Becca, they are unpredictable, generally when it involves human interaction, since if left alone tarantulas seem to follow a daily pattern. As I said before I dont always get the same response from my OBT. so, yes, I say unpredictable