Rehousing fast Ts

Dear God, you have no idea what I just went through in the past hour. I knew rehousing my GBB was going to be difficult, but not THIS difficult. I brought the container downstairs to rehouse it and it was speeding around its container like mad. It opened the container (which was difficult to do cause it had webbed up the lid) and when I went to put it in the catch cup I prepared beforehand, it bolted across the room, under my plant setup, and onto the wall. With some effort, I got it into the catch cup and sealed the lid. My dad came by and decided to help me rehouse it. He took out the yellow storage container and I put the catch cup and the new enclosure in it. This is where it gets bad. I opened the catch cup to let the spider out and it started running up the side of the yellow container. I quickly catched it, only to have run out of the catch cup. This happened a few more times and eventually I got it in the enclosure. I thought it was going to be done, but the catch cup was still in the enclosure. I tried removing it, but the spider ran out once again. This time desperate, I physically grabbed the spider with my index finger, middle finger and thumb and placed it in the enclosure. It ran out once again. I repeated this process. It ran out again. Finally on the third time, my dad and I managed to put the GBB in the enclosure and seal it before it could escape.

The GBB is now walking around the enclosure, trying to get a feel for it. My hand hurts from the hairs that got lodged in my hand and I am frightened at the knowledge that it escaping was a very real possibility and my managing to secure it was more due to luck than anything else. The only good thing about this is that I am now even more dissuaded from buying OWs and fast moving NW species like tappies. You guys keep hundreds of fast movers, so you must have a method on rehousing them easily. This goes without saying, but PLEASE SHARE THEM.

Sorry if I came off as a little harsh with the above rant, I am just really shaken the possibility losing of my most expensive, interesting, and loved T. I am not trying to be mean, but I am still shaken by this experience, so don't take offense please.

Driller64 said:

Dear God, you have no idea what I just went through in the past hour. I knew rehousing my GBB was going to be difficult, but not THIS difficult. I brought the container downstairs to rehouse it and it was speeding around its container like mad. It opened the container (which was difficult to do cause it had webbed up the lid) and when I went to put it in the catch cup I prepared beforehand, it bolted across the room, under my plant setup, and onto the wall. With some effort, I got it into the catch cup and sealed the lid. My dad came by and decided to help me rehouse it. He took out the yellow storage container and I put the catch cup and the new enclosure in it. This is where it gets bad. I opened the catch cup to let the spider out and it started running up the side of the yellow container. I quickly catched it, only to have run out of the catch cup. This happened a few more times and eventually I got it in the enclosure. I thought it was going to be done, but the catch cup was still in the enclosure. I tried removing it, but the spider ran out once again. This time desperate, I physically grabbed the spider with my index finger, middle finger and thumb and placed it in the enclosure. It ran out once again. I repeated this process. It ran out again. Finally on the third time, my dad and I managed to put the GBB in the enclosure and seal it before it could escape.

The GBB is now walking around the enclosure, trying to get a feel for it. My hand hurts from the hairs that got lodged in my hand and I am frightened at the knowledge that it escaping was a very real possibility and my managing to secure it was more due to luck than anything else. The only good thing about this is that I am now even more dissuaded from buying OWs and fast moving NW species like tappies. You guys keep hundreds of fast movers, so you must have a method on rehousing them easily. This goes without saying, but PLEASE SHARE THEM.

Sorry if I came off as a little harsh with the above rant, I am just really shaken the possibility losing of my most expensive, interesting, and loved T. I am not trying to be mean, but I am still shaken by this experience, so don't take offense please.

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no where did I get that you were being harsh.. I thought you sounded kind of freaked out. I'm sorry though, I do have to confess that I laughed pretty good as I read it. I wish I had more to add but I only have a couple of G. rosea's and a wolf spider so don't really have any experience to help you with. thank you for sharing your story though.

Rehousing my GBB is always sort of nerve wracking for me too - and I'm like "You mean there are FASTER Ts??"
I do all my rehousing in an empty bathtub, with the drain plugged & all possible escape routes blocked by towels or something, using the coke-bottle top catch cup & a clean paintbrush to gentle coax the T where I want them to go. I also use the paint brush to shoo them away from the enclosure entrance if need be while I fill the water dish or cage cleanup.
Thankfully my boyfriend lends a hand sometimes, which I highly recommend whenever possible. I usually handle the catch cup while he has the new enclosure & lid ready to go.

Other than that, I think learning to predict the T's movements & maneuvers is something that comes with experience - it gets easier!

Even funnier, my dad thought the T could not climb the yellow container based on an experience catching a large wolf spider. This added an extra layer of difficulty because my dad was surprised it could climb it.

Also to give you an idea of how attached I am to this particular T, I shed a small tear while thinking about the fact that it could have escaped. Fortunately there are some people here who are even more attached to their Ts so I won't get the "it's just a spider" thing. Not that I am not attached to my other Ts.

nah, I totally get it. I LOVE my tarantula's, even though neither of them are "technically" mine, I am the one that principally cares for them and my wolf spider is my pride and joy. I never ever thought I would feel this way about a spider but I do. LOL There is no such thing in my world as "just a spider" and frankly I can't imagine or how anyone could think that. They are marvels of engineering both in their physiology and in the way they utilize their webs. They are fascinating creatures. I'm in danger of starting a gush so I think I'll stop there, you get the idea.. LOL

Here are enclosure pics. I know the substrate is a little moist, but I will just not give it water in its water dish until it dries out. The tarantula should slow down once it accepts this new enclosure as its home.

It's pretty easy if you know what you're doing. Research the bag method. Always have a catch cup and either a long pair of tongs or a paintbrush handy.

aaww.. pretty little GBB..

Lookie here: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...fer-Technique-How-To-Transfer-Your-Tarantulas

ratluvr76 said:

no where did I get that you were being harsh.. I thought you sounded kind of freaked out. I'm sorry though, I do have to confess that I laughed pretty good as I read it. I wish I had more to add but I only have a couple of G. rosea's and a wolf spider so don't really have any experience to help you with. thank you for sharing your story though.

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Wolf spiders can run circles around T's so don't downplay it

As for you Driller I usually meditate so I am in a calm state of mind when I'm doing transfers. I use a paint brush, tongs and some cups or vial, I expect the T to take off so I predict where they will go instead of where they are. Small bath rooms are your friend as you can locate a T faster in a little room. The other advantage of a small room is that for Ts like pokies and Taps you can just let them run onto the wall and then catch them and they eventually will tire themselves out if they decide to run laps around the room. I also usually choose a time when the T has a few meals in them and during a time they are not active like the day as they will be a *little* slower. If you are slow and persistent eventually the T will go where you want it. There are times when I was going to transfer a T and it was not having it, so I tried again a few days later and the T was more cooperative. My advice is keep an eye on the T with a cup/lid in one hand and a brush in another, you will have to get good at multitasking .

I'm glad this was a wake-up call for you, my GBB has never posed an issue for me but I can see how it can be intimidating for others. I had to re-house my P.regalis recently and she was not happy, I fortunately predicted that she would travel in a cyclone like pattern up the container so I got the top on the cage in time. She calmed down after she hit the lid and has adjusted to her new home well.

Honestly? A GBB causing that much trouble? Surprising to hear.

I have to smile about that really. For one, you container is quite small so you don't have much room for working in it. Secondly, if I see a T is already fired up and freaking out before I even started to rehouse much less open the enclosure, I'd give it an hour or two to calm down and try then. The GBBs I've kept so far have all been pretty easy to rehouse and the couple ~2" I have right now need to be rehoused soon so I'll probably make a vid about that. That said, I really don't have much trouble with them since neither of mine was so freaked out to run all over the place. Mine usually walk aside with a quick sprint and either right into the catchcup, or get gently prodded over straight into the new enclosure. Personalities vary, keep in mind.

If yours is really that hyper, I'd opt to put the catchup over it and carefully slide the lid underneath without hurting the legs. But, as also mentioned before, if that in the pictures is the new enclosure, the old one would've probably been even smaller giving you even less space to work with. Small catchcup layed on side, prod T into it. Transfer.

Then again, if it bolts there really is nothing else to do but to transfer those particular T's in an enviroment free of any clutter except some towels it could hide under. Clean, open space, gives you better and quicker options to recapture a T that is flighty. Bag-method might work, I'm not a fan of it though, but you could try that.

You apparently aren't working with long-legged arboreals yet, like Poecs, Lampros, Cyrios, & Psalmos, or Asian terrestrials, many of which are like race cars. Those can zip right by Chromatopelmas.

Part of the formula is slow, deliberate movements on your part. You determine whether most spiders will stay calm, or panic. I set the cage on a tall bar stool, and use a 32 oz deli cup to transfer my speed demons, positioning in slowly and gently in front of them, and then lightly tapping their rear legs. They walk in the cup and I put the lid on. You don't want dashes, or anything that will start dashes. Once they're worked up, there's no calming them down. If you could replay what happened, it was likely in the first few seconds that you panicked the spider and at that point you should have put the lid on and tried again later. Best time for cage transfers of fast species is on a cool morning, when they're at low tide.

People who have slow, docile NW terrestrials often have sloppy habits when working with them, which is no big deal if that's the only spiders you're working with. There's wide margins for errors without serious consequences. Since most of my collection is arboreal and/or OW, I've had to tighten up my techniques (or I'd constantly be trying to catch escaped spiders). I don't work with my spiders like most people with NW's do. What if you had to do this every week or two (upgrading cage sizes, pairing up adults, new additions, etc)? You'd look at each step of the process and refine it. If you're prepared, mentally and physically for it, you'll have better results. Limit the spider's options on where to go. Know here it could go if it does make a break. Have catch cups all around the room, so there's always one in arm's reach. Open lids partially when you can (instead of fully) and if you take the lid all the way off, have it handy in a second's notice. Keep your movements from panicking the spider and making things worse. If things don't look promising up front, be patient enough to wait for a better time. Sometimes an arboreal dart around or do laps around the sides of it's cage in a blur. Come back later; no point in even trying anything for a while. When the time is right, make up your mind to stay in control of the situation, and a big part of that means keeping the spider calm so the advantage stays on your side. Once the spider is determining how things will go, you're going to end up looking foolish.

Storm76 said:

Secondly, if I see a T is already fired up and freaking out before I even started to rehouse much less open the enclosure, I'd give it an hour or two to calm down and try then.

...transfer those particular T's in an enviroment free of any clutter except some towels it could hide under. Clean, open space, gives you better and quicker options to recapture a T that is flighty.

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Basically this. End of my lecture

telepatella said:

Basically this. End of my lecture

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It seems like the common theme myself and probably 3 other people have suggested it as well. You are not going to give a tiger a bath when it's in a bad mood, why re-house a T when it's sprinting around the cage?

I'm not sure if I have any rooms that would work as rehousing rooms for fast Ts. My new enclosure should my GBB happy for a while so I shouldn't have to worry about that. The funny thing is that I have actually rehoused this T two times before, once when I got it, and a second time when transferring it to a smaller enclosure. It never acted like this during either of those rehousings. In fact the first one was outside lol. I guess even Ts change as they get older.

I'd rehouse that T if I was you, esp if it's a female

Driller64 said:

I'm not sure if I have any rooms that would work as rehousing rooms for fast Ts. My new enclosure should my GBB happy for a while so I shouldn't have to worry about that. The funny thing is that I have actually rehoused this T two times before, once when I got it, and a second time when transferring it to a smaller enclosure. It never acted like this during either of those rehousings. In fact the first one was outside lol. I guess even Ts change as they get older.

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then find a room and clean up the clutter and maybe do the transfer in a large plastic tub as you can always put the top on the tub and wait until the spider calms down. If your GBB is the same size as mine like I think it is, it might need a bigger container, I keep mine in an large (or maybe it's extra large) KK and it is very happy in there, only time it gets feisty was when I was trying to clean up a little.

viper69 said:

I'd rehouse that T if I was you, esp if it's a female

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0)_(0

I think its able to deal with it for now. Besides, I thought Ts preferred small containers.

Driller64 said:

0)_(0

I think its able to deal with it for now. Besides, I thought Ts preferred small containers.

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Depends, I house some of my fast species in slightly larger than they need so they don't feel so threatened when I'm cleaning and it gives me more reaction time to shut the lid so they don't take off. My GBB is in a large container and uses every little bit of it. Though viper could have also meant you need to find a new home for it if you are having such a hard time with it. I've read some GBBs are little hellions and others like mine are pretty chill for the most part, there is no shame in sending it to a new home if it gives you a lot of trouble. I was toying around with re-homing my P.muticus that I got as an unexpected freebie as I wasn't sure if I could handle it. It hasn't come to that point but I will find it a new home if I feel I cannot care for it like it deserves and there will be someone here whom I'm sure would take it off my hands.

No I meant rehouse it because of the size container, working room etc etc. will it die in there, no. Would it be better off in something larger, yes