B. albopilosum attacks...

...the tongs! Luckily I never use my hand to do enclosure maintenance but my Brachypelma albopilosum just tried to bite my tongs during a water change last night. I was just moving dirt a little and out of nowhere she ran out of her burrow and attacked! First time with any of my T's so far and honestly it was pretty exciting. I've had some scares with true spiders and what not over the years (wolf spiders are fast! ) but it was neat to see a B. albo surprise me a little.

I have read many posts on here where this happens although not usually with an albo. Just wanted to share my experience, and remind everyone ALWAYS USE TONGS. Even with the so called "docile" breeds apparently.

Haha this is cool. I like to hear the B albo is a little feisty

Mine is still settling in, but seems like a huge teddy bear so far. Super slow and timid.

problemchildx said:

Haha this is cool. I like to hear the B albo is a little feisty

Mine is still settling in, but seems like a huge teddy bear so far. Super slow and timid.

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Right! I've noticed some threads in the past few weeks popping up regarding B. albo so I thought this might be interesting and a little informative. It definitely surprised me, this T in particular is very calm. I did one rehouse after it molted and it was probably the easiest rehouse I've done with...anything lol.

Mine is pretty much a teddy bear as well, or at least I thought so lol. She was probably pretty hungry, took down a nice sized Dubia after the incident.

problemchildx said:

Haha this is cool. I like to hear the B albo is a little feisty

Mine is still settling in, but seems like a huge teddy bear so far. Super slow and timid.

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+1 my 2 slings are rather skittish, I hope at-least 1 is female I got a Male years ago . And my bigger sling I think is male. So called docile Ts can bite too :coffee: , this is why I only ever handle a T if rehousing and it runs on me like H mac female.

Ultum4Spiderz said:

+1 my 2 slings are rather skittish, I hope at-least 1 is female I got a Male years ago . And my bigger sling I think is male. So called docile Ts can bite too :coffee: , this is why I only ever handle a T if rehousing and it runs on me like H mac female.

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Aye, well said. I don't handle my T's either, and I'm pretty sure any and every T is capable of biting.:coffee:

Heh, exactly the same happened with my sub-adult B.smithi a few weeks ago. He was just chilling in his hide when I wanted to remove some cricket boluses. Before I knew he flashed out of his lair, trying to bite the tongs.
I have to say though that he's more skittish than the average smithi.

It was probably just a feeding response,they have huge appetites.. My gfs 1incher eats as frequently as my 3 in poecs..every 2-3 days..I hear that if you keep them warm and feed them alot they can reach 4 inches in a year..I'm new to albopilosums tho so I'm not sure if that's true..

J0ttem said:

Heh, exactly the same happened with my sub-adult B.smithi a few weeks ago. He was just chilling in his hide when I wanted to remove some cricket boluses. Before I knew he flashed out of his lair, trying to bite the tongs.
I have to say though that he's more skittish than the average smithi.

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Actually a lot more B smithis are a lot more skittish then anyone thinks. I'd say at least 40% of them are REALLY nervous spiders.

problemchildx said:

Actually a lot more B smithis are a lot more skittish then anyone thinks. I'd say at least 40% of them are REALLY nervous spiders.

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+1
Hence the constant hair kicking!

Nice to see the Albo has a little spirit in it. I'd love to have a T that is handable, even just one in an entire collection. Ours (whom we've had about 3 weeks now) has been very much a pussy cat from the off, although it has recently taken to hiding in the burrow it spent 2 days sorting out and sealing it...lol

Dizzle said:

Aye, well said. I don't handle my T's either, and I'm pretty sure any and every T is capable of biting.:coffee:

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ALL T's can bite, and will bite when they've had enough or feel threatened. Our job as keepers is not to see how far we can push them.

Dizzle said:

...the tongs! Luckily I never use my hand to do enclosure maintenance but my Brachypelma albopilosum just tried to bite my tongs during a water change last night. ...

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No, no, no! It wasn't ATTACKING you!

Dizzle said:

... I was just moving dirt a little ...

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This is the key phrase. You were moving the dirt around a little... you were BAITING IT! It thought you were some sort of prey animal, meat on the hoof, scratching in the soil within reach from its lair That's one of the techniques used to trick a tarantula out of its burrow in nature! Only we commonly use a grass stem instead of tongs. If you don't want your tarantula to run out and grab you like a bug, don't act like a bug.

Dizzle said:

... remind everyone ALWAYS USE TONGS. ...

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No, no, no! Most likely, as soon as it made contact with you it would have broken off its attack. You don't "smell" like prey. And, even if it had bitten you it would almost surely have been a dry bite. It would have hurt less than a flu shot. Wash the punctures with soap and water. Apply a very small amount of antibiotic salve. If you see blood or you're especially paranoid, apply a Bandaid. Go back to the tarantula and apologize. If the wound shows signs of infection (redness, swelling, tenderness after half a day or a day), see a doctor.

I have never heard of anyone being bitten by one of these, much less experiencing a wet bite, so anything said along those lines would be pure conjecture. Also a moot point. (After all is said and done, if it never happens, what difference does it make?)

The use of tongs while caring for one of the Old World kinds might be justified, especially if you're keeping one of those kinds known to have a "medically significant" bite. The use of tongs around the vast majority of New World kinds isn't warranted however, and is a strong indicator that while you may now be keeping tarantulas, you have not yet gained an understanding of tarantulas.

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YOU NEED TO BE REPROGRAMMED! Yes, this is genuinely, sincerely, profoundly correct! While you may have developed some proficiency at the proper care of aquarium fish, turtles or lizards, parakeets, gerbils, and even the family dog or cat (although there is some genuine question about who has who as a pet with these last two), you need to set all those prejudices and practices aside, and start again with a clean slate.

-- /The Tarantula Keeper's Guide, Edition Four/, S. A. Schultz (In progress.)
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NEW WORLD TARANTULAS: The majority of the New World tarantulas can be readily handled if you do so properly! At least a few of these even show indications that they learn to recognize their keepers, and even seem to enjoy the interaction. However, because so few enthusiasts have actually worked with tarantulas at this level, and the reports are so sparse, it is difficult to make any generalizations.

This much is certain. The tarantula must learn who you are. This automatically assumes that tarantulas can learn (i.e., either modify instinctual actions or habit patterns, or acquire entirely original and novel behaviors) in the first place. But, the simple facts that they learn what a water dish is and where it is, that they can adjust to new conditions around them (e.g., our moving their water dish), and the numerous instances reported where they learn to willingly submit to being picked up (in nature, a hostile act by a predator) strongly suggests that they CAN learn, that they are not cast-in-concrete automatons at least to some degree, as many enthusiasts have proposed.

A tarantula cannot learn who you are unless you touch it in some way. Because their eyesight (from what we are told by the experts) is so poor, they cannot recognize us by sight. However, their chemotactic (i.e., "smell" by touch) senses are apparently good enough to not only recognize the general class we call human, but perhaps even recognize individuals within that class. Again, so few enthusiasts have even entertained the possibility of such a concept, and the reports are so sparse, it is difficult to present any definitive proof.

So, get rid of the !@#$%! tongs! You need to learn what your tarantula is really like, and your tarantula needs to learn who you are. It is not a screaming banshee from Hell. YOU'RE the alien abductor, the aggressor. And, YOU need to learn what kind of creature it is that you've abducted.

ANOTHER BASIC CONCEPT: If you consider and compare all the animals that man keeps in captivity, they all exhibit one striking characteristic. If you ever hope to make a "pet" of any of them, that animal must learn who you are and learn to accept you and your ministrations as a benevolent fact of life, however contrary that may be to their wild instincts.

Consider a tropical fish, an oscar (Astronotus ocellatus) for instance. This fish is legendary among aquarists for the fact that it will gladly learn to eat from its keeper's hands, and submit to being tickled or petted. For that matter, so will koi carp (domesticated common carp (Cyprinus carpio).

Another example is the domestic dog. If one has a litter of pups in our home, we begin handling and fondling the puppies even before their eyes open. Almost from the day they are born we are forcing our presence onto them. They literally have no memory of us ever NOT being there. They spend the entirety of their lives firmly believing that we are members of their pack. This process or practice has been termed "socialization."

However, if a domestic dog has a litter of pups away from the presence of man, the puppies may grow up as "wild" or feral dogs, exhibiting many of the characteristics of wolves. Chief among those characteristics are their efforts to escape when they encounter humans, or attacking if cornered or touched. But, if they are captured and dealt with in appropriate ways they can be at least partially socialized. (The exact degree of success depends on the individual dog as well as the person who is trying to socialize it.)

[The topic of feral/wild/stray/street dogs is far too complex to be covered in detail here, and such would lead us astray of the discussion at hand. But, for more information read Free-ranging Dog and Street Dog, and follow the links.]

An important concept here is that almost no, or absolutely no, wild or feral animal will allow close contact with humans, much less seek it. (There is the curious question about the domestic dog, however. See Opinion: We Didn’t Domesticate Dogs. They Domesticated Us.) Just about the only way that we ever got domesticated animals was by forcing our attentions on members of a wild population either before they were old enough to know any better, or by later "socialization."

And this is what we're faced with, with the tarantula. A very few, scattered, anecdotal reports suggest that these amazing creatures may be capable of being not only domesticated, but actually socialized. But, we don't know to what degree of either. So, your (the enthusiast community collectively) mission, should you choose to accept it, is to try a grand experiment to verify our experiences, and discover just how far we can take these processes. (Any enthusiasts interested in starting such an effort as this might want to contact me at schultz@ucalgary.ca.

OLD WORLD TARANTULAS: My contribution to this thread is already becoming far to long, so I cannot dwell on these too much more. Suffice it to say that a few brave enthusiasts have demonstrated that not all Old World tarantulas are necessarily screaming banshees from Hell either. There are ample instances reported where enthusiasts have been able to handle a few almost with complete impunity. Our main objection to handling the Old World kinds was the predilection of most to bite when touched, and the fact that several have quite severe bites, the so-called "medically significant" bite. No, I am not urging enthusiasts to begin handling their Old World tarantulas, or even those New World varieties that have proven to be "feisty." We have a large enough number of potential subjects among the others that we needn't take unwarranted risks. Yet.

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Since you're going to be the one lying there writhing on the floor it's your decision and completely under your control. We accept absolutely no responsibility. We'll just stand back and rate your performance. :biggrin:
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Dizzle said:

... Even with the so called "docile" breeds apparently.

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I would have to judge your reaction to be yet another example of how people completely misinterpret tarantulas. This occurrence goes into the same file as those reports of tarantulas viciously attacking a stream of water as the water dish is filled. A false alarm precipitated by the tarantula misinterpreting the vibrations of the falling water, and then the enthusiast misinterpreting the actions of the tarantula. B. albopilosum (curlyhair) have proven to be among the safest and most docile pet [strike]rocks[/strike] tarantulas in the hobby. After decades of importing them, breeding them, selling many hundreds, and keeping them as pets, I can vouch that they are among the absolute best tarantulas for the novice and for show-and-tell. They also seem to be among the most intelligent and personable tarantulas.

Hope this helps. Best of luck.

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Tarantulas think it's SSSOOOooo funny!

...watching you freak out like that!
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When i sneak into the enclosure of my adult G pulchripes he also 'attack' but as soon as he feels that it is a bigger thing (me) then a bug or prey, he steps back and sit still. They dont attack you, they just think 'yes! Another meal for me!' And then they feel thats its something bigger and step back or run amay. Always funny to see

"An important concept here is that almost no, or absolutely no, wild or feral animal will allow close contact with humans, much less seek it... Just about the only way that we ever got domesticated animals was by forcing our attentions on members of a wild population either before they were old enough to know any better, or by later 'socialization'."



For those of us not interested in domesticating tarantulas, who prefer to allow them a square foot of real estate to call their own, without regular groping...

Whoa thanks for the replies, especially from Stan. I have read the tarantulas keepers guide. Sorry if it came off like I was making it out to be an attack against me, probably worded that badly. It seemed like an attack and I interpreted it wrongly in some aspects, still learning with tarantulas. Again thanks for all the info alot to read and refer to there.

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Dizzle said:

Whoa thanks for the replies, especially from Stan. I have read the tarantulas keepers guide. Sorry if it came off like I was making it out to be an attack against me, probably worded that badly. It seemed like an attack and I interpreted it wrongly in some aspects, still learning with tarantulas.

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It was an attack, but not necessarily a defensive one, it probably mistook you for prey. Had that been your fingers instead of tongs, you'd have gotten nailed just the same.

That is kinda what I was thinking when I said always use tongs but I like the points Stan brought up as well when he said "lose the #$%&ing tongs" lol. We all learn as we go.

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Dizzle said:

I like the points Stan brought up as well when he said "lose the #$%&ing tongs"

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And get bit? You never know when the most docile species is having a moody day or will mistake you for prey. Tongs/forceps should always be used for cage maintenance for all tarantula species. They pick up things much more precisely and much less intrusively than fingers, unless you don't mind your fingers being pincushions, as Stan's were. You can 'learn' everything you need without holding it or being bit by it.

Poec54 said:

And get bit? You never know when the most docile species is having a moody day or will mistake you for prey. Tongs/forceps should always be used for cage maintenance for all tarantula species. They put up things much more precisely and much less intrusively than fingers, unless you don't mind your fingers being pincushions, as Stan's were. You can 'learn' everything you need without holding it or being bit by it.

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ok yeah, makes sense. Just trying to get what I can out of replies from both you experienced keepers lol. I tend to lean more towards this kind of thinking to be honest. I enjoy simple observation of what natural behaviors any creature permits me to behold.





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Dizzle said:

ok yeah, makes sense. Just trying to get what I can out of replies from both you experienced keepers lol. I tend to lean more towards this kind of thinking to be honest. I enjoy simple observation of what natural behaviors any creature permits me to behold

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We started collecting around the same time. Stan's been bitten 2 dozen times, and kept mostly docile NW terrestrials, that he's handled. I've kept many more species, many of them OW's, and have never been bitten. With my far faster and much more defensive/confrontational spiders you'd think I'd have been bitten even more than him, but I don't handle any of mine. Who sounds more appealing as an example to follow: 'Pincushion' Schultz or 'Bite-Free' Rick?