P. Murinus (OBT) Ownership

Graeboe

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
164
Ok did a quick search through arachnoboards and there wasn't anything found right off the bat about owning a p. murinus. I wanted to put this up for those thinking about buying a p. murinus and sort of not have it full of all the warnings over and over. Was thinking of best handling, housing, and maintenance techniques that everyone has found out works for them as current owners of the infamous OBT.

-Remember what works for one person won't always work for someone else but its a start-

(OBT-P. Murinus are very aggressive, fast and not for the faint of heart or anyone just starting out owning venomous potentially dangerous of animals. Do not take this thread as an easy skip over experience, planning or responsibility to own a creature that would just as soon attack you as look at you)

---------- Post added 02-28-2015 at 09:00 PM ----------

For example: I've always been over cautious when rehousing any of my t's from docile to aggressive. I ended up buying an P. Murinus as my 2nd t. Have had plenty of scares when rehousing, cleaning, feeding and watering. What I found is that with the aggressive feeding response I've had with my two, that once they reached about 1" - 1 1/2" I moved them into permanent large Kritter Keepers with pre buried hides (rocks that helped form caves) and with the hinged lid on top its been a breeze to feed, clean and water them without any incident of them trying to escape during the procedures. When rehousing them I moved their webbing hides from inside deli cups with them inside and used two long tweezers through the hinged lid to free them once inside their permanent homes.
 
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Ellenantula

Arachnoking
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Sep 14, 2014
Messages
2,009
Ok did a quick search through arachnoboards and there wasn't anything found right off the bat about owning a p. murinus. I wanted to put this up for those thinking about buying a p. murinus and sort of not have it full of all the warnings over and over. Was thinking of best handling, housing, and maintenance techniques that everyone has found out works for them as current owners of the infamous OBT.
(OBT-P. Murinus are very aggressive, fast and not for the faint of heart or anyone just starting out owning venomous potentially dangerous of animals. Do not take this thread as an easy skip over experience, planning or responsibility to own a creature that would just as soon attack you as look at you)
I can't say mine was aggressive.
Mine was defensive, afraid of me. When I did maintenance, he would go into his hide.
But upon re-housing, with his safe secure place being taken away, he went a little crazy -- he was trapped inside an unfamiliar container, with a scary human woman trying to alternatively prod him and then catch-cup him. That was the first threat pose he ever gave me. He had no place to run, so he braved up to confront me. What else could he do? He felt threatened and that *I* was going to harm him.
He didn't know I just wanted to re-house him and give him more room.
With that in mind, I wish I could have do-over for his re-housing and consider his take on the situation instead of my own.

Amazing feeding response OBTs have. And quite fast! Excellent webbers too.
 

freedumbdclxvi

Arachnoprince
Joined
May 28, 2012
Messages
1,426
Attack you as soon as look at you? No, that's not it at all. Evolutionary technique to survive some of the harshest conditions in nature doesn't mean it wants to kill you.
 

Graeboe

Arachnoknight
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Oct 28, 2014
Messages
164
Attack you as soon as look at you? No, that's not it at all. Evolutionary technique to survive some of the harshest conditions in nature doesn't mean it wants to kill you.
Honestly that statement wasn't meant as saying a p murinus will actively try and kill you, think of it as an ... ugh I can't think of the proper word (double shift today)... a shorter description of the aggressive defensive nature that they can tend to have when the owner invades its personal space to feed, clean or water its home.
 

BobGrill

Arachnoprince
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Jan 25, 2011
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aren't you the one that constantly says if you don't like a thread don't click on it?
I don't have any problems with the thread. All I'm saying is I like the orange color form and am not a fan of the others. Not sure what that has to do with anything.
 

BobGrill

Arachnoprince
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Ok, but the color form discussion is in another thread. Here, you said this:



Which, had it been Poec saying it, i have to imagine you'd have said something similar to him about just not clicking.
I'm just surprised at the amount of OBT threads lately. I'm not telling people that they can't have this discussion. I respect the guy for his contributions to the hobby and his experience. That doesn't mean I'm going to defend every thing he says or does, unlike some people here.
 

Ellenantula

Arachnoking
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Sep 14, 2014
Messages
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The only time she gets mad is when I exist.
Mine associated my existence (before the much later re-housing) with food!
Mine would come out and hang on side of enclosure (or on hammock webbing) when I moved his enclosure onto my work area, always hoping for food.
I would put him in another bin before opening the lid to drop his food in.
Arguably, he could have overshot and nabbed my fingers or tong ends.

After a while, I never worried the lunge was to bolt/escape, because the lure of that food was all he was thinking about.
I guess they form associations -- woman enters room -- food appears.
But if I reached in with tongs to retrieve something or had a syringe to refill water dish, he'd bolt into his burrow under the hide.
He somehow knew if it was a food lid opening or maintenance.
I was lucky to never have an escape or bite.

1st is coming out of burrow, he has sensed he is to be fed -- he is still a little fellow here - note his enclosure is inside a larger bin on my worktable in case of escape to slow him down a millisecond)

aaaacomingoutofburrow.jpg

Sorry for lousy pix, these were all old cell phone pix.

2nd is lining up in place to catch what I drop in
aaaaaareadyformymeal.jpg

(there is no third pix from this set, because he didn't stick around to say thanks, he'd run back into burrow with his meal)

Last pix was him after his last molt, but before re-housing, he had doubled in size and webbed well. lol- I believe this was also him waiting for food drop pix:
By this time, I no longer moved him to a worktable, the lid was webbed up too, so I would crack it open just enough to shove a cricket or mealworm in and he again, would catch it before it dropped -- sorta "jump up" and meet the food half-way. I miss the bugger.
aaaaalaterfooddropwait.jpg
 

Ellenantula

Arachnoking
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Sep 14, 2014
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Well like I posted, I've seen a lot of threads with warnings and jabber and I thought maybe some post of how people deal with them personally would be nice.
Agreed. A non-judgmental husbandry thread sounded good, I just added some stuff minutes before you posted. :)

It does seem like we've had a LOT of OBT threads lately, but I admit, I enjoy them all -- even the ones with a little, um, drama.
 

BobGrill

Arachnoprince
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Well like I posted, I've seen a lot of threads with warnings and jabber and I thought maybe some post of how people deal with them personally would be nice.
Yeah I know what you were intending to do, and I have no issue with it. I'm not here to tell people what to talk about.

What exactly are you wanting to know? I'd love to give any advice I can, but the question seems a bit vague.
 

Graeboe

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
164
I'm just surprised at the amount of OBT threads lately. I'm not telling people that they can't have this discussion. I respect the guy for his contributions to the hobby and his experience. That doesn't mean I'm going to defend every thing he says or does, unlike some people here.
Well Bob welcome to the thread :) how do you keep your OBT?
 
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