how to handle whipspiders

Mine is really skittish (Heterophrynus batesii, if it matters), and I can't get it to go on my hand, no matter what I try. Is this just a personality thing or something, or is there a technique?

schmiggle said:

Mine is really skittish (Heterophrynus batesii, if it matters), and I can't get it to go on my hand, no matter what I try. Is this just a personality thing or something, or is there a technique?

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There really isnt a technique usually you can just let it crawl on your hand itself. If you try to force it then it will feel threatened and run. Just put your hand in front of wherever its walking and it should crawl onto you

You'll want to be careful and make sure they don't jump as well. Some species are more likely to jump than others and that can lead to injuries/death. Damon don't seem to be too bad about it, but I've heard that H. batesii are more likely to jump and tend to be more skittish as a whole.

My two cents are - if you want a healthy H. Batesii, DO NOT handle it. This way you will reduce the risk of a stressed animal that will (like others have said) run and jump, resulting in possible injuries like an autotomized walking or antenniform leg or even death. The best way to care for an animal is to learn to love it without touching it. I apologize if this sounds patronizing. Heterophrynus is one of the most stunning Amblypygi genera, you'd want to keep yours happy and well.

Agreed, just avoid handling whip spiders may be the best choice, they're not the animal for handling. I always take the whole piece of bark with whips on it when I want to check/rehouse/photographing etc. Once I've lost a skittish Florida whipspider baby; I did not even handle it, I was merely holding the bark and showing it to my friend.

Ok, thanks for the info everyone. Wizentrop, you don't sound patronizing to me, I'd want to keep mine healthy even if it was about as stunning as a deer tick.

Just an observation about handling any animal. One should take into account the sensory ability of the animal and how it interacts with it's natural environment. There are animals that often barely notice handling like some domestic cats. And animals that will go into a decline and even die from being handled as the presence of an omnivore on them and their environs is a taken as a deadly threat.
With whipspiders just look at them and that exotic highly sophisticated sensory apparatus. Do you really want it loaded up with your skin oil secretions, the perfumes from your soap and deodorant and so on?
Always keep in mind there are some things in a humans environment that go unnoticed and taken for granted, such as volatile oil vehicles to disperse olfactory oriented chemicals that can be overwhelming to animals.