Why new people are advised against fast, feistry, OW Ts

Angel Minkov · Aug 30, 2015

So, it was a normal afternoon, just finished watching Mission Impossible, the first part, when I went to check up on my Ts when I saw that my regalis was a bit on the dry side. I picked up his enclosure (quite tall, about 25 cm., the male was in its burrow) and decided to spray once or twice on the side, to dampen a little part of its substrate. On the second spray, the male penetrated a sheet of webbing it had sprung, bolted out of the enclosure (15+ cm. to the lip from where the webbing was). I was holding the enclosure at the bottom, with my palm and it made it to there in less than a second, continued running through my hand and then jumped about 30+ cm onto the floor. During these 2 seconds, I froze, trying to refrain from any movement to minimize the chance of a bite, although the male is small (about 3''). When on the floor, it didn't stop even for a second and CONTINUED running behind a shelf, where it stopped right behind the corner. I got a long stick to make it go out in the open, after which it sprinted another 1 meter+ where it hid behind a box. I had 2 small cups which I bought from a store yesterday when shopping, so I cupped him and then returned him to his enclosure. No visible ruptures on the abdomen or wounds, though the abdomen flattened a bit.

I'm not a person who is going to tell somebody what to buy on every topic, but I am against amateurs buying OW Ts. I'm posting this for every newbie who is thinking of buying an OW - please, re-think your choice... A person who isn't ready could've easily panicked and thrown the enclosure in the air as well as flung the spider to its death. Try to understand everyone's viewpoint when they try to encourage responsible ownership, because this was just a small male and no bites, a large female like my metallica or miranda, if they had bit me, could have easily caused me days of pain, swelling, muscle spasms (which may last months), fever etc. Think your choice through and really ask yourself if you're ready and how you would react in such a situation.

Exoskeleton Invertebrates · Aug 30, 2015

Angel Minkov said:
So, it was a normal afternoon, just finished watching Mission Impossible, the first part, when I went to check up on my Ts when I saw that my regalis was a bit on the dry side. I picked up his enclosure (quite tall, about 25 cm., the male was in its burrow) and decided to spray once or twice on the side, to dampen a little part of its substrate. On the second spray, the male penetrated a sheet of webbing it had sprung, bolted out of the enclosure (15+ cm. to the lip from where the webbing was). I was holding the enclosure at the bottom, with my palm and it made it to there in less than a second, continued running through my hand and then jumped about 30+ cm onto the floor. During these 2 seconds, I froze, trying to refrain from any movement to minimize the chance of a bite, although the male is small (about 3''). When on the floor, it didn't stop even for a second and CONTINUED running behind a shelf, where it stopped right behind the corner. I got a long stick to make it go out in the open, after which it sprinted another 1 meter+ where it hid behind a box. I had 2 small cups which I bought from a store yesterday when shopping, so I cupped him and then returned him to his enclosure. No visible ruptures on the abdomen or wounds, though the abdomen flattened a bit.

I'm not a person who is going to tell somebody what to buy on every topic, but I am against amateurs buying OW Ts. I'm posting this for every newbie who is thinking of buying an OW - please, re-think your choice... A person who isn't ready could've easily panicked and thrown the enclosure in the air as well as flung the spider to its death. Try to understand everyone's viewpoint when they try to encourage responsible ownership, because this was just a small male and no bites, a large female like my metallica or miranda, if they had bit me, could have easily caused me days of pain, swelling, muscle spasms (which may last months), fever etc. Think your choice through and really ask yourself if you're ready and how you would react in such a situation.

Unfortunately at 3" inches a spider can do a lot of harm. My old ornata was 3" inches and believe me it was the worst bite that I received from a tarantula.

Consider yourself lucky.

Ellenantula · Aug 30, 2015

This is why I like to use a tall table for speedy T maintenance (1 metre square tall table in kitchen). The height is right, table is clear of anything non-T related. I never 'hold' the enclosure I am working on -- I set it on the table. Only other items on table is tongs and 2 catch cups/lids (plus a piece of thick paper for makeshift lid, if needed) and with slings, there will also be a fishnet handy. My hope (esp for a speedy) is an escape will result in T running to underside of table for easier cupping and retrieval).

C fimbri has managed to reach the floor couple of times, even with this set up. In a split second T bolts from enclosure, to table top, to table underside, down table leg -- to floor. In the blink of an eye. Impressive speed.

I have read of others putting down towels and things for T to hide in. I sorta like that idea too.

Blueandbluer · Aug 30, 2015

Ellenantula said:
I have read of others putting down towels and things for T to hide in. I sorta like that idea too.

Just what I was going to say. This situation sounds like it was handled pretty well but a couple suggestions... as Ellen said, it's really better to have the enclosure set down somewhere and work in an enclosed environment with few escape routes, if at all possible. I personally like the bathtub, with the door closed to keep out cats.

Also, if you have to do something like prod them free, giving them an option of a box or towel to run into helps a lot.

The two keys... a) stay calm (this is the one I have trouble with, being of a jumpy and anxious nature in general) and b) think like a spider. If I were small and fast and dumb, where would I bolt to? What direction would I go? What would I hide behind? You may still get it wrong but it DEFINITELY helps.

Granted, my own experience is all NW, but even so, I feel like that advice holds for OW too.

Angel Minkov · Aug 30, 2015

It was indeed a bad thing to hold the enclosure and defies my rule for putting them on something solid and low, but I didn't think he'd hate me for 2 sprays :sarcasm:

Jose, you're comparing that 3'' ornata bite to... what other species?

Oreo · Aug 30, 2015

Helpful post! I do all T maintenance on the floor and spray lightly away from the T. Sometimes it's easier to pour directly on the substrate.

Exoskeleton Invertebrates · Aug 30, 2015

Angel Minkov said:
It was indeed a bad thing to hold the enclosure and defies my rule for putting them on something solid and low, but I didn't think he'd hate me for 2 sprays :sarcasm:

Jose, you're comparing that 3'' ornata bite to... what other species?

I'm comparing to your male regalis, you said it was about 3" inches. Your fortunate that it didn't bite you. You also mentioned if it was a large female metallica or miranda it would have giving you days of pain. So what I'm saying is at 3" inches it will give you a full month of pain regardless of the size of the Poecilotheria sp. The bite might of not been severe if it happened but still your fortunate that it did not happen.
I have heard that regalis is not as bad as it would be with ornata, but I don't understand why some people make a remark like that as if a particular person got bit by all the Poecilotheria sp. in different occasions and live to tell the story of comparison bites on this species.
Every bite is different than other bites, as well as where in your body gets bitten. I know I would not want to find out what species would be the absolutely worse bite.

Chris LXXIX · Aug 30, 2015

Good thread Angel. Not to mention arboreals, really. It's not only a question about OW T's (T's that no beginner should buy in the first place) but, IMO, more.. OW'S arboreals. They are the worst type of T's unprepared keepers should buy.
It's like to give a Lamborghini the afternoon to a guy who took his driving license the morning. Would not end well. Yes, there's a 0.01% chance he could be the "new" Michael Schumacher.. but doesn't matter. There's other cars, people, weather and street conditions to consider.
OW'S aboreal T's are the "Lambo" of T's. No beginner should own those.

Exoskeleton Invertebrates · Aug 30, 2015

Angel Minkov said:
So, it was a normal afternoon, just finished watching Mission Impossible, the first part, when I went to check up on my Ts when I saw that my regalis was a bit on the dry side. I picked up his enclosure (quite tall, about 25 cm., the male was in its burrow) and decided to spray once or twice on the side, to dampen a little part of its substrate. On the second spray, the male penetrated a sheet of webbing it had sprung, bolted out of the enclosure (15+ cm. to the lip from where the webbing was). I was holding the enclosure at the bottom, with my palm and it made it to there in less than a second, continued running through my hand and then jumped about 30+ cm onto the floor. During these 2 seconds, I froze, trying to refrain from any movement to minimize the chance of a bite, although the male is small (about 3''). When on the floor, it didn't stop even for a second and CONTINUED running behind a shelf, where it stopped right behind the corner. I got a long stick to make it go out in the open, after which it sprinted another 1 meter+ where it hid behind a box. I had 2 small cups which I bought from a store yesterday when shopping, so I cupped him and then returned him to his enclosure. No visible ruptures on the abdomen or wounds, though the abdomen flattened a bit.

I'm not a person who is going to tell somebody what to buy on every topic, but I am against amateurs buying OW Ts. I'm posting this for every newbie who is thinking of buying an OW - please, re-think your choice... A person who isn't ready could've easily panicked and thrown the enclosure in the air as well as flung the spider to its death. Try to understand everyone's viewpoint when they try to encourage responsible ownership, because this was just a small male and no bites, a large female like my metallica or miranda, if they had bit me, could have easily caused me days of pain, swelling, muscle spasms (which may last months), fever etc. Think your choice through and really ask yourself if you're ready and how you would react in such a situation.

By the way it is good post as others have said. As for myself there were times when I did the transferring in the bathtub with my Poecilotheria sp. when I had them.

Angel Minkov · Aug 30, 2015

I didn't mean it wouldn't be bad, but there seems to be a correlation with size and severity of bites. I'm guessing bigger spiders can administer more venom, which has some logic behind it. Wouldn't want to get bit in any case, by any spider.

Actually, Chris. I had only kept 2 or 3 NW ground-dwelling Ts and 1 OBT (which died for some reason some time before I purchased it, but 2 years prior to my first Poecilotheria purchase) before buying this regalis last summer. Now I have plenty of OW Ts, arboreal and fossorial, never had a problem with them, but like you said - not everybody will be like that and most will get into a lot of trouble. In any case, I'm happy it didn't bite me and all finished well for the both of us. Today, actually, most of my Ts were pretty feisty, I guess due to the lack of food in the recent month... darn people around here, can't even supply crickets...

Ellenantula · Aug 30, 2015

It's a good thread. A good reminder that Ts are wild and don't always do what we hope or expect them to. Especially important with speedy 'hot' Ts.

Glad you didn't get bit!

Angel Minkov · Aug 30, 2015

Yeap, that's why I made the thread. My regalis is usually very conserved, but in that one time today, terrible things could have happened

Tfisher · Aug 30, 2015

I firmly agree that any beginner should deff do research before deciding to get a T and as tempting as it may be to not start with an aggressive OW. Back in the day I started with a G. Rosea and was saddened when I found my brand new T on its back. I immediately put it back on its legs and figured that would keep it from dying... (O lord) I then started to see movement and decided to google what was going on. I found an interesting site named "Arachnoboards" and it explained alot and learned my Rosea would be fine. As a beginner I saw pictures of T's I never knew existed, instantly I was hooked.

I desperately searched CL until I found some kind of different spider. AND BOOM!! I certainly did. A BEAUTIFUL BRIGHT ORANGE BABOON TARANTULA! and they were 3 for 40$! Now you can start to see where this story is going.

I received said spiders in small deli cups and decided to move them to .5 gal enclosures. Now I have what I would call exceptional reactions but was not prepared for the sheer speed of the OBT, and it escaped. Not only escaped but ran up my arm down my leg and started to bolt under my fish tank stand. I threw a towel over it and returned it to its new home.( didn't know anything about catch cups at that time) But luckily was not bit. After that experience I decided to read about spiders before I take on the roll of keeping them. (And understand that not ever tarantula has the same attitude as a Rosea).

Chris LXXIX · Aug 30, 2015

Angel Minkov said:
I didn't mean it wouldn't be bad, but there seems to be a correlation with size and severity of bites. I'm guessing bigger spiders can administer more venom, which has some logic behind it. Wouldn't want to get bit in any case, by any spider.

Actually, Chris. I had only kept 2 or 3 NW ground-dwelling Ts and 1 OBT (which died for some reason some time before I purchased it, but 2 years prior to my first Poecilotheria purchase) before buying this regalis last summer. Now I have plenty of OW Ts, arboreal and fossorial, never had a problem with them, but like you said - not everybody will be like that and most will get into a lot of trouble. In any case, I'm happy it didn't bite me and all finished well for the both of us. Today, actually, most of my Ts were pretty feisty, I guess due to the lack of food in the recent month... darn people around here, can't even supply crickets...

Of course i'm happy that no bite/s or injury happened to you and your T, forgot to add. My comment was only referred to beginners and unprepared ones, not to prepared, cold blooded keepers like you (some of them doesn't even know how to do husbandry nor the basics of T's anatomy) who buy T's only by impulse, only due to those awesome colours (and here in this last case, OW arboreals are a temptation). No OW'S T's are for beginners, everyone knows this. What a lot of beginners doesn't understand (and this is incredible for me) is that OW'S arboreals are the worst thing for them.
A perfectly housed Pelinobius muticus (an adult female, let's say) IMO isn't a thrill like a "Lampro" or a "Pookie". She will act grumpy only if you mess too much in her burrow, or obviously, during a rehouse. But for the rest? Had NW intermediate T's worst, but really really worst. OW'S arboreals are serious

oop: to deal with, no place for errors.

KristinaMG · Aug 30, 2015

Tfisher said:
I firmly agree that any beginner should deff do research before deciding to get a T and as tempting as it may be to not start with an aggressive OW. Back in the day I started with a G. Rosea and was saddened when I found my brand new T on its back. I immediately put it back on its legs and figured that would keep it from dying... (O lord) I then started to see movement and decided to google what was going on. I found an interesting site named "Arachnoboards" and it explained alot and learned my Rosea would be fine. As a beginner I saw pictures of T's I never knew existed, instantly I was hooked.

I desperately searched CL until I found some kind of different spider. AND BOOM!! I certainly did. A BEAUTIFUL BRIGHT ORANGE BABOON TARANTULA! and they were 3 for 40$! Now you can start to see where this story is going.

I received said spiders in small deli cups and decided to move them to .5 gal enclosures. Now I have what I would call exceptional reactions but was not prepared for the sheer speed of the OBT, and it escaped. Not only escaped but ran up my arm down my leg and started to bolt under my fish tank stand. I threw a towel over it and returned it to its new home.( didn't know anything about catch cups at that time) But luckily was not bit. After that experience I decided to read about spiders before I take on the roll of keeping them. (And understand that not ever tarantula has the same attitude as a Rosea).

haha OBT was my second T as well. I had had a B. smithi for 3 months, and then after seeing the gorgeous colors on an OBT I was in love. I actually did my homework and was aware that they are fast, aggressive, and possess potent venom. But I figured since I wasn't planning on handling and I'm "careful" I'd be fine. I bought a 4 inch juvenile OBT at a local reptile shop. Went home and rehoused him confidently. Everything went fine, but looking back I cringe, seriously cringe, remembering the manner in which I rehoused him. I scooped out most of the substrate, then tipped the container and prodded him with a paintbrush until he walked into the new enclosure. Yeah, that's fine for a calm NW T, but in hindsight I think I never should have applied the same technique with him. It was pure stupid luck that everything went smoothly. It also gave me false confidence, so a month or so later when I went to clean out some boluses in his enclosure I was taken completely off guard when he went from curled up sleeping in his web cocoon to attack mode. I was using the long tongs so nothing happened to me, but he jumped up about an inch or two off the ground to attack the tongs. He landed in a partially upright but almost upside down, fangs out, and just looked scary as hell. Lesson learned.

Angel Minkov · Aug 30, 2015

Chris LXXIX said:
Of course i'm happy that no bite/s or injury happened to you and your T, forgot to add. My comment was only referred to beginners and unprepared ones, not to prepared, cold blooded keepers like you (some of them doesn't even know how to do husbandry nor the basics of T's anatomy) who buy T's only by impulse, only due to those awesome colours (and here in this last case, OW arboreals are a temptation). No OW'S T's are for beginners, everyone knows this. What a lot of beginners doesn't understand (and this is incredible for me) is that OW'S arboreals are the worst thing for them.
A perfectly housed Pelinobius muticus (an adult female, let's say) IMO isn't a thrill like a "Lampro" or a "Pookie". She will act grumpy only if you mess too much in her burrow, or obviously, during a rehouse. But for the rest? Had NW intermediate T's worst, but really really worst. OW'S arboreals are serious oop: to deal with, no place for errors.

Yeap, gotta agree on that. Everyone should evaluate themselves and ask themselves "can I deal with this if it does this and that? What would I do?". Its important to know your limits and not force them.

Chris LXXIX · Aug 30, 2015

Angel Minkov said:
Yeap, gotta agree on that. Everyone should evaluate themselves and ask themselves "can I deal with this if it does this and that? What would I do?". Its important to know your limits and not force them.

Exactly. That's what 70% of the world people hate to do (not talking only about T's now).

Storm76 · Sep 1, 2015

Angel Minkov said:
Yeap, gotta agree on that. Everyone should evaluate themselves and ask themselves "can I deal with this if it does this and that? What would I do?". Its important to know your limits and not force them.

Exactly the reason why I chose to stay away from certain species, despite the fact that I keep a few OWs. I'm not comfy with a certain species? I'm not gonna get it. Period. Yes, I love the looks of L. violaceopes, still I won't get one. "But you keep a bunch of Poecies...what's the big deal?" - There probably isn't one, expect that I don't feel I could deal with an adult specimen correctly. My fasciata is already a handful and is way more demanding than my couple fimbriatus devils.

Bottom line: Good job, Minkov!

Exoskeleton Invertebrates · Sep 1, 2015

X

Storm76 said:
Exactly the reason why I chose to stay away from certain species, despite the fact that I keep a few OWs. I'm not comfy with a certain species? I'm not gonna get it. Period. Yes, I love the looks of L. violaceopes, still I won't get one. "But you keep a bunch of Poecies...what's the big deal?" - There probably isn't one, expect that I don't feel I could deal with an adult specimen correctly. My fasciata is already a handful and is way more demanding than my couple fimbriatus devils.

Bottom line: Good job, Minkov!

This is one of the best post I've heard. I agree with you 100%.

I have not own an old world tarantula for quite sometime.

gypsy cola · Sep 1, 2015

It's just smart to wait on OW T's just so you can get over bad habits.

H.lividium I picked up two months after my first rose hair. I handled that spider daily. Gave it a great enclosure, had about 8 inches of burrow. Destroyed it daily just for the
thrill of holding it. Sold her though when I realized having to rebuild your home every day is not great for a spider.

I miss her though, she was so leggy and blue.

Why new people are advised against fast, feistry, OW Ts

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