Do the T's "Know" You?

rbpeake1

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My T's "seem" to get nervous when I show them to friends, or when I turn on the light and immediately pick up their cage and they have not seen me. But they are calm if they have seen me.

So I am thinking that perhaps they somehow have gotten used to me, but are nervous when there is something different in their environment than what they are used to (ie, not just me!). :)

And they sometimes seem to crawl around to the side of the cage closest to where I am if I am in my room for a period of time... so who knows, maybe they just know I am a source of food! :)
 

jw73

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Some of my Ts do the same but you shouldn't delude yourself. They don't recognize you but I think that they can associate us with source of food.
 

Ultimate Instar

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It's very hard to say what Ts think. Some people suspect that they have very little intelligence, others believe that they're smarter than the average invert due to a larger brain. I tend to believe that they're capable of learning and remembering that some things are either food related, possibly dangerous, or not dangerous. I try to be in the last category. ;) Keepers have reported some very weird stories describing behavior that _seems_ to indicate that Ts have some brain power. I have accidentally trained my Ts to attack steel forceps. In any case, they can smell so always wash off the cricket smell from your fingers before picking up your T.

Karen N.
 

chris73

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I don't think there is an actual intellegence to speak of here. Im my very humble opinion, what we are witnessing is instinctive behavior and because they are our pets or specimens or whatever, we then (unknowingly) pass on human characteristics to them in an attempt to understand them better.

But then again, I've been known to be wrong, from time to time. :8o
 

usumbaraboy

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well imo i think that they have enough brain power to remember what your hand feels like if u hold them but if somebody else holds them they arent use to it so they freak out but thats just what i think
 

Crunchie

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well if fleas can be taught how to jump through hoops... {D

I'm trying to train my t's to wag their spinneretts when they see me! {D
 

rbpeake1

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jw73 said:
Some of my Ts do the same but you shouldn't delude yourself. They don't recognize you but I think that they can associate us with source of food.
My B. vagans definitely comes to the middle of the cage when I open it, ready to pounce on whatever morsel I toss in. And she is very quick and a good catch, too, I might say, one time even catching the cricket before it hit the ground! :}
 

SpiderDork

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Like most creatures, I believe T's can "learn" in the limited capacity of association, much like pavlov's dogs. If the same stimulus is presented everytime they are fed then they will associate this stimulus with food, and respond appropriately when presented with said stimulus. If one were so inclined I'm sure some type of experiment could be developed to test whether or not T's are capable of such learning.
Just my two cents.












+
 

Sandra

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SpiderDork said:
Like most creatures, I believe T's can "learn" in the limited capacity of association, much like pavlov's dogs. If the same stimulus is presented everytime they are fed then they will associate this stimulus with food, and respond appropriately when presented with said stimulus. If one were so inclined I'm sure some type of experiment could be developed to test whether or not T's are capable of such learning.
Just my two cents.

That concept I can totally agree with.

LOL@your avatar and name.
 

becca81

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usumbaraboy said:
well imo i think that they have enough brain power to remember what your hand feels like if u hold them but if somebody else holds them they arent use to it so they freak out but thats just what i think
This could also be attributed to a person who is not used to holding them being a bit more nervous, not as steady, etc.

I just don't see a lot of potential for an invert to "learn" anything.
 

jdcarrel

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here is my two cents. You said that if you imediately go into the room and pick mess with it, it seem skittish and if you are there a while and it see you it is fine. I think this is because if it sees you for a certain time it doesn't see you as a threat. This could be the same for anyone that stands there though. Also, having many people around it would make it more skittish because it would be more threatening if there were 3 people messing with it as opposed to one.
 

BakuBak

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Ultimate Instar said:
It's very hard to say what Ts think. Some people suspect that they have very little intelligence, others believe that they're smarter than the average invert due to a larger brain. I tend to believe that they're capable of learning and remembering that some things are either food related, possibly dangerous, or not dangerous. I try to be in the last category. ;) Keepers have reported some very weird stories describing behavior that _seems_ to indicate that Ts have some brain power. I have accidentally trained my Ts to attack steel forceps. In any case, they can smell so always wash off the cricket smell from your fingers before picking up your T.

Karen N.

I agree in 100% :p

mygalomorpha are very old group of naimals ,, thay had many years to evolve

their anatomy is unusual so thay may be capable many things that we think thay arent

i cant say that i think that all my ts know me becouse ther is too many of them :] to gen know with everyone :] :] but my old albopilosum that i have sins the begining of my hobby knows me for sure :] :]
 

Adam

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Well, I for one can pretty much say that my Ts are smarter than my dog. You don't see my Ts repeatedly running head first into various things in the house while chasing a cat toy around the floor :wall:
;)
 

Elson

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I think T's have the ability to recognize things.. Don't forget , they can't "see" but they can feel!!!
 

Mattyb

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Elson said:
I think T's have the ability to recognize things.. Don't forget , they can't "see" but they can feel!!!

I disagree with the whole not seeing thing....if they couldn't see then God would not have given them eyes.I'm not saying that they can see good, but i'm sure they can see alittle. But my opionion about the thread is that i think it may be like with snakes, snakes can tell us by our scent, my snakes know that i am the one that feeds them by my scent, so if my girlfriend was holding my Carpet Python, and i got too close to him, then he would start comming towards me because he knows that i feed him, and if he comes to me he might get some food. I also agree with the coment about they can feel our hands and how nervous we are.


-Mattyb
 

Apocalypstick

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SpiderDork said:
Like most creatures, I believe T's can "learn" in the limited capacity of association, much like pavlov's dogs. If the same stimulus is presented everytime they are fed then they will associate this stimulus with food, and respond appropriately when presented with said stimulus. If one were so inclined I'm sure some type of experiment could be developed to test whether or not T's are capable of such learning.
Just my two cents.+
I agree. My sub g pulchra knows when I rap twice on the substrate a few inches away from her, it means I am going to pet her rump. This, of course, is also her knowing I will be doing, adding, or changing something when the top opens.

How do I know she understands the taps ??? Well, I'll tell ya. I do it for MY entertainment .... much to her dislike, so she always raises her rump when I tap, warning me not to pet her more than a couple of times or she'll flick me with her scary setae. If I'm in her tank doing other stuff without tapping, she goes on about her business and ignores me completely.
 

rbpeake1

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Very Interesting!

Apocalypstick said:
I agree. My sub g pulchra knows when I rap twice on the substrate a few inches away from her, it means I am going to pet her rump. This, of course, is also her knowing I will be doing, adding, or changing something when the top opens.

How do I know she understands the taps ??? Well, I'll tell ya. I do it for MY entertainment .... much to her dislike, so she always raises her rump when I tap, warning me not to pet her more than a couple of times or she'll flick me with her scary setae. If I'm in her tank doing other stuff without tapping, she goes on about her business and ignores me completely.
This is very interesting. I think T's have more smarts than the typical insect, for example, and maybe are as smart as some small mammals?

It seems to make sense that they are smarter than insects, since carnivores generally seem smarter than their food prey no matter what the animal.
 

Immortal_sin

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I have no idea, but I do believe they are at least capable of the 'Pavlov' responses. I have many arboreal Ts that will come to the lid of the container, and *wait* for me to either hand them a roach, or drop it down to them so they can catch it in midair. Some of my terrestrials know that when I open the lid, food will rain down from above.
I have one tarantula, an A chalcodes, that will ALWAYS climb out of her container onto my hand, EVERY time I open the lid. I have some tarantulas that will avoid touching my skin at all costs, but do not seem to mind the feel of clothing.
 

becca81

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Mattyb said:
I disagree with the whole not seeing thing....if they couldn't see then God would not have given them eyes.I'm not saying that they can see good, but i'm sure they can see alittle. But my opionion about the thread is that i think it may be like with snakes, snakes can tell us by our scent, my snakes know that i am the one that feeds them by my scent, so if my girlfriend was holding my Carpet Python, and i got too close to him, then he would start comming towards me because he knows that i feed him, and if he comes to me he might get some food. I also agree with the coment about they can feel our hands and how nervous we are.


-Mattyb
They can distinguish light from dark I imagine. I'd say that they have evolved and adapted to their environments to the point where eyesight is not of significant importance. New World Ts are slower-moving than Old World Ts, but they have other defenses (urticating hairs) that allow to them combat a predator if it sneaks up on them. Many OW Ts can simply run away quickly. Many arboreal species have better eyesight than terrestrial species, as they need it to survive in their environment.

They need to be able to distinguish daylight from darkness, but other than that I don't see a huge need for eyes.
 

NightCrawler27

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if i didnt have my g.rosie id say no they dont ..but since we have it i know they can tell the difference...our rosie knows when its me and when its my wife...its ready to tear my arm off when i put my hand in her/his cage to hold it ....but its ok for my wife to hold her and put her hand in there...i dont think T's get enough credit from humans in respect to ..feeling ...seeing ...being able to think even the slightest bit but thats just our 2cents...but until a human can transform into a Tarantula ..and another human cut its leg off i guess the world will never know if it really hurt or not..i mean think about it ..look at all the pets we (you) have if they werent smart then how do they get us to take care of them and keep buyin more and more ...if we was smarter we could get our pets to take care of us..lol
 
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