I tried to drive a spider insane, once (over handling)

cacoseraph

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I had a B. smithi that i played with ever single day for a couple/few months straight. Some days i had it out for an hour, some days i had it out for 10 minutes.

You know what happened? It acclimated to handling and would actually climb out of the cage onto my hand. And it started off very nervous, indeed. Kick and scrunch were the order of the day. I probably picked up a good deal of my Brachy urt sensitivity from this little endeavor.

The spider ate like a champ and after a week stopped kicking hairs. It never developed a bald spot or anything.

Eventually i gave up driving it insane as a waste of effort.

The amusing thing is that EVERY tarantula i have handled a lot did the same thing... got more and more acclimated to me and eventually would actually "voluntarily" climb on to me when i opened the cage.

I am curious if anyone else has had this experience?




(i am bringing it up cuz i see a lot of snotty answers making jerks out of free handlers. the funny thing is that the ppl who would actually have experience are the ppl who handle bugs... like me. oh, and for the record... i have free handled thousands of times. as far as i know i have never hurt a tarantula because of it. so there.)
 

Shell

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hehe Caco, looking to start an argument today are we ;)
 

Scorpionking20

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I could imagine what you're saying. I've handled Ts (though I try not to anymore) and find it interesting that they would come to your hands as though anticipating it. Any chance you have vids of them willingly coming out onto your waiting hands? That'd be a cool sight!

PS: While I tend not to handle Ts unless there is a need to do so, I'm not at all adverse and would by no means demonize people that hold their tarantulas so long as they do it safely.
 

Malhavoc's

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I'll jump on the bandwagon.

way back when I used to go visit Mizm once a week and marvel at her spider collection, and I would make a point of driving her animals insane; this being said, several of the more aggressive species (obts old wolders etc) seemed to become used to saturday being the day of doom, and brought up some intresting behaviors, such as the induced tarantula coma by very slowely cupping hand over them and turning them upside down (they'd stay curled up in molt position for an hour or until poked.) I believe some of my threads from then are still up here..


and most recently I bought a LV from tarantula canada, sling was skiddish when it came to feeding bolt down a hole immediatly of opening its home, now it'll chillax and accept crix and the like tossed toward it. (I have its micro tank near my bed actualy, and has become more and more resiliant to general disturbances)

Now is this a learning behavior and association behavior? That can be questioned easy, however. tarantulas *certianly* have the capability to adapt to many situations, including over stimulation they would normaly consider to be a threat.
 

x Mr Awesome x

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I handled my Acanthoscurria geniculata several times over the course of about a week and she definitely chilled out and has remained that way ever since. At first she would jump nervously and kick hairs from the slightest intrusion. The day I decided to hold her I began by using a chopstick to very very gently rub the hairs on her final sets of legs. It was so soft and gentle that she was at no point startled. After a few moments of this she became aware of my presence and never became startled or skittish. I gently put my hand by her and with my free hand began slightly nudging her legs and got her to move onto my hand. Like I said I did this several times over the course of about a week. Her temperament has changed completely.

 

malevolentrobot

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this is interesting, as my boyfriend has proposed we do something similar with our B. bohemei, since he's a kicky little bugger, like kicks if we walk near the cage and look at it type. and while my boyfriend wasn't suggesting handling every day, we wanted to find a way to "desensitize" it so that it'd stop being so twitchy and flicky.

he's been opening the enclosure at least twice a day, sometimes inserting the feeding tongs near it and sometimes doing nothing for about a week now. just the opening and closing of the enclosure since we started this has already decreased the amount of jumpiness we've seen from this particuliar T.

we've never actually attempted to handle it, but i'm having a feeling i'll be eating my words soon.
 

Draychen

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I've done the same and wittnessed the same with many tarantulas.. from a A. avic all the way to a P. pederseni. While they seem to chill out a LOT (my P. murinus Pterrah for example or my H. lividium for those who have seen my pics/vids).. some species still seem to keep an 'edge' to them. My P. murinus oftentimes allows me to just thrust my hand into her webbing to pull her out. My P. pederseni - it is rare she's even allow me to stick my hand near her cage without freaking out. I've handled nearly every single T in my collection for a couple mins a day at least every other day (with the exception of when I'm detached to another command and cannot get to them.. Now, that tops 50 Ts in total).

However, my P. pederseni (who was once in a colony, now the lone survivor) and two of my 5 P. murinus and my brand new P. regalis all seem to have 'chill' moments.. but I have found they can turn on you in an instant, without warning.. good thing it's expected to happen. Guess it's really the only way they can say 'I like it I like it I..... ANNOYED! *CHOMP*'

Another thing to add: When you're gone for a month or so and return home, some will 'forget' what you are and what you will do with them. Some will remember and will claw at the cages to get out. (My H. lividium, A. gen., and A. azuraklassi are three that seem to forget. After a few days they're fine again. The H. liv. takes much longer. I've pretty much given up on her. I go away too often)
 

BCscorp

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I had a B. smithi that i played with ever single day for a couple/few months straight. Some days i had it out for an hour, some days i had it out for 10 minutes.

You know what happened? It acclimated to handling and would actually climb out of the cage onto my hand. And it started off very nervous, indeed. Kick and scrunch were the order of the day. I probably picked up a good deal of my Brachy urt sensitivity from this little endeavor.

The spider ate like a champ and after a week stopped kicking hairs. It never developed a bald spot or anything.

Eventually i gave up driving it insane as a waste of effort.

The amusing thing is that EVERY tarantula i have handled a lot did the same thing... got more and more acclimated to me and eventually would actually "voluntarily" climb on to me when i opened the cage.

I am curious if anyone else has had this experience?




(i am bringing it up cuz i see a lot of snotty answers making jerks out of free handlers. the funny thing is that the ppl who would actually have experience are the ppl who handle bugs... like me. oh, and for the record... i have free handled thousands of times. as far as i know i have never hurt a tarantula because of it. so there.)

tell it like it is man.
I dont handle very muchl myself, but I agree with the previous comments on adaptability.
 
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jebbewocky

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I've long suspected this might be the case. Not being able to make very simple associations, like, when this thing picks me up it's ok, well--I have a hard time contemplating a multicellular animal not being able to do that.
 

ZergFront

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hehe Caco, looking to start an argument today are we ;)
Someone's bored! LOL!

I'm glad for this thread though because I want to hear about the people that actually handle and don't jump on the "don't handle, it will die!" wagon.
 

rustym3talh3ad

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My T's for a time were a personal accomplishment to be able to handle, ive stopped doing it, but i still handle here and there, when i would get my H. mac out she would bolt around and do all kinds of crazy stuff, but after time would just sit out and do a pokie pose on my hand, one time even went as far as cleaning herself on my hand...that kinda freaked me out.

on a somewhat related note, i once took the time and worked with a tokay gecko. at first it was squawks and bites, but after some amount of time i was able to put my hand in the cage, tap him on the butt and he would move forward on to my hand and just sit there...my boss said it was more of a stress thing and didnt want me doing it anymore. it only took two weeks of no handling for it to go back to its nasty feisty self.
 

cacoseraph

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Another thing to add: When you're gone for a month or so and return home, some will 'forget' what you are and what you will do with them. Some will remember and will claw at the cages to get out. (My H. lividium, A. gen., and A. azuraklassi are three that seem to forget. After a few days they're fine again. The H. liv. takes much longer. I've pretty much given up on her. I go away too often)
VERY good point, and something i totally forgot to mention!

one of my poster girls for this was a large female P. regalis. she definitely seemed to have some forgetfulness / regression when i went more than a month between handling sessions. she stayed more mellow than when i first had her... but there was definitely a difference between handling her every week or more frequently versus when i had to keep her at a petstore and didn't get to see her as much


good good good.

i am happy with this thread so far... i figured other ppl would have experiences like mine... but might be a bit off put to put them in a hostile thread :)













oh, and for the record: i only have two local tarantulas right now... and the one is already a demo model for when i do bug shows. the other seems pretty mellow, too... so i can't really show this with tarantulas. i do have some other mygs... but they are all either pretty little or i only have one of the species or whatever
 

Chris_Skeleton

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I have noticed that after handling, my Ts have always tried climbing out of their enclosures over and over again. Every time. It seems like they don't want to be in there. And I also find it hard to believe that a T can't make associations either. The one thing I have noticed is when I touch my Ts or are handling them, they move their spinnerettes, it reminds me of a dog wagging it's tail. Has anyone else noticed this?
 

Draychen

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I have noticed that after handling, my Ts have always tried climbing out of their enclosures over and over again. Every time. It seems like they don't want to be in there. And I also find it hard to believe that a T can't make associations either. The one thing I have noticed is when I touch my Ts or are handling them, they move their spinnerettes, it reminds me of a dog wagging it's tail. Has anyone else noticed this?
I have noticed it, Chris. It almost reminds me of the T 'happy dance' when they recieve food. I know my G. rosea LOVES watching TV and video games.. funny to say, I know. But I've heard this from other people as well! And yes, once handled fairly often, when the Ts hear movement in the room, they're almost ALL against the cages trying to get out. If I pull them out for a bit and let them roam free or handle them.. I can place them back inside and they stop doing the wandering.
 

jebbewocky

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I have noticed that after handling, my Ts have always tried climbing out of their enclosures over and over again. Every time. It seems like they don't want to be in there. And I also find it hard to believe that a T can't make associations either. The one thing I have noticed is when I touch my Ts or are handling them, they move their spinnerettes, it reminds me of a dog wagging it's tail. Has anyone else noticed this?
They're moving their spinnerettes because they are webbing a line to try to find where they are, kind of like Theseus in the Minotaur story. I think that was Theseus. Maybe Perseus? Probably Theseus.
 

Mad Hatter

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They're moving their spinnerettes because they are webbing a line to try to find where they are, kind of like Theseus in the Minotaur story. I think that was Theseus. Maybe Perseus? Probably Theseus.
Theseus is the guy who killed the Minotaur.

Perseus is the guy who killed Medusa.

:)
 

Terry D

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Cacoseraph/others, Interesting thread. I've slowed alot on handling but will never quit entirely. I thought about it after the fact when I mentioned twice monthly handling not long ago (where's Pinnocchio icon)- when it had become closer to once a month or less. My male G pulchra used to like it and was handled fairly frequently. He'd crawl onto my hand and did not want to go back in the enclosure. All of my t's with exception of T. spinipes (no handling) frequently behave as if they do not want to go back into the enclosure, especially B boehmei, emelia and N tripepii subads- even now. A geniculata and pulchra slings which are handled much less frequently often crawl back in without prompting. L klugi is healthy and eats like a pig but seems to still be skittish from her escape ordeal. She's finally quit kicking so furiously, though.

Cheers,

Terry
 

Bazzgazm

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I have a MF B. vagans that i handle quite a bit. the better part of 2-3x a week for 10-30mins at a time. She at first was snotty.. but now.. 3 years later she doesn't really care... doesn't stress visibly.. i scoop her up without even thinking about her biting down on me.. she does kick still occasionally but that's a pretty normal thing.. and she's molted 3x successfully and eats like a champ all the time..

so if handling a tarantula stresses them out.. i wonder what happens in the wild on the hunt and prowl or even sitting in their burrows as things go by...
 

Fran

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If I dont handle mine once in a while they stop feeding for me.
They get really moody when I come back late from work too.
 

Terry D

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Fran, :eek: NOOOO WAYYY! Either I'm detecting a little sarcasm or the sky IS falling! {D{D

Just in case, I'm about to get Scotty out since it's been awhile and he's strangely been a little finicky at the dinner table........

Terry
 
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