- Joined
- Sep 17, 2004
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- 3,783
I went to Florida during Christmas to visit some relatives. On the way back, my husband and I stopped by a pet store in Ocala, FL.
I had already called, and was told that they had G. rosea, A. seemani, and H. lividum in stock.
When I got there I noticed the pet store was very dirty, but decided to take a look at the tarantulas and see what they had. Most of the Ts were in Kritter Keepers with this wood-type substrate that looked very inappropriate and uncomfortable. The H. lividum was kept on about .5 inches of substrate and was obviously trying to burrow. It had made a burrow with its silk and was stretched out underneath it. There was also a heat lamp pointed directly at a G. rosea.
I saw 2 A. seemani and went to the look at them. An employee (high-school kid) came over and asked me if I would like to hold one.
Kid: "You want to hold it?"
Me: "No, I really don't."
The kid starts taking the top off the Kritter Keeper.
Me: "Please, no. I don't want to hold it."
The kid puts his hand up to the side and prods the T into his hand.
Me: "No, no, no. A short fall could kill it. I'd rather you leave it in the cage."
The kid keeps holding it and the T is very nervous. It is running all over his hands and almosts falls, hanging on by one leg. The kid puts the T back in the cage and shuts it. Then the kid picks up the other A. seemani's enclosure and begins to open it.
Me: "No, just leave it in there. I don't want anything to happen to it."
The kid still gets it out and starts to hold it. This T is also very nervous and is running all around his hands. It jumps from one hand to the other and then jumps to the floor. Sure enough, its abdomen is ruptured.
I've never seen this happen before and it really bothered me. The hemolymph was trickling out behind the T as it was walking around the floor. The kid picks it up, it jumps again, and it falls again. Now there is a considerable amount of blood on the floor and the entire back end of the abdomen is split open. I could see the "insides" hanging out, and the kid picked up the T again and put it back in the enclosure.
Kid: "Man, I feel so bad. I hold them a lot, but they usually don't do that."
Me: "That is usually why it's not advisable to hold tarantulas."
Kid: "Well, I have 4 at home. My pinktoe has jumped before and fallen and its been okay."
Me: "Your pinktoe is an arboreal species, and while a fall is not good for it, it is not as likely to kill it."
Kid: "Man..."
Now the T is in its cage and is crawling all around, trying to climb up the walls. The sharp wood substrate is sticking to the insides that are hanging out. It probably died within the hour.
In the heat of the moment (without a lot of thought) I bought the other A. seemani so that it wouldn't suffer the same fate. It was put in a small box and my husband and I held it (the box) for the next 7 hours in the car. I know I shouldn't have bought it, because I'm just encouraging the damn pet store to go out and get more Ts to kill, but I couldn't help myself. I've still got the store's number, and I'm going to call them and ask for an email address or snail mail address so that I can mail them a care sheet and/or any other info that would be helpful. They may not care, but I'm going to give it a shot.
Periodically on the way home, my husband I would say, "I just keep thinking about what that kid did..."
I've never seen a T die before, and it has stuck with me. I was reading The Tarantula Keeper's Guide on the way home and read to my husband how it mentioned that while A. seemani does not quickly bite, they are notoriously for being "jumpy."
I had already called, and was told that they had G. rosea, A. seemani, and H. lividum in stock.
When I got there I noticed the pet store was very dirty, but decided to take a look at the tarantulas and see what they had. Most of the Ts were in Kritter Keepers with this wood-type substrate that looked very inappropriate and uncomfortable. The H. lividum was kept on about .5 inches of substrate and was obviously trying to burrow. It had made a burrow with its silk and was stretched out underneath it. There was also a heat lamp pointed directly at a G. rosea.
I saw 2 A. seemani and went to the look at them. An employee (high-school kid) came over and asked me if I would like to hold one.
Kid: "You want to hold it?"
Me: "No, I really don't."
The kid starts taking the top off the Kritter Keeper.
Me: "Please, no. I don't want to hold it."
The kid puts his hand up to the side and prods the T into his hand.
Me: "No, no, no. A short fall could kill it. I'd rather you leave it in the cage."
The kid keeps holding it and the T is very nervous. It is running all over his hands and almosts falls, hanging on by one leg. The kid puts the T back in the cage and shuts it. Then the kid picks up the other A. seemani's enclosure and begins to open it.
Me: "No, just leave it in there. I don't want anything to happen to it."
The kid still gets it out and starts to hold it. This T is also very nervous and is running all around his hands. It jumps from one hand to the other and then jumps to the floor. Sure enough, its abdomen is ruptured.
I've never seen this happen before and it really bothered me. The hemolymph was trickling out behind the T as it was walking around the floor. The kid picks it up, it jumps again, and it falls again. Now there is a considerable amount of blood on the floor and the entire back end of the abdomen is split open. I could see the "insides" hanging out, and the kid picked up the T again and put it back in the enclosure.
Kid: "Man, I feel so bad. I hold them a lot, but they usually don't do that."
Me: "That is usually why it's not advisable to hold tarantulas."
Kid: "Well, I have 4 at home. My pinktoe has jumped before and fallen and its been okay."
Me: "Your pinktoe is an arboreal species, and while a fall is not good for it, it is not as likely to kill it."
Kid: "Man..."
Now the T is in its cage and is crawling all around, trying to climb up the walls. The sharp wood substrate is sticking to the insides that are hanging out. It probably died within the hour.
In the heat of the moment (without a lot of thought) I bought the other A. seemani so that it wouldn't suffer the same fate. It was put in a small box and my husband and I held it (the box) for the next 7 hours in the car. I know I shouldn't have bought it, because I'm just encouraging the damn pet store to go out and get more Ts to kill, but I couldn't help myself. I've still got the store's number, and I'm going to call them and ask for an email address or snail mail address so that I can mail them a care sheet and/or any other info that would be helpful. They may not care, but I'm going to give it a shot.
Periodically on the way home, my husband I would say, "I just keep thinking about what that kid did..."
I've never seen a T die before, and it has stuck with me. I was reading The Tarantula Keeper's Guide on the way home and read to my husband how it mentioned that while A. seemani does not quickly bite, they are notoriously for being "jumpy."
