tarantulas

[Fennwick]

this is probably a stupid question, but can tarantulas be handled at all, or are they strictly a look and don't touch kind of pet? and does their venom have any effect on humans?
thanks.

 

[mines bigger]

they can be handled but it is not recomended because they will stress easily

 

[hornet]

no, handling is a big no-no, unless your a sucker for pain, adults have 1cm+ long fangs, they will not sit still they will run and possibly fall, if they fall from a height they generally crack open and die and also bits are very painful, my mate got done a few times up his arm, said it felt like it was on fire

 

[stary boy]

hehehe i held a very tame one at a venom zoo place up here.... she was huge and quite happily got handled very regularly (about 10 times a day) for shows, all that was done is she sat on your palm and cupped your other hand half over her in front of her face so she didnt kamakazi it off your hand and yer, she was yet to bite (apparently, or maybe they were just trying to make me feel better about holding her) also would like to note they dont let visitors hold the animals i was doing it for a job which i wanted and got but it was a bit too far away

 

[Retic]

The bird eating spiders we get here are considered fairly aggressive and I wouldn't handle one unless it's temperament was known.

 

[grimbeny]

Stary was that a native tarantula? I think there r some pretty tame exotic ones.

 

[stary boy]

Stary was that a native tarantula? I think there r some pretty tame exotic ones.

yer pretty sure it was a local one... had been handled since it was teeny weeny apparantly and it was a BIG spider :shock:

 

[hornet]

you cant tame spiders down so quite possibly an exotic species. There is always exceptions but i havenever seen a calm aussie t

 

[stary boy]

you cant tame spiders down so quite possibly an exotic species. There is always exceptions but i havenever seen a calm aussie t

your wrong

 

[hornet]

why do you say that? spiders do have have the brain capacity to be tamed, some might be naturally a little more calm but if its agro thats how it stays

 

[stary boy]

why do you say that? spiders do have have the brain capacity to be tamed, some might be naturally a little more calm but if its agro thats how it stays

neither do hornets

 

[hornet]

your correct, the only inverts that i know are intelligent are octopus. Spiders, scorps, roaches etc do not have the brain to learn that humans wont harm them so you cannot tame them, some species are naturally quite calm but as far as i know tghey are only new world t's, australia only had old world t's which are notoriuos for being agressive/defensive

 

[bylo]

Some of my large tarantulas seem to be tame .
and others just want to bite

 

[hornet]

Spiders don't have brains as such, unlike mammals. Their neural circuits are too simple for complex programs that taming entails.

 

[stary boy]

Spiders don't have brains as such, unlike mammals. Their neural circuits are too simple for complex programs that taming entails.

OHH just shoooshhh.... just like my snakes like cuddles, spiders like pats and thats all there is to it!

 

[Reaper]

i have owned sevral t's now and every one of them has been xtreemly agro some particular u.s t's are very docile in nature and can be easily handled. but ours on the other hand are an agressive speciese. in saying that u can let it run on your hand and call that handling if your game, but good luck with that as i am pretty confident that if u try to handle one like they do in the states i would bet money on it that u will be tagged. and if u are so keen on patting one u are more then welcome to pat my girl heres the reaction you will get!! but do feel free:lol:

OHH just shoooshhh.... just like my snakes like cuddles, spiders like pats and thats all there is to it!

 

[dansfish4tea]

hay jst a questoin how many of u spider lovers keep funnel webs i hav caught a few and like the look oof them

 

[Reaper]

i dont keep any, have also caught and released a few funnel-webs, the missus wont let me keep them:cry: as we have alot of freinds with kids and she dosnt trust them!! they do look awsome though especially the the big females!!

 

[dansfish4tea]

yea they look awsome nah i dnt like spiders they freak me out but i dnt mind the red backs n funnel web and white tip there all coool get them every were so i dnt need to keep any lol

 

[S.D.]

Yeah all our Tarantulas are “Old World” which means if you’ve seen pics of T’s being picked up, handled, looking tame as and not going schizo, then you’ve probably looking at a spider from the US which would be a “New World” Tarantula. If you ever get a book on Tarantulas you’ll even read on the best way to scoop up and handle your spider when you have guests and want to show them. Try that on an Aussie T (or any Old World species) and you’ll end up with a spider either falling and hurting itself, being completely stressed, throwing legs, being injured from holding too tight when they’re try and make a break for it, or worse yet, getting bitten.

Saying that though I have sometimes needed to coax a spider onto my palm when it has absolutely refused to head into a smaller container when I needed to clean its enclosure. But I think actually “handling” and taking a spider out for a play etc. is only going to end up being a mistake eventually.