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Tarantula Stories Anonymous
Alright, how about some stories about your tarantula. Anything interesting could be nice. Pictures of your spider and its breed are cool.

I have read about how you can put a piece of beef on the end of a string, and coax your spider to catch it by dragging the meat in front if it. The only problem is getting the string out so it doesn't get caught in the fangs. If you have tried this, let me know how it went.

I have a rose hair (typical for a newbee). I have had it about 3 years now. He use to eat the crickest real fast, but as he has aged, he tends to be shy about performing in front of me.
>> Anonymous
put it on your cock
>> Dr. BigBulls !6ts7WxNHwc
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I have fed a frozen pinkie mouse to my G. Rosea. She did not seem all that interested at first so I figured I would leave it in the terrarium over night and if she did not eat it no big deal. I came in the next morning and she was eating it.
I thawed it out and just dropped it a few inches from the water dish, near the entrance to her retreat, no dragging required.

I've had her only a short while be the way. She has only molted once.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>154517
She didn't want it because spiders devour souls.
>> Anonymous
>>154517

Nice picture. What are you using for bedding?
>> Dr. BigBulls !6ts7WxNHwc
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A mixture of sand/peat moss and dirt. I will be cleaning the terrarium after her next molt and I am not yet sure whether I should just reuse the old stuff or try a new mixture.
>> Anonymous
I've had my Australian Bird-eating spider for about 3 months, and i didn't feed her til' about 2 weeks ago :P My parent's one went about 5 months without a feed. pretty amazing. Actually im still not sure if she ate the crickets i put in for her. i haven't found any carcasses yet, im hoping they haven't burrowed down into the substrate, which is pretty deep in my tank. I'm thinking about changing it with about half a centimetre of red sand or something just so i know if she's eating or not. She's very timid, and runs away from the crickets when i put them in. never seen her eat one. she likes to sit in her water dish though, so at least i know she's drinking :P
>> Anonymous
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I have a rose haired too. she's eaten beef but i didn't need to coax her with a string. I just dropped it in her tank and she went for it pretty quick. can't say the same for chicken though...

She's molted four times now. I got her when she was fairly small.
>> Anonymous
I'd like to hold my spider, but I have heard that it is not safe. He could run off my hand and die. Also, there is that whole bitting thing. Any suggestions?
>> Anonymous
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I have a usumbara baboon tarantula, only the size of a bottle cap as of yet, but eating well. I named it bitey because it is the most malevolent invertebrate I have ever had the misfortune of meeting.
>> Anonymous
>>154784

True. Generally, you don't want to hold your tarantula. If anything, they are very delicate and can easily hurt themselves if dropped from a significant height. Other then that, their bodily hairs are very irritating and have been said to be similar to fiberglass. Avoiding your face and washing your hands after handling your spider is recommended.

Rose-haired tarantulas are fairly docile and can be easily handled. If you handle them frequently, the likely-hood of you getting bitten is a lot slimmer. Envenomed bites are painful but harmless. Only 5% of people bitten will have a severe allergic reaction.

I try not to hold my spider too often. The only times I take her out is when I'm cleaning her terrarium. Even then, I try not to handle her too much because I know it can be stressful.

>>154818

Baboon spiders are incredibly ill-tempered and have a nasty bite. "Bitey" is a very appropriate name.

My tarantula's name is "Pubert" because she looks like a pile of pubes. : )
>> Anonymous
>>154509

Spiders give me fucking nightmares. All spiders should die.
>> Anonymous
>>155694
pussy
>> Anonymous
>>155694
People give me nightmares. All people should die.
>> Anonymous
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Jumping Spiders are moar superior...

Except they liek to get away...
>> Anonymous
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ppl used to dangle tarantulas on a string in front of me, hoping i would attack it and eat it. Oh howi love me some spider. BTW i am a little girl.
>> Anonymous
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I watched some crazy spider fanatic on TV say that if the spider climbs into your hand and you lift it it won't bite you and then he picked up a black widow just for show.


*Pic not fully related(he didn't get the bite)
>> Anonymous
>>155806
Effects of the T-Virus
>> Anonymous
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>>154784
there is always a chance of being bit..even by ones you've held before..just be careful. hold them over something soft, like your bed, and only a few inches high. a fall could spell death. the way i first handled one was by opening the lid, and the spider was starting to climb out. i just put my hand there where its next steps would be, and the spider climbed right on. some are weary of this and don't seem to want to get on board, but i don't press my luck by trying to force them to.

>>155497
only new world species have those urticating hairs..and there are even some (Psalmopoeus comes to mind) that don't have them at all. tarantulas from africa/asia/australia/(are there any species in europe?) don't have them.

my strange story is a time when i tried to feed a pinkie mouse to some of them. i had one left over (live) because one of my snakes refused to eat it. the first t i tried to feed it to was an adult Grammostola rosea. at first she seemed very interested and rushed over to say hai. she stood right over it so that she didn't even have to use her palps..she could've just bit down. she felt it a little with her palps..then after about 5 minutes, she just walked off and left it there. haha i'll see if i can find a pic of that somewhere..i know i took a few, i just have shitloads of pics of them all. sadly i sold all but one because someone is watching that one for me (a rare one i didn't want to let go), and i'm joining the navy.

oh, and pic is mature male Psalmopoeus cambridgei.
>> Anonymous
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tarantulas are great pets and do not need much time or money.
since taking them in the hands is silly the best starter species is lasiodora parahybana. they are way more active and aggressive than rosies and grow to insane sizes.
>> Anonymous
>>155811

Correction: effects of the brown recluse spider. nasty little shits.

that's one method of picking up your spider. I just scoop mine up. i don't think she minds so much... when she's full...
>> Anonymous
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>>155871
i don't think it's silly. it is fun, and definitely one of the highlights of keeping them. i don't handle all the ones i had, but some that i was more comfortable with and didn't seem to display any behavior that they were going to defend themselves or retreat.
>> Anonymous
>>155859

My rose-haired kicks her hairs when she's upset. Whether the hairs are irritating or not, I'd rather not find out.
>> Anonymous
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>>155882
yea, i had a mature male G rosea that would let me scoop him up with no problem. you can cup them too or get them with your fingers between the 2nd and 3rd pair of legs. i wasn't ever comfortable with either of those methods though.
>> Anonymous
>>155890
yes they must be uticating

careful
>> Anonymous
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Friend of mines B. smithi. It was the poor little guys ultimate molt...=(

Other than that I've had my Avic Versicolor eat from my hand and nearly bite my finger tips...
>> Anonymous
My brother got a pet tarantula shortly before moving out waaaaaaaaaaay back in like 1997. He didn't take it with him, and since I was the only one in my family not totally fucking terrified of the thing I inherited it. Don't think I ever named it, everyone just called it 'that goddamn spider' etc. I was like 13 at the time and really knew absolutely nothing about tarantulas, only a few basics that my brother left me with before he moved. Therefore I'm not sure what species it was, I THINK it was a chilean rose tarantula and I'm fairly certain it was female.

I fed it crickets mostly, although sometimes in the summer I'd go catch grasshoppers in the backyard. Although as for a weird story, once my sisters had pet goldfish but since they are complete failures they never cleaned the tank and it was starting to stink up their room. They refused to clean it as it was 'too gross' so of course I was charged with the task. My parents also suggested that I deal with the goldfish, I think they meant flushing them down the toilet but I decided to toss them in with the tarantula. It actually ate them too.

Anyways the thing was a freakin escape artist. I had no idea they could fit through such small holes. I ended up keeping it for a few years, but one day it escaped while my mom was using my computer to type something up for work and when she saw it crawling up the wall next to her, well, I still remember it as it was the loudest most blood curdling scream I've ever heard.

They made me give it to one of my uncle's friends who apparently owned one before, no idea what happened to it afterwards. Kind of sad actually, I thought it was the coolest pet ever but I didn't want to get attached to it because I assumed my brother would come back for it one day. If I had one now I'd take a lot better care of it.
>> Anonymous
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>>155917
almost looks like a parasite. could be.

>>155926

you should read up on them www.arachnoboards.com is a good place. then get another one, they are cheap for the most part.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>155917
Thanks for the nightmares.
>> Anonymous
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Hey this is 155917
It's not a parasite. This is one of talkenlate04's Ts(yes I am on arachnoboards a lot)it was missing a leg but it had a stumped leg, like there was a stump coming off the coxa instead of just nothing. My best guess is that it wasn't regenerated enough when he molted and it ripped off the exoskeleton with the exuvium.

Pic is my female b. smithi
>> Anonymous
>>156156
ahh ok. just thought it could've been cause of that worm looking thing coming out.>>155859

i am.
>>155887
>>155891
>>156106

i post on AB a lot myself..but mostly in the watering hole lately. i post as grafcore with some x's.