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  • Chilling a spider

    Hi all,

    I know we can esnithatise a spider by placing it in the fridge or freezer
    but how long would be appropriate for say a large adult and a juvanile.
    This would be to the stage where I could work on the spider without
    risking any defensive reaction.

    Thanks in advance

    Scott

  • #2
    Hi Scott - never done this with a tarantula, but I did with crickets.

    In the recent hot weather, temps were getting silly in my room - over 35 degrees, making crickets absolutely impossible to catch. They moved faster than the eye could see.

    I popped them in the fridge for ten minutes and over half died....if you're going to try this my advice would be to proceed with extreme caution! I've had adults exposed to extremely low temps overnight in the post, and out of six large adults, none recovered, all were dead within a few weeks.

    I'm sure someone mentioned a kind of substance that worked as an anaesthetic on spiders but I can't for the life of me remember what it was called. Anyone know?

    Comment


    • #3
      Hi scott I have done this on a number of occasions and have found that in the fridge (depending on fridge settings) it can take upto half an hour to make them viable for handling just be careful as you could freeze the book lungs what I do is consistantly check progress also I start the prosess off by having no heat on for an hour or so before hand this seems to speed it up
      I have heared of hobbyists using the co2 method never tried it myself but it has been known to work
      or you can hit it with a big stick this seems to work fine but for some reason the spiders never seem to come round again
      (just kidding on the stick part)

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by RichardDegville
        or you can hit it with a big stick this seems to work fine but for some reason the spiders never seem to come round again
        (just kidding on the stick part)
        Chuckle, chuckle... Your a sick man Richard

        Cheers guys (nice to hear from you Mr Lane)

        I'll be careful.. I keep getting vets calling be with questions... Where they get my number from I dont know but Im'e anticipating this one. I have done it before with an adult female B.smithi but i would rather have some good hard facts to refer to.

        Anyone know more about the C02 method?

        cheers fellas

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Shot8un
          Anyone know more about the C02 method?

          cheers fellas
          Funnily enough, C02 was the "exotic substance" I was trying to think of earlier. There was me racking my brains trying to think of the name and it was plain old Carbon Dioxide. Cheers for the reminder Rich.

          I imagine it works by depriving the T of oxygen, thereby almost stopping it's metabolism and enabling you to carry out your work. As the spider has a really low metabolic rate anyway, this appears not to do them much harm for a relatively short period, though I have to say I'd still be apprehensive about doing it myself.

          I prefer to use a variation on the big stick method - basically wear the T out (doesn't take long) then pin it and carry out the work in hand. I must have done this with 20 or so big angry H.schmidti over the last few months and they always give up in the end and let me get on with picking off mites etc.

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          • #6
            lol@lopez that sounds nasty picking mites off ewwwwwww gotta love wild caught
            now what I have read about the co2 method is you place your beast in a bag and breath into it ( watch your lip!) this fills the bag with co2 tie off the bag and wait a while personaly I just wouldent wanna go there just imagine you have paid £80 for a new blu Cyriopagopus sp (damn fine beast! and well worth it) and you end up suffocating it lol id go with the lopez method or the fridge if I win the lotto I may just buy a few Cyriopagopus sp and use the stick method just for fun
            (just kidding)

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by RichardDegville
              lol@lopez that sounds nasty picking mites off ewwwwwww gotta love wild caught
              Nope, captive bred!

              Venom farms don't really give a damn about mites, as long as the spiders grow fast and produce plenty of huwentoxin

              Comment


              • #8
                Ahhh farmed fair play mate
                what we need is a pokie farm lol by the looks of it the American breeders seem to be doing well with metallica/miranda groovy!!!!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by RichardDegville
                  lol@lopez that sounds nasty picking mites off ewwwwwww gotta love wild caught
                  now what I have read about the co2 method is you place your beast in a bag and breath into it ( watch your lip!) this fills the bag with co2 tie off the bag and wait a while personaly I just wouldent wanna go there just imagine you have paid £80 for a new blu Cyriopagopus sp (damn fine beast! and well worth it) and you end up suffocating it lol id go with the lopez method or the fridge if I win the lotto I may just buy a few Cyriopagopus sp and use the stick method just for fun
                  (just kidding)
                  I still dont get that co2 methord ?as it would still take the bag a long time to fill up with co2. For this even to work you would have to keep breathing in and out from the bag, which means ,that in the case of some old world spp you could get a nice lung ful of itchy hairs!
                  I´m not sure but I think that bakeing power gives off co2 when it gets wet because of the "sodium something or other "it contains.
                  So if this is the case then place the spider in a box and then add a small container of wet bakeing power.
                  Not that I have ever tried this or intend to try it, as I don´t know what levels of co2 are going to effect the tarantula and if there will be any permanent effects on it?

                  Or what you could try is to connect a hosepipe to your car exhorst, stick this though the car window add the spider and start the car up then you can safely watch your tarantula through the window as it slowly stops moving around :P

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Tescos
                    I know you were only joking when you suggested car exhausts. These emissions are very dangers and contain Carbon monoxide a lethal gas, well at least for us. It attaches to the oxygen carrying parts of the blood easier than oxygen and we peg out pretty quick. I would suspect the same effect for T’s…

                    Anyway, stick with a gentle cooling method. I was helping out with some filming a few years back with Nigel Marvin. This was shot in a cave in Bristol during the winter. After only a short while in what seemed a warm cave, when compared with the outside temperature. Nigel was able to safely handle and show to camera even the feistiest of spiders. Which included? Pockies and Baboon spiders.

                    I will add the H, lividum remained a tad tetchy and was not risked. All the Tarantulas had no ill effects from their day in the cold and the Regalis moulted the next day!

                    I also used a fridge when I supplied the B, smithi for the Bristol and West ISA adverts.. A few mins in a fridge and she was perfect model. Mind you under the lights she warmed up quickly. So it was back to the fridge whilst they set the next shots up.

                    Best regards
                    Mark

                    ------------------------------------------------------
                    Serious Ink tattoo studio -
                    Discounts on tattoo's for BTS members
                    My Collection: - Support captive breeding

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I have used CO2 in the past with good results. Put the spider in a clear emtpy tub with no airholes and stick in a tube that is attached to a CO2 cylinder. You will see that it works faster then you think. As soon as the spider passes out you can do what you need to do. Be carefull though as the spider will suddenly revive again. I had this happen with a large Haplopelma sp. Can tell you it's really scary to have one of those suddenly move when holding them...
                      With Regards,
                      Thomas Ezendam
                      Tilburg, Holland
                      Ulwembu Arachnological Survey Group
                      British Tarantula Society - European Rep

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