Cobalt Blue Tarantula can i handle one???

[bill hutchinson]

dear people i am asking all tarantula owners expert or novice if i bought a cobalt blue tarantula , could i handle it , some sights on the internet advise extreame care so , has any one have any first hand advice , i own 3 tarantula spiders Chile Rose, Mexican Redknee , and my faverate the great Golath bird eater , any way finding tarantula spiders more addictive everday so any one has any feed back please let me know , so far i have not been bitten lol , hope it stays that way ?

[Ian Minshall]

Cobalt Blue

Hi Bill

I'm a novice at keeping Tarantula's and I personally dont recommend handling any tarantula's, i own 2 Cobalt blue females (The gruesome twosome) who do not hesitate to have a go at me if they are disturbed even taking out dead crickets they will strike at the tweezers, i recently transfered one to a larger tank and to be honest i was sweating they are very very quick of the mark, imho i would say this species should be treated with the utmost caution and respect.......

Ian

[Ray Hale]

Hi bill

the BTS has a non handling policy when it comes to tarantulas. the reasons for this are threefold.
1. There are some very aggressive tarantulas around. Haplopelma lividum being one of them and believe me, having been bitten by one, I know.
2. One of our aims is to educate and dispel certain predujices that people have and should someone get bitten whilst handling a tarantula and then suffer an allergic reaction then the hobby would face more problems than it already has. We have all seen the ludicrous headline in recent years fueled by misinformation and overzealous journalists
3 And posibly the most important reason is that should you drop your tarantula from a height of around 3ft the chances are the fall will cause damage that may result in death. Im sure you would agree with some tarantulas commanding high prices this is not an option.

Still you may of course handle your animal if you wish. the handling is not really the issue here. It is the ability and confidence of the handler. I have seen many a spider make a run for it and turn and bite as a last resort when cornered. Enjoy the spider for what it is. A beautiful work of art that is however wild.

So my advice .....if in doubt.....dont.

[Brian Kurbiuhn]

This is considered one of the "agressive" species, why would you want to risk it. Chances of getting bit by this one are pretty high if you intend on handling it.

Personally, I am in the "Do not handle" group of collectors, as I get nothing from it, and neither does the spider.

I like to keep my tarantulas in as close to thier natural habitat as possible within an aquarium, my hand is not a part of thier natural habitat.