Haplopelma Lividum Walks and Sits on Hand!!

[Rebecca Carter]

Hi,

I was removing an uneaten cricket from my haplopelma's viv last night and she walked up the side of the glass and on to my hand! She wasn't in her burrow, hasn't been for a while now, not like my male, we never see him!
She went for a gentle strole round my arms and hands, then just plonked her butt down and took on that 'relaxed pose'

Was wondering if anyone else has had such 'friendly' experiences with their blues as this behaviour seems very odd to me considering she is usually somewhat on the 'don't come near me or i will kill you' side

And is it usually for a Lividum to spend a long period of time outside its burrow?

Thanx for reading...

Bex

[Kain Prestwood]

Had nothing like that with H lividum, but I had something similar with my P pederseni.

I was filling the water bowl and removing a dead locust and without a warning the pokie walked out of hos web and sat on my forearm to about 10 mins in there usual relaxed pose.

No idea what he was up to, probably just being nosey if the truth is known. I must admit I did sweat abit in that 10 mins lol!

Kain

[J M Clegg]

Your just asking for trouble!!! You put your arm with striking range of the spider and it walked on to it.

You were lucky, what would you have done had the spider become spooked or threatend. You would have had a big problem on your hands.

It's not big and it's not clever! You should really be taking all steps to avoid putting yourself or the spider in a position where they / you can make physical contact. Buy some long forceps and use them instead of your arm.

[colin haris]

I personally think the interaction between you and your T's are part of the fun with this hobby. I know they can give you a nasty bite but thats part of the whole exitement i think. Kind of like owning a high powered motorbike or skydiving, you know your mum won't approve, but you can't help but enjoy he thrill!
Kain you said you sweat alot when your P pederseni was on your arm but i bet it was a rush!
I'm not saying I would get out dangerous T's all the time and mess about with them, but if a chance encounter happens, then its part of the fun.

If you want something pretty and harmless...there's always tropical fish!

[Kain Prestwood]

Oh yeah it was certainly a rush and quite exciting for lack of a better word.

I myself don't force T's onto my hand or pick them up at a drop of a hat. This morning for instance I was misting my A versicolor's tub and he ran onto my finger, not because I made it, or because I wanted it too, it just did. I nudged his backside with a fine paintbrush and away he went again into his tub.

Although I ain't in agreement of handling T's to show off or whatever, I think it's inevitable you will get one walking on you or so on, to me thats part of the hobby, as well as the risk of getting bitten.

At the end of the day, if you treat the spiders with respect, they will do so to you, my Pokie has proved that on a number of occasions.

So JM Clegg, I think its personal choice if I want to use forceps/tweezers. I have more dexterity in my hands than I do with them. In any case, what if the T attacks the forceps and breaks there fangs? Theres something to think about.

I'm not saying my way is the correct way, but I am saying its the way I'm most comfortable with.

Kain

[Rebecca Carter]

I agree, the using of forceps is not something I ever do, I would never forgive myself if a fang were damadged.

And yes, it is a huge buzz when a fiesty T decides to take a wander over me I only EVER go into the viv to remove food etc after it has been placed on the bed.

I treat all of my T's with utmost respect, they are part of the family

I DON'T see them as toys to play with but think that people saying it's irresponsible to allow them to walk/sit on us obviously have no idea how to handle this situation should it occur. In my opinion, it's panic of humans that leads to the stress of T.

Bex

[chris_pryce]

I handle my T's often, including my Theraphosa apophysis and my B. Vagans.I dont do i forcably, i give there back legs a gentle touch and they walk on to my hand. sometime they are not in the mood and i just leave them alone. if they "are in the mood" i take them out and let them crawl over my hands and arms. I mainly do it when i have people over, not to show of but to show my visitors that the are not dangerous. i also handle my scorpion's, my praying mantis, my snake and my cat and personaly i think out of all my pets (that i handle) it is the cat that could do me the most damage. the only pets i have that i dont handle is my giant centipede or my orange baboon but that is just common sense.

[J M Clegg]

Well guys you just carry on then - like you say it's personal choice.

It's only a matter of time before one of you becomes a bite statistic! Kain I hope it isn't you as I am sure you already are aware of the way Pokie venom acts and it's effects on the Cardiac System?

Let me see now - I am an average Tarantula keeper with around 100 specimens in my care. However, my collection compared to many of the people on this site is small. In line with just about every experienced keeper within the BTS, I do use forceps as quite frankly it's safer for me and safer for my spiders. My spiders rarely feel the need to go defensive because I don't poke my fingers into places where they could be made vulnerable to inch long fangs - and yes some of my spiders do have inch long fangs! I consider myself a responsible keeper, I don't get kicks or thrills - I just enjoy watching them acting as normal as captivity will allow. And I have never been bitten. But as you say - it's my choice.

[Kain Prestwood]

You are replying to me like I handle pokies for fun, I don't, not intend to. I have no desire to stick videos on youtube of holding pokies or P cambridgei's.

I was doing tank maintenance, it would have been far more stressful on the T if I was to move him into another container, put him somewhere else, then moved him back in. It would involved alot of 'pushing' in the right direction - something I'm sure they dislike.

You seem to have insinuated on your reply because I found it abit exciting the pokie (who isn't full grown I forgot to add) came onto my hand? Sorry mate but thats bang out of order by all standards. I care for all my animals (I don't just won T's) with the uttermost care and respect, it's through respect that I used my hand to do what I was doing, I am worried about forceps injuring fangs if they strike, if it bites my arm, gee whiz, I might be in pain for a few hours, but it's better than broken fangs and possible death of a beautiful creature.

Oh and by the way, I have never seen my T's got defencive, I have even tried to get one of my pokies in a defencive posture to 'pose' for a pictures of it's legs for ID...it wouldn't threat at me - and no it's not ill.

After this thread I feel pretty angry, so for now I'm signing off.

Kain

[Rebecca Carter]

Kain, to me you seem like you care for all your animals with great care, love and pride. I imagine they are all very happy being with you

I too would rather have an, albeit very painful bite, to deal with that the harm come to one of my T's due to the possible attack of forceps.

Isn't it true that we take on that responsibility and ALL that comes with it when we go into the study/collection of these amzing creatures.

I myself have never been attacked or even threatened, but then I, as I'm sure many others do, get to know the mood of their T's or any other animal and proceed accordingly.

After reading this thread through, I realise there are more people who handle their T's as I do.

It's all about patience and educating the mind

Bex

[Neil Martin]

I handled my Smithi when I first had him (about 3 or 4 times) but for the last year I chose not to as I felt it was only entertaining me and not the T?

Now I have the L.Parahybana and (albeit tiny) A.Geniculata and after watching it's (the L.P's) behaviour, I certainly won't be trying to handle it.

Even the A.G, which is about 1-1.5" only, attacks the plastic tweezers I use to coaxe (sp?) it into it's transfer box. I can't imagine that the damage it may cause itself by biting something "hard" can be as bad as flying across the tank/room, which would be the inevitable "knee jerk" reaction, should one of them sink their fangs into my finger?

But heh, I am not the sort to sit and pass judgement on what is right or wrong with regards to this subject, if you feel confident enough to handle your T without it's attempt to bite you resulting in a panic situation, then fine, pick them up. If you aren't quite so confident (like myself), then stick to the "arms length" - tools first approach)?

[Sonny Howdle]

well i used to handle most of my T's including my pokies but now i never hardley handle them, sometimes i hold my rosie but she was my first spid when i was 5 and i take her out into the garden to hunt bugs.
i do use 12 inch tweezers when feeding and taking out husks. i always try to keep my hands out the way so that my t's dont get frightend. when i water i have a large plastic sqeezy bottle with a 10 inch plastic tube on so that i dont have to go to far into there homes.
be very careful with your lividum though because she can and will just snap for no reason and you WILL get tagged.
sonny

[Nicola Dolby]

Whilst I totally disagree with the handling of tarantulas for the sake of the spider mainly (no matter what we think they are very fragile) I'd be a hypocrite if I said I've never done it. When they were spiderlings I used to let a few of them exercise on my arm whilst I cleaned out their tanks. The problem came (as I found with my P. metallica) when one day I took the lid off he container and the spider wanted to go walkies and I realised that at 7cm he was just a bit too big! Its a case of common sense, myself I'm against handling on the grounds of spider safety and self-preservation, but everyone is to their own ways I suppose. When you've seen a big H. schmidti turn nasty with a pair of forceps and realise that could have been your hand, then handling tarantulas suddenly isn't a good idea anymore. Have fun!

[Robert Farmer]

Would be kinda cool tho to have a spider who held it's legs out like a kid wanting lifted...

Usually legs up means "Come any closer and you're furrit"

I'll handle some o mine, some not, like my man Chris said if they seem not in the mood (Like my Smithi the other day who's butt just blackened) I leave well alone.

I dare say though, once most T's are out of their enclosure they are seemlingly less recalcitrant than when in... Just trying to get them out can be a pain