G Rosea attacked me lol

[Oli Dodds]

Hi guys, havnt posted on here for a few weeks due to a huge amount of work at college *groan*.
Anyhow, i was doing some tank maintenance the other day and had my hand in near my g. rosea when she charged forward and tried to bite me, no prior hair flicking or nothing!
Has this ever happened to anyone before with a rosea?
Maybe i scared her or something, but usually they flick first bite later so hmmm, im puzzled
Thanks guys and girls,
Oli

PS NEWARK IN A WEEK WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Elaine Ross]

Hi Oli.
G. rosea's are funny little critters and no 2 are the same temperament wise

It could be that she mistook movement for prey or just having an off day. I have heard of some that are really docile and others that are psychotic so who knows.

It hasnt happened with my rosea but has with one of my Brachy's. Gave me a fright but no harm done. I now just use tongs to fight for the water dish lol.

Elaine

[Oli Dodds]

Hi Oli.
G. rosea's are funny little critters and no 2 are the same temperament wise

It could be that she mistook movement for prey or just having an off day. I have heard of some that are really docile and others that are psychotic so who knows.

It hasnt happened with my rosea but has with one of my Brachy's. Gave me a fright but no harm done. I now just use tongs to fight for the water dish lol.

Elaine

This rosea has always been real docile Elaine, usually i can just stick my hand in and gently pick her up- she doesnt even struggle! (not recommended unless you really know your spider) However, its since this last molt she had a few weeks back that shes been acting strangly! She is much more active now and she is only a year old so god knows what shes upto lol!
And as for wierd temperaments, tell me about it lol. I have a little 3cm brachypelma albopilosa sling that HATES me with a passion lol. If i am watching it for example in its little screwbox home and it feels my breath it goes for me lol. Crazy little b*****d lol.
Love em all the same though

[matthew spooner]

hi oli, i noticed a sudden change in temprement with a friends g. rosea, it is usually lovely and calm but i had to change its tank the other day because its old one had a crack in it, went to pick it up, which it let me do, as it was sitting on my hand it lowered its fangs onto my hand and gave me a dry bite, no pain or anything but very strange behaviour, totally unexpected

[James Box]

funny you should mention that!
yesterday, i was showing my 'zoo' to a mate that was over, and got to my normally calm, catlike G. pulchra. well i put my fingers near him and he pounced! got my fingers out of the way just in time! figured it was a case of my fingers looking tasty or just an off day, as Elaine said!

[stevebagnall]

Lets face it guys. These creatures are totally unpredictable. They can't be tamed like a cat or a dog. Picking them up or putting your hands anywhere near them is always a risk. I've stopped putting my hand anywhere near my L.Parahybana. It's only 3" but since it's last molt it has become fearless. Usually it went and hid if I so much as touched the container, now she's a right little monster. I fight constantly to get the water dish out. Last night I gave her a locust (1st time) and she didn't waste any time. It was almost as long as the spider, though I'd removed it's back legs so it couldn't kick and do any damage. All my T's have their own personalities too. My G.Pulchra is a right moody little one. Always going for me. She's worrying me a bit though as she hasn't eaten in 5 weeks, and before that she was eating everything I put in with her. Still I'm not overly concerned as I know they can go a long time without food. Maybe she's getting ready to shed? Who knows.

Yes, Newark this weekend. Can't wait.

[James Box]

that's totally true. i don't handle too often, partially to avoid stressing the animals, partially cause they bloody itch!
my L. parahybana's are quite social at their age though, about an inch and a half across, and i've had them crawl voluntarily on my hand. same with my still very small P. cancerides!
my P. striata slings have escaped onto my hand before, which i know should make me nervous but they've been quite easy (so far) to get back into their jars. just wish there were some docile old world T's! the itchy hairs on the new world ones are horrible lol!

[matthew spooner]

g. pulchras do have a tendensy (not sure if i spelt that right lol) to fast, mine starved itself for about 2 months, then started eating everything i put infront of it again, it stopped eating again about 2 weeks after that but moulted within a few days and was fine again

[stevebagnall]

g. pulchras do have a tendensy (not sure if i spelt that right lol) to fast, mine starved itself for about 2 months, then started eating everything i put infront of it again, it stopped eating again about 2 weeks after that but moulted within a few days and was fine again

Hi Matthew

Well she went about 5 weeks and shed last night . Was sweating a bit as I always get nervous round moulting time. I prefer it when it happens without me noticing. At least it saves me the worry. Her skin is mounted and looking big, bigger than I thought she was. 5 inches. I'm sure she'll be very hungry now, I'll leave her the week, then feed her.
Steve

[stevebagnall]

My she is a he! Noticed last night. I'm no expert on sexing from shed skins, but had a feeling after inspecting it that it was a male. Broke the news to my wife last night. She's gutted. The hooks are as plain as day. Not sure if there's anyone out there that can successfully breed these T's?

[matthew spooner]

hi, the chairman of the club i am in can breed these, he has an old female of mine, the trouble is they are tricky to do because of hibernating n stuff. i will ask him if he wants to breed his female with your male n see what he says

[Oli Dodds]

why are most of these posts nothing to do with the original topic?
This always happens in my threads.... *cry*

[stevebagnall]

Sorry Oli. Like most converstaions held with anyone they go off on a tengent. You start talking about the weather and eventually it's Marmite, love it or hate it? I didn't intend to hijack your thread. We are sort of in the same ball park, it's still a Grammostola species I'll start a new thread about my male G.Pulchra. I was going to anyway after xmas. Once I've fattened him up a bit.
Matthew, look out for my new thread. We'll carry on there. Or PM me.

Apologies again Oli.

[James Box]

wouldn't let it bother you, Oli...not everyone is going to have exactly the same experiences, so people bring up similar experiences, like with the G. pulchra, and then other things come up.
and it's not just your threads. my thread about my new P. cavimanus is now a thread about English weather and keeping species of scorpions that don't normally get on communally.
and i'm glad the topic developed like that! i've learned alot more than if people just said "wow, i wish i had a P. cavimanus" or "i have one and i like them", which would be boring.
in this thread, at least people are talking about being cautious around tarantulas cause you never know when they might fancy making a meal of your fingers or just want some peace! that's completely on topic, in my opinion.
so relax and enjoy the ride!
see you on Sunday!

[Nicola Dolby]

Hey James, what's wrong with the weather!!! Anyway I know what you mean Oli, you never can tell though. I have a H. lividium who is as gentle as anything but a H. schmidti who'se just matured as a male and I've renamed him Jack after Jack the Ripper. It not that he's unhappy, he's just nasty. On the other hand I've got a totally docile B. baumgarteni and a B. smithi who is outright aggressive. Both have perfect living conditions again. The best one was the other sunday when I woke up to find my A. purpurea sitting on my living room ceiling! When I found out how she had escaped and went to pick her off this supposed docile Avic took off like a Poecilotheria. Took me 10 minutes to catch her via the ceiling, walls, a settee and at one point the inside of my jeans leg! she's happily moulting at the mo and in a new, escape proof container. Whew!