A. Geniculata

[Dave Freeman]

This spider has been on my list of wants for ages.

I managed to find a beautiful young specimen at the show which was great.

After reading artical after artical stating that they are quite defensive and will readily kick hairs I can confirm that this is lies.

I have not once opened the box and the spider not come running at me with fangs out ready.

This is a very young example only about 2 inch - 3 inch leg span. Will this get any better because it is no better behaved than any of my Pterinochilus or haplopelma species. Yet this will get big.

[Colin D Wilson]

As always behaviour differs between spiders (even of the same genus/species)

I have had geniculata that are very tame and rarely flick, on the other hand i have a large female here that will attack anything that doesn't belong in her tank.

Also behaviour can change moult to moult, this i've noticed more with L. paharybana but the geniculata that i've had have shown this too.

As always, and as with any spider, don't get too complacent is my advice.

[Dave Freeman]

Mate, total vigilance is the only way, even with 'tame' spiders. The only spider that has ever bitten me was a red knee. The same spider on different occassion when I was young.

I dont believe in 'Pet Rock' theory at all.

My only point with this thread was to highlight the total shock of this new spiders temperament.

I have various species such as L Parahybana and expected similar behaviour from the Genic. Whereby it would be quite bold, flick hair when disturbed and also be quite quick given its size.

What I actually have is a cobalt usumbara white knee I think. Massive calculator error I think.

[Colin D Wilson]

Heh heh Nice one.....

Pet rock's applicable when looking in from the outside to a secured tank in my opinion.
You're quite right....always expect the unexpected...with any spider!

[Dave Freeman]

Yeah true, you can never know what theyre thinking, if they do it at all but I would love to have their acrobatic abilities for a day. Especially pokie/avic style.

[Mark Pajak]

I have two A.Geniculata juveniles and they remind me of kittens the way they pounce on things, pinning them to the floor. They are not aggressive though and as soon as they know they could not take something in a fight they back off.

[Dave Freeman]

Mines not scared of anything. It will readily take on adult locusts which is worrying as its only small. Should be a monster when it grows up.

[Louise~Nichols]

I have Genics here too...they love their food, pounce readily...yet they show no defensive or aggressive characteristics when I clean out or take their water bowls out for a wash. But I also have a psychopathic Brachypelma Klassi and a bipolar G.Rosea amongst my large team of spiders!! lol
With all types of tarantula, I take them as I find them...ie, I ensure I know their basic care requirements; are they arboreal, are they terrestrial etc, and then I create the best habitat possible for them to settle into. As far as temperaments go, I take most articles as a general guide but for the most part I rely on my own observations with each individual that I keep. I find there are many that are supposed to be difficult, yet the ones I own are amazingly steady, and vice versa...some of the dociles prove to be a law unto themselves.
The important part to remember is that they have just two ganglia as a brain...this isn't conducive with being *better behaved* as their lives revolve around *fight/flight/feed/breed*...and we as their carers are just here to manage their lifetime and habitat provided, learn from them, understand their needs, breed from them (if inclined to do so) and share our experiences together. Heck if we all wanted predictable pets we'd have goldfish!! lol

[Nicola Dolby]

I absolutely love it when threads like this come along. It reminds me how much our pets can amaze us. Let me give you a few examples of spids not acting to type. About a month ago I went to clean out my T. apophysis water bowl and startled her. She turned round like a bullet and.... getly headbutted my hand before running off to hide in her burrow! No fangs or hair kicking, sust an almost apologetic nudge. I can tell you I felt so guilty she got double food rashions for it! Funny, my A. metallica used to head butt me as well.
Then there's my Poecilotherias. I given the colony tank a good spray and half a dozen came out to drink the water off the glass. One couldn't get round to it because of the bark in there. So I took off the lid of the Exo-Terra so she would have room and the blooming spider walked onto my hand and started drinking! I had to stand there for 5 minutes plus with a sub-adult P. rufilata female standing on my arm whilst she drank waterdrops off the glass! Then if that wasn't "confident" enough she climbs off and waltzes down her bark tube as though it was all very normal.(I think I've been accepted into the herd).
Then there's my "docile" Brachypelmas. I can't take the lid off my B. bohemi tank without him turning his abdomen round and getting his back leg ready (he flicked hairs at me once for feeding him!) As for my B. smithi, forget the hairs, he tried to bite my hand off yesterday for topping up his water bowl. So now you know why I love threads like this. They remind me how diverse tarantulas can be, not that I've got all the funny ones!

[jason holland]

well havnt had any contact really with my a. versicolor, its just stayed still when moving the lid to feed it.. gna have to wait for it to get a bit bigger me thinks... and my smithi is as docile as puppy lol.... it used to flick hairs when i first got it, but not i can stroke it with a paintbrush, move things if it needs cleaning... anything and it doesnt mind at all. i bet i could get it to eat out my hand if i trie... but no way will i try that lol.... it attacks prey so damn quickly, and i dont want that to be my hand. lol.. interesting hearing of other smithi's that are mean... cos for me its hard to imagine that lol

[Dave Freeman]

well havnt had any contact really with my a. versicolor, its just stayed still when moving the lid to feed it.. gna have to wait for it to get a bit bigger me thinks... and my smithi is as docile as puppy lol.... it used to flick hairs when i first got it, but not i can stroke it with a paintbrush, move things if it needs cleaning... anything and it doesnt mind at all. i bet i could get it to eat out my hand if i trie... but no way will i try that lol.... it attacks prey so damn quickly, and i dont want that to be my hand. lol.. interesting hearing of other smithi's that are mean... cos for me its hard to imagine that lol

Sounds like my bsmithi man, when i got it, it used to kick the hell out of itself trying to flick at you, I reckon theyre like bosc monitors or something, if you leave em to it they get bored and dont bother attacking for long.

[jason holland]

do you reckon T's can actually get used to a human then? ie. if you kept contact with it, eventually it would realise that ur not going to harm it? because when i first got my smithi i hardly did anything, moving things about wise etc... just left it alone and it was quite .. well nervous and scittish. maybe it was because it was small etc... but since ive been a bit more... well... cant put a word on it, it doesnt seem to be scared wotsover.... (like dave said about the monitor - slow progress gets them used to you etc)

has anyone looked into this at all?

[Andrew Ferguson]

has anyone looked into this at all?

Yup, in Stan Schutz's book he says that with handling at an early age the tarantula will get used to being handled. If anyone has the book to hand, could they confirm this? My book is packed away for the house move on Friday.

After reading some of these posts I can only concur that the "docile" B.smithi does infact have an attitude. I was cleaning out some poo the other day and it raised its fangs at me for the first time and I've had hairs flicked a few times. Even the crickets have had hairs flicked at them just prior to being devoured. Are irticating hairs some sort of cricket seasoning??

[Clinton Hogben]

Yup, in Stan Schutz's book he says that with handling at an early age the tarantula will get used to being handled. If anyone has the book to hand, could they confirm this? My book is packed away for the house move on Friday.

Hi Mate
Its on page 136
"Handling of tarantulas is not only possible but is to be encouraged" & "Frequent handling will keep a pet tarantula quite docile for those times when it must be handled"

You try and tell that to Maxine my 7.5 inch L para who is just about to moult, I was silly enough to try and put my hand in to remove and clean her water bowl yesterday only for her to rush the length of the tank (30 inch) and try to rip off my hand. This is the only time she has ever shown any real aggression apart from the usual hair flicking but has never gone into full attack mode with raised front legs and fangs at the ready type threat pose I didn't even know she could move that fast for a big spider god she's quick.

It only goes to show that if we become complacent things can go wrong just never take them for granted they all have bad days

Now how many fingers did I have on that hand before??

[jason holland]

lol. wouldnt surprise me if they can get used to humans.... but obviouslt if we "take the p*ss" then i can see how some would become agressive. ive never seen my smithi go "aggressive" with it front legs. its flicked me a couiple of times, and ive seen it flicking hairs at crickets too.... so might be seasoning lol