Aggressive G. spatulata

[Russell Axford]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and to tarantula keeping so was wondering whether anyone could give me some advice. I have a juvenile G. spatulata which i've owned for a couple of weeks. I know they are supposed to be calm and docile but ours seems to attack anything that moves. i.e. any gentle nudges to the back legs and it spins around and goes for the kill We don't disturb it at all and the heat/humidity seem fine so it shouldn't be adgitated. Not sure if its a male or female yet.

Thanks

Russ

[Matthew Bagley]

Did a quick search and apparently the species is synonymous with G.rosea aka Chile Rose . While most members of this species are as calm as you like I've heard of a few individuals that are 'wired' wrong . Probably just luck of the draw .

[lynn mawdesley]

Unfortunatley our eight legged friends dont always read the same books as us lol
while say for instance a G rosea is labelled generally docile there are plenty out there that are aggressive and will have dab at you while at the same time some aggressive labelled T's would rather run and hide than stand there and fight.
With any wild animal they the supposed non aggressive calmer species will tolerate you ...doesnt mean they like it ...hence no matter what species i always exercise caution when feeding/ maintenance
It maybe didnt like the way its eggs were cooked lol

Lynn

[Russell Axford]

Lol, cheers guys. I had a feeling that it might be a rogue rosie. it is vicious mind

I suppose it makes it more interesting than the 'pet rock' that some can be but there is no way i'm going to attempt to handle it unless it has a mood change...maybe after the next moult?

Thanks for your comments

Russ

[chris carter]

Hi Russell

on the other end of the scale i have a Pterinochilus murinas (starburst babboon), that is so docile and happy she will knit you a jumper make the tea, babysit the kids and still not want paying for it.

Chris

[Craig Moore]

^ Lol!

I suppose it depends on what degree you mean by going in for the kill.
One thing that I've learned from my G Concepcion since I've owned her is that she often mistakes simple tank maintenaince for a potential feeding. I near messed my pants once when I changed her water dish and she came flying at my hand. I initially thought she was being nasty but I then noticed that everytime I changed her water she would come running over to investigate. Sure she might get cranky sometimes but this can potentially happen with any spider.
Just thought I'd mention this because I was mistaken that my T was being aggressive when really she was just a bit curious.

[Russell Axford]

Well, to be honest, before we bought her (not sure if it is a 'her' but hate calling it 'it') everybody said to start with a chilie rose because of its calm and docile nature so i guess we were just surprised that she is not calm and docile! lol.

normally, it is possible to coax a T along with a gentle nudge to the back legs with a straw or some such implement. For example, our B. emilia responds really well to this.

If you try doing this with our rosie she spins around and clenches the straw in her fangs and won't let go of it

We think she is great and a lovely looking T but were just surprised at her temprement. I think we will just treat her with the respect she deserves and see what happens

[Craig Moore]

Whoa...if she's biting the straw then she's defo not being curious, lol! Every spider has it's own personality I suppose - all the behaviour traits listed for any species are only guidelines. I have a B Emilia like yourself but there's no way I can coax her onto my hand. She's skittish as hell and will go into hairing frenzy at any disturbance. (Chris Boiling found this out the other night ) I was told before I got her that they were as docile as a T could get and practically catatonic. Not so in my case!