Handling

[Paul Arnold]

Ive seen various photos on the internet of people handling aggressive tarantulas. One guy with P.Regalis on his face,yes his face! A guy with S.Calceatum on his arm,likewise with P.Murinus,and one holding a huge T.Blondi in both hands. I watched the adventurer
Steve Backshall on the deadly 60 programme come across a wandering Blondi and he simply scooped it up (he didnt seem keen on handling it for long though ) Personally I think this is insane at best,but im puzzled as to how its possible? I understand that you can come down on top a Tarantula with your hand and "cup" it,but having it on your arm and or head/face?! I cant even touch my S.Calceatum with an inanimate object without it striking,and Im of the opinion that if I ignored my T.Blondi's hair flicking,hissing warning It could end badly for me. Is it the case that once the Tarantula realises that Its not coming to any harm,It calms down
Lol I have no intention of attempting it,Im just curious

[Peter Lacey]

I think to answer that accurately I'd have to go beyond the decency of this forum.
I just wished they wouldnt.

[Paul Arnold]

Hmmmm. Agreed,Tarantulas are akin to tropical fish..to be viewed and enjoyed,not molested! I have a horrible feeling that a certain method is used to do it,and if so it can only be considered cruel and barbaric. Given that I cant imagine why anyone could mistreat anything in the world,even down to a plant,I was hoping for an answer like "this kind of handling is performed only by sheer foolhardiness". Ooops, hope my curiosity causes no offence...none intended!

[James Box]

i saw a video last night that surprised me alot. it was a guy handling his Phlogius sp "gargantua"
now, keeping in mind the advise of the BTS, that handling is potentially dangerous for keeper and kept, i wouldn't encourage this.
but the guy put up a disclaimer saying it was to show arachnophobes that spiders weren't monsters, etc, and he hoped it helped someone.
the spider in question, though huge and of the Selenocosminae persuasion, was slow moving and very calm.

would i advise a similar experiment? no...but the guy wasn't doing it to be hard, he was doing it to show how calm she was.
some people are very foolish as Pete says, and i wouldn't try alot of that stuff myself, but in some rare cases it's kind of nice to see behaviour like that, where the spider is not scared at all, and thus the danger is minimised.

now, obviously it's a wild animal and could get spooked, but so could anything

[Colin D Wilson]

Handing threads appear every so often Paul, but don't worry on here they get discussed in a sensible manner and in a way that causes no offence ............. usually. (i have a finger permenantly on the edit button )

I agree, spiders should be treated like tropical fish (i often say this myself)
I also say "if you want something to cuddle... buy a hamster" ... this is sometimes taken the wrong way as per usual but what other way is there to explain it???

I've handled a few times myself, for interest and education purposes but will always reccommend people not too ...
It does seem that if the spider feels secure there's less chance of it being spooked enough to have a go, obviously when you have one on your hand the spider will pressumably feel as though it were on a normal walking surface and they don't often bite and strike at the floor do they?
The constant picking up, repositioning and general messing with the spider whilst handing would be, in my opinion, something that may push the spider over the edge.
Having a spider on your face (or any other sensitive area for that matter) just screams "look at me" in my opinion .... if the spider is of a more toxic nature then another contender for the Darwin award has been found.

[James Box]

Handing threads appear every so often Paul, but don't worry on here they get discussed in a sensible manner and in a way that causes no offence ............. usually. (i have a finger permenantly on the edit button )

I agree, spiders should be treated like tropical fish (i often say this myself)
I also say "if you want something to cuddle... buy a hamster" ... this is sometimes taken the wrong way as per usual but what other way is there to explain it???

I've handled a few times myself, for interest and education purposes but will always reccommend people not too ...
It does seem that if the spider feels secure there's less chance of it being spooked enough to have a go, obviously when you have one on your hand the spider will pressumably feel as though it were on a normal walking surface and they don't often bite and strike at the floor do they?
The constant picking up, repositioning and general messing with the spider whilst handing would be, in my opinion, something that may push the spider over the edge.
Having a spider on your face (or any other sensitive area for that matter) just screams "look at me" in my opinion .... if the spider is of a more toxic nature then another contender for the Darwin award has been found.

as usual, very well put, my friend

i do like to see how "aggressive" (there's a word i hate in connection with these animals) spiders can act in a completely different way to what's expected...but i get that from mine, with minimal handling if ever. just as an example, the fact that i can take the lid off my Chilobrachys andersoni adult female, and she is calm enough to know i'm not going to attack her, is nothing to do with me...it's all down to her, and the fact she is NOT a monster that wants to kill everything that comes close. now, i know that some are VERY defensive, but i've been lucky with mine generally speaking.
however, one must respect the animal, and yeah showing off with one on your face...that person is compensating for something, unless it was an accident. it's a chance i'd not want to take though!!!

[Jamie Cooper]

I agree, spiders should be treated like tropical fish (i often say this myself)
I also say "if you want something to cuddle... buy a hamster" ... this is sometimes taken the wrong way as per usual but what other way is there to explain it???

I've handled a few times myself, for interest and education purposes but will always reccommend people not too ...

I agree with the above.

I've handled some of my spiders, but only when necessary. Never just for the sake of handling them. I must admit it does anger me to see people on youtube luring their spiders from their tanks simply to let it walk up and down their arm for 10 minutes before putting them back. It doesn't benefit the spider and creates an opportunity for the spider and keeper to get hurt.

I respect the "No handling policy" that the BTS promote and I'll always advise people against handling. These discussions do get rather heated on other forums and I tend not to get involved in them these days.

Jamie

[Stanley A. Schultz]

... I also say "if you want something to cuddle... buy a hamster" ... this is sometimes taken the wrong way as per usual but what other way is there to explain it??? ...

For what it's worth, I've experienced a much larger "bite rate" (e.g., bites per 100 handlings) with hamsters than I have ever had with tarantulas! And, they hurt more! And, I bled a LOT more!

I have no love for hamsters.

[Colin D Wilson]

I suppose you're right Stan, they do tend to be a bit tooth happy... especially those little dwarven all terrain anti personell russian attack jobbies )

My love for hamsters is in the same ball park as yours

[Stanley A. Schultz]

Ive seen various photos on the internet of people handling aggressive tarantulas. One guy with P.Regalis on his face,yes his face! A guy with S.Calceatum on his arm,likewise with P.Murinus,and one holding a huge T.Blondi in both hands. ...

(Note that I make a distinction between "handling" (i.e., picking up and fondling, usually for demonstrative purposes) and "manipulating" (e.g., moving the tarantula from point "A" to "B," or inspecting it and treating it for medical problems or for sexing). For "handling" the goal is usually for one-on-one contact. For "manipulation" any contact or physical interaction has a much more practical justification.)

The first three species that you mention are well known to have "medically significant" bites. However, if handled properly either they will not bite or cannot bite. While these people may arguably seem like complete idiots for taking those chances, if they know what they're doing and they have some purpose with "redeeming social value" for doing so, I'm all for it. However, most do not fall into any of those categories and stand a pretty good chance of giving the hobby a lot of bad publicity. This situation is clearly not good.

Theraphosa blondi is a different matter, however. While they are huge, strong tarantulas, they are not particularly aggressive. And, while they bear some impressive fangs, their bite is not particularly bad. Further, if handled properly, or allowed to become accustomed to being handled while relatively small and tractable, they aren't much worse to handle than most other theraphosine species (e.g., Brachypelma vagans, Grammostola rosea, most of the Aphonopelma species, etc.)

The major problems with handling Theraphosa blondi are:

1: T. blondi has arguably the second worst urticating bristles among all tarantulas. Almost everybody who doesn't take precautions while handling them suffers mightily for doing so!

2: If either or both of the tarantula and the handler are not familiar with the handling operation the result is often either an injured or dead tarantula, or an enthusiast with incontinence issues and a severe stuttering problem for the next few weeks.

Under any circumstances, if anyone truly thinks that they just absolutely have to handle a T. blondi (e.g., maybe as an entry on their "bucket list"), they should seek out an experienced enthusiast and receive no small amount of advanced instruction and training. As above, this is seldom the case, and the hobby stands to gain a lot of bad publicity merely because someone feels the need to perform a stupid stunt.

'The two (2) most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.'
--Harlan Ellison

[Paul Arnold]

Thanks to all,read and noted . Yes Russian hamsters are furry demons. My grandma kept and bred them and was bitten several times. I remember as a child approaching one that looked really cute peeering out of the bars,my finger went towards it and was retracted bleeding with me in tears Mr Shultz,The Tarantula Keeper's Guide was the first book I ever bought,many moons ago,on Tarantulas. I read all 270 or so pages before purchasing my first Tarantula,a B.Smithi. Thanks for a good read and giving me the bug!! I think I recall a quote from the book " A Brahma bull is more dangerous than a Tarantula,and a Bite from the family dog is worse and far more common" something like that

[James Heeley]

I agree with the "tropical fish" thing, i handled my rosie quite a lot when i first got her, but when i did she would hide for a week afterwards a.k.a scared. I imagine the spider sees it to be like being chatted up by an ugly fat girl... DO NOT WANT.