I just got kissed..

[MassExodus]

I can top that....I went ended a double decker bus as a kid and lived to tell the tale (just)

Jesus Phil! Pretty bad huh?

 

[Phil]

Jesus Phil! Pretty bad huh?

had better days... LOL. all good tho buddy.

 

[Greg]

It must have been quite a shock... glad to hear you're doing better. It was a rather stealthy toxic reaction, seeming mild at first but then pulsing in waves. Good for the rest of us to hear that New World bites can be more than just "no worse than a bee sting"
My Acanthoscurria geniculata gave me its first threat post since it came home as a juvenile six months ago (don't know gender yet). Normally when I put food in or change water, it first goes in its burrow at the first sign of vibration on its enclosure before coming out to pounce. This time it stayed still with its front third of its body in the borrow, and the rest hanging outside . There was no reaction when I reached in with tongs to take out the water cap. When I opened up again to put the cap in, it quickly backed out of the burrow, did a 180 and reared up with all front legs in the air. I slowly pulled out the tongs and closed the enclosure; It remained in that position for about ten seconds before lowering its legs. Fully outstretched, it now looked 4'' instead of the 3'' it had appeared to be! I had to remind myself "Its not personal". It's simply a reaction to stimuli. I now have second thoughts about considering handling, though...

 

[bbbs53]

Although tongs/tweezers have been mentioned, chop sticks work also for retrieving whatever needs to be removed. One can also use a card to seclude the spider in the area it is in leaving the unoccupied space easy to work in. In the past I have kept a very aggressive girl that needed these precautions. Although slightly painful and pretty alarming, it fades fairly quickly and causes no permanent damage unlike a recluse or widow. Now that you know how it feels about it's territory you can adjust your activity and she probably will be happier for it. Chop sticks are good for "herding" them onto a box or container for cleaning their cage and a host of other activities and they are sharp or heavy, both good things. Good luck with her.

 

[MassExodus]

It must have been quite a shock... glad to hear you're doing better. It was a rather stealthy toxic reaction, seeming mild at first but then pulsing in waves. Good for the rest of us to hear that New World bites can be more than just "no worse than a bee sting"
My Acanthoscurria geniculata gave me its first threat post since it came home as a juvenile six months ago (don't know gender yet). Normally when I put food in or change water, it first goes in its burrow at the first sign of vibration on its enclosure before coming out to pounce. This time it stayed still with its front third of its body in the borrow, and the rest hanging outside . There was no reaction when I reached in with tongs to take out the water cap. When I opened up again to put the cap in, it quickly backed out of the burrow, did a 180 and reared up with all front legs in the air. I slowly pulled out the tongs and closed the enclosure; It remained in that position for about ten seconds before lowering its legs. Fully outstretched, it now looked 4'' instead of the 3'' it had appeared to be! I had to remind myself "Its not personal". It's simply a reaction to stimuli. I now have second thoughts about considering handling, though...

To be honest, the last thing I wanted was to discourage people from handling. I enjoy it. Its purely selfish, and can lead to a bite, or harm to the spider if you're not careful, but it's also rather rewarding to feel their weight, their claws, just the whole experience. I talk about using tongs now, but..I dont wanna. It wasnt that bad, but it did suprise me. This bite was a feeding response from a tarantula that molted maybe as long as a month before the incident, and hadn't been fed.. The molt was very dry, and she didnt look freshly molted. Negligence, on my part. She was hungry, and has a history of charging my hand. She just never followed through before..in short, my own inattention and arrogance caused it. I know I can hold her without being tagged, if I do it right. Just my thoughts on it I have many faults. One of them is being a stubborn bastard.

 

[MassExodus]

Although tongs/tweezers have been mentioned, chop sticks work also for retrieving whatever needs to be removed. One can also use a card to seclude the spider in the area it is in leaving the unoccupied space easy to work in. In the past I have kept a very aggressive girl that needed these precautions. Although slightly painful and pretty alarming, it fades fairly quickly and causes no permanent damage unlike a recluse or widow. Now that you know how it feels about it's territory you can adjust your activity and she probably will be happier for it. Chop sticks are good for "herding" them onto a box or container for cleaning their cage and a host of other activities and they are sharp or heavy, both good things. Good luck with her.

I like the chopstick idea. Long, heavy forceps can be dropped on accident..

 

[Dave Jay]

Ok, now my finger is numb. Its creeping very slowly to the last knuckle. The one I'm typing with. I've always typed with tbis finger. Weird sensation. Not completely numb but floating..There's a bit of swelling. Not much. Just numbness now. No burning anymore. Pulchra bites, if anything, hurt less than my local buthids, C vitattus.

Not the typing finger! I'd be struck mute until it healed!
I found some light metal 'sticks' at the op shop and didn't know what they were but they are light, very smooth and have a thick end and a thin end, great for poking around in enclosures even for compacting substrate in tight places. At first I thought they were part of a rotisserie or something but now I think they are metal chopsticks! Great to use in conjunction with tongs I find.

 

[Whitelightning777]

I always feed mine first before doing maintenance. None of mine would bite....unless you decided to take the feeder back!! A paintbrush and a catch cup are your friends. I don't handle mine & they have never asked me to handle them, pure coincidence I'm sure. While it hasn't resulted in a bite, using tongs to feed larger ones is a bad idea. They will attack the tongs and almost appear to try running up them. This means that you'll have to release hold on the tongs and wait until the tarantula loses interest before taking them out. Just drop in feeders and keep tongs out of reach, especially with L klugi and T stirmi.

 

[MassExodus]

I always feed mine first before doing maintenance. None of mine would bite....unless you decided to take the feeder back!! A paintbrush and a catch cup are your friends. I don't handle mine & they have never asked me to handle them, pure coincidence I'm sure. While it hasn't resulted in a bite, using tongs to feed larger ones is a bad idea. They will attack the tongs and almost appear to try running up them. This means that you'll have to release hold on the tongs and wait until the tarantula loses interest before taking them out. Just drop in feeders and keep tongs out of reach, especially with L klugi and T stirmi.

That makes too much sense. Stop it.

 

[Dave Jay]

I don't use tongs for feeding, it's easier to catch crickets by hand , I just try and discipline myself to use implements for maintenance.

 

[Bananahead]

Wow never saw an aggressive Pulchra! My sling is a spaz but never showed me any attitude yet. We will see if that lasts lol. So far the only T that ever gives me a threat is my Vagans lol. Even my OWs dont really do it

 

[MassExodus]

Wow never saw an aggressive Pulchra! My sling is a spaz but never showed me any attitude yet. We will see if that lasts lol. So far the only T that ever gives me a threat is my Vagans lol. Even my OWs dont really do it

When people say "every t is an individual" they mean it, lol. You'll see..

 

[Arachnoclown]

This is how I feel about tong feeding...

 

[nubka]

Also, the molt wasnt a week old, I just found it then. More like a month I think. At work early this morning, in a hallway, I held my hand out and let a phiddipus audax jumping spider land in my palm, coming down from the ceiling.. As a prelude to taking it outside so nobody would kill it. I've handled them probably a hundred times. I tell people they dont bite. As I was walking to an exit he crawled onto my index finger, wrapped his legs around it, and bit me. Lmao. I collect tarantulas for ten years, handle when I feel like it, don't use tongs..and never get bitten. I start moving to reptiles and now everything wants to bite me..ffs..

What kind of reptiles? We have snakes, lizards, and one T.

 

[RonC]

She read your post about her

 

[Whitelightning777]

This is how I feel about tong feeding...View attachment 32482

Depends on the girl.....

 

[TokeHound]

Okay so you mentioned that she had a habit of charging your hand and touching you in the past before this "kiss", that wasn't enough warning to maybe use tongs instead!?!? Lol... Sorry you got bit dude. Don't do it again

 

[Arborealguy1990]

Finger throbbing a little but no pain now. I'm trying to think of a way to express my thoughts on T venom. Its not like scorpions or bees. It affects you in waves..its just weird..it comes and goes. Hard to describe.

Wait till your AF Hmac tags your index finger lol that one hurt a bit

 

[MacroMags]

Here is deadly Domino. Sorry for the quality, I do the best I can with what I got.
View attachment 32122