Rose-Haired Tarantula, handling ?????

Question

My brother has had this tarantula for about 5 months now maybe a little less...when we first got him we handled him with no problems...as he got a little bigger my brother stopped handling him after he got stung once from being stupid...anyways...i have alot of animals to take care of myself..my question is how can i get the spider accustomed to being handled...and get him used to it so he can start taking him outta the tank, should we purchase a glove of some sort to handle him? We've never owned a spider before this is our first...humidity levels are on point and he is eating well he actually JUST finished his first molt this morning...soo he is healthy and active....any suggestions?

PS. NO SPIDERS ARENT GROSS....GO GET 2 POINTS SOMEWHERES ELSE YA LOSER!

Answer 1

Now this is from my experence with my Tarantulas, it might not work for everybody but it works for me but every spider is different!

I actually use this method with my Rose Hair and also with my Mexican True Red Leg (Brachypelma Emilia)

Ps I only handle mine about twice a week or three if people want to see how to handle them, some weeks i'll not handle them at all. Over a very large bed with alot of room with your hand basically on the bed so they can walk off and they dont fall or sit on the floor in an open room and do the same as I would rather they walked off and ran if they got scared than to fall and hit the floor as I love them to bits and wouldn't want them to die over something stupid I did.

If I want to handle her I always test her to see what mood shes in, I use a very soft paint brush and gently touch the back of one of her legs, if she quickly turns around or turns and goes into the threat posture I leave her ALONE.

If she slowly goes to move forward then I put one hand in front of her and lay it down flat and as was said above I gently tap her on the legs so she walks onto my hand and let her settle for a few minutes before I take her out.

I've noticed that Charlotte (her name) seems to test my hand first as sometimes she'll go to walk on puts two feet on and then turns to the side and walks off, i try her again and if she does it the second time I leave her alone as dont really want to p**s her off.

I do the very same with the Red Leg as she will flick hairs first if she doesn't want to be handled so the paint brush comes in handy.

I can say I haven't been bitten once and its actually gotten to the point were they seem to be happy to be handled now, i test their mood and once the hand goes down they walk right on to it lol sometimes they just need alittle tap. If you want to wear gloves then thats fine but as long as you test their moods you will find they wont bite unless your really tick them off.

My Red Leg has molted twice since I got her I leave her for a 1week/1 1/2weeks before I feed and I definatly get her 2weeks before I handle her as to let her have the time to settle and relax.

Hope this has helped.