The fear

[andy07966]

I want some avics

[selina20]

Originally Posted by andy07966

I want some avics

Spider shop have some

[garlicpickle]

Originally Posted by andy07966

I want some avics

get rid of that horrible centipede and get some avics!

[gazganoo]

Hi, a word of caution, always remember that your T can bite you i,ts always a poss, if you are nervous about it, ween yourself into it, use gardening gloves to start of with , that way if she does try to bite ,atleast you wont get the fangs in your hand, it will also give you more confidence when handeling, also handle your T on the bed or somewhere that will have a soft landing if you drop the spider or it falls off your hand, hold them low to the surface, and make it fun and safe for you and your T, big smile, gazganoo.

[Hardwicki]

Originally Posted by gazganoo

Hi, a word of caution, always remember that your T can bite you i,ts always a poss, if you are nervous about it, ween yourself into it, use gardening gloves to start of with , that way if she does try to bite ,atleast you wont get the fangs in your hand, it will also give you more confidence when handeling, also handle your T on the bed or somewhere that will have a soft landing if you drop the spider or it falls off your hand, hold them low to the surface, and make it fun and safe for you and your T, big smile, gazganoo.

I always handle mine over my sofa. Usually i hold her an inch or so above the cushion so that if she darts she darts onto a cushion

[ph0bia]

Originally Posted by gazganoo

Hi, a word of caution, always remember that your T can bite you i,ts always a poss, if you are nervous about it, ween yourself into it, use gardening gloves to start of with , that way if she does try to bite ,atleast you wont get the fangs in your hand, it will also give you more confidence when handeling, also handle your T on the bed or somewhere that will have a soft landing if you drop the spider or it falls off your hand, hold them low to the surface, and make it fun and safe for you and your T, big smile, gazganoo.

Pretty much exactly the advice I'd give except the gloves which I'm not shooting you down over but I would not recommend:

1. The gloves are not 100% effective at stopping bites. I've seen spiders bite through thicker things.
2. The loss of feeling and dexterity is a big problem, as it makes coaxing the spider around safely much more difficult.
3. Spiders have small claws on the end of their legs. These could easily get stuck in the fabric if the spider darts (garden gloves are loose fabric) and rather than darting onto the saftey of a cushion, they dart and dangle. Stressful, autotomy inducing and possibly fatal.

I would always recommend having someone more confident ensuring the spider is safe to be handled before someone less confident tries for the first time, for both parties safety.

If you choose to handle a tarantula, there is always a chance of being bitten, but 9/10 tarantula bites are non-toxic (so called "dry bites") and even if envenomed, avic venom is not bad at all. Slight tingling and then it's gone.

Aye, I'd not recommend handling them too much, but do it occassionally both to help yourself become more comfortable with your spider and for your spider to become more accustomed to you being around. Always sparks a debate when I state this, but Stanley Schultz will back me up, as do many arachnologists, but tarantulas DO get used to being handled, and do become accustomed to having you around.

I'm surprised nobody else has brought up the avic-jet and jumping spider worries yet :P

This isn't meant to scare you, more to prepare you for other possibilities. If your avic leans backwards (keeping its front legs down), it is about to jump. Hold your hand still, don't worry, they have a good aim.
If your avic lifts its abdomen, brace yourself. You're about to be pooed on. A lovely brown jet that dries quickly and is easily washed off Great fun to watch as it has an amazing trajectory! There's a lot of theory suggesting that a lot of Avicularia sp. use this as a form of defense.

[garlicpickle]

Following on from this, I had a baptism of fire last night with the same Avic. I needed to remove her water bowl and swap it for a smaller one. She was in the way so I gently coaxed her into a cricket tub while I swapped bowls and tided up her tank. When it was all done I opened the tub and held it over her tank, but instead, she decided she didn't want to go in and did a 180 degree turn, and went up my arm. I was alone in the house and it was 1.30AM so I knew there was no point screaming for help and I would have to deal with it. By this time she had disappeared round my back where I couldn't see her.

I was covered in goosepimples as my worst nightmare is having a spider crawl onto my face or hair and I was convinced she was going to do just that. My heart must have been going 150 bpm! I stood up very slowly and went into the bathroom to look in the mirror, to see her sitting on my shoulder!

She didn't seem inclined to move so I thought maybe I could wriggle out of my jumper and get her that way, but as I started working my arms out of the sleeves, she started walking down my other arm and I was able to hold my hand over her tank. Thank goodness, with a slight prod from me, she deigned to go back in.

It's actually done me good I think regarding my spider phobia. Of course I wouldn't want my lividum doing similar tricks, but even though all my instincts were telling me to "get this thing off me NOW" I was able to control myself because I didn't want to hurt her.

ph0bia, we cross-posted. I was expecting the poo cannon, but I was lucky