Tarantulas
If you have an irrational fear of spiders/tarantulas, you may want to look away now! You have been warned...
However, I happily admit to being an arachnophobe and I am quite happy as such, as my colleagues will testify after hearing my blood-curdling screams when a money spider is seen running across the desk! No amount of cajoling will get me to change my fear of spiders or even attempt to overcome it.
The strange thing is - and this my colleagues cannot understand - I just love tarantulas!
This all started when I was a wee girl of 14... my parents bought a Mexican Red Knee tarantula sub-adult fem
ale (i.e. almost, but not quite, full grown) home as a 'surprise' new pet. I still think that they had the ultimate morbid aim of curing me of my fear. However, it didn't work - to me a Tarantula is not a spider, it is an arachnid of the order Theraphosidae, completely different to 'true' spiders. A true spider has fangs that move on an axis, a Tarantula's fangs are fixed and therefore it must rear up and lunge in order to get a bite of food or your hand! I loved our Mexican Red Knee (latin name of Brachypelma Smithi) - we named her Tabatha. She was very mild-mannered and we were able to handle her as the photo to the right shows. B. Smithi's are known for their long life and females can live to 20 years and longer. Tabatha lived a good life although not quite that old.
Tarantulas have an exoskeleton so as they grow, they shed their skin. I had the privilege of watching my Chilean Rose moult from beginning to end one day. She turned herself upside down at 5.30pm one evening and was done by 11.30pm. For the first 5 hours there was very little to see, then the last hour was extremely dramatic as she climbs out of her skin leaving it whole! I always say it is a little like trying to get undressed for bed without using your fingers or thumbs (or toes!)! Try it - bet you can't do it!
Before you all say: 'How lovely, I must get one!', a word of warning - all Tarantulas come with a venomous bite! Some are more potent than others. Most New World Tarantulas (those originating from North, Central and South America, and the adjoining Islands) have a fairly harmless bite (if you can call a bee sting effect harmless) whereas Old World Tarantulas (those originating from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific) - let's just say you really don't want to get bitten by one of these! Effects of a bite can last days, weeks and even months. Having said that, I have never been bitten but then again, I don't handle, which could be why! New World tarantulas also have a tendency to 'flick' - they flick the bristles from their abdomen at any threat. These bristles are a defence mechanism and cause much irritation if they penetrate skin, and one certainly does not want to get them in the eyes! Treat them with respect.
Some years after I married, my desire to have a tarantula in my life resurfaced and I purchased a Chilean Rose (Grammastola Rosea) as a sub-adult. She is female and answers to the name Vlad (I know it's a boys name - I didn't know she was a girl when I got her and the name stuck). She is called Vlad because the first time I fed her she wolfed down the locust and reminded my husband of Vlad the Impaler!
Recently, I gave Vlad (images below) a clean-out of her enclosure, usually done on a yearly basis. When she was introduced to her nice, clean home, she paced the perimeter for some hours. Off I went to bed. Next morning, I went to greet Vlad who has pride of place on my mantelpiece and soon realised I couldn't see her... Argh! She had managed to slide a foot into a teeny gap between the sliding glass door and the edge of the tank and prise it open. I now had a tarantula loose somewhere in my home! This discovery was followed by a thorough strip down of the lounge, followed by an emptying of the cupboard under the stairs in case she had managed to crawl under the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor, followed by another stripping down of the lounge by which time I came to the conclusion she must have got out of the lounge (which is now clean as a whistle!)... 72 hours later, I discovered her hiding under the fridge where it was nice and warm. This led to a lot of rearranging of the kitchen to pull out the fridge and get the little so and so back into captivity! After a hissy fit (from Vlad, not myself!), I managed this with the help of my husband and re-housed her into a completely new enclosure. You should never put the tarantula back in the same enclosure after an escape - once they figure a way out, they will try it again!
I had Vlad on her own for two years. Then, recently, I visited our local reptile store and they had a huge monster in known as a Therophosa Blondi female adult - she was something special! So special, she was purchased within a week (not by myself, I hasten to add)! Anyhow, this awesome sight reignited my interest. I got my Tarantula Keeper's Guide by Schultz book back off the shelf and started reading up again. I went on the internet and found there are lots of groups centred around this passion so I joined a few. We talk about Tarantulas to our hearts content!
And so, I decided I would like another ... and another ... and another!
Now I will pause here to inform you that Tarantulas can be shipped quite safely via Royal Mail Special Delivery within the UK. They are (or should be!) packed into an appropriately sized plastic container with air holes. A piece of damp tissue is inserted at the bottom of the container followed by more tissue, followed by the Tarantula and a lid of yet more tissue. All this tissue protects the Tarantula and helps to prevent it being knocked about whilst in the post. So, along came my Chaco Golden Knee (Grammastola Pulchripes) sling (spiderling i.e. baby tarantula). It came in a small container resembling a camera film canister. This was quickly joined by a Brazilian Black sling (Grammastola Pulchra). These are both very slow growers and it will be some years before they are mature and I can sex them.
After these, everything goes a bit hazy and I can't recall which came next - I went from 1 adult Chilean Rose to 23 Tarantulas of assorted sizes in two months! What a nutter I hear you cry!
One recent acquisition is a Salem Ornamental sling (Poecilotheria formosa). The Poecilotheria family are affectionately known as Pokies within the Tarantula hobby (see image below left). They are Old World arboreal (tree dwelling) tarantulas and thus like a tall enclosure as opposed to a short, wide enclosure. Anyhow, my pokie arrived in the usual fashion (via the post and packed in a vial). 'Hmmmm how am I going to house this one?' thinks I. Pokies are known for their speed (teleportation!) and also their bite is more venomous than, for example, a Mexican Red Knee.
Hence I was a little anxious about transferring the tarantula from its vial to its new home safely. Many people will do this in the bath (empty!) with the plug in - that way, if the pokie makes a run for it, it is safely contained to a degree. However, I don't have a bath - just a shower cubicle and there is no way I am going to be confined in a tiny shower cubicle with an angry pokie! 'I know' says I, 'If I don't have a bath, I'll do it in the bathroom sink!' It was going very well - until the tap dripped at the most crucial moment and the pokie legged it - all spiders hate water.
The drip made me jump so I knocked over the newly prepared enclosure and the pokie is now sitting in the sink below the tap... Called for my hubby to bring up a catch bowl (why didn't I take one with me??) with my eyes firmly on the loose Tarantula. Catch bowl arrives, tap decides to drip again, and pokie is off once more!!! This time over the edge of the sink and onto the floor! Fortunately once on the floor, it slowed down and I was able to capture it in the catch bowl. Phew! My heart couldn't take much more! Pokie is now safely homed until the time comes when I need to re-home it, because it has gotten too big, a few moults yet as it is not something I look forward to!
Above: my OBT ('orange bitey thing')
I will leave it there or my newsletter article will become a book as I can talk about this subject for many more pages! If you would like to know more, I suggest 'The Tarantula Keeper's Guide' by Schultz - this is the Bible for this subject and my copy is well thumbed!
And if you want a treat, check out the tarantulas song on Youtube!
Contributed by Sonia
Postscript: The pokie has now been re-homed with someone with more confidence than I!
(Published on 30th Oct 2014 )
