We have ANOTHER critter in our menagerie...
- Thread starter gcvmom
- Start date
Abbey
Spork Queen
I had a neighbor who got bit by a brown recluse when I lived in FL. He worked in a furniture warehouse. He lost his foot from just above the ankle and it was UGLY LOOKING during the 'trying to save' process.
I have a nice 1X1/2 long scar on my right arm from a black widow bite as a kid. My 'unless you're going to die I'm not taking you to a doctor mom' finally took me in when I had red lines running up my arm and through my shoulder.
I don't mess with spiders.
Abbey
I have a nice 1X1/2 long scar on my right arm from a black widow bite as a kid. My 'unless you're going to die I'm not taking you to a doctor mom' finally took me in when I had red lines running up my arm and through my shoulder.
I don't mess with spiders.
Abbey
Star*
call 911........call 911
OH HOW BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I voted I fear nothing because you didn't put up a category that was I would love to hold it.
Are you really keeping her? She's lovely. She needs something to hide in like a hollowed out log or something...and actually she'll eat lizards. If you give her crickets she'll need a lot of them. And they actually like to hunt so it's always amazed me that people put them in those tiny little shoe box aquariums. They like to sun themselves also but not too much. And every now and they they like to be misted.
Do you know what kind she is?
Oh and FYI - she will bite. Contrary to popular belief of being handled etc etc they have very sharp fangs and deliver quite a wallop. If you have allergies to bee stings and the like? Probably would not hold her even with thick gloves on she can puncture them.
Are you really keeping her? She's lovely. She needs something to hide in like a hollowed out log or something...and actually she'll eat lizards. If you give her crickets she'll need a lot of them. And they actually like to hunt so it's always amazed me that people put them in those tiny little shoe box aquariums. They like to sun themselves also but not too much. And every now and they they like to be misted.
Do you know what kind she is?
Oh and FYI - she will bite. Contrary to popular belief of being handled etc etc they have very sharp fangs and deliver quite a wallop. If you have allergies to bee stings and the like? Probably would not hold her even with thick gloves on she can puncture them.
Star*
call 911........call 911
Okay after really studying the photo - which it's really hard to tell anything since your arachnid is all bunched up (frightened)
You may have a male on your hands. Females and immature males are harder to tell apart, but males are longer legged and skinnier. He may be a male. Right now is their (amorous) season and he may have been strolling around looking for a lovey and her silky web. Know what I mean??
It's definitely an Aphonopelma - but there's like 15 varieties. With the photo you posted....?
Aphonopelma caniceps or Aphonopelma Hentzi - maybe.
Possibly Aphonopelma Albin...words in my brain....ack....albinina something. DRATED brain.
But I think the sister is a Mister. Would love to see a better picture. Can't wait for Toto to see.
You may have a male on your hands. Females and immature males are harder to tell apart, but males are longer legged and skinnier. He may be a male. Right now is their (amorous) season and he may have been strolling around looking for a lovey and her silky web. Know what I mean??
It's definitely an Aphonopelma - but there's like 15 varieties. With the photo you posted....?
Aphonopelma caniceps or Aphonopelma Hentzi - maybe.
Possibly Aphonopelma Albin...words in my brain....ack....albinina something. DRATED brain.
But I think the sister is a Mister. Would love to see a better picture. Can't wait for Toto to see.
GoingNorth
Crazy Cat Lady
husband had a pet reg-legged lady tarantula that he captured on a visit to AZ. Actually, she stowed away in his backpack, LoL.
By the time he got back, she had molted in his clothing and was starving. He built her a home in a 20 gallon 'breeder' fish tank (used for raising guppies, etc). He made her a little miniature cliff face with ledges and a cave to hide in. He put up some driftwood as perches for her to sit and run upon and added a lizard light so she could choose where and whether she wanted to be under the light.
I know he fed her on the big crickets and grasshoppers, but to my eye she certainly looked big enough to handle a small lizard like a skink or similar.
She never tried to bite him, and I handled her a few times with no problem.
husband used to put the crickets in the vivarium in various places so the spider had to hunt them down. They actually stalk their prey and pounce on it and are lightening fast when they want to be.
By the time he got back, she had molted in his clothing and was starving. He built her a home in a 20 gallon 'breeder' fish tank (used for raising guppies, etc). He made her a little miniature cliff face with ledges and a cave to hide in. He put up some driftwood as perches for her to sit and run upon and added a lizard light so she could choose where and whether she wanted to be under the light.
I know he fed her on the big crickets and grasshoppers, but to my eye she certainly looked big enough to handle a small lizard like a skink or similar.
She never tried to bite him, and I handled her a few times with no problem.
husband used to put the crickets in the vivarium in various places so the spider had to hunt them down. They actually stalk their prey and pounce on it and are lightening fast when they want to be.
donna723
Well-Known Member
"We also get tarantula hawk wasps here... rest assured that nature keeps things balanced around here!"
Sorry, but I'm with TM on this one! I'd be stomping on the tarantula AND those wasps! Or I'd try dropping a concrete block on them from about five feet up! Repeatedly! Those things just can't get dead enough to suit me! I beat on them until they're in pieces, then I beat on them some more. Then I scoop the pieces up and flush them down the toilet! Then, just for good measure, I flush five or six times more to make sure they are waaaaay down in the sewer pipes - just in case they could possibly regenerate and tread water long enough to swim back up through the pipes and get me!
Sorry, but I'm with TM on this one! I'd be stomping on the tarantula AND those wasps! Or I'd try dropping a concrete block on them from about five feet up! Repeatedly! Those things just can't get dead enough to suit me! I beat on them until they're in pieces, then I beat on them some more. Then I scoop the pieces up and flush them down the toilet! Then, just for good measure, I flush five or six times more to make sure they are waaaaay down in the sewer pipes - just in case they could possibly regenerate and tread water long enough to swim back up through the pipes and get me!
GoingNorth
Crazy Cat Lady
husband's girl was named Astra. She was a big one when he got her, so was probably mature. She lived nearly five years which is a good long span for a spider, especially as she didn't really hibernate during the winter (too much ambient light and this was before they had the modern 'rocks' they now use as vivarium warmers)
husband was really into 'creepy-crawlies'. His advanced program HS had an actual glassed in vivarium complete with different habitats and the like. He was the student manager for a few years and really knew his stuff.
I got to come down and meet the denizens fairly often and really enjoyed my visits. They all had names, husband could recite their requirements and all of that.
husband was really into 'creepy-crawlies'. His advanced program HS had an actual glassed in vivarium complete with different habitats and the like. He was the student manager for a few years and really knew his stuff.
I got to come down and meet the denizens fairly often and really enjoyed my visits. They all had names, husband could recite their requirements and all of that.
trinityroyal
Well-Known Member
Not gonna look. Nope, nope. not gonna.
Gives me the willies just thinking about it. Eeeeeeeewwww!
Gives me the willies just thinking about it. Eeeeeeeewwww!
totoro
Mom? What's a difficult child?
I just saw this little critter!!! She/He could hang out in my yard with the hundreds I have!!!
I swear I have counted at least that many burrows.
K's Teacher has 2 in the classroom. Gotta love her!
I have met some guys that will pick up the ones out side and say they have never had a problem. It is all in the technique, or so they say.
I am not that brave.
I have come so far since moving here... I never thought I would go out side and look for them, especially at night!
They actually fascinate me now.
GCV will you hold it???
We get the tarantula hawks here also! They are pretty col to watch and actually very pretty.
I listened to a NPR story one day and the story was about the Tarantula Hawk and the guy was saying it was the most painful thing he had ever felt in his life. They rarely sting but if stung he said you feel like you are going to die.
You are a nice Mom
I swear I have counted at least that many burrows.
K's Teacher has 2 in the classroom. Gotta love her!
I have met some guys that will pick up the ones out side and say they have never had a problem. It is all in the technique, or so they say.
I am not that brave.
I have come so far since moving here... I never thought I would go out side and look for them, especially at night!
They actually fascinate me now.
GCV will you hold it???
We get the tarantula hawks here also! They are pretty col to watch and actually very pretty.
I listened to a NPR story one day and the story was about the Tarantula Hawk and the guy was saying it was the most painful thing he had ever felt in his life. They rarely sting but if stung he said you feel like you are going to die.
You are a nice Mom
GoingNorth
Crazy Cat Lady
The few times I held Astra I was wearing at the least a denim jacket and I let her crawl up on my arm. I am allergic to yellowjacket stings and husband was not comfortable with me handling her barehanded.
Snakes just don't flap me, at least not the ones in North America for the most part. Only snakes I found that were aggressive and sneaky up here are the copperheads and water moccasins.
The first three years I was up here I had a gorgeous rat snake living under my trailer. I am assuming a female because she was right at the top in terms of length. I made her a hibernatorium out of a big bucket and a bunch of leaves and pine needles.
She slept the winters away, ate vermin when she was awake, and liked to sun herself on my blacktop driveway when the weather was good.
I initially used a stick to remove her from the driveway if I needed to use my car. As time went by, I went to just picking her up barehanded.
I was very upset when a neighbor informed me that he'd done me the 'favor' of getting rid of that snake...sigh.
When I lived in TN, husband and I used to go hiking along a firebreak. There was a large pile of shale on it. It held the warmth when the sun went down, and it was very common for a huge timber rattler to sun itself out there.
All we ever had to do with him was to thump our hiking sticks on the ground so he could feel the vibrations. He'd sort of grumble and clear off into the brush so we could pass safely.
in my opinion, it's not the snakes you can see that will kill you...which is why the copperheads and moccasins bug me.
My mother is not so nonchalant about snakes. She is frankly afraid of them. She grew up in South Africa and has some truly hair raising snake stories, including being trapped in an outhouse with a boomslang repeatedly striking at her.
Boomslangs and Mambas are probably the most aggressive snakes out there other than some of the Australian species, and they are positively lethat.
Snakes just don't flap me, at least not the ones in North America for the most part. Only snakes I found that were aggressive and sneaky up here are the copperheads and water moccasins.
The first three years I was up here I had a gorgeous rat snake living under my trailer. I am assuming a female because she was right at the top in terms of length. I made her a hibernatorium out of a big bucket and a bunch of leaves and pine needles.
She slept the winters away, ate vermin when she was awake, and liked to sun herself on my blacktop driveway when the weather was good.
I initially used a stick to remove her from the driveway if I needed to use my car. As time went by, I went to just picking her up barehanded.
I was very upset when a neighbor informed me that he'd done me the 'favor' of getting rid of that snake...sigh.
When I lived in TN, husband and I used to go hiking along a firebreak. There was a large pile of shale on it. It held the warmth when the sun went down, and it was very common for a huge timber rattler to sun itself out there.
All we ever had to do with him was to thump our hiking sticks on the ground so he could feel the vibrations. He'd sort of grumble and clear off into the brush so we could pass safely.
in my opinion, it's not the snakes you can see that will kill you...which is why the copperheads and moccasins bug me.
My mother is not so nonchalant about snakes. She is frankly afraid of them. She grew up in South Africa and has some truly hair raising snake stories, including being trapped in an outhouse with a boomslang repeatedly striking at her.
Boomslangs and Mambas are probably the most aggressive snakes out there other than some of the Australian species, and they are positively lethat.
