Let's play a game.

[Jammrock]

Thanks for the info Doc. We've left the spider alone for quite a while. The web and spider are pretty, and she hasn't done anything but sit in her web and eat bugs so that's okay. Though once she lays her egg sack I may move that out into the kudzu to hatch.

That's a cool pet Doc. I would never own one, but it's cool.

[Fat Tone]

Do you remember what kind of tarantula? How big?

Just curious as there are dozens of types kept as pets.

We had a big family get-together at Longleat yesterday. Its a stately home and safari park, home of the BBC tv series Animal Park, now on its 7th series.

Did the safari first, saw the usual culprits, giraffes, llamas, camels, various beast with twisty horns, tigers, lions, wolves etc etc. The highlight for most is the monkey enclosure, where the little gits managed to remove vitually all of the rubber seal from the roof of my car (from the channel where roofbars would fit if you had them). I swear more people were photographing the damage to my car than the monkeys .

Anyway later we happened to wander in to 'Pets Corner' at just the right moment, as they had a python out and the tarantula, and were letting people hold them. Clearly these animals are very used to being handled, and after watching most of my group summon up the courage, I decided I'd always regret it if I didn't step up.

I don't have any photos yet, although several are on the way, but googling Longleat and Tarantula reveals this to be pretty close: http://www.dane-online.org/gallery/L..._086_tarantula. I do recall it was female and not milked.

Spiders aren't my favourite thing, by a long way.

[Dr Mordrid]

Looks like a Chilean Rose, Grammastola rosea, which wouldn't be a surprise for a 'petting zoo' since it's maybe the tamest tarantula kept as a pet. They come from the Atacama Desert in s. Peru and n. Chile. There are 3 colormorphs; gray, pink and copper with a wide degree of shading in all 3 forms.

Excellent for first time owners as they are docile, hardy (they can live >20 years) and tolerate normal room temperatures well. They do like dimmer lighting, direct sunlight is out, but still need to see the difference between day and night to keep their 'clock' set.

They're also easy to feed, meal worms and such, but they will often fast for months...usually before molting. This is typical of all tarantulas but especially the Chilean Rose.

[Fat Tone]

Yup, that seems about right. I'm shuddering a little just looking at the pic Id say mine was a very simillar colour to that and less hairy right now, particularly on the abdomen.

[Dr Mordrid]

The amount of hair can vary, especially if it's getting ready to molt.

[Dr Mordrid]

Tarantulas vary in temperment from the Chilean Rose who is quite docile to a few types who really are aggressive and not suitable for being pets. On a 0-10 of aggressiveness the Chilean Rose is a 1 and the Goliath is about a 3, but any will get nasty if provoked, just like a dog or cat.

Telling them to go after thieves isn't a go, they're not that big or smart.

Handling is another matter. They do imprint on their owners to a degree and recognize them, especially on feeding day. They like to park themselves on you to keep warm and will tolerate a fair degree of handling, and some actually enjoy it.

Goldie likes being stroked, she actually seeks it out by positioning herself near a hand and 'bouncing', but other Goliaths don't so there are individual personalities at play. I think this is tied to how well (and often) they're handled when young.

There are rules though, and one of them is don't surprise a Goliath in their cage and make them feel cornered. This is where a thief could get into big trouble trying to steal her (large adults are valuable).

By the way; did you know that some tarantulas can spin webs with their feet? Researchers think this is to improve traction on poor footing and might have evolved before the spinnerets in the abdomen.

Interesting article....

[Lizzard[MPE]]

What is this?

I'm being invaded.

1 has a 12 foot web in my back yard.
1 had a 10 foot web off my front porch
1 has a smaller 3 foot web on the right side of my front porch

[Lizzard[MPE]]

i cannot deal.

[Fat Tone]

How big is that thing?

Come back Tanty, all is forgiven *shudder*

[Lizzard[MPE]]

****ing huge!

[Fat Tone]

Thanks Liz. I'm going for a shower now. yuck!

[Lizzard[MPE]]

I tried to take pictures of them, but its 4:15am here, they didnt turn out so well.

looks like there around 4 inches

[Lizzard[MPE]]

you think you're having a hard time with it, think about being a smoker and having to go smoke with the bastards all around you for 10 minutes at a time. !!

[JTD]

I'm so happy I live in a country where 1cm spiders (including legs) are the norm, and 5cm's are RARE, and 10 or more usually begs the question "Where the F*** did that escape from?"

Me too.
No venomous spider and only 2 kind of snakes with one being venomous (Common European adder or Vipera berus) and it's not even that dangerous.

[Fat Tone]

you think you're having a hard time with it, think about being a smoker and having to go smoke with the bastards all around you for 10 minutes at a time. !!

I guess there's a solution for that...use the spiders as a part of a quit-smkoing therapy?