She's a [i]Theraphosa stirmi[/i] and she's a Goliath Birdeater and is one of, if not the largest spiders in the world with a leg span over 10 inches and up to possibly 12 inches. Mines just a baby at about 5 right now but she will grow much bigger with a few meals in her.
These spiders not only have very large fangs but also have the worst type of urticating bristles (type 3) which can cause blindness and severe itching if they come into contact with you. It is a defence mechanism purely but you have to make sure you cause as little disturbance when cleaning her out or feeding etc. I've been tagged by one of the lesser type bristles and boy do you itch after. I originally went to buy one of these 2 years ago but was let down by the seller and they don't come up for sale that frequently so when I saw this girl I took the plunge and glad I did.
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What do you feed it?
Does it have a name?
In your home out of choice 😯
How much does something like that cost?
These spiders not only have very large fangs but also have the worst type of urticating bristles (type 3) which can cause blindness and severe itching if they come into contact with you.
WTF would you buy that for?
Are you mental?
Cool, not seen a creepy crawly thread for a while.
"Hey Terri it's din dins time PLEASE DON'T BLIND ME!"which can cause blindness ... make sure you cause as little disturbance when cleaning her out or feeding etc.
nice...
Do you have to feed it still-living things, or is it happy with tinned crickets?
Serious question... what's the appeal?
I guess wi something like that you feed it whatever the hell it wants as long as it doesn't grab you by the arm.
Here's an idea?...When you're cleaning it out can you not just vacuum it beforehand to remove the bristles?, most vacuum's have a boost button so that'd take care of that problem, #pissedoffbaldspider
I do think they're remarkable creatures, but personally wouldn't want to own one. Each to their own and all that.
How many spiders do you have now, Hadge?
Just thinking aloud, but do you have to have a license, or register them...with erm....I honestly don't know. The Spider Police?
The Spider Police?
Utterly hopeless at solving crime, they just make webs out of the police tape...
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Here's an idea?...When you're cleaning it out can you not just vacuum it beforehand to remove the bristles?, most vacuum's have a boost button so that'd take care of that problem, #pissedoffbaldspider
😀
Awesome creature, but really, what does it do? I imagine it'd be a useless trail-spider?
njee - the appeal is I love animals, all types. If I had the space and money I would have birds of prey and one day I hope to have an Eagle Owl.
Spiders are fed such things as crickets and yes they are alive as spiders don't take dead food generally but these as adults will take dead baby mice but I'll never feed them that as it's very messy.
She's called Bella as well.
Cost wise she cost me £70 which isn't bad as they live for 20-30 years with some species, some even more. There's known cases of Red Knee Mexicans going over 40 years old and they can cost anything from £8 to £40 for an adult female.
I've not counted how many I have but it's a few he says lol. Seriously it works out cheaper to keep more as when you buy a tub of crickets at £2 a pop you don't get any wastage feeding a lot of spiders instead of just one - if that makes sense.
I've not counted how many I have but it's a few he says lol. Seriously it works out cheaper to keep more as when you buy a tub of crickets at £2 a pop you don't get any wastage feeding a lot of spiders instead of just one - if that makes spidey sense
FTFY.
I sincerely hope beyond all hope that you don't live in East Yorkshire. No issues with you having them but that picture just makes my skin crawl and I'm not particularly scared of spiders as a rule.
This is Pertunia, she's my [i]Lasiodora parahybana[/i] Salmon Pink Foot Birdeater and she's about 9 inches span at least, now she is big and bulky too. She once turned over a ceramic water bowl in her RUB (really useful box) chasing after a cricket which is quite impressive for a spider. She's more like a bulldozer lol. If you think her leg span is over 9 inches you can work out how big her body is and it's big. I'd like to try hold her to give you an idea but her bristles make you itch so I might have to get a rubber glove first lol.
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You should get a wee dog suit made for it then take it for a walk on a lead round the streets. You could make a fortune by betting people you could prove your dog was a spider. Lure them into betting a gazillion pounds then simply remove the dog suit before making good your escape.
I forgot I'd got this picture. Here's Pertunia on her former owners hand and she's grown since then haha
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😯
This is one of those threads I can't help looking at, although its making me a little uneasy. I'm going to have nightmares tonight about giant hairy spiders blocking busy roads in the ASL
They are very impressive and fascinating though Hadge, I can see the appeal in a bizarre kind of way
Good God. The size of the thing!
Am I right in thinking that they have hollow skeletons, so if you dropped her she'd be damaged?
as someone petrified of spiders i seemingly cannot help but looking at your threads hadge! i dont understand why.
i couldnt for the life of me have one of those near me, but each to their own!
nice pics.. make me shake but nice pics!
If you dropped her she would split open and die. Basically they are soft, no external hard skin and so full of fluids etc. This is why handling them is dangerous to the spiders not you as they are more likely come to harm by running off your hand. I have held some of mine but always close to the ground or over a table and I only handle those that aren't skittish. Some of my arboreal spiders are so quick that you have to be very careful when opening their enclosures and you must be aware where they are. They are also the most toxic and their venom can do serious damage and have long lasting side effects.
Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ****ing run.
Rob is a legend. There's one video where he gets bitten by a "pokie" an arboreal spider which I have lots of and you can feel his pain from the bite. It's sort of funny in a twisted way lol.
Very Nice Hadge.
This is my [i]T.apophysis[/i]
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Not quite adult yet but a good size. Very active and always hungry.
I got hit by the hairs once, never again. 😀
My mate is a freak like you, he's got a few T's.
And this.
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HIT IT WITH A SLIPPER!
Man, I admire your love for nature, but seriously mate, ffs you could have just got a rabbit. 🙂
dandax - freak??? How rude pmsl.
I remembered you had the [i]apophysis[/i] Roper and you never see them up for sale here in the UK, your a lucky fella indeed. How did it feel getting hit by the bristles?
Someone I know was taking some pictures of his [i]T blondi[/i] in the bath as it was white and made the spiders stand out and his missus had a bath after and the spider had "flicked" a few bristles in it and sadly she got tagged by them - he didn't say where on her body but it doesn't bare thinking about.
The Spider Police?
Utterly hopeless at solving crime, they just make webs out of the police tape...
😆
Q) What steps do you take with spiders like that?
A) Bloody great big ones, in the opposite direction!
These spiders not only have very large fangs but also have the worst type of urticating bristles (type 3) which can cause blindness and severe itching if they come into contact with you.
What the best-dressed arachnid owner wears about the house...
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On another note, I'm like a girl when it comes to spiders, it's the way they move.
But because T's are bigger I'm not so bad with them.
ffs you could have just got a rabbit
He did buy a rabbit.
He introduced it to his other pets.
RIP Mr Flopsy 😥
Yay arachnids 😆 great stuff. Fascinating beasts.
Don't get me wrong:
They look lovely on the telly and house spiders are welcome guests.
But when I saw that picture above my testicles retreated into my body so quickly that they rebounded of my spleen.
I've had her (not sexed yet) since she was a sling, so a few years. The symptoms of the hairs were a bit flu like, runny nose, sore throat, slight loss of voice, but the irritation to my hand was immensely itchy. A bit like nettles sting for a few days but a desperate need to scratch. I used lots of tape to remove most of the hairs, but I think some of the barbs broke off and stayed in. Even washing the area made the area sore and itchy again. I had to just leave it alone until it cleared up. It took about 3ish days I think.
This is fairly new and by far my fastest spider
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Just a baby, but looks female, but it appears she teleports from one place to another rather than running. Beautiful up close and still though.
I do have a dog as well and I'm ultra cautious and think of her well being too as a bite from any of my spiders would be lethal to her. She did watch them as they moved in their homes at first but she's used to them now, same with my snakes when she sees them but whenever I am re-homing the spiders or when I've put new ones in homes I've always kept the dog out the way. I've only had one "accident" and that was my own stupid fault.
I've had her (not [b]sexed[/b] yet) since she was a [b]sling[/b], so a few years
...and for those us who don't speak Spider Jive?
sorry, baby spider or spider-ling. I have not determined her sex, I need to look with a microscope or lens up close. Normally with the exoskeleton, or exuviae. They moult their outer exoskeleton to grow, and this includes their sex organs.
The above photo is a [i]cupiennius salei[/i] too.
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sorry, baby spider or spider-ling. I have not determined her sex, I need to look with a microscope or lens up close. Normally with the exoskeleton, or exuviae. They moult their outer skeleton to grow, and this includes their sex organs.
Cheers.
Ahhh a Wandering Spider - so she's venomous and a DWA spider here in the UK? That's a Dangerous Wild Animal here in the UK for those not in the know. It's what you need for keeping things like Cobras, Crocs and Black Widow spiders. Here in good old Stoke there's quite a few DWA keepers, especially of snakes but it's something I'll never do as I just don't want take that risk.
Lovely spider though and ouch to those symptoms too. I'll remember that for the future.
Fantastic spider pics 🙂 Tonight at our camera club we will be doing some spider,snake and insect photos 😆
Stoke 😯 I visit there quite often
Staffordshire Exotics is the name of the club and they held a show at the White Star pub in Stoke. I'm sure they had some snakes there last time, sadly I couldn't make it but I'll keep my eyes peeled for the next meet.
I do the same.They moult their outer exoskeleton to grow, and this includes their sex organs.
Deletes Stoke from all satnav, rips out midland pages from atlas, OMFG and venomous 😯 😯 😯 😯 I only shift spidies out of the window if Mrs G is not in
I avoid Stoke for other reasons pmsl. Here's the actual moult of my [i]Brachypelma boehmei[/i] and once it had come off I could examine it and found out she was a girl. It's preferable to have them turn out as girls even if you don't breed them as girls live much longer than the boys and so it's money well spent when you buy them as an "un-sexed" juvenile
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The [i]C.salei[/i] is a wondering spider but not in the same category as the [i]Phoneutria[/i] Brazilian wondering spider at all. Im not sure about DWA in the UK but it probably is on the list though as it is from a similar family. Some scorpions in Europe, like the one below, are also on the list because their cousins are dangerous, but [i]Sicarius[/i] isn't and it is very dangerous.
[i]Buthus ibericus[/i]
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Saying that this scorp has just matured and is on the DWA list and probably should be.
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Great pics and I can, kinda, see the appeal; never appreciated that handling them was so dangerous to [i]them[/i]!
But I'll stick with cats that I can cuddle up with on the sofa with no risk of sudden death to either party...
I look at these pics and there is poo at the my pants\me interface.
I can see the appeal as a low maintenance but interesting pet. I'm more scared of being on a ladder but it's still not for me.
Just down the road a new 'shop' has opened selling reptiles and a few scorpions & spiders. I use the word shop but really it's a hobby. The bloke has an example of every deadly snake in there. Amazing it's allowed tbh, rattlesnakes, vipers, cobras, all angry up at the glass, and as a headliner, in the corner. A cayman.
He's not allowed to sell that side of the shop but still... 😯
He will have had to have gone to great lengths to be able sell DWA stuff. The council will have been involved, he will have them in what's called a "hot room" and prove they cannot escape form that room if they get out of their enclosures. It's a very strictly controlled business.
Cool spiders! Very impressive. That bloke on the video sounds pretty breathless and nervous. I suppose thats better than not being scared of them!
He's not allowed to sell that side of things. He made a big point about being one of very few people with the whole spectrum of lethal snakes in one place.
they're behind glass but I think proving is a moot point, I'm not sure the local ne'er do wells fancy getting involved.
Lots of extra helpers when I went in,people hanging around, I assume it attracts hangers on who are into the the fact that it's extreme.
The animals are just doing their own thing.
I've got a Euthlus sp red, must say I'm liking the look of the scorpions!
With the spiders, do they ever get accustomed to a routine? Are they intelligent enough to know that feeding/cleaning always happens at a certain time or in a certain way?
I love these threads, genuinely fascinating! I can definitely see the appeal but I'm not inclined to own any.
pictonroad - where's the 'shop' I'd love to go have a look?
dandax1990 - Member
On another note, I'm like a girl when it comes to spiders, it's the way they move.But because T's are bigger I'm not so bad with them.
This is because our minds can't compute all eight legs at once when they're moving quickly, they therefore look 'creepy' [crawly].
A tarantula tends to move more slowly as a result of their size so they're often easier to come to terms with.
No they don't get accustomed to anything as I'd hazard a guess they're brains aren't big enough. They do possess remarkable senses though and even a soft breath or tremor can alert them so best to never breathe over them as those that are skittish can then try bite you.
Euthlus sp red's are lovely spiders. The scorpions in the photos I posted are DWA in the UK but there are lots of fascinating scorps you can get. Some of the beginner species are also quite easy to breed too which makes them even more interesting to watch.
I would say my spiders do what they do. I wonder if they learn to tolerate me and maybe recognise me. They rely on hormones and we all give off our own. I do have one which I wonder if she knows she is going to get fed but that is probably me projecting on her. Spiders are very susceptible to stress so you can tell if they are comfortable and so more relaxed. If you start looking at their brain and nervous system I have no idea what they "think" or "feel". They are very odd to us. I would love to know though.
When I was a kid in the East African bush we used to hunt scorpions and fill the teacher's desk drawer.
Always good for a diversion with a fresh young teacher straight out from the UK. 🙂
I would disagree slightly with Hadge, as I think they do become accustomed to their home, at least webbing spiders do. Whenever I move a spider to a new home I try and include as much of the webbing as possible as it will be something with their own marking on it. I do this to try and reduce any stress they might experience and to speed up the settling in period.
Also communities seen to work as a group rather than the normal cannibalistic individuals. I could be wrong though.
I would like to know more about decoy spiders.
I kinda like them as i'm not bothered bout the large house spiders we get in this country, there's one in my bedroom that lives behind the curtain and when i open them up in the morning i see it running out of the corner to greet me with it's front legs up, waving a cheery good morning - or perhaps it's pissed off at me and shaking it's fist as i destroy it's web with my daily routine, quite happy to pick them up and either place them outside or somewhere safe but i dunno bout' those monsters up there ^ - i'd like to think i'd be cool with them but i may run away like a big jessie.
When i was staying out in Zimbabwe (vic falls/Harare/Matopos) there was a particular type of very large flat bodied spider that liked to hide behind pictures and on the walls of the house etc, when you walked around at night to go the bathroom or walk about outside they would jump out and try and land on you, those ****ers freaked me out as the folk i living with used to say they do that as they like to drink the blood of animals that they land on, when they've had enough they fall off with a full stomach.
I dunno if that was true or if they were just on a wind up but there was a lot of things out there that would quite happily kill you or take a bite out of you, i was looking down a large hole one day and was knocked clean off my feet by a warthog, and i had to leg it up onto rocks from a mamba down in the matopo national park - beautiful place but everything tried to kill me.
blimey that's pant-wettingly big.
it must feel good to know that they are so fragile and that if things got out of hand you could just drop-kick it or throw a book at it and it would just explode its limby hairy gooey splatterings all over your spider cave/ arachno-den?
somafunk, did thy look like this
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They are known as flatters and come from they Selenopidae family and are so flat can hide behind bark or pictures.
Arghhhh........(As i run for the door avoiding the walls).
Yeah..that's it (i opened your link) and searched for other info, apparently it's harmless to people....they still scared the crap out me with their flat bodies and jumping tendencies though - spiders should not have perfectly flat bodies - they're quite freaky enough without messing with our minds....however the giant millipedes that i used to stand on with bare feet as they scuttled about the floor at night also freaked me out, they also made a squishy mess between my toes.
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they are oddly flat and very fast. Still qite special though.
Those millipedes are cool too but do have a defensive wee in your hand if you scare them.
😯
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I dunno bout them doing a defensive wee in your hand as i never picked them up, i did pick bits of them out from between my toes though and they still squirm and wriggle after you've stood on them (accidentally i may add as everyone either had bare stone or tiled/wooden floors in zim.
More spider pics please, what's their habitat like?.
i had a mate who had a big spider in a tank in the living room, it used to rear up at me if i sat in the chair next to it and i always presumed it was just what it did...
apparently not, it was only when [i]I[/i] sat there, not anyone else.
im a bit squeamish about spiders but i do think they are beautiful and will spend ages looking at them if im not in an enclosed space with them.
[u]somafunk[/u] i spent some time in zim as a child, are those big millipedes called changalolos? am i remembering that right?
Yeah - that's right 🙂 , remember having to iron all your clothes if they were hung out on a washing line because of the Jigga flea?, they liked to live or crawl into damp seams on clothing and if the seam rubbed on your body then it made it easy for the flea to burrow in to your skin and eat - i've a small hole in my thigh where my outback type shorts rubbed and a jigga flea burrowed into my leg, the person i was staying with (he ran safaris) dug it out with a scalpel as i sat there drunk on bush hooch.
Despite all that i'd go back t'morn.
Is it just me... I love the spiders but the moults freak me out.
🙂 its the only time ive used an iron
Top thread, thanks for the pics. I'm torn between being a bit freaked out and actually wanting one.
Mental note to self..."if I do open this kind of thread, DONT CARRY ON READING IT, just before going to bed...."
I can see the attraction but I think I'll stick with me tropical fish...