Texas & Tarantulas

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What species? A Texas Tan?

Don't know. She looks like

1678282491718.png


Brown....
 
I like tarantulas and I keep them as pets. I currently have 3.

1) Mexican flame knee (Brachypelma auratum)
2) Chaco golden knee baby
3) Columbian red leg

I was in EMS for a very long time, and I've also volunteered in a poison control center.

Tarantulas from Asia and Africa seem to cause the most problems . . . but this is relative.

I don't believe anyone has ever been hospitalized and/or killed over a pet tarantula, and I believe that I would have been in a position to hear about it.

There is a theoretical risk of a life-threatening allergic reaction to a tarantula bite (it's called "anaphylaxis"), but--again--I've never heard of this happening.

The biggest risk from New World tarantulas are getting their hairs in your eyes, which may cause blindness. These "urticaring hairs" are like microscopic porkypine quills that contain substances like histamine and, possibly, formic acid. No tarantulas from the Old World have these hairs.

Another risk comes from simple infection, as tarantulas feed on vermin such as cockroaches. Puncture wounds have a reputation for being very prone to infection, and a puncture wound with a fang that has been working on roaches would probably need to be carefully cleaned and disinfected.

Please note that there are tarantula-like spiders from Australia (the Sydney Funnel-web spider Atrax robustus is an example) that are quite dangerous and potentially deadly, but such spiders are almst never encountered outside of Australia. These spiders are small, drab, and uninteresting, and Australia also has very strict laws about exporting wildlife.

Having a thriving population of tarantulas around your home may reduce venomous spider bites, as most spiders are cannibalistic, and tarantulas will eat brown recluse spiders. They may also reduce disease, as they eat roaches . . . as roaches are actually the prefered prey of many species.

Below, see photos of microscopic irritating hairs from New World tarantulas:

View attachment 19207
Now you just gave my irrational fear some rationale. I didn't know about the blindness. šŸ˜† And all this time, I calmed myself by telling myself they can't do any permanent damage.

Y'all are braver than me.
 
What's the big deal, mosquitoes kill more people than all other animals combined so I hear. What do you do. Bathe in deet. It's kinda like when the inside of your nose stinks. But , nearly all fear stems from imagination of might, possibly, could haves. What we do with that is a choice we make.
My choice is to skedaddle the other direction and scream like a little girl.

No, joking aside, I do recognize the fear is silly, but I can't completely get rid of it.
 
What's the big deal, mosquitoes kill more people than all other animals combined so I hear. What do you do. Bathe in deet. It's kinda like when the inside of your nose stinks. But , nearly all fear stems from imagination of might, possibly, could haves. What we do with that is a choice we make.
Last year I saw a total of 2 mosquitoes here at the house, so no need to wear repellent. The only real pest that we have is yellow jackets, hornets and rattlesnakes.
 
My choice is to skedaddle the other direction and scream like a little girl.

No, joking aside, I do recognize the fear is silly, but I can't completely get rid of it.

I used to have a fear of sharks, wouldn't swim in the ocean. A fear of snakes. A fear of large dogs (childhood trauma). A fear of spiders. Because I was afraid, I learned as much as I could about them. Poof! No more fear. I'm not going to borrow trouble but, at least when I come across these things, I can be confident around them.
 
Don't know. She looks like

View attachment 19215

Brown....
That looks like it could be a Texas Tan (Aphonopelma hentzi).

They are essentially harmless, and they make excellent pets. It does look like you possibly have a male. Their abdomens tend to be smaller and their longer legs give them a more "spindle" appearence.

The males are the ones usually encountered in the open, as they leave their burrows to seek out and court females . . . which is often the last thing that they do, if you get my drift.

The males may live 3-5 years, while females may live to be older than 30 years.
 
That looks like it could be a Texas Tan (Aphonopelma hentzi).

They are essentially harmless, and they make excellent pets. It does look like you possibly have a male. Their abdomens tend to be smaller and their longer legs give them a more "spindle" appearence.

The males are the ones usually encountered in the open, as they leave their burrows to seek out and court females . . . which is often the last thing that they do, if you get my drift.

The males may live 3-5 years, while females may live to be older than 30 years.

That was a picture off the web but, that is what she looks like. She has been there now for a few years. We just leave her be. Makes me sad when the babies come out though as I have accidentally stepped on the first of them in the dark. After that, I keep an eye out.
 
That was a picture off the web but, that is what she looks like. She has been there now for a few years. We just leave her be. Makes me sad when the babies come out though as I have accidentally stepped on the first of them in the dark. After that, I keep an eye out.
You know . . . you may have a gold mine without even realizing it.

One Texas Tan can have up to 750 babies from 1 egg sack, and people (such as myself) will pay $20.00 per spiderling.
 
We don't have tarantulas where I am, but our wolf and fishing spiders have been seen with leg spans easily the size of culvers cheeseburgers. I don't mind them, even hold the wolf spiders sometimes, but it still takes me by surprise when I find out there are two extra passengers in the fishing boat after I leave shore lol. They usually get booted out of the boat. Sometimes they make it back in, sometimes I drive faster..
 
We don't have tarantulas where I am, but our wolf and fishing spiders have been seen with leg spans easily the size of culvers cheeseburgers. I don't mind them, even hold the wolf spiders sometimes, but it still takes me by surprise when I find out there are two extra passengers in the fishing boat after I leave shore lol. They usually get booted out of the boat. Sometimes they make it back in, sometimes I drive faster..

Oh man. Culver's is delicious.

Never seen one that big, but I'm sure they're out there in the woods. If they stay out of my house, we're good.
 
You guys would love the goliath birdeater tarantula.

1678322426413.png


The hand belongs to a full-grown man.

I would love to get a young, female goliath birdeater, but I don't think my girlfriend would like it very much.

This species has fangs that may actually be quite larger than the fangs of many venomous snakes.

And no, this tarantula is not particularly dangerous . . . except for the urticaring hairs (discussed in a prior post) that it "flicks" quite aggressively.

When this spider lines and surrounds its burrow with silk, it deliberately places these irritating hairs in the silk as a defensive measure.

I think it's pretty bad-### that a spider uses punji-stick booby traps.
 
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