Moon's Graden

Thanks for your time,
Heather

I have several ***s and recently bred 200 young so will give you some
advice if i can, but im no expert, but i hope my hands on exp. will help.

First, your worried about a bite, well i have only been bitten once, out of
100's of times held, you could of course wear some gloves the first couple
of times, but its just a case of gently trying to get the T to walk on your
hand, it may seem a little startled at first, but with patience should be
ok.

IF bitten, the sting is eq. to a bee sting, but then some people are
allergic to them, but i have never known anyone being hurt by one.
I feed mine about once a week, a also have a small water dish too, and a
hide, you will know what temp and humidity level to have and you have to be
carful of mould and damp.

Please dont be afraid of the T, just respect it, you will find it a
facanating hobby!

--
Please visit   www.thesnakeshop.co.uk
  Sheffields premier *** animal store

What do the numbers mean when next to reptiles?

I have 1.3.0 Leopard Geckos, a total of 4

1=Males.2=Female 0=unkown sex  M.F.U

                                -Reptiles-
Green Iguana's   1.1.0       Leopard Gecko's 1.3.0
Bearded Dragon 1.1.0     N. American Pine Snake 1.0.0
Frog eyed Geckos 0.4.0  African Rock Python snake 0.1.0

                            -Spiders!-
Chilean Rose Tarantulas    1.2.0

                              -Cockroaches-
Madagascan Hissing  3.10.100?         Cuban 0.0.20

                                 -Misc.-
8 Zaire Millipedes 0.0.4
2 Giant African Land Snails and Arthur the dog!!

Regarding the possibility of being bitten, the best advice is to be
sensitive to your spider's moods.  Sometimes in my experience they
simply don't want to come out to play, and then you should leave them
alone.  Other times they seem to want some exercise and to enjoy
climbing about on your hand or your carpet.

With the spiders we've had, the best way to pick them up has been to
place one hand palm-up in front of the spider, and then to give it a
gentle nudge from behind with the other.  If the spider walks freely
and calmly onto your hand, you can go ahead and play with it.  If it
runs away, freezes in position, or (heaven forfend) rears up on its
hind legs, it's trying to communicate that it wants to be alone.

Rosehairs like enclosures, so another easy way to pick it up is to
place a toilet-paper tube in its path.  The rosehair will likely walk
right in, at which point you can pick up the tube and place your hand
at the other end.

Playing with the spiders can be a lot of fun.  In our experience males
and younger spiders are more tolerant of being handled.  Our current
mature female A. brunius wants nothing to do with us, although I'm
still holding out hope that this is because she's about to lay eggs.

--

(650) 236-2231 [daytime]        http://www.wsrcc.com/alison/
Unevailable, adj: The state characterized by having AT&T as your ISP.

Isn't that putting them at risk? I only handle my tarantulas on rare
occasions to show people they are nearly harmless, and not aggressive.

Paul Day

Paul Day

If you don't want to handle your tarantula, there is nothing that says you
have to!  We enjoy our tarantulas in their enclosures and feel that they are
happier not being handled.  We also don't risk injury to us or to the
spider.

If you want to handle your T, put the enclosure on the floor (a 6-inch fall
can kill a full-grown tarantula) and wear a glove.  Escape isn't really a
worry, as tarantulas can only run for a short distance before stopping to
rest.

What sort of habitat do you have for your rosehair?

George

You claim to have held tarantula's hundreds of times...
if you have had the chance to hold them that many times, you would of have
research to know that holding tarantulas frequently is not good for them.

In fact holding them at all isn't advised... I have stopped doing it since
I've realized that. But I'm newer
to this then I think you are, so why do I know that and
you don't.

Paul Day

Thanks for your time,
Heather

It's a lot more pleasant if we avoid the latter.  Part of this is ignoring
slight contradictions in the posts of others.  Ideas are fair game, but
let's not attack each other.

George  <--- new here, but been around Usenet for a fair time.