Taking care of a new pet [Archive]

$tormin

08-26-2005, 05:58 PM

Okay, so today while I was at work my mother got a call from a friend of hers. Turns out one of my brother's old friends had a pet that was pretty much abandoned when he moved. The poor thing hadn't been fed since june :(

Supposedly the owner is coming in ten days or so to pick it up, but if he misses that time I am gonna keep it. It was fed when it was brought home and it does not seem too badly off, it still has healthy seeming reactions and is able to catch live food.

I hope it is healthy, it would be cool to have a tarantula the size of the palm of my hand around the house :lol:

Wolf

08-26-2005, 06:02 PM

LOL, thats crazy, I was thinking a cat or something. Nice set up lol.

Rookie

08-26-2005, 06:11 PM

If that person pretty much abandoned it, i don't think it is right to let him have it back.

"whoops, forgot my huge-ass spider oh well." and now he wants it back?

Correct me if i'm wrong, but to me that is wrong.

$tormin

08-26-2005, 06:23 PM

He can explain the conditions of its abandonment if and when he comes to pick it up. I have done some research into the care of these things and its conditions were horrible.
As a burrowing breed (I assume) it should have had 2-4 inches of loose peat or other material. It had half an inch of potting soil, if that. :|
The terrarium is also too tall, I may have to rig some wire to lower the accessable height. These things can kill themselves if they climb even a short distance up and fall.

I hope it's okay. It has eaten 9 of the 10 crickets given to it but it stays in one corner instead of moving into the granola bar box I provided for a cave until I can get some real stuff for it's habitat. I also replaced its watering dish which was too deep with a tupperware lid that I put some rocks into so it wouldn't drown. I can only assume someone had been by to water it, otherwise it would be long dead by now.

I will see about getting a digital camera so I can take some pictures and post them.

Edit:

This is the site I have been studying the most for info. There are others but this seemed the most useful
http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/tarantulas/a/tarantulasaspet.htm

Rookie

08-26-2005, 06:36 PM

I always thought it would be funny to have a pet Black Scorpion, remove the stingers and such, but then put it on a leash and walk it down the street. Or take it to talent shows, "This is my scorpion, he does not sti...GAAAAHHH!!!! HE GOT! ME!!" then roll around while the crowd screams then get up, "Ha, just kidding, now he can do backflips...."

$tormin

08-26-2005, 06:41 PM

You do realise that if you did that, the scorpion is likely to die of a heart attack :lol:
Seriously though, arachnids and large insects seem to be very vunerable creatures. Low maintainance but with a lot less resiliance than normal pets such as dogs or cats.

togashi

08-26-2005, 06:59 PM

Ah, tarantulas. My wife can't stand spiders, but I took (and dropped) a course in invertebrate zoology in college. It was 700 level, and holy crap it was tough. Anywho, the guys that taught the course were the prized TAs of this professor that's known throughout his field as an expert in tarantulas, and is kinda loony to boot. I got to see two of them mate once. Imagine taking your hands, extending your fingers, and folding them together...and then the female hand kills and eats the male hand.

$tormin

08-26-2005, 07:40 PM

Right now I am trying to find out if I should expose it to normal day/night cycle or keep it in a curtained off room (not dark but dim) during the day.

It hasn't changed position in the last couple hours, but it is still moving so I am guessing that those 9 crickets were enough and it will be a couple days digesting them. I will be checking the habitat tomorrow when I set it up for proper accomidation, and remove the live cricket if it is still there. I am thinking I should wait a few days before going to a normal feeding pattern of a couple every few days.

Should have pics by tomorrow :)

Da_Dude

08-26-2005, 08:52 PM

Sounds awsome. Post some pics of the lil guy for us.

Insomniac

08-26-2005, 09:00 PM

I have pet wolfspiders that I feed every so often; does that count? :D Seriously, wolfspiders are awesome. They really keep the bugs down, and if they get big enough, they can even kill mice. And they don't make webs...they hunt.

Kelssy

08-26-2005, 10:05 PM

Shoot Insomniac, I keep trying to get rid of all the spiders at my house. Maybe I can sell the lil buggers. I feel no bug should be big enough to cast a shadow.

Soria

08-26-2005, 10:07 PM

:: shivers all over:: I agree with Kelssy...

I'm a bad enough Arachinphobic that I squah many small spiders that enter my house. ( Big I get someone.) But have learnt enough that the spider out side are left alone.

Rookie

08-26-2005, 10:11 PM

the arachnophobics would hate north idaho. Or anybody with an aversion to insects. HUGE bugs, we shoot them with twenty-twos, hehehehehe.

Kelssy

08-26-2005, 10:19 PM

the arachnophobics would hate north idaho. Or anybody with an aversion to insects. HUGE bugs, we shoot them with twenty-twos, hehehehehe.

Nope, Florida has the bigest bugs! We have spiders (Banana spiders) that spin webs across the road! They are creepy looking too, kinda plastic looking bright red and yellow. Nothing like walking out the front door and jumping because a roach the size af a VW-bug (most likely where the car got the name bug from) flys by your head, yea... you heard me THEY FLY, flying roaches!!

Soria

08-26-2005, 10:22 PM

:: rocks back and forth:: There' no place like home...

Insomniac

08-26-2005, 10:44 PM

Heh....the Palmetto bugs? My parents lived in Florida for a long time...everyone they lived around swore they weren't roaches. They look like roaches (except huge), act like roaches (except they fly), and infest like roaches...but the natives insisted they were not roaches. My mom said that she saw a tree split open once, and it was full of them.

And, really, if roaches weren't meant to fly...why do they have wings? Just because they don't doesn't mean they can't.

thepigsmustdie

08-26-2005, 11:30 PM

I want a king scorpion they are big black n0n-lethal scorps, verydossile and if you do get stung I is just as bad as a beesting.

Breandan

08-26-2005, 11:55 PM

:: rocks back and forth:: There' no place like home...Try having a 12" diameter spider of some obscure arboreal variety land on you.... :shock:

Korkskrew

08-26-2005, 11:59 PM

Canadian bugs are pansies. They're tiny and even the wasps all die during winter.
Not like those monsters of bugs they have in Idaho. I went to Boise when I was 9, the ants there are massive! I saw one, must have been two inches long!

Rookie

08-27-2005, 12:13 AM

Told ya, you should friggen see these pine beatles! I'll get a picture of one of the monsters ASAP, my camera is currently AFK...

Edit: I actually found a Pine Beetle (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y286/Rookie89/100_0278.jpg) . Had to shoot it with a twenty two to get it to hold still long enough to take a picture :wink: The picture does no justice to its size. Its roughly Actual Sized in that picture, but is actually a little bit bigger.

And This (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y286/Rookie89/100_0277.jpg) is what happens when you leave a car sitting around too long around here. Its a Cat Spider (Barn Spider to some) and has spun a web on my jeep!

$tormin

08-27-2005, 06:35 PM

I suck with cameras and I only had this one for a few moments. This is the better picture
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/2528/pict00016wy.jpg

Kallysti

08-27-2005, 06:52 PM

Huge flying cockroaches... and people wonder why I didn't like living in Hawaii.

We do have these guys out here in Arizona called "Sun spiders". We had one as big as my hand in the sink once, though I'm told it was an unusually large one. Non-venemous but HIGHLY aggressive. *shudder* Most spiders I just catch and let go outside though. I just don't like to SEE them :P

Tarantulas are neat though, for some reason I don't mind them. You see those out here sometimes too.

Soria

08-27-2005, 07:18 PM

Try having a 12" diameter spider of some obscure arboreal variety land on you.... :shock:

I'd reach Mach 2...

True story, my sister was working and offered little 10 year old me to pay me money to pick her cherry tomatoes while she was at work, so I went out to the back garden to do so. I was bent down picking the little things, I look up, and less then a foot away from me is a spider web with a spider a little bigger then a quatre. ( Actually more like loonie sized).

My mom heard a scream and ran to the back door, in time to see me run from our back garden ( way in the back of our big back yard) to the deck ( the other end of the yard, of course) in under a second, she actually had to open the back door quickl;y, because I didn't look like I was going to stop. I actaully kepty on going until I was in my room.

Chewbenator

08-27-2005, 08:18 PM

This thread makes me shivver.

Rookie

08-27-2005, 08:19 PM

I didn't put this in the post, but that picture of the spider on my jeep is life sized, but they get ALOT bigger then that one, i've seen them as big as ping-pong balls.

Insomniac

08-27-2005, 09:18 PM

*snicker* (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/rosadala/Spider/spider13.jpg)

My favorite picture that I've ever taken. :D

Just...ya know....a little garden spider....

Soria

08-27-2005, 09:24 PM

:: peeks head out from behind pillow:: Zoom evil...

Rookie

08-27-2005, 10:05 PM

pfff, tis but a mere spider!

i swat them and laugh while i do it!

Soria

08-27-2005, 10:16 PM

I need heavy object to squish spiders, I don't wanna touch them not even for a mintue.

Korkskrew

08-27-2005, 10:53 PM

Don't squish spiders!
Not just because they're living things too, but because they're very helpful for killing even more annoying bugs.

Save the spiders man, they save you!
/Hippy

ixpitchal

08-27-2005, 11:58 PM

Canadian bugs are pansies. They're tiny and even the wasps all die during winter.

Haha, I have to agree here, although i'm perfectly happy having it that way.

The worst bugs I get in manitoba are mosquitos, they dont get too big but you certainly notice when theres a million of them swarming around your head trying to suck you dry. (not too much of an exaggeration there either, trap counts reached as high as 3500 a day in some areas this summer)

I can't say that i'd ever keep a spider as a pet, they usually creep me out, but I think its cool when other people have them :)

Trumble

08-28-2005, 12:05 AM

I don't understand why one would want to have a insect for a pet, can you have a bond with such a creature that is shared? How inteligent are they?

Seriously im not saying its a bad thing, I just don't know much about it, what (if any) benefits are their to have a pet spider besides a hobby.

Come to think of it, I guess its not much wierder then having a fish. The only recognition I get from my fish is I think they know that when I come around its food time, so I guess it's just a hobby. I used to have a large Oscar as a pet, and he showed some very limited signs of inteligence, though I could never call it affection.

Personaly, I hate spiders, but does anyone whos had a pet spider want to share what it's like?

$tormin

08-28-2005, 12:10 AM

It's low maintainance, I only have to feed it every few days etc. And it is damn cool.
Get a tarantula used to you, and you can handle them quite easily. I am waiting to see if I am keeping mine (and if I am not, I will probably buy one from the pet store after) before getting it used to me. Handle them gently and they are not agressive.
I am generally a calm person so it wouldn't be much trouble to have that thing stay on my shirt while I sit online.

Korkskrew

08-28-2005, 12:22 AM

Most fish can't feel affection because they'll forget about you 10 minutes after seeing you.
I could see a tarantula showing somewhat of a bond though, they're actually fairly intelligent (relatively speaking) and capable of independant thought.
The most affectionate pet I ever had was my hedgehog. I'd usually let him out whenever I was home and let him wander, as there wasn't anything dangerous in my old basement. He'd always come to me and flatten his quills and make a weird noise until I picked him up. Then he'd ball up and sleep in my lap. I miss that little guy.

Rookie

08-28-2005, 12:30 AM

awwww!!
cute!!

Nulien

08-28-2005, 01:43 AM

I'm the only person in my family who isn't terrified of insects and other crawly creatures, and I can't help but laugh whenever one of them panics over a completely harmless little bug.

My favorite animal is the praying mantis, they're just the coolest looking things ever! (And, of course, I can scare the living daylights out of my brothers with them. :twisted: )

Daiv

08-28-2005, 03:10 AM

I like having the odd spider in the house, they kill Gnats, and i'm illergic(sp?) to them. However, its said that in a year, we supposedly eat around 5 spiders during our sleep.

This I believe, because I woke up to find a fairly large spider (for English standards) sitting on my chest. Fortunately, looking away from me!

I move all spiders I find near my bed into another part of the house, or outside.

Now one thing that does make me laugh, is when a Queen Bumble Bee finds its way into my room. It sounds like a Helicopter flying about, and best discribed as a Golf Ball with Wings!

Did anyone see that man, that half swallos his pet turrantular, and it spins a web in the back of his throat? He then proceeds to blow very large bubbles using the web it span? Oer, freaky!

Nulien

08-28-2005, 03:47 AM

However, its said that in a year, we supposedly eat around 5 spiders during our sleep.

Not true (http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/spiders.htm)... don't worry about that.

Daiv

08-28-2005, 04:12 AM

"....it was invented as an example of the absurd things people will believe simply because they come across them on the Internet. "

^^ Speaks for itself.
I heard way before the internet was in wide use..

Still, no one can say that you or I have not eaten a spider or a bug during our sleep, how can they tell? Because somone says that they made up the information, doesn't make it not true.
The chances are there. Waking up and then a spider runs across your chest made me think about that.

Soria

08-28-2005, 09:31 AM

:: shrugs:: I suppose spiders could be affectionate, just keep them out of my living space. Outside, I don't give a rats arse, but inside my homne, the get squished.

For pets...I'll stick to cats, dogs and rats.

Satrah

08-31-2005, 09:21 PM

Had a close friend keep a white scorpian as a pet...for a while.

His family was a bit twitchy with him keeping it.

Damnedest thing was...I enlightened him that he had one when the dang thing came out of the car engine he was banging on.

"LeRoy....you might want to quit banging on the engine....you just woke something up...and from here, it looks to be pissed." *LeRoy peers around the engine cautiously*

"Holy sh*t!!! It's a white scorpian!!!" *blinks* *continues with grin spearding across his face*

"Coooooool....I think I'll keep it!" *I raise an eyebrow*

"Okay, your funeral...but I don't think Mom's gonna like you doin that."

He carefully caught it off the engine and kept it for a long while. Though....I don't think those are made to be a captive pet. (Trust me...he didn't touch the thing with his hands...he put a jar up to the engine and carefully jostled the engine...or the jar to get it in. Been about ten years, so the memory is a little fuzzy.)

Oh....yeah...his family was NOT happy to see what he caught. Never heard women hit that vocal pitch in a long time.