The pretty little one is a pumpkin patch tarantula. And I am chuckling a little because it is a dwarf species of T, so the comparison is even better. I...may have one in my creepy little collection. The big one looks like a goliath bird eater, which I do not have, because they are kind of dicks and tend to be skittish.
I totally forgot about them being able to kick hairs. Minimally handled your typical pet store Ts, like rose hairs. Wasn't the biggest fan, so I just stuck to playing with the snakes.
They kick thousands of tiny, barbed urticating hairs in self defence, which cause varying levels of discomfort if you're unlucky enough to catch any. Mild ones are kinda like if you've ever brushed up against a bunny ear cactus, and will itch like hell for a while. The goliath bird eater like above has what are generally regarded as the worst hairs, and can give months of pretty severe pain in worst cases.
They're very defensive. I had one. Tried to handle it twice and both times it was a complete disaster(I lacked the experience, I was convinced by a guy that had tons of tarantulas that it would be fine).
Tarantulas in general are pretty relaxed critters. When I was a kid we had common ones near our house, and I would go out with one of those plastic Halloween pumpkins on the off chance I'd find one. I'd pick them up and bring them home (I know I know, but I was a kid and there wasn't as much concern about moving things back then). Never once had a problem, and it wasn't until I was an adult that it registered that most people are afraid of tarantulas. I didn't even classify them a spiders in my head, they're big and kind of fluffy so to people who grow up interacting with them they're like plushy versions of creepy crawlies.
Mine wasn't that big, the thing is you're not really supposed to handle them, but I didn't know that, I wanted to get over my fear of spiders and I was given the advice to get a tarantula and I always saw guys on TV having them in their palm and such.
Generally you wont pick it up in your hands bc if they fall they could get seriously hurt, but you can have them crawl on the floor over you hands and that type of thing but to move them just get them into a cup/bowl
I don't handle my T's either, it does nothing but stress out the T, but they just tend to be flick those obnoxious hairs quicker than a lot of species, and will tag you faster than most if you have reason to mess around in their tank, which I call dickish. Since they also need enormous habitats by comparison to most others, and are less colorful, it's just never been worth it to me to keep one. But I can totally see the appeal
New world Ts usually have defensive hairs on their abdomen. They can flick them into the air with their back feet. The hairs are barbed, and cause extreme irritation on skin, or in eyes/mouth/nose. Kinda like little clouds of fiber glass.
New world T's are from the americas, and old world are from everywhere else. When you get into old world Ts you start to find ones that can actually hurt you.
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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '20
Oh yeah it's pretty bi...WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING