I'm curious what folks here think of this: there seem to be two schools of thought in terms of tarantulas "getting used to" being handled or being wild animals which will always go on instinct, period. I've seen numerous examples of writers admonishing people about handling them, saying you simply shouldn't do it; but just as many people say the opposite.
And in "The Tarantula Keeper's Handbook" (in which various facts and suggestions run counter to what folks say here), the reader is strongly encouraged to handle tarantulas. They specifically claim that the spider will become used to handling. They also say to never feed a tarantula when you've just put it inside a new enclosure - that you should wait a week. This is not properly explained. The book makes claims about tarantulas "pacing their cages" when they are uncomfortable. Etc.
I really would like BATS opinions on the concept of the tarantula "learning" anything which relates to human intervention. In the three or four months since I started acquiring adults, slings and juveniles, I have seen no evidence of any behavior "changing" in any of them in this regard. They go through phases of fasting or whatever, and these behaviors seem to always be tied to molting or similar biological situations, but certainly none of mine have gotten "used" to a single thing I have done with/to them. Thoughts?
PC
cacoseraph
i have definitely noticed things becoming acclimated to being handled by me
my large female P. regalis "hated" being free handled by me at first. the first time i played with her it took a good solid 30 minutes of wrangling to get her on to my skin. over a couple few months every time i handled her she took less and less time to climb up on to me. after a while she would voluntarily walk on to me
i noticed similar trends with a fair amount of the more intense species i played with.
the interesting thing to me was that if i then went more than a month or so w/o handling then the spiders sometimes would "reset" and get "unused" to me playing with them... but a few sessions and they would regain their "comfort" with me
i noticed other stuff with feeding too, but will type it out later if i remember
Bonobo
i dont handle my T for the same reason i dont usually handle my herps - i dont want to disturb them. Still i see the value in having stabilized an animal to not fear the human hand, for moving or possible treatment purposes. And like a fascinating , animated jewel its an understandable urge to want to marvel up close - make contact .
