My ~third~ tarantula!
I now have ~three~ tarantulas! A woman on my tarantula e-list was thinning out her collection, due to time constraints, and offered a bunch of her extra tarantulas to the rest of us, for shipping costs. I put dibs on one, a juvenile Brachypelma albopilosum (Honduran Curly-Haired tarantula). I just got it a few days ago (Friday 8th), safe & sound! And it is so ~cute~!!! lol.... Tarantulas are hairy, anyway, but the B. albo is ~hairy~!! My tarantula book describes it as "looking like it is having a perpetual bad-hair day." I got it moved into its new home, and it's eaten ome small crickets already. It's bigger than I expected it to be from the description, too. It's too small to determine gender yet; I will have to wait for next molt, and hope the shed skin is big enough for me to gender-check. I'll call it "Fluffy" for the time being, until a better name comes to mind.
Oh, and a milestone!!! I actually held a tarantula, ~in my hand!~, for the first time!! (applause) I held the new T for a few seconds. I let it crawl up onto my hand from its habitat, guiding it gently with my other hand (usually I use a soft-bristled paintbrush for that purpose, but I didn't have it at hand at the time.) I'm not sure what I was expecting it to feel like in my hand... the feet felt prickly, which didn't surprise me, but I didn't expect the abdomen to feel so rubbery... lol....
I had my first experience with urticating bristles, too. My B. smithi, the Mexican Red-Knee, is a nervous little critter, and a terrible flicker. She didn't get me directly, but shed bristles must end up in the substrate just as a matter of course. I did some cleaning in the othe two habitats when I set up the third one for the new tarantula, scooping out the top layer of substrate (WITH my bare hands, I should add) and adding a new layer, and HOlee COW did I itch!!! I must be allergic to the bristles, because I developed hives all over my hands and arms and my hands itched HORRIBLY even before the hives popped up. I washed off several times, I used lidocaine, antihisthamine, & hydrocortisone lotion, and I took a huge dose of Benadryl. The itching was HORRIBLE!!! Even with all those remedies, I was driven near-frantic with that damned itching. I felt like literally clawing the skin off my hands; it took all my willpower to ~not~ scratch. (Though I did give in a couple times... managed to gouge a few bits out of the base of my thumb in the process....)
It finally quieted down, but even now, the next day, my hands still itch. I bought a plantain on my way home from work and am going to try the plantain poultice as soon as I finish on the computer. (Someone on the e-list recommended mashed plantain as a poultice for bites and other skin irritations.) If that fails, I'll try baking soda, clay, or whatever else I can dig up... lol....
So needless to say, I'll be wearing gloves anytime I do anymore tarantula habitat cleaning.... {g}
Oh, and a milestone!!! I actually held a tarantula, ~in my hand!~, for the first time!! (applause) I held the new T for a few seconds. I let it crawl up onto my hand from its habitat, guiding it gently with my other hand (usually I use a soft-bristled paintbrush for that purpose, but I didn't have it at hand at the time.) I'm not sure what I was expecting it to feel like in my hand... the feet felt prickly, which didn't surprise me, but I didn't expect the abdomen to feel so rubbery... lol....
I had my first experience with urticating bristles, too. My B. smithi, the Mexican Red-Knee, is a nervous little critter, and a terrible flicker. She didn't get me directly, but shed bristles must end up in the substrate just as a matter of course. I did some cleaning in the othe two habitats when I set up the third one for the new tarantula, scooping out the top layer of substrate (WITH my bare hands, I should add) and adding a new layer, and HOlee COW did I itch!!! I must be allergic to the bristles, because I developed hives all over my hands and arms and my hands itched HORRIBLY even before the hives popped up. I washed off several times, I used lidocaine, antihisthamine, & hydrocortisone lotion, and I took a huge dose of Benadryl. The itching was HORRIBLE!!! Even with all those remedies, I was driven near-frantic with that damned itching. I felt like literally clawing the skin off my hands; it took all my willpower to ~not~ scratch. (Though I did give in a couple times... managed to gouge a few bits out of the base of my thumb in the process....)
It finally quieted down, but even now, the next day, my hands still itch. I bought a plantain on my way home from work and am going to try the plantain poultice as soon as I finish on the computer. (Someone on the e-list recommended mashed plantain as a poultice for bites and other skin irritations.) If that fails, I'll try baking soda, clay, or whatever else I can dig up... lol....
So needless to say, I'll be wearing gloves anytime I do anymore tarantula habitat cleaning.... {g}