Did anyone get that big £30 spider skeleton from Asda?

[Spoodee]

I desperately want one. I couldn't find one before Halloween and was wondering if anyone would sell now that it's over?

Mavis is lovely, very pretty.

Sorry to hear about Calcifer, RIP little spider.

Thankyou ❤️

I handled Mavis! Was a little nervous, did get a bit shakey at one point when she decided to travel up my forearm but stayed calm!

She's really sweet.

Does she have urticating hairs?

She does. Almost all New World tarantulas do :)

Hope you're keeping on her good side then

😂
I made sure she was in a good mood before handling her.

It's a good idea to wear gloves though if you want to be extra cautious.

Yes, that's what's always put me off tarantulas TBH. I like spiders and I'm not that worried about being bitten, especially with the calmer species, but I'm scared of a hair attack 🤣

Most people just don't handle them. It's not something I plan to do often, it was only as I was rehousing her and she climbed up the side and onto my hand.

They are more of an ornamental pet.

Well she's got the looks for it.

Mavis is beautiful! And I'm so sorry about Calcifer 💔

What's that?

If you look at her abdomen you will see it's slightly patchy.

Uricating hairs detach from their rump and are irritating to predators.
When they feel threatened (or plain grumpy) they use their back legs to flick the hairs out into the air. They can cause rashes on the skin and alot of irritation if you get them in your eyes or mouth.

It's basically a warning to piss off.

If you approach them it usually goes

-threat pose
-hair attack

And if you were still stupid enough to try and handle them after that you may end up getting bitten, though for most new world Ts that's a last resort and most don't do that lightly.

Oh I see, thanks! So a bit worse than getting stung by nettles then 😂 tbf perfectly reasonable if you've warned someone and they might squish you!

You must have passed the Mavis test then!

Merry Christmas @Spoodee and spiders. I think this might have been my favourite thread from this year (though the shrew ice-cream one....?). Thanks to you, your 8-legged friends and all the other posters.

If you didn't get the spider skeleton, I hope Santa's might still come through. Failing that, there's always next year.

merry Spider Christmas