Most of the time whenever one thinks to adopt a pet, he thinks of the love and affection it will give in reward to the attention and care by its new parent. The idea may be roaming about the same in your mind too! Before having tarantulas or after having it you must be worried that how and when will your tarantula cuddle, communicate, play and feel comfortable with you.
Continue reading to get to know all about Tarantula, do they recognize their owners, interesting facts and how to take care of these cute creatures.
Table of Contents
What Are Tarantulas?
Tarantulas are eight-limbed creatures that can grow up to four inches and have a good life span of 15-25 years. Members of the class Arachnid, native to United States, Central and South America, and Mexico.
As a pet, it’s amazing to watch their behaviours and novel styles which vary a lot in different tarantulas of the same species. Their ability to make intricate web patterns mesmerize many out there interested anyway in insects.
Special Characters Of Tarantulas To Be Considered As A Pet:
Tarantula Has No Sense Of Smell!
A major glitch in how a pet communicates with his owner is that all the communication is non-verbal. It can be the scent, the colour, the features, the body language and the list goes on… A pet is attached with his owner by one or multiple of these features which have surpassed the normal level.
So when we apply the case to tarantula it completely disappoints us in any of this. Tarantulas have no sense of smell or any kind of recognition. Therefore, it’s far difficult for a tarantula to recognize its owner by his smell Than any other pet.
Can Pet Tarantula Identify Its Owner?
The answer to the question is very much straight. No, they don’t. A Tarantula Can Never Identify Its Owner.
No Well Developed Sensory System
Tarantulas have neither a well-developed sensory system nor the nervous system. A human to tarantula is an invader that can harm him. They can neither specify anyone nor can smell.
Tarantulas Can’t Differentiate:
They can’t differentiate among their owner or any other individual holding them. That’s why they never alter their behaviour when their owner holds them. The no response is independent of how much care and attention he had been given by his owner.
Always Handle A Tarantula With Care:
You always need to handle Tarantula with care. Even most of the docile species consider human hand as a slippery landing place where they strive a lot to balance themselves. In case of a bit jerk, they instantly show the response of danger.
You must be ready for a good bite in this case. However, it’s not venomous to kill someone unless he is allergic. Even the cases of allergy are not reported enough. The potency is the same as that of bees sting.
So, we can conclude that Tarantulas can freely roam on your arm or shoulder or whole body and are very peaceful creatures until disturbed violently. However, they are not the type of pet you can cuddle any way like others.
Why Tarantulas Can’t Smell Or Recognize Their Owner In Any Way Possible?
Tarantulas have three senses visual, chemical stimulation and tactile. Other animals use smell and taste to recognise their surroundings. The sensory pathway of tarantula is very different and less complex than any other mammals. They tend to perceive a signal from very different anatomical structures.
And most significantly Tarantulas have no nostrils. They can just defensively respond to light or touch. Also, they detect chemicals to locate their food present nearby.
Most of their response is by their sensitive hair on appendages. The hair is so sensitive that they can detect strong sound waves too! So, if you yell on a spider or play really loud music, you cannot complain if it bites you!
The same hair on their appendages detects chemicals too. Quite multi-functional legs right!
Tarantulas Are Not Social Animals!
Tarantula is not a social animal. There are some social spiders but not in tarantulas class. Arthropods are simpler animals and are not emotional or intelligent. And spiders are even simpler than insects…
Tarantulas have more complex and centralized brain than most of the arthropods. However, the development has no significant effect on its intelligence.
Less Complex Nervous System:
A normal-sized tarantula has nervous system complexity not more than a smartphone. Their number of neurons is equal to or less than the silicon chips and transistor in your desktop. They have a least develop neo-fore brain which makes it behave like they have no idea what’s going on around…
Just they care about their safety and anything invading their privacy is termed as “threat” or “enemy”
Therefore, a tarantula specifically does not care about anything around. We can term it as highly emotionless and isolated being which don’t like to be disturbed anyway.
They can not even differentiate between any living specie and also among different spiders of their specie. They are no more acting like a robot!
Social Spiders:
Don’t be disappointed after facing so much indifferenc by Tarantula. Spider behave differently depending on the class. Some spiders’ brain structure is super complex as compared to that of other classes.
Some spiders show some behaviours analogue to higher animals. Jumping spiders are one of the intelligent animals in this class. They respond immediately to the changes in surrounding and even recognize and react to multiple species nearby. However, you should be very careful in selecting any of these social spiders as a pet. I repeat… Be careful, they can be poisonous.
Why Food Luring Stays Ineffective To Train A Tarantula?
Tarantula is not very food or selective specie. They just look for things to survive. This specie is so resilient that it can stay active for months even without eating anything. This clears the fact that you cannot lure this creature even with food which is the most effective training strategy in most of the animal cases.
But they need water to survive through in little amount which they get from their surroundings easily. So, any kind of food training stays ineffective in their case.
Interesting Facts About Tarantulas:
Arachnophobia:
According to the National Institute of Mental Health,
So, before adopting a tarantula you must be very careful if any people in your family or near surroundings is afraid of it.
In the other case, these huge spiders that can grow up to 14 inches can simply send anyone suffering from arachnophobia in turbo drive.
Regeneration Power:
Their regeneration power is amazing. Even when they lose a whole limb or two or all they can regenerate them easily in the molting process. So, these are the pets you can leave alone and don’t worry to care a lot. They are self-sufficient.
How To Handle Wisely A Tarantula To Avoid Injury
Veterinarians advise handling tarantula with care and delicacy. Moreover, handling with bare hands should be avoided if you are a beginner. It’s necessary for the safety of both. Use a cane instead!
Tarantulas can’t be tamed any way so it’s you who needs to stay vigilant.
Conclusion:
If you are looking for a pet you can cuddle anytime, a tarantula is never an option for you. However, if you are interested in insects, there is no option better than a tarantula.!
Their beautiful designs, novel habits, and intricate web designs can attract the attention of any entomophile.
So, now the choice is yours. Let us know if you discovered anything novel about this bewildering being.
There is a famous saying which goes,
Hey, I am a licenced veterinary practitioner. Since my childhood, I have always dreamed to be a vet and play with these adorable creatures all day long. My love to write and spread awareness pushed me towards blogging. So, I decided to merge both of my passions and create highly knowledgeable blogs for the people struggling with their new pets. There are multiple cases you may face with your pets in everyday life and also multiple odd behaviours may pop hundreds of questions into your mind. Every behaviour has a reason, and I am here to provide the very logical reasons and easy solutions. Let us take care of our pets in the best possible way!