Hi all. I would just like share something.

Yesterday I rehoused my G.Rosea. She is approx. 10cm . I rarely handle my T's with my bare hands, but yesterday I decided to pick her up as I felt calm and she was very docile. As I picked her up I initially felt very good to be able to pick her up with confidence. At first she slowly walked from one hand to the other, remaining calm. And as I lowered my hands to put her down in her new enclosure my hand started shaking, not out of fear. It was more a case of a twinked nerve. I watched her carefully and she reacted immediately to the vibration of my hand. It was evident that she no longer wanted to be held, and the more my hand shook the more tense she became which in turn made me more tense and then fear set in. I froze completely. All I could think of is if she bites me what then. I managed to put my hand down flat on the substrate surface in her new enclosure and kept my hand as still as possible and myself as calm as possible. Eventually she ran off my hand into her new burrow remaining there ever since. I've have never understood what it feels like to have arachnophobia, but I do now. This just shows that one can never be too careful around your T's. They demand respect even if they are calm and docile. She is still my favourate T as she is my oldest but I think I will refrain from picking up for now. I just hope I never feel like this again and that it was an isolated incident.

Well Jaco, at least you kept a cool head and steadied your hand on the substrate. When fear sets in, nobody knows what their reaction will be. Not many people will stay calm and think it through. Many of us, including myself, do not handle our T's or condone doing it. I have not had the urge to pick any of them up, but stand in awe with people who do have the confidence. I am just weary of what would happen if the handler got a fright, for whatever reason, what is going to happen to the T. Lucky you were able to keep cool and your favourite T is still fine.