Has tumblr’s most famous tarantula, Spidey, ever bitten me? I get asked this a lot, and today I’m coming clean about it! If you’ve been following this website for a while, you might be familiar with me mentioning my darling Grammostola rosea, Spidey. One question I get asked a lot on Spidey’s tumblr blog is if she has ever bitten me or attacked me, so I felt like that was a good thing to talk about today!

One thing I’d like to clear up first is this: tarantula’s don’t really “attack” you. Of course, tarantulas attack and strike their prey because they need to eat. However, if a tarantula bites you or flicks urticating hairs at you (another defense of New World tarantulas), it’s because they are DEFENDING THEMSELVES. It’s not because they actually want to bite or hurt you. So that’s a very important distinction to make when we’re talking about tarantula bites and other defenses.

To make a long story short, I have never been bitten by Spidey. There was one time where I was very careless and thought she was going to bite me (which she was not) and I almost really hurt her by accident because my reflexes went off. You can read about that terrible experience here, as it makes me feel ashamed to tell the story again.

I believe part of the reason Spidey has never felt defensive enough to bite me is because I really try my best not to disturb her. I keep handling to a minimum and am very gentle when I open and close her tank or move things around her enclosure so I don’t startle her.

However, I have had Spidey flick urticating hairs at me once, and it was totally my fault. I’ve witnessed Spidey flicking hairs twice in the several years I’ve had her – both within the first year. The first time she flicked hairs was at me because I scared the crap out of her by opening her tank too suddenly. Fortunately I was far away from her and didn’t get any hairs on me. The other time I saw Spidey flicking hairs was…at her food lol. Spidey was in one of her infamous fasting periods and I tried to see if she was ready to eat again. I put a super worm in her tank and not only did she totally ignore it, but she told me she wanted it removed ASAP by flicking hairs at it before she stormed off to the opposite side of the tank!

And of course, just because I’ve had Spidey for years and she has not bitten me doesn’t mean that it couldn’t one day happen. It’s always good to remind yourself that these creatures are wild and they are unpredictable, and you should always be careful around them.

People get very scared of tarantula attacks, but there is really no reason to be. Tarantulas will never attack unprovoked. If you’d like to learn more about tarantula defense behaviors and warning signs so that you can avoid a potential tarantula bite in the future, be sure to check out my full tarantula guide (which includes a TON of other tarantula info as well)! You can also get free tarantula tips by signing up for my newsletter or subscribing to my YouTube channel! I release new tips every Tuesday for Tarantula Tuesday!

Featured image via screen capture