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It totally sucks. I just had a really strange die-off in my collection. We replaced the floor in the room where they're kept, and they had to be moved to the main traffic area in our house for a few days. I realized belatedly that we'd put them right next to a pair of speakers. I'm not sure if...

I'm also curious what kind of temps you're talking about. My house is routinely 65-68 degrees (we don't run the heat when we're working...or really when we can help it, to save money) and my T's are just fine. I've also left them for a week without care. No problem whatsoever.

See, you provided a perfectly sound answer with this: "It is having the confidence that you can react in a calm manner when the Haplopelma lividum runs up the tongs or the Lampropelma violaceopes bursts out of the enclosure and leaps onto your arm." "When am I ready to deal with an OW...

I hate it when people answer this question by implying that the simple act of asking indicates a lack of readiness. That's not only untrue, it's also unhelpful. And condescending. Personally, I think you're ready for an OW when you're reasonably comfortable dealing with T's and understand...

He's close to 3", yes. Possibly a tad smaller (he doesn't come out much, and is very skittish...hard to get a good measurement).

I just watched my P. platyomma molt--first time I've actually gotten to see the entire process. It was awesome. My seven-year-old son and I stood there at the cabinet whispering to each other the whole time. A truly great experience to share with my kid. :)

I bet your 7-year-old and mine would get along great. He "owns" 4 spiders in our collection, and has a wish list of his own. :) And I, too, read tarantula books at bedtime (if you haven't seen the book The Tarantula Scientist yet, it could make a great gift for your little guy).

Almost 3 inches

I've had my new P. irminia and P. pulcher slings for a few days now and so far, the irminia is very much like my two P. cambridgeis--it immediately found a spot to burrow at the base of the cork bark and has mostly stayed there since. Sometimes I can see its legs poking out, sometimes not. A...

I do understand why people want large juveniles or adults so they don't have to wait to see adult colors...but many, many species are readily available as CB adults. You just have to pay accordingly. The B. smithi is an excellent cautionary tale about the dangers of importing WC tarantulas...

So many people have already replied, but as I was reading the OP I had the same thought...I've not noticed any difficulty whatsoever with finding nearly any species I'm interested in available as CB. Granted, I'm someone who is aware that the best place to buy tarantulas is from breeders/dealers...

Happy day! My P. pulcher sling arrived, along with an unexpected freebie...a P. irminia! So now I have three different Psalmos to observe and compare. Not much to say about my new little .75" babies except that unpacking was quite easy and while the pulcher did have a spazzed run for a moment...

I have two P. cambridgeis, both about 2.25" - 2.5". They are housed in enclosures with coco substrate and a slab of cork bark, and both chose to create burrows using the underside of the bark as soon as I got them at 1.25". Since their last molt (they've had two since I got them in June), the...

I'll also chime in with a suggestion to get a Euathlus sp. "red". I understand what it's like to choose one's first T as an arachnophobe--docility and predictability can go a long way toward helping you gain confidence about interacting with a real, live spider. I don't have a B. smithi...

As others have said, T's will sometimes lay down hairs during pre-molt...a way to protect their burrow (and themselves) during their most vulnerable time. Why are you so convinced that this is not what's happening?

Your tarantula is likely kicking hairs, or perhaps grooming itself. What species is it?

I started out in the hobby almost positive that I wasn't going to get into Poecis. Not because I didn't think they were beautiful (I'm not blind, after all), but because what I started out hearing was that they were highly venomous, highly defensive beasts. As a newly recovered arachnophobe, I...

Wanted to follow up...I just checked in on my T's and witnessed the M. balfouri eating a mealworm that has been in its enclosure for weeks. This is the first time I've witnessed it eating. That doesn't mean it hasn't eaten before, but it definitely means that it's a shy eater!

I feel your pain. My wish list is a constantly changing thing, as the more I read and research, the more I want. I started out wanting docile NW terrestrials, and six months later I clearly favor arboreals, and docility is no longer a concern. And I have four OW's, where I once thought that was...

You didn't necessarily do anything wrong. As my seven-year-old son would say, "It's nature's way." Sometimes things just die. I'm sorry for your loss. :( I haven't lost a spider yet (except a MM who got chomped while being paired, after being traded), and I do sort of dread it. I hope you're...