Evolution of our collections?

[Paul1126]

The enclosures are acrylic shoeboxes and sweater boxes. I drilled holes for ventilation. The locking mechanism isn't really that at all, it's gaffer's tape. Strong, leaves no residue, and can be peeled back and re-stuck hundreds of times before it starts to lose holding power. It's expensive stuff at $20-25 per roll, but it's worth it.

The question is, who done the painting?

 

[nicodimus22]

The question is, who done the painting?

Well, I painted the dining room wall, which had been this kind of dingy beige color.

An artist did the B. hamorii painting, and my wife bought it for me as a birthday present.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Started with stag/rhinoceros/flower beetles, moved to jumping spiders/true spiders, moved to millipedes, then got my first tarantula. From there I had a huge collection of tarantulas, centipedes, and scorpions. However, during the past year I had to downgrade. Sold a lot of stuff!

 

[Paul1126]

Well, I painted the dining room wall, which had been this kind of dingy beige color.

If you want extra work, I can offer you a job glossing/painting my house.

An artist did the B. hamorii painting, and my wife bought it for me as a birthday present.

A very thoughtful gift indeed

 

[kingofall]

I have 1 AFS and a colony of pill bugs but that's only because the rents' won't let me get any T's or pedes' or even spooders.

 

[spookyvibes]

I got my first tarantula in 2010 or 2011, an AF G. porteri. In November of 2017, I got an AF A. seemanni. January of 2018, a C. cyaneopubescens sling and an AF E. murinus. It kinda snowballed for a few months after that and now I’m at 19 Finding out about reptile expos and ordering online really got my collection going. I’m happy where I’m at right now, although I do want to even it out at 20 or so.

 

[baconwrappedpikachu]

First T was my little 1" Nhandu chromatus, took her home from an expo back in December after obsessively researching for a few months. Spent a few months begging my girlfriend to let me get a few more tarantulas. Finally got her to agree to letting me have 5 total, as long as I buy them one at a time and give everyone time to grow in between purchases.

A couple weeks ago we finally ordered our second and third Ts -- Caribena versicolor sling and a GBB. Order won't ship until March 25th, so I tried really hard to convince gf to let me add JUST ONE Pamphobeteus to the order since we're already paying so much for shipping!

Long story short... there will be 7 slings total arriving at the house next week.

 

[SavageCritter]

My first T was a G. Pulchra I named Velvet. Turned out to be male, and has since scuttled from this mortal coil, but from there I got hooked on Avics and P. irminia. Dabbled in dwarf species, which I enjoyed quite a bit. Briefly had a few OBTs that arrived as freebies, but sold them to the nearest T-knowledgeable exotic pet shop once they became juveniles. Had to rehome everybody but Velvet when my health took a turn for the worse a few years back, but am feeling decent enough to get back into it, especially since I'm no longer trying to keep reptiles.

I've got my first shipment of new Ts arriving on Thursday! 3 P. irminia, 1 P. ecclesiasticus, 2 H. devamatha, all slings.

 

[LV-426]

In the beginning I started with a P. cancerides and N. chromatus. Then I started getting all types from Pslamos, Pamphos, Pokies, Lampropelma, aussies, Theraphosa, etc. Now my limit is 10 Ts, and trying to stick terrestrial species. No more arboreals, and maybe some obligate burrowers.

 

[WolleWolf]

I am keeping T´s since 99. I had all sorts of T´s, NW, OW arboreal, terrestrial and fossrial. I found out (for me), that best T´s are visible T´s. Now I only have NW terrestrials (beside two freebies 0.1 P.cambridgei + 0.0.1 C. darlingi 3i). And when I buy T´s, I only buy sexed female juveniles max. 3" DLS, so I can still watch them growing.
On friday two new T´s will arrive, 0.1 P. sazimai 2.5"dls and 0.1 C. cyaneopubescens 2.5"dls (never have kept GBB´s in 20years!). Then I will have 14 T´s (max I had was 40), and on my wishlist are only B. auratum and G.pulchra then. And I want a max of 20 T´s, that´s okay for me.

 

[weibkreux]

Started last year with a B. vagans which turned out male so I then traded it to a breeder for a female B. albopilosum. Bought myself a couple of LP slings and N. chromatus next, then after a few months I got myself an A. junodi and OBT slings. Now I have a total of more than 50 Ts (slings included). Also started my first breeding project, when my B. hamorii female matured.

Was fun and is a continuous learning experience, still being surprised by how fast my A. junodi can bolt out of its hole when startled. There are still a lot species I'm interested with, especially bird eaters.

 

[weibkreux]

I found out (for me), that best T´s are visible T´s.

Been on my mind for quite a while now, why do most beautiful T always in hiding??
(Looking at my pet substrates and dirt curtains; KBT, O. sp Mindanao South, P. baeri, etc)

 

[WolleWolf]

There are a lot of beautyful NW T´s, especially when they are full grown and heavy bodied. The biggest fascination of this hobby for me is to watching at those visible full grown specimens. I am very pleased with my small collection now. Only visible big(ger) T´s (no dwarfs or pet holes), that´s the way to go for me

 

[RezonantVoid]

A very brief history of my collection growth in order of first to last with the kind of stuff I was keeping, starting from January last year to now:
Scorpions > tarantulas > trapdoors > more tarantulas and trapdoors > border ranges funnelweb > mouse spiders, wishbones and curtain webs > centipedes > more funnelwebs and trapdoors

 

[Jayson1974]

About to order my/our first Tarantula. Been researching for several months now. Have decided that I will gradually get and raise slings of every Brachypelma that I can get. They are just gorgeous and so varied. I also want an Acanthoscurria geniculata...wow.

Just today my wife informed me that I will also be getting a Davus pentaloris and a Bumba cambocla...she likes the look of them!
Looks like first order will be A. geniculata 1/3", B. albopilosum 1", B. auratum 1/3"and D. pentaloris 1/2". Wifes orders

 

[weibkreux]

Looks like first order will be A. geniculata 1/3", B. albopilosum 1", B. auratum 1/3"and D. pentaloris 1/2". Wifes orders

Great order for starters that you got there. A. geniculata is actually one of my favorite species, great eater, bulky size and beautiful coloration. Plus growth rate is also pretty good compared to Brachypelmas.

 

[Ellenantula]

I bought a bunch of Ts (and slings) in first 6 months.
I have fewer now -- some MM'd on me and sadly I lost a couple to bad moults (all slings).
I started with a rosie and an OBT (OBT MM'd on me) and I haven't added to my collection since Spring 2015.

I have mostly NW terrestrials these days and that's okay. I still love the nighttime torch/flashlight glimpses at 2am. Ts still give me joy.
I may add to my collection yet -- still haven't gotten my coveted L violaceopes. I think when I acquire that one, I will be satisfied my collection is complete.

I am strictly a hobbyist -- no wish to breed; just enjoy caring for my crew.

 

[IncoherentScreeching]

Let's talk about ours collections, how we started and the way they changed~!

I'm still super new to the hobby, it hasn't been even one month since I got my first tarantula which was GBB and I wasn't expecting how addicting it can be. Since that one I've already gotten 3 others (A. geniculata, C. versicolor and P. irminia) and I wish I could take in even more of those cuties.

How did it look to you guys? I can only imagine how some of those collections can be looking like after years or being in the hobby.

I started about 2 weeks ago. And like everything new and excited I get into, I dive straight in. Started with an Avicularia Avicularia and now have 5 different T'a (2 tiny Brachypelma slings) and 6 scorpions. Find them all fascinating and the hobby to be so exciting. Been obsessing and researching everything I can about the next tarantula or scorpion I want to buy.
I ordered a GBB today and couldn't be more excited. They are my favorite species of tarantula as they have EVERYTHING I want in one. They're beautiful, good temperament (I stick exclusively with "new world" T's as the old world ones tend to me more aggressive and I haven't gotten that confident yet), and they're terrestrial so they're a little easier to keep. I want to have a few of the GBBs at all times and will definitely attempt breeding at some point.

I also have no interest in ever handling any of my arachnids so its perfect for me to just sit back and watch them devour their food once a week.

P.S. I just got a Deathstalker scorpion and something about the scorpion having near lethal venom is exhilarating to me.

 

[The Seraph]

I started about 2 weeks ago. And like everything new and excited I get into, I dive straight in. Started with an Avicularia Avicularia and now have 5 different T'a (2 tiny Brachypelma slings) and 6 scorpions. Find them all fascinating and the hobby to be so exciting. Been obsessing and researching everything I can about the next tarantula or scorpion I want to buy.
I ordered a GBB today and couldn't be more excited. They are my favorite species of tarantula as they have EVERYTHING I want in one. They're beautiful, good temperament (I stick exclusively with "new world" T's as the old world ones tend to me more aggressive and I haven't gotten that confident yet), and they're terrestrial so they're a little easier to keep. I want to have a few of the GBBs at all times and will definitely attempt breeding at some point.

I also have no interest in ever handling any of my arachnids so its perfect for me to just sit back and watch them devour their food once a week.

P.S. I just got a Deathstalker scorpion and something about the scorpion having near lethal venom is exhilarating to me.

I'm just going to say, slow down. Do not get more tarantulas than you can keep up with.

 

[Ztesch]

I picked up my first Tarantula in August of 2017, a 1/4 B. Hamorii. I swear I spent that whole summer watching videos and doing research on the best beginner T's and hot to care for slings. After about a few weeks with my new sling, I quickly realized I needed to get more. The first was a Pet Co A. Seemani Juvi who looked like she was in bad shape and needed to be saved. She ended up being a female. The next one a few weeks later was a A. Metallica who also ended up being a female. After that the flood gates kind of opened. I started ordering off of the classifieds and quickly my collection started to grow. Im up to 55 Tarantulas and few true spiders, a colony of assassin bugs and 1 Asian forest Scorp. I dont plan on going much higher then that but I do want to try my hand at breeding T's.......