GBB sling or mature

[Thunder Tarantula]

Hi guy's I have just joined the boards and I am thinking of getting a tarantula, I have done a lot of research and I would like to get a GBB. As a beginner should I get a sling and grow with the spider or should I get a mature tarantula.

P.S. If you guy's suggest a sling, how many times should I feed it every week and what temperature and what humidity should I keep it. I live in the north of Spain and temperatures rise and fall quickly being from 30± degrees celsius to 20± degrees celsius from one day to the other (In the summer) and humidity is usually low being around 30-60% humidity. In the winter temperatures are around 10-20 degrees celsius.

Thanks

 

[Andrew Clayton]

I personally would go with a juvenile to start with slings can be a bit boring when you are just new to the hobby something over 2 inch. forget about humidity does not mean anything in the tarantula world, when a T comes from a humid environment it just means we wet the substrate. You're temperatures are fine, in the winter when it gets below 18 I'd use a small space heater and in summer when it's in the 30s open a window lol my T room is kept between 18 and 24.. you're going to want to put plenty of anchor points in the enclosure and I wouldn't bother with a hide GBBs are heavy webber's. good luck and welcome to the hobby

 

[Vanisher]

Defenatly go with a sling. They eat, moult and grows much quicker than a mature tarantula! Much more fun than keeping a mature spider!

 

[Arachnophoric]

Hi guy's I have just joined the boards

Hello, and welcome to the boards!

I am thinking of getting a tarantula, I have done a lot of research and I would like to get a GBB.

While some people consider GBBs to be more intermediate due to their more skittish nature and relatively quick speed compared to most beginner-friendly Ts, it's definitely doable for someone just getting into the hobby and an awesome choice! Very hardy species with simple care requirements (dry substrate with a waterdish and hide and something for anchor points for the massive amount of webbing they do). Not to mention, stunning to look at no matter what stage it's at in its life! I love my girl Artorias to pieces.

Crisp

• Arachnophoric
• Mar 2, 2019
• chromatopelma chromatopelma cyaneopubescens cyaneopubescens female gbb greenbottle blue tarantula

Artorias fresh in her new clothes. 0.1 C. cyaneopubescens

As a beginner should I get a sling and grow with the spider or should I get a mature tarantula.

While for most beginners I'd usually recommend starting off with an adult or decently sized juvie, this species is one of the few I'd absolutely recommend raising from a sling. This species grows very rapidly with the slings being almost just as hardy as their adult counterparts, and from personal experience the color change this species goes through from sling to adult is absolutely astounding. I'd hate for you to buy an adult and miss out on the excitement of seeing how much your T has changed from molt to molt.

If you guy's suggest a sling, how many times should I feed it every week

At the sling stage ( < 2") feeding one appropriately sized prey item a week is sufficient, though with as voracious and fast growing as this species is you could safely feed 2 to 3 times a week no problem.

what temperature

The awesome thing about tarantulas is that they don't have any super crazy/special heating requirements. The do just fine at room temperature, as long as temps are roughly within the 20C - 30C range you should be a-okay. They can even handle temps outside of those parameters for a bit of time, but those are preferable. You'll see faster growth rates/more molts on the warmer end of the spectrum in combination with regular feeding.

what humidity

Humidity is not something you should worry about, as it's not a thing that really applies to tarantulas in the way it does with reptiles and amphibians. Online care sheets often try to say you do need humidity, but unfortunately the concept of care sheets are usually modeled around vertebrate care, which tarantula care is very different from. Trying to retain/meet certain humidity levels has been the cause of countless deaths of tarantulas, as humid enclosures cause stuffy/stagnant air conditions which over an extended period of time will make your T ill. ESPECIALLY with Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens, as this is a dry/arid species that suffers when kept in damp/humid conditions, even as slings. All you need is dry substrate, a bit of ventilation, and a waterdish. You can overflow the water dish just a touch when your sling is small, but be careful not to overdo it.


Go ahead and take a look around here on the boards for more information - this site is quite possibly the best source for information on tarantula keeping and is frequented by very knowledgeable keepers, some who have been in the hobby for many, many years.

I hope this helps, and again, welcome to the boards! Hope to see you stick around and start posting about your new fuzzy friend soon.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

slings can be a bit boring when you are just new to the hobby

I think GBB is one of the few exceptions to this.

They have voracious appetites even as slings, the webbing is cool, and the color changes are awesome.

I'd say go for a sling if you're set on a GBB.

 

[MintyWood826]

Here's a link with some general tarantula care information.
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/tarantula-information-for-beginners-and-more.318718/

I definitely recommend getting a sling of this species. In my opinion, they look the best of all their life stages, and they grow fast.

 

[NukaMedia Exotics]

I'd recommend one probably 1" and up since you've never had a T, easier to feed than a tinier sling (drop in a prekilled cricket they'll eat it up). The tiny slings do eat well though for their size, just you'd have to feed smaller crickets which can be a pain in the ass.

 

[Dev1lZ]

I love my GBB sling! He’s a great eater and very chill and out in the open most of the time. Here’s a pick of him in his enclosure hanging upside down on a silk plant leaf.

 

[Thunder Tarantula]

I personally would go with a juvenile to start with slings can be a bit boring when you are just new to the hobby something over 2 inch. forget about humidity does not mean anything in the tarantula world, when a T comes from a humid environment it just means we wet the substrate. You're temperatures are fine, in the winter when it gets below 18 I'd use a small space heater and in summer when it's in the 30s open a window lol my T room is kept between 18 and 24.. you're going to want to put plenty of anchor points in the enclosure and I wouldn't bother with a hide GBBs are heavy webber's. good luck and welcome to the hobby

Thanks so much, really helps.

 

[Thunder Tarantula]

Hello, and welcome to the boards!



While some people consider GBBs to be more intermediate due to their more skittish nature and relatively quick speed compared to most beginner-friendly Ts, it's definitely doable for someone just getting into the hobby and an awesome choice! Very hardy species with simple care requirements (dry substrate with a waterdish and hide and something for anchor points for the massive amount of webbing they do). Not to mention, stunning to look at no matter what stage it's at in its life! I love my girl Artorias to pieces.

Crisp

• Arachnophoric
• Mar 2, 2019
• chromatopelma chromatopelma cyaneopubescens cyaneopubescens female gbb greenbottle blue tarantula

Artorias fresh in her new clothes. 0.1 C. cyaneopubescens

While for most beginners I'd usually recommend starting off with an adult or decently sized juvie, this species is one of the few I'd absolutely recommend raising from a sling. This species grows very rapidly with the slings being almost just as hardy as their adult counterparts, and from personal experience the color change this species goes through from sling to adult is absolutely astounding. I'd hate for you to buy an adult and miss out on the excitement of seeing how much your T has changed from molt to molt.



At the sling stage ( < 2") feeding one appropriately sized prey item a week is sufficient, though with as voracious and fast growing as this species is you could safely feed 2 to 3 times a week no problem.



The awesome thing about tarantulas is that they don't have any super crazy/special heating requirements. The do just fine at room temperature, as long as temps are roughly within the 20C - 30C range you should be a-okay. They can even handle temps outside of those parameters for a bit of time, but those are preferable. You'll see faster growth rates/more molts on the warmer end of the spectrum in combination with regular feeding.



Humidity is not something you should worry about, as it's not a thing that really applies to tarantulas in the way it does with reptiles and amphibians. Online care sheets often try to say you do need humidity, but unfortunately the concept of care sheets are usually modeled around vertebrate care, which tarantula care is very different from. Trying to retain/meet certain humidity levels has been the cause of countless deaths of tarantulas, as humid enclosures cause stuffy/stagnant air conditions which over an extended period of time will make your T ill. ESPECIALLY with Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens, as this is a dry/arid species that suffers when kept in damp/humid conditions, even as slings. All you need is dry substrate, a bit of ventilation, and a waterdish. You can overflow the water dish just a touch when your sling is small, but be careful not to overdo it.


Go ahead and take a look around here on the boards for more information - this site is quite possibly the best source for information on tarantula keeping and is frequented by very knowledgeable keepers, some who have been in the hobby for many, many years.

I hope this helps, and again, welcome to the boards! Hope to see you stick around and start posting about your new fuzzy friend soon.

Wow!! Thanks so much, I am really excited to get my T!!!

 

[Thunder Tarantula]

Thank you all!!!

 

[Kitara]

Wow!! Thanks so much, I am really excited to get my T!!!

I am excited for you. I love my GBB. I want to feed her all the time (I don't, if course) because she is really aggressive, but she likes to hunt so she will let them go and then move real slow and creepy before she pounces. She was about 4cm when I got her and now about 6cm. She doesn't web as much as I have seen of others. But she has a bit. She is always out so I can look at her whenever. She is my favorite.

 

[Thunder Tarantula]

Since I am in Europe, I have heard a lot about Spidersworld.eu, I have seen a video from the dark den and the GBB slings they are selling are 1.5 cm (0,6 inches), how big should the enclosure be?? and where can I get good products for substrate, plants, crickets and super worms...?? BTW, are cactus plants a good idea??

 

[Dev1lZ]

Since I am in Europe, I have heard a lot about Spidersworld.eu, I have seen a video from the dark den and the GBB slings they are selling are 1.5 cm (0,6 inches), how big should the enclosure be?? and where can I get good products for substrate, plants, crickets and super worms...?? BTW, are cactus plants a good idea??

The enclosure can start pretty small for that size. My sling is a little bit bigger and the seller included a juvenile enclosure with mine, which is also pretty small. These spiders aren't exactly the most mobile, so mine basically hangs around on it's flat cork bark and has lightly webbed the silk plants on top. I don't recall it ever leaving the top of it-which I'm sure that it does to get the occasional drink from the water dish.

I wouldn't put any live plants in there with it at any rate. They like darkness And plants need light. Think of it as a pet rock that occasionally eats bugs and loves darkness. Tiny tiny silk plants hot glued to the cork bark. Don't overdue the plants or you will never see the spider. It doesn't care for a hide unlike my B. Albopilosum and B. Hamorii slings which bolt if you look at them funny. It's a little bad ass that isn't skittish at all. Open the enclosure and it sits. Move the enclosure, it sits.

Bug wise, I feed it pin head roaches, wax worms and mini meal worms. I rotate the diet. The wax worm I fed it(which was almost as big as the spider) made it balloon up to where I'm holding off for a bit to let it slim down a little. I don't like crickets for slings.

Cocofiber substrate and a little piece of corkbark and leave some anchor points for webs. Again, mine is a light webbing beast thus far. Get a spray bottle to refill water dish or squirt some droplets in a corner of the enclosure. Tongs are a must. Amazon should sell most of the things you need for cheap.
The seller themselves may even have enclosures you can buy for your sling that come with everything as a package. Their prices for the spiders themselves are good. Edit: I checked their website and looks like no enclosures are sold by them.

 

[Kitara]

selling are 1.5 cm (0,6 inches),

Oh my gosh how cute. My b. smithi is that size. Her enclosure is 6x6x10cm. I think it is a little too big for her, but she just burrowed down so t doesn't really matter (IMO). My GBB never burrowed, but it was a lot bigger when I got it.

 

[Kitara]

These spiders aren't exactly the most mobile,

It's a little bad ass that isn't skittish at all

Hahaha we have opposite GBBs. Mine is moving around all the time and is SUPER skittish haha. She teleports around faster than the human eye can see.