New to tarantulas...

[Nerd4life]

So I'm very interested in Tarantulas and I'm thinking about getting one, however I'm needing some help for picking out a first one.

I read the forum about newbies should pick a new world tarantula, but I was looking for a specific behavior. Do any of the new world tarantulas burrow and are docile? I've seen some fast burrowing ones and I'm not to fond of that being new. Any suggestions that fit my preference?

 

[cold blood]

Most ts will burrow as slings...however, most of the best beginner species, tend not to burrow as they gain size.....Aphonopelma seemani is the only one I can think of that burrows and s a good beginner species...they are readily available and not too expensive, even for a sexed adult female.

 

[WildSpider]

Most ts will burrow as slings...however, most of the best beginner species, tend not to burrow as they gain size.....Aphonopelma seemani is the only one I can think of that burrows and s a good beginner species...they are readily available and not too expensive, even for a sexed adult female.

Would Aphonopelma hentzi also make it to this list? Never had one but when watching them on YouTube they seemed fairly docile and it seemed like they liked to burrow. This species can actually be found in Oklahoma and one of its common names is the "Oklahoma brown tarantula".

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I've seen some fast burrowing ones and I'm not to fond of that being new.

Yes, there's certain NW T's like (genus) Ephebopus/Megaphobema that are hands down 101% burrowing pet holes (IMO when it comes to burrowing they beat even some OW's pet hole I have).

They aren't, as you guessed, beginner-friendly spiders at all, both for their quite high strung temperament-speed and the care/parameters to offer

 

[AnObeseHippo]

I mean, most tarantulas are prone to burrowing. Not really something you can guarentee escaping. My solution to that same problem was just buy more tarantulas so theres a higher chance of one or two being out in the open

 

[Ellenantula]

Do any of the new world tarantulas burrow and are docile? I've seen some fast burrowing ones and I'm not to fond of that being new. Any suggestions that fit my preference?

I am reading this as you do not want a burrowing -- is that correct?
I think a pet hole could be frustrating for a first T.
That said, many slings are going to want to burrow, but that's okay -- there are many NWs to choose from that will grow up and usually sit out in the open. Perhaps a sub-adult female NW terrestrial would be a good first choice.

 

[Nerd4life]

I really appreciate all the advice everyone! To clarify, I was wanting to get a burrowing T that was docile and slow. I don't mind too much for one being aggressive since I'm super cautious anyway, but since I'm slightly arachnophobic (and I'm trying to get over it) I don't want something thats super fast lol.

 

[cold blood]

seemani is absolutely the t you want.

 

[viper69]

Do any of the new world tarantulas burrow and are docile?

only 1 I know of, already mentioned. I owned one, no issues.

that was docile and slow. I don't mind too much for one being aggressive since I'm super cautious anyway

This is a conflict, docile/slow don't go with aggressive. It's not clear to me what you want now. You either want the former of the latter...

I sure hope you don't want docile as a mean to handle a T.

Docile/slow-- but doesn't burrow generally--- G. pulchripes or E sp Red for the most easily obtained species.

 

[Ellenantula]

I was wanting to get a burrowing T

A seemanni will generally burrow if given deep enough substrate. Mine dug a burrow but ditched it, spends most of her time sitting out in the open topside these days.
My concern is newbies usually like to actually see their new T more often.

If you really want a docile T that will stay burrowed, just have an empty enclosure full of dirt -- you'll not be seeing much of that sort of a burrowing T anyway. Well, perhaps just its front legs if it's hungry....

 

[Anoplogaster]

I guess my question to you is why you’re specifically interested in a T that burrows. Are you interested in watching burrowing behavior as it happens? Or do you find a fascination with a spider that lives in a burrow. Because you can always take half a cork tube and push it down into the substrate to sort of make a “burrow” for a spider, and the odds are good that it might use it as its home. If you want to actually witness burrowing behavior occurring, a lot of it happens at night. A spider I didn’t see mentioned above is Theraphosinae sp. “Panama.” They are quite the little burrowers, and stay small. Neat colors. They’re a little tougher to find and are pricey, but they burrow and do the whole Krakken act when you feed them

 

[Bree24]

I could be wrong, but isn’t the idea behind a burrowing spider is that it’s not comfortable out in the open? Logically speaking, I would think that any burrowing species/individual would be inherently skittish, not slow or docile.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I could be wrong, but isn’t the idea behind a burrowing spider is that it’s not comfortable out in the open? Logically speaking, I would think that any burrowing species/individual would be inherently skittish, not slow or docile.

If it’s burrowing only times you would have to deal with it are rehouse? So maybe a scary thing for a beginner to have a crazy skittish spider running all over . And probably showings off it’s fangs.

 

[AnObeseHippo]

I could be wrong, but isn’t the idea behind a burrowing spider is that it’s not comfortable out in the open? Logically speaking, I would think that any burrowing species/individual would be inherently skittish, not slow or docile.

2/3 of my terrestrials are definitely skittish and will retreat the instant their enclosure is moved. My juvie albo will stand his ground like no other terrestrial I’ve seen.

I think how they choose to live and their skittishness/docility are pretty unrelated though. Most T’s are skittish and none are really “docile”. We just trick them into thinking we are land, they don’t follow any orders or commands.

I think how they choose to live is simply a product of adapting to whatever environment they ended up in many years ago