Not for beginners?

[BlkCat]

What Ts arent for beginners? What Ts have to have specific temp and humidity or they will die? What Ts should all beginners not even consider?

 

[rosehaired1979]

Old world Ts I think are not for beginners but its people preference on what they want to start out with.

 

[Fenris]

A beginer should sitck to docile NW species (Avicularia, Brachypelma, Chromatopelma and others). You should probably avoid anything from Asia and Africa until you are more comfortable in keeping tarantulas. They can be extremely fast, agressive and generally have a more potent venom.

 

[Apocalypstick]

I agree, the old worlds are a big no-no!
Most African species and the majority of arboreal species, I feel, are never for a beginner. Some of the other folks on here may disagree, but that's because they forgot what "beginners" are ;P They also require more humidity and temp control...need more care. Also, if given a hair of a chance, these guys WILL bite you...period! Some of these also have the strongest venom.

A nice slow terrestrial female would be good. The list for those is long so it depends on how much you wanna spend and which one is attractive to the buyer.

Here's just a few good beginner Ts...but remember, each one has it's own personality and needs... read up !!!!!

b. vagans (very beautuful T)
a. avicularia (great)
b. smithi (likes to throw hairs tho)
g. pulchra (my fav ... very slow grower)
b. albopilosum (commonly called "curly haired")
g. spatula/rosea (Chilean Rose..cheapest, easyest, most common in pet shops... very hardy and calm...borders on boring but great beginner T)


I'm sure other's can tons more to the list.

 

[Garrick]

I think what BC wanted to know was what species are particularly sensitive.
The majority of available species are easy.
For example, I think Pterinochilus murinus is the "uber pet". They require little in the way of care, are incredibly adaptable to not only enclosure setups in terms of shape, decor, etc., but temps and humidity as well. They are super-hardy, colorful, and affordable, too. In addition, they are far more active than the average G. rosea, and do not have urticating bristles.
However, the majority of P. murinus individuals don't react well to handling.

As far as ones that aren't so easy:

Believe it or not, Avicularia ssp. spiderlings aren't the hardiest. Some die for no reason whatsoever. They are pretty sensitive to bothy dehydration and illness borne by stuffiness at the same time.
Montaine species, like P. subfusca, M. mesomalas, etc. wouldn't be wise for a newbie to try to rear. They require a bit of attention to temps.
Fossorials from damp climates like Hysterocrates ssp. (from west Africa), and nearly all Asians (such as Haplopelma ssp.), need a fair amount of moisture. Said humidity and deep earth requires attention to detail with cleaning.

Again, it depends on your resources and how much time you have to care for them. The cool thing is most need less attention than a pet goldfish.

Garrick
eight

 

[becca81]

P. murinus was my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th spider and I haven't really had any problems in terms of defensiveness, etc.

After getting those 3 I went back and got some more NW tarantulas. It's really up to you and what you want to get. You should use caution with ANY species, as these are wild animals and unpredictable.

 

[Greg Wolfe]

Not for the novice...

Old world T's for sure, as they are quite volatile. Some of the New world T's such as T. Blondi, T. Apophysis, Pamphobeteus and Phormictopus wouldn't be the greatest idea either.
Ultimately, it is up to the individual what they may choose but when I have a potential buyer and they inquire about this very subject I tell them to stick with the following:
1) Grammastola
2) Avicularia's
3) Brachypelma albopilosum
4) PZB
5) Chromatopelma (GBB)
The novice can always get comfortable with these and then progress to the other more aggressive species. Work your way up to OBT's and the infamous T. Apophysis.
I also inform them that any T can bite if it feels threatened enough but the the more docile species are best to start out with.

 

[Cory Loomis]

I'm keeping over eighty species right now and still don't feel ready for the Therephosas. Everything I hear indicates they are very moisture sensitive, and I definitely don't need a whiff of airborne ultra-nasty urticating hairs. Maybe in a year or so....

Before you buy anything rumored to be difficult, search the boards, then ask specific questions. I've kept difficult fish, difficult orchids, and difficult snakes. From what I've seen, nothing is really difficult if you meet all of its requirements. That's the part that can be difficult. There are plenty of great tarantulas that are easy, so don't go for difficult until you want to make the commitment in time, effort and money.

 

[BlkCat]

I'm keeping over eighty species right now and still don't feel ready for the Therephosas. Everything I hear indicates they are very moisture sensitive, and I definitely don't need a whiff of airborne ultra-nasty urticating hairs. Maybe in a year or so....

Before you buy anything rumored to be difficult, search the boards, then ask specific questions. I've kept difficult fish, difficult orchids, and difficult snakes. From what I've seen, nothing is really difficult if you meet all of its requirements. That's the part that can be difficult. There are plenty of great tarantulas that are easy, so don't go for difficult until you want to make the commitment in time, effort and money.

I 2nd that on the Orchids. Did alot of reasearch on them. Got some, and did everything I was told and the flowers still fell off of them..... Irritating. I still dont know what went wrong. :?

 

[Fenris]

However, the majority of P. murinus individuals don't react well to handling.

That's an understatement! At least concearning my OBT. He's a demon!

 

[Greg Wolfe]

Blondi's and Apophysis...

These do require more husbandry and maintenance, but are worth the effort.
I keep mine 75-80 during the day and 70F at night. They like ALOT of moisture so I use a large water dish and a humidifier back there on a timer.
I use a gallon of filtered water a day to keep them happy.
Keeping these more moist can bring on mold and such, so you have to clean out their tanks more often.
There is one that is a pain, is 100% wicked, and a hassle in general and that is my two adult female Apophysis's. They rival any cobalt or OBT, as far as nastiness. Plus their urticating arsenal is nothing to choke at.
;P

 

[metzgerzoo]

I too would have to say that it depends on the individual. What one person feels is right or wrong for them may be the oppisite for someone else.
My first T was a G. rosea, my second was a P. murnius. Cory makes a very good point in his post and shows very well how each person is different. I have about 30 different species right now, most of which are OW and I've got 2 sub adult blondi right now.
I would also have to agree though that OW Ts just (IMO) are not a wise choice for first time keepers or those who are not well versed in the different species.

 

[squattyanne83]

what do you consider a novice?

Ive had my first t, a rosie since last august. I was looking to expand my collection to a T. Blondi and a C. Crawshayi when i moved back home from college in july. Is this a bad idea?

 

[galeogirl]

I started with H. gigas, the next ts I got were four T. blondis that I traded some poison dart frogs for. I had years of experience with aggressive reptiles by the time I got into ts, though, and a threat display from a T. blondi didn't seem so bad when compared to the threat display of a Nile monitor.

If you love OW ts, I say read up on them, get yourself some long forceps, and go for it. Most of them are easy to maintain, they're just aggressive. I tend to avoid the NW rainforest ts because they take more work to maintain.

 

[strat321]

I read mixed messages about Chromatopelma for a newbie.
they look really nice, but not sure if I would get one yet.

an aside- I had a 3/4" Aphonopelma flagstaff flix hairs at me. too cute for words!

 

[pepperhead85]

Well I started off with a Blue Colbalt blue T, and i wouldnt' say thats a bad choice if you don't want to see the spyder much. Mine was about 3 inches nice size, kind of lazy, uses speed once and a while, Built her a burrowing cage out of woods class I like it you can see her go to work. She gots a nice burrow going and since she spends most of her time down there you don't really have to worry about her excaping.

 

[Theraphosidae15]

I'm thinking of getting a T.Blondi,any first hand info would grate.

 

[MRL]

What Ts arent for beginners? What Ts have to have specific temp and humidity or they will die? What Ts should all beginners not even consider?

Anything that is expensive.

 

[solaceofwinter]

pokie's or anything super fast/aggressive arent that great to start with.
something like a l.parahybana or a. geniculta would be a great starter imo.

 

[Buspirone]

What Ts arent for beginners? What Ts have to have specific temp and humidity or they will die? What Ts should all beginners not even consider?

IIRC, The T's that seem to have a reputation for up and dying because you've looked at them wrong would be some or most species in Megaphobema, Pamphobeteus and Xenethis genera. Unfortunatley, I can't speak from first hand experience but this is mostly the impression I've gotten from reading posts and speaking to other keepers who keep them or have kept them and I could be incorrect in my assertion so take the information with a grain of salt and do some additional research if anyone is interested the species from those genera to confirm it. In any case, none of the species in those genera are recommended for novice keepers anyway.

pokie's or anything super fast/aggressive arent that great to start with.
something like a l.parahybana or a. geniculta would be a great starter imo.

I wouldn't recommend an A. geniculata to a newbie at all. Most A. geniculata have the idea that anything that moves in their enclosure might be food and will strike or grab at it. I've seen mine run over and strike at the water while I was filling up waterdishes or latch on to dishes when I was trying to remove them. It would set up a poorly equipped and inexperienced keeper for a situation that could result in a bite or in an injury to the spider from the new keeper's reaction. Either way, for the run of the mill newbie its not a responsible recommendation,IMO.

I could go either way on L. parahybana but generally look at it along with A. geniculata as more of an intermediate species due to its size and its urticating bristles which seem to be a bit more irritating to most people, although not nearly on the same scale as the bristles of T. blondi. These are the species, along with many others, that a newbie would goto after they have kept some Grammastola, Avicularia, Brachypelma, and Aphonopelma species and get a firm foundation in the basics of keeping and managing the beasts before they move on to the more defensive and faster old world species and allows them to enjoy the hobby while spending more time to read and study while preparing for the intermediate/advanced species.