T. As A Christmas Present

[PapaRoacher]

The story begins when I took my fiancé, Shara, to a Petland in my city, and convinced her to hold a Mexican Red-Knee. She was despritley afraid of spiders, so I made sure she held it directly above the top of a nearby counter. This accually releived her of her fear, and has since grown very attached to the T. that I bought named Tarra...

Now, Shara has become deeply interested in T. collecting, and she's gung ho about the hobby in general... So I figured, I'd get her an early Christmas present within the next few weeks, as I won't be working for much longer...

Now, I just wanted the personal opinion of some of the board members; which would you say is the most docile, calm, and warm-natured T.? After doing research of my own, I narrowed it down to the G. Pulchra or a B. Albopilosum...

Any help would be appreciated...

Thanks.

-Nick

 

[metzgerzoo]

IMO the G. pulchura is a good choice, but I am basing this on my own as she is a very active T and very good natured. Though when she is going after food she will not only bite it, but do it while in threat pose and kicking hair at it!

Great T though!!!

 

[PapaRoacher]

I heard they rarely ever kick hairs

 

[knottyduke]

Sorry that last post was from me and not my wife, I did not realized she was logged in. :8o

 

[Xanzo]

I second the pulchra idea, they are gorgeous, and super docile.

 

[knottyduke]

She does not kick hair at us only at what she is eating...lol

Strange spidey!!!

 

[DnKslr]

Well, I like the G pulchra as well but if I had another choice I would go with a G aureostriata They are pretty similar in tempermant and attitude, both are fairly calm but the aureostriatas have more color. Although!.... It's pretty tough to beat that smooth velvety black!

 

[PapaRoacher]

Ah, like, Tarra is the most skittish Rose-hair I've ever seen...

The experience with her has left me soured and reluctant to hold her...

So, I'm hoping to get a G. Pulchra sling and raise her into being held regularily...

 

[knottyduke]

My G. rosea is that way too. I have been taged by her once and though it caused little to no pain, it was a good way to make sure I pay attention when my hand is in her tank.

 

[PapaRoacher]

Yeah, every time Tarra trys to be skittish when I'm in there, I always jump...

I think Tarra has a personal grudge against me, because I dropped her on my bed when i first got her, and she was scared...

 

[knottyduke]

Well I control my jump, but once I was talking to a friend and a plastic plant we had on top of hide fell onto my hand and I sure jumped then.
Poor Crikey got scared worse then I did!!! :8o

 

[PapaRoacher]

Poor little spider

 

[pitbulllady]

If you decide to get a G. pulchra, either make sure you get one from a seller who can vouch for the personality, preferably one you can pick up in person. I'd go ahead and splurge, and get an adult, since I understand this species grows very slowly, so it will be a long wait before Shara gets to handle it, if you get a 'sling.

I have had some very negative experiences with G. pulchras, and one very positive. My first two were sub-adults, in the 3.5-4 " range, and both were extremely aggressive and skittish. I still have one, and she will not hesitate to attack anything that enters her domain. She also went through a stage where she was the worst hair-kicker of any T I've ever had, and that includes my Brachy's! I'd seen a few others in a reptile-speciality pet shop not far from here, that were just as bad. I would have no more tried to handle these than I'd want to handle a Pokie! I finally found a really calm, big adult female, who is an absolute doll. All of the really nervous, defensive ones I've seen were sub-adults, so maybe it's a stage they typically go through.

Another great choice would be a G. aureostriata. Yeah, I know that there can be nasty examples of those, too, but I've yet to see one personally. All of them that I've handled have been very sweet.

Finally, don't overlook our native US T's. I'm absolutely hooked on Aphonopelmas! In my opinion, there is simply no better pet T than an A. hentzi! I've never seen a threat display from mine, or seen them kick hairs. They actually seem to like human interaction, since unlike my others, even the most docile among them, the hentzis will actually make an effort to climb up out of their enclosure to step onto my hand without prodding(though they can be obstinate when I try to put them BACK in their enclosures). I find them to be far more reliable, in terms of temperament, than a Rosehair or even my B. albopilosums.

pitbulllady

 

[Pixie]

From my experiences, the top two handleable species are grammostola aureostriata (chaco golden knee) and ephebopus campestratus (pink zebra beauty). I have 5 chacos and all are quite mellow, just the younger ones are a tad more skittish. I've handled quite a few pzb and they were all very mellow and tolerant.

My b. albopilosum isn't aggresive but she is much more skittish and moves faster than my female b. smithi. Still a good choice but like with any species, you can't be guaranteed 100% a sweet and mellow T.

Personally, I've noticed age seems to play a part in the handling tolerance of different Ts. Most of my young ones are skittish, some very much so. Once they grow into being their adult size, they seem to mellow out considerably. It seems they realize they aren't as vulnerable any more and that they are the big impressive ones now! My female smithi was the best example. I got her she was 3 1/2" and very skittish, she would zoom out of the way at any type of approach even if I wasn't trying to handle or move her. Her next molt that brought her to over 4", she started to calm down a bit and not run away all the time. The next and her last moult where she is a good 5" if not a tad more and she's been super mellow since. To the point that I have to prod her a few times to get her to move, sometimes it takes over a dozen little pokes to get her to take one step! lol

So my advice would be to get a sub-adult or adult. You're IMO more likely to get a mellower T or have it mellow out on you quicker. I'd also suggest as others did to see the tarantula first and at least make sure it's not a psycho one if you're looking for something that you can handle.

Good luck and great idea!

Pixie

 

[JohnxII]

I would also recommend G. aureostriata over G. pulchra for the same reasons pitbulllady said. I have 2 juvies and 1 sub-adult. The juvies are very skittish and occasionally kick hairs. The sub-adult attacks everything that gets near her. All the Chaco juvies I have, they just want to get out and explore whenever I open the lids. So I just let them wander onto my hand without any pestering.

 

[PapaRoacher]

I would also recommend G. aureostriata over G. pulchra for the same reasons pitbulllady said. I have 2 juvies and 1 sub-adult. The juvies are very skittish and occasionally kick hairs. The sub-adult attacks everything that gets near her. All the Chaco juvies I have, they just want to get out and explore whenever I open the lids. So I just let them wander onto my hand without any pestering.

Where I live, I'm pretty sure G. Aureostriata would be hard sauce to get my hands on... We have limited pet stores, and very few places inwhich you can accually order, but even then you'd lose a limb to pay for it...