What's a good first OW T?

[Quantities Of Quarrels]

After about ten years in the hobby I think I'm finally ready for an old world tarantula. I'd like to work my way up to the infamous OBT but I don't think that's a good choice for my first old world since I'm used to new world t's.
Does anyone have some good suggestions for a first old world tarantula?

 

[KezyGLA]

Anything Harpactirinae

 

[BoyFromLA]

My suggestion would be:

Encyocratella olivacea

 

[Tia B]

Whenever anyone wants suggestions on OWs, I recommend Chilobrachys fimbriatus. Beautiful spider, heavy webber, and they tend to be decently visible for a burrowing species. I see mine pretty much all day just hanging out in its webbing. The only time I see it duck into its burrow is if I jostle its enclosure. They can move fast, but as long as you make sure there's enough dirt for them to build a secure burrow, they won't give you any trouble.

@basin79 has a gorgeous adult female

 

[Venom1080]

10 years with a porteri..?

People will say they've been keeping for decades but really they just have a porteri in the back room on sand with a heat mat..

Ceratogyrus, Augacepahlus, etc. Basically any terrestrial baboon other than P murinus. Even a pokie isn't bad depending on what you keep.

 

[PanzoN88]

Anything in the Harpactira genus

Anything in the Ceratogyrus genus

M. balfouri

E. pachypus

Orphnaecus Sp. "Cebu" (I started my OW obsession with one, not too defensive, more shy and skittish than anything and very heavy webbers.

 

[Nonnack]

It isn't really important how long you are in hobby, what important is, what spiders you already have experience with.
Take what you want, but if you don't feel really confident, its good to start with something from Harpactirinae, like KezyGLA suggested.
About Encyocratella olivacea, I heard its one of the craziest tarantulas

 

[Scarabyte]

It isn't really important how long you are in hobby, what important is, what spiders you already have experience with.
Take what you want, but if you don't feel really confident, its good to start with something from Harpactirinae, like KezyGLA suggested.
About Encyocratella olivacea, I heard its one of the craziest tarantulas

It seems like all the extremely beautiful T's are the craziest ones

 

[Venom1080]

It seems like all the extremely beautiful T's are the craziest ones

Caribena versicolor, Ybyrapora diversipes, pamphobeteus sp Solaris, Xenethis immanis/ so megascopula, etc.

All NW spiders.

 

[Scarabyte]

Caribena versicolor, Ybyrapora diversipes, pamphobeteus sp Solaris, Xenethis immanis/ so megascopula, etc.

All NW spiders.

Caribenas are beautiful true, A lot of NW's are pretty, I just like the look of some of the OW T's myself, but I only have one T currently so I'm more then happy sticking with the gorgeous NW's out there.

 

[FrDoc]

I'm always advocating for H. Himalayana; fossorial, so it's not going to stand its ground, it'll just bolt into its burrow if it doesn't want to see you; heavy webber, not just webs all around but some very cool web tunnels; good eaters, and present themselves often, especially when they're hungry; crazy easy to keep, straight top soil, some anchors points (smooth rocks, fake plants), water dish, done. Little lightening bolts too, so you will get some practice during re-housing for other fast T's that may be less forgiving. The first time I rehoused mine I had to chase it all around the secondary enclosure with the catch cup for about five minutes and it never threw a threat pose. Plus, I think they are a very cool looking T.

 

[Nonnack]

It seems like all the extremely beautiful T's are the craziest ones

Not really, there are many beautiful, and colorful T's from NW. And they have one big advantage over OW - you will actually see them ;P You can have pretty blue T like, C. lividus, or O. violaceopes, but they will go out like once in month. In contrast to lets say C. cyanopubescens that is most of the time out.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I'm always against the 'myth' that lives behind the P.murinus

I tell you, all of that is nothing but a mix of: not prepared enough people 'jumping in' too fast, sometimes without having a clue, sometimes without not even a clue about what do to when the pre-molt/molt time arrive; wrong set up offered, especially those kinda good for classic terrestrial ones (mostly for a spider visibility issue only), and so forth.
Combined with cheap prices/availability, rinse and repeat that for decades = OBT 'horror stories'.

There is nothing transcendental about the 'OBT', trust me. Yes, we can debate about the quite powerful venom of those (as if a C.fimbriatus one is a walk in the park) but in all honesty there's Asians - arboreals not 'Pokies' - more defensive, in general, than an 'OBT'.

Certain Lampropelma nigerrimum females, or H.hainanum are by far more 'furious' than the orange lovely

Another thing to consider... the years of keeping. 10 years or nothing can be the same thing if, someone (ain't saying you, uh), only kept for 10 years the likes of 'grammo/brachy/LP/aphono' and whatnot.

On the other hand, if someone (ain't saying you, uh... again) kept for 10 years a large variety of (sorta) high strung NW T's such genus Psalmopoeus, Phormictopus, Megaphobema, Tapinauchenius, Ephebopus and so forth, frankly I'm baffled by the questions about a P.murinus, since that hypothethical he/she already should know how to deal with speedy & high strung eight legged buggers

 

[miss moxie]

Augacephalus, Ceratogyrus, and M. balfouri are good starter OWs in my opinion. If you've worked with Psalmopoeus you could start with a Poecilotheria.

 

[Nonnack]

Chris have a point. I wouldn't say that OBT is the worst, it's not a plaything either, but its not like end game in tarantula hobby. I don't have first hand experience but i guess Stromatopelma, Lampropelma, Omothymus, Selenocosmia, Chilobrachys, Lyrognathus, Psednocnemis and many more. Are as dangerous, or even more than OBT, and are for sure harder to take care for.

 

[Mojo288]

Idiothele mira is always my first suggestion.

 

[Ungoliant]

Does anyone have some good suggestions for a first old world tarantula?

I went with Ceratogyrus marshalli as my first OW, because it's commonly recommended (not too high-strung and often visible). Plus the horn gives it an interesting look (and an easy way to spot a female).

Of course, I had to get the one that broke the mold and became a pet hole, but she is still fun.

 

[sasker]

I have a P. muticus as one of my first OW. She is not that high strung/defensive/flighty. Like most fossorials, she just legs it to her burrow if she is out and gets disturbed. So I think that would count as a good first OW as well. She is still a juvie, mind you.

 

[EulersK]

My first OW was a C. andersoni. I wouldn't recommend it.

Go with a Ceratogyrus, hands down. Easier to care for than most NW's, frankly. Just don't be reckless with them.

 

[Quantities Of Quarrels]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions! I was at work so I couldn't respond to everyone right away but I did read all the posts in here so far. Now to read up on all the species everyone suggested to me!