# Your first tarantula



## MrsHaas (Jun 1, 2015)

When did you get your first t?  And what was it?

I was three lol, and it was a Rosie of course (obviously I had help caring for her until I was old enough to do it on my own)...
Spiders were my favorite animal for as long as I can remember

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## Arachnomaniac19 (Jun 1, 2015)

Captive hatched Grammostola porteri (1") from my uncle. It's about six or seven years old and male, but still at 2.5".


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## widowkeeper (Jun 1, 2015)

5 or 6 and it was a b smithy or emila supposedly wild caught by my aunt who lived in death valley at the time but that was 35 years ago and I believe you could still pick them up at every pet shop around


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## TownesVanZandt (Jun 1, 2015)

6 years ago I got my first two tarantulas. I had read about eyes injuries from urticating hairs, so I was too afraid to start with the recommended NW species. I bought an adult female C. Marshalli and a juvenile P. Chordatus. Apart from a highly sketchy rehousing of the P. chordatus, I never had any issues at all starting with baboons.


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## lalberts9310 (Jun 1, 2015)

November 2013.. first T was a P. Irminia (yeah, I know), had it since 3rd instar and raised it to MM, have been mature for almost 2 months now if I'm not mistaken


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## sdsnybny (Jun 1, 2015)

Aprox 1980-82 B. smithi WC at 2-3 inches died in the late 90's with leg span reaching the height of a ten gallon tank. I miss Mortisha still


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## Roosterbomb (Jun 1, 2015)

In Nov of 3013 I decided to get a tarantula. After getting the "tarantula keepers guide" I decided I wanted a b smithi. After looking I couldn't find so I bought a Paraphysa Scrofa. She's fat and a little cranky but I'm very fond of her.

Apparently I just revealed I also have a time machine

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## scott99 (Jun 1, 2015)

Roosterbomb said:


> In Nov of 3013


you mean 2013


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## truecreature (Jun 1, 2015)

I was 17 and got mine at Petco as a "zebra leg" or something like that, looking back it was probably an A. seemanni. Ended up having to rehome it a couple years later because the friend I was moving in with had arachnophobia

But what sparked my interest in the actual hobby were some GBB slings I bought last December, my first spiders since moving out


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## cold blood (Jun 1, 2015)

Roosterbomb said:


> In Nov of 3013 I decided to get a tarantula. After getting the "tarantula keepers guide" I decided I wanted a b smithi. After looking I couldn't find so I bought a Paraphysa Scrofa. She's fat and a little cranky but I'm very fond of her.


Did Dr. Who take you to get that t??   I want a t from the future, you lucky rooster you.




I used to be highly arachnophobic, although spiders ALWAYS interested me and feeding the neighborhood spiders was one of my favorite evening adventures, but somewhere in young adulthood the sight of movement freaked me out and having one crawl on me just plain freaked me out.

I was working at a zoo at the time, spending a lot of time in the aquarium/reptile bldg., as reptiles, and especially fish, always had my attention.   One of the elder keepers, whom I was quite fond of, had a thing for t's, and despite my protests as to their value as a "pet", he forced some education down my throat and made me understand that they were even more fascinating and cool than I had ever imagined and my phobic behavior was certainly waning....even so, at that point I still balked at the thought of owning one (much less a room full).  

Fast forward several years I am living with my brother in the Marquette University area, next door were a pair of the dumbest, most spoiled young men I've met to date....they were bought a house so they didn't have to "stoop" to renting.    One day I come home to one of these guys in the house, talking to my brother, who was always much more tolerant of them.   He says "Dennis, check out what Karl has".

I go over to see an adult female G. porteri in a deli cup.   Because of my crash course from my keeper friend, I knew it was a) female and b) a very long lived species and most importantly c) that it was essentially a very fragile animal.

I ask, "so why did you get a tarantula?"   He replies excitedly "I got it to throw at my roommate to scare the oop: out of him.   I can't wait to see the look on his face when it hits him".

I was immediately appalled and my tone changed from inquisitive to stern as I scolded him for his lack of empathy and totally irresponsible behavior he was partaking in.   I then asked him to leave, informing him that the spider would be staying with me as he was clearly not responsible enough to be trusted with its life.

He left, I set up an aquarium and that t has been with me in that tank ever since...that was 15 years ago.  

Within a few years I began to be very comfortable and looked to expand, but back then I had no clue where to look aside from pet stores which didn't carry the species I had longed for, so I sat back for over a decade with just that one old rosie.   Fast forward again to a few years ago when I stumbled upon a small pet store that sold t's. and picked up a juvie G. pulchripes....then later a B. smithi, which was my first sling.   The sling experience was so unbelievably satisfying that I began to do more and more research (often reading care-sheets all night).   Eventually after stumbling upon AB on multiple occasions I decided to join and life's been a whole new ball game since.   I found not only this community, but that the t industry was bigger and better than I had ever dreamed, and all those t's I had longed for over a decade prior were now all readily available from a large number of breeders or dealers.


I now have a room dedicated to t's just a few years later, with over 30 species and around 70 specimens and always growing.    Breeding has been the next step that I am looking forward to (if my avic would cooperate and lay a sac already).   Great hobby, ever increasing popularity and acceptance and a great AB community to help me socialize within the hobby (prior I had never met anyone other than that keeper that ever had one or any interest) and it's been a total game changer.

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## shawno821 (Jun 1, 2015)

My very first one was a P.regalis that came with a reptile rescue,about 20 yrs. ago. The only advice that came with what I now know to be a huge pocie was "don't handle it". I had her for a couple of years,but she died after eating a feeder lizard. Didn't get any more until just a year and a half ago or so.


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## louise f (Jun 1, 2015)

My boyfriend got a Grammostola rosea in 2007. A big hairy red girl:biggrin: 

When we were on the way out to get it, i was in panic of having such a hairy thing in my home. On the way home he asked me to hold the box, and when i got it i could'nt talk and move, 
i just kept an close eye on the box.  Ohh yes i was indeed afraid of spiders back then. 

The first night i got up and put some duct tape on the lid of the enclosure, because i was afraid that she was coming out of there.  My boyfriend found it extremely funny. :laugh:
A couple of month later, the guy we got the rosie from, asked if we wanted the rest of his spiders, because he stopped in the hobby. It was about 5 spiders. Guess what my boyfriend said to him. Ohh of course, sure. :biggrin: There was a B.smithi among the 5 spiders we got. It was the first spider i touched, i found out that it was not that bad. 
So for me it has turned out from arahcnophobia to completely ADDICTION:biggrin:  

It is ok to laugh at me.  Today i find it very amusing when i think back.:laugh:

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## Chris LXXIX (Jun 1, 2015)

I started at 8 years (now i'm 36) with my brother, 7 years, collecting hundreds of (obviously) wild caught Mediterranean species such _Loxosceles rufescens_, _Cheiracanthium punctorium_ (btw, the only spider that bitten me, but i asked for that, ah ah) _Argiope bruennichi_ by the dozens (amazing spider) and lots more.
Back then, T's doesn't even "existed" here (apart those featured in movies, comics).
My first T's were a _Grammostola rosea_ and _Avicularia avicularia_, when i was 15.
Another thing, while not aggressive spiders, we, of course, were not aware of the venom of the Mediterranean Violin Spider (_Loxosceles rufescens_) we feared in those good old days of spider capture more the _Tegenaria domestica_, go figure.


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## Misty Day (Jun 1, 2015)

P.Regalis, GBB & N.chromatus. 2 years later and all still going strong, besides the GBB being a male.


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## Poec54 (Jun 1, 2015)

Adult w/c female B smithi in 1972 for $10, the retail price back then.

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## Issehalsey (Jun 1, 2015)

3 years ago my husband bought me a juvenile Avic Avic. Little guy passed away last year due to a blockage.


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## HungryGhost (Jun 1, 2015)

In 1998 I bought 2 b. smithi slings from Paul Becker and he threw in a free g. rosea sling. I bought them because my kids were interested in them as pets. I kept them until 2006. I got back into the hobby in 2013 with a g. pulchripes after keeping mantids for a while. I know have 9 tarantulas, 1 scorpion, and 1 mantid.


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## Blueandbluer (Jun 1, 2015)

I worked with Ts for years at the Academy of Natural Sciences and the Philly Zoo. The ones at the zoo "felt" like mine because I was the person primarily responsible for their husbandry, and I usually took at least one or two home with me over winter when the exhibit was closed. So it's really hard for me to say what was "first." I guess probably one of the A seemani, who I kept a few years running.

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## johnny quango (Jun 1, 2015)

About 17years ago a friend of mine kept tarantulas his pride and joy was his T blondi and a B albo which he bred and gave me a freebie (spike) I had him till the day he died as a mm. I left the hobby for 8 years because of marriage and raising kids. Then about 21/2 years ago I got me a B emilia sling, a sub adult Gbb and a sub adult G pulchra


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## Sentinel (Jun 1, 2015)

I got my first tarantula a few months ago, I'm new to the hobby. It was a Brachypelma Sabulosum. I now have a Lasiodora Parahybana and a Brachypelma Smithi as well.


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## Medusa (Jun 1, 2015)

Adult w/c (I'm sure) G. rosea, unsure of sex, but I called it, " Igor." Let's see, I think it was 1970. Seems like yesterday...[emoji6] Kept it in the Biology room at school - I was not allowed to have it at home.


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## awiec (Jun 1, 2015)

2 years ago I picked up a 2nd instar A.versicolor and my sisters dubbed it "Bob". Still going strong and finally has some adult colors but currently will not let me have the molt so I can figure out what the little bugger is.


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## nelu (Jun 2, 2015)

My first tarantula was a huge A. geniculata mature male in 2009. He lived happily without ever eating any roach/worm, which worried me so much, at that time it seemed abnormal. My second one was a sub adult B. emilia male which recently died of old age...


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## aggiegrad2012 (Jun 2, 2015)

My first was a good old female Rosie in January of this year. Now I'm up to 18 spp. among 24 individuals, and I'm looking to pair up a female P. cambridgei. Time travels fast!


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## TownesVanZandt (Jun 2, 2015)

aggiegrad2012 said:


> My first was a good old female Rosie in January of this year. Now I'm up to 18 spp. among 24 individuals, and I'm looking to pair up a female P. cambridgei. Time travels fast!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


You got addicted way quicker than most


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## Angel Minkov (Jun 2, 2015)

It was around summer 2009. Me and my dad were at a market-place where the majority of the commodities were fish, pigeons and dogs/cats. There was 1 person who sold arachnids and I just couldn't take it anymore... my childhood love prevailed and I asked my dad for 10 bucks to buy a tarantula. He mockingly gave them to me and frankly, I think he didn't believe me. I went up to the person 5 minutes later and said "what's your lowest priced tarantula, but can it possibly be with a not-so-toxic venom, because I don't live alone". He replied that Ts are not potentially deadly, so I just slammed those 10 bucks and grabbed the T. I went back to my dad and out of sheer interest I opened the vial in which it was, but because it wasn't transparent I couldn't see where the sling was and then BAM it was going out, so I flung the T somewhere out of fear. I searched and searched and searched around the place for perhaps 30 minutes at least with 0 luck. It was in front of a cafe where people were walking all the time so I thought someone had stepped on it. Just as me and my dad were leaving, I decided to do a quick check and there it was, under a table. I quickly put it back into its vial and I went back home, where I rehoused it on soaking sand, then I rehoused it in a watering trough designated for parrots and other birds. It had no ventilation might I add. Poor thing. I was 11 at the time if I recall correctly. Its still with me, 6 years later and she's a 6+'' female Lasiodora striatipes.

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## TsunamiSpike (Jun 2, 2015)

My other half and I got our first Nov last year, a 1.5in B. Albopilosum juvie for a healthy £12.50, followed a week later by a B. Smithi sling. They were joined by 7 more in january this year and have picked up another 6 since then. Only lost one gbb sling to a bad molt, otherwise everyone is healthy and "happy".


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## Storm76 (Jun 2, 2015)

3" P. irminia female and 2.5" unsexed B. smithi (which turned out female, too). Lucked out with an extremely high threshold Psalm there and never regretted starting with her.

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## aggiegrad2012 (Jun 2, 2015)

TownesVanZandt said:


> You got addicted way quicker than most


Hahaha I have had T's in the past but I didn't necessarily consider it my first as my care was sub par. A 9 year old's ignorance. As a kid I was into everything animals, and all of my care was better than the pet stores, but nobody knew how to take care of tarantulas in my tiny town. Internet was still new so I had little resources. So alas my jump back into the hobby was long awaited. And surprising to the norm I did a lot of my research before hand. Anywho glad to be here and working with awesome animals!


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## Sana (Jun 2, 2015)

I got my first tarantula as a sling in 2013 when a local mom and pop shop was closing.  My adorable little G. pulchripes is a male currently around 4".  I was lucky because the owner is a local keeper and gave me excellent advice and steered my away from other species to a good beginner tarantula.  I was 29 at the time with a 3 year old boy who is currently trying to convince me that he's old enough to get his first spider.  As though we don't have enough already at a total of 35.


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## Anubis77 (Jun 2, 2015)

I was 9 or 10 when I first decided to confront my fear by asking my dad for a tarantula. Going out of my way to avoid spiders was annoying. We went to Preuss Animal House in Michigan, and I found a nice big, cheap female something. When my dad asked an employee for more info, all he talked about was shooting bristles impaling skin and venom, so we left with an African Fat-Tailed Gecko instead (named him Anubis; I was in an Egypt phase). 

We eventually moved to Arizona when I was 14 or 15 (2005). I found a Centruroides sculpturatus and caused a whole fiasco in the house. Might as well have brought a nuke inside. Kept it anyway. Eventually, I ended up at a reptile show and found Chris from Krazy 8s. He smoothed over the whole tarantula keeping idea with my dad, and I brought back a G. pulchripes (died as a MM last December). Two/three years later, I had at least a hundred venomous animals in the house. Good times.

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## awiec (Jun 2, 2015)

Anubis77 said:


> I was 9 or 10 when I first decided to confront my fear by asking my dad for a tarantula. Going out of my way to avoid spiders was annoying. We went to Preuss Animal House in Michigan, and I found a nice big, cheap female something. When my dad asked an employee for more info, all he talked about was shooting bristles impaling skin and venom, so we left with an African Fat-Tailed Gecko instead (named him Anubis; I was in an Egypt phase).
> 
> We eventually moved to Arizona when I was 14 or 15 (2005). I found a Centruroides sculpturatus and caused a whole fiasco in the house. Might as well have brought a nuke inside. Kept it anyway. Eventually, I ended up at a reptile show and found Chris from Krazy 8s. He smoothed over the whole tarantula keeping idea with my dad, and I brought back a G. pulchripes (died as a MM last December). Two/three years later, I had at least a hundred venomous animals in the house. Good times.


Preuss's has gotten better about not scaring people away from the spider but they still give you a healthy dose of realism. I talk to the reptile section people all the time and they were placing bets on how quick a customer who bought a centipede would get bitten as he did not seem very bright and wanted to hold it. They said they warned him several times, made him sign a waiver and tried to talk him out of it but the guy took it anyway. Though I hope your gecko brought you a lot of joy, I know mine think's it's a Komodo dragon.


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## Anubis77 (Jun 2, 2015)

awiec said:


> Preuss's has gotten better about not scaring people away from the spider but they still give you a healthy dose of realism. I talk to the reptile section people all the time and they were placing bets on how quick a customer who bought a centipede would get bitten as he did not seem very bright and wanted to hold it. They said they warned him several times, made him sign a waiver and tried to talk him out of it but the guy took it anyway. Though I hope your gecko brought you a lot of joy, I know mine think's it's a Komodo dragon.


I wouldn't be surprised if they've taken a better stance on it. I don't think the hobby was anywhere near as big or influential in the late 90s/early 00s as it is now. If my memory serves me right, the guy compared urticating hairs on what was probably a G. rosea to rubbing fiberglass on your skin. It's fine to dissuade a kid and his worried dad, I suppose, and I'm not holding it against them. Better safe than having an angry parent complain. The gecko led me into the reptile hobby anyway.

Good that Preuss's is still around. I enjoyed that store.


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## ARACHNO-SMACK48 (Jun 2, 2015)

My first was an immature female G. rosea "Fuzz". That was 2 or three years ago and she's still with me.


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## awiec (Jun 2, 2015)

Anubis77 said:


> I wouldn't be surprised if they've taken a better stance on it. I don't think the hobby was anywhere near as big or influential in the late 90s/early 00s as it is now. If my memory serves me right, the guy compared urticating hairs on what was probably a G. rosea to rubbing fiberglass on your skin. It's fine to dissuade a kid and his worried dad, I suppose, and I'm not holding it against them. Better safe than having an angry parent complain. The gecko led me into the reptile hobby anyway.
> 
> Good that Preuss's is still around. I enjoyed that store.


To be fair for people who are sensitive to them it probably does feel like that


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## Tim Benzedrine (Jun 2, 2015)

I was at a local pet store and was astounded to see a B. smithi. Of course all I knew if it at the time was that it was a Mexican Red Knee, I recognized it from a non-tarantula book I had seen somewhere in the past, possibly an encyclopedia, I can't recall. It was priced at twenty-five dollars and I had to have it. I think it was probably the first tarantula I had ever seen offered for sale anywhere. I kept it with a water sponge as suggested in the tarantula book I located. Despite that, it lived and moulted male. Died after six months, but who knows if it was from just being a male or dehydration. I did witness it accessing the sponge and I suppose it got some fluid from its food. It was quite a while before I learned that sponges were no good and i believe that my second tarantula, a G. rosea (again, I didn't know it by anything than Rose-hair) had a sponge as well. It moulted male and then died later. What this means of course is that a sponge water source produces male tarantulas. I should write a paper on that.

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## robbh3 (Jun 3, 2015)

MrsHaas said:


> When did you get your first t?  And what was it?
> 
> I was three lol, and it was a Rosie of course (obviously I had help caring for her until I was old enough to do it on my own)...
> Spiders were my favorite animal for as long as I can remember


mine was a T. blondi, and a pair of GBBs


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## killainstinct (Jun 3, 2015)

My Nephews (who are quite young) Bugged me continuously for a pet. I am allergic to cat hair and get vey sneezy around most pets. They wanted a snake which was a no no in my house. A Lion or a tiger  which took some explaining as to why they couldn't have one.

Previously we have had a fish but apparently they were killed due to over feeding.

So whilst browsing around I came across a few options hamster, lizard or a spider!

I am not the most comfortable around spiders but decided seen as they had been told they couldn't have a lion we would try out a tarantula. Spent a few weeks doing some reading to try and prepare for the needs of the little bugger and deciding what to go for. The local petshops in the UK seemed pretty clueless as to what spiders were good for beginners. 

Plenty of reading left me with a few options, Rosie or B Smithie were the most popular. Whilst hunting for one I notice thespidershop had euathlus sp Red for sale and the description stated it was perfect for beginners. Youtube and other reviews pretty much mirrored the description so I went ahead and ordered one! I hadn't come across it previosly.

6 months down the line we are all happy with the decision. The kids love to sit and watch it go about its daily business!

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## Formerphobe (Jun 3, 2015)

WC AF B smithi, c 1978. I was working for a pet store at the time and probably got it for 1/2 price, about $7.


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## Ghost Dragon (Jun 4, 2015)

My first was three years ago, a rescued JF Rosie, enclosure & all, $20.

Collection is now at 30.


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## baijuncheng (Jun 4, 2015)

My first was a G. rosea, or at least that is what it was sold as. It turned out to be a G. porteri, I still have her and she's keeping me waiting for a moult. I had her for maybe a year, and then I don't know what happened. I just keep buying spiders and stuff.


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## ratluvr76 (Jun 4, 2015)

Blueandbluer said:


> I worked with Ts for years at the Academy of Natural Sciences and the Philly Zoo. The ones at the zoo "felt" like mine because I was the person primarily responsible for their husbandry, and I usually took at least one or two home with me over winter when the exhibit was closed. So it's really hard for me to say what was "first." I guess probably one of the A seemani, who I kept a few years running.


I'm so jealous that you got to work with Natural Sciences. I know you worked hard to get into that position, I'm still jealous LOL. I would have LOVED to have gotten an opportunity like that but I had zero idea as a teenager heading into high school what I had to do to steer that direction. My family was no help with this as people having gone to college are a rarity in our family lol. My guidance counselors were all useless too. meh, go figure.

My first experience with caring for a tarantula was actually in 2003 maybe 2004 when I inherited my brother in laws tarantula. I think it was a A. avic, the pet store he bought it from told him to keep it in a terrestrial set up.  I didn't know any better and since he'd had the T for a year or so I didn't change it's care regimen. It died about a year after that. It may have been a G. porteri, honestly I don't really remember what it looked like. Fast forward to June 2014 when I was gifted a little G. porteri sling. This sparked my interest again and in an effort to learn how to take care of such a little guy I found the boards here. Search after search led me here so in July I finally joined up after lurking for a month lol. I've got several spiders now, 18 so far that I've purchased over the past year. I'm expecting to get 4 or 5 more within the next month and a half or so. I'm hoping to get to the point that I can breed and sell some. I know i'll never make a living at it but I love caring for them and I'm hoping to be able to make enough to support my hobby from that eventually. Making enough to purchase new caging etc will be enough for me.  I also feel compelled to help quell the tide of w/c animals in the hobby so I'm hoping some day to be breeding the more rare ones that not too many others breed.


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## tarantulashack (Jun 4, 2015)

a. avicularia a lil over 3 years ago. after about four days of having it he hooked out.


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## rockpython (Jun 4, 2015)

1995. I was a pet store employee. I however wanted to know more than the "average pet store employee" (you know, "THAT GUY") and I took to reading all I could about every aspect of tarantulas (and to a lesser degree, scorpions) The internet was still in its infancy then and you couldn't just jump online and learn (who remembers the long dial up and boot off of AOL lol) but I know that G.rosea were common and recommended so I got one. Then I got an A. seemani, then a (what it was called then) a CB T. blondi sling (might've been stirmi)... and then an albop, a. avic, P. cambridgei, and 3 B. smithi slings....numbers have gone up and down but it continues to this day.


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## dementedlullaby (Jun 4, 2015)

Last April/May I bought three A. avic slings from Jon3800. They were my first tarantulas. I always wanted a T but never got one, after watching his videos for a good 6+ months I decided I wanted to buy my own and luck had it Jon had some babies he had bred and I actually live really close by. Was pretty cool to get it from the hobbiest who got me interested ^_^. One of them died but the other two are doing fantastic, molt every 3-4 months or so and one especially is getting big. 

I haven't got a new T since February-ish actually. I'm in the market for a new one now but can't decide the species or if I want to purchase a few slings or one adult. Booooooo decisions.

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## MrDave (Jun 4, 2015)

Roosterbomb said:


> In Nov of 3013 I decided to get a tarantula. After getting the "tarantula keepers guide" I decided I wanted a b smithi. After looking I couldn't find so I bought a Paraphysa Scrofa. She's fat and a little cranky but I'm very fond of her.
> 
> Apparently I just revealed I also have a time machine


It's good to hear the hobby will still be going strong in 1000 years.

After browsing this forum, reddit's tarantula forum and watching a lot of youtube vids, especially RobC's, I bought 2 of 1/4 LP slings and a 3/4 inch G. pulchripes sling from tarantulacanada in August of last year, almost 10 months ago. TC included a 3rd LP as a freebie, which made me very happy. Added an A. versicolor a month later. All are doing great.


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## scott99 (Jun 4, 2015)

I got my first Tarantulas last summer, an old w/c G rosea named charlotte that died last winter.


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## PanzoN88 (Jun 4, 2015)

B. Albopilosum (3), very amusing species


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## TopHatTarantula (Jun 4, 2015)

I got an adult female G. porteri in 2009. She passed away in February of last year.


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## elliotulysses (Jun 4, 2015)

I got mine as a Valentine's day present to myself. My first is a g. rosea named Megan.


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## tarantula71 (Jul 14, 2015)

Got my first g. Rosie when i was 5


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## FireSpider (Jul 14, 2015)

I'm probably one of the worse examples of tarantulas being like potato chips. My brother bought me a juvenile rose hair from PetCo at the end of April 2015 for my birthday, since it's no secret I love all things that creep and crawl. I wandered around the internet looking for how to take care of it, ended up on lots of breeders websites and eventually here, and just fell in love with the cute, fuzzy spider and all its kind. Now I will be up to 13 Ts by the end of the month, and my mother decided they were so cute she had to get a few of her own.

This wasn't actually my first T, though. I got a curly hair when I was 13 and had her for 8 years before she died. I feel bad now that the husbandry wasn't great for her, but I guess it was good enough since she was nearly grown when I bought her and probably died mostly of old age. I kept a number of colonies of millipedes and cockroaches throughout my teens too, but then was out of the invert hobby from 2007-2015.

Don't see myself being without tarantulas ever again, though. Though I might end up sleeping in the garage when the Ts take over the room...


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## gobey (Jul 14, 2015)

Dee spider the grumpy Grammostola porteri. Got her a little over a year ago at a convention booth. Thought I was getting a pet.

I was starting a hobby.

I almost traded Dee away once.

But she's too special to me.

Even though she hates me.

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## LoveHateLevi (Jul 14, 2015)

After 2 years of research and, learning, and watching videos, 2 months ago I got a Aphonopelma Chalcodes. I now have 11 different species of T's.


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## Draketeeth (Jul 17, 2015)

MrsHaas said:


> When did you get your first t?  And what was it?


Got my first tarantula in June of this year. It's an itty bitty _Brachypelma albopilosum_ and I luff it to bits. It's more of a character than I was expecting, and I'm quite pleased it's such a busy body as opposed to being a pet rock..


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## leaveittoweaver (Jul 18, 2015)

I got my first tarantula, Parker, in 2009. My cousin's friend had it and the friend's kids had lost interest or something. I was told it was G.Rosea but it's definitely a G.Porteri. I'm not sure how old it was when I got it but definitely an adult. It's only molted once or twice since being in my care.


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## Hopeful T Owner (Jul 18, 2015)

I've always had an interest in animals, especially insects and arachnids (or anything that would freak my brother out lol). My parents wouldn't allow me to get a T when I was younger, and over my teens and early twenties, I slightly lost interest until January last year, when me and my friend were at a local pet shop which specialised in Koi Carp, but also had snakes, lizards, tarantulas etc. I was looking at a large G. Porteri who was wandering around the tank and a member of staff asked if I wanted to hold it. I was nervous, but I said yes...and from the second the tarantula touched my hand, I was hooked and couldn't wait to get my own. So, I did loads of research, found AB and a few other helpful forums and in April last year, I finally felt confident enough to get my first T...and s/he is my lovely Brachypelma auratum "Mystery"...and over last year and this, I have now gained a  E. parvulus ("Truffle"), G Porteri sling ("Smidge") (who unfortunately died a few weeks ago), G Pulcheripes sling ("Zoe"), and my latest addition...a female B. Smithi ("Holly"). 

I am hoping to possibly get an Avic species...but currently looking at the care for them. 

Julia xx


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## spiderbesideher (Jul 22, 2015)

My first t was 9 years ago,  a G. rosea... Classic huh. I also ordered in the same shipment a B. vagans and a A. avicularia. The Avic died about a week later, I think my teenage self didn't keep the enclosure properly humidified and she shriveled up  Ever since then I've still been wary of trying out an arboreal... I felt so bad. The rosie and red rump did well with me for five years and grew to adult size. They were so much fun. I passed them along to a friend who had a love for tarantulas too, after I had to relocate after college...Unfortunately the rosie soon matured as a male and expired, and the red rump was dropped during a handling session with her new owner.


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## gypsy cola (Jul 23, 2015)

First T was a rose hair. 2009. he matured near the end of 2010, finally died in the beginning of 2014. His name was Romeo and lived up to his name. He was 
unfertile though.


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## Bipolar Spider (Jul 23, 2015)

I'd hyped it up so much to the girlfriend, waffling on about how dangerous they are and how hard i'd be owning one ... then came home with a GBB sling around 2cm. She laughed and went back to shop next day and bought a juv P. Regalis (I saw some YT video that made them look blue kmt). Owned quite a few over the years but am slimming down to whose behaviour I prefer and easiest to take care of.


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## NTslinger (Jul 23, 2015)

My very first tarantula was a Brachypelma albopilosum. We purchased her back when I was 6. The pet store owner told us she needed gravel, water through a spray bottle, and a tiny critter keeper. She didn't survive very long with the atrocious care we provided for her, and I felt bad enough that I gave up owning tarantulas until I was 13/14, where I bought a MM Grammostola porteri. At the time, I knew males didn't live long once they matured, but I hadn't seen enough tarantulas to recognize a MM until I scoured the internet. He lived a little more than a year and a half, but I have since bought 8 species of CB slings.


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## Stimpack (Jul 23, 2015)

MrsHaas nice handle. Thats my last name hah! Well my first T was a rosie. Then I purchased another rosie the day before my order of 13 slings and a reverse stripe cali king snake came in the mail! I kind of went all the way with beggining my collection!


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## owlbear (Jul 23, 2015)

Mine is/was an avicularia versicolor named Cupcake. Cupcake has molted three times for me and has some of her adult colors now, she's beautiful and I love her. Just needs a bigger home now, but I am waiting until she's out of premolt, since she's ready to molt again! Can't wait to see how vivid she is this time. Perfect spider and I have zero regrets for starting with a beautiful avic. Her little web canopy brings me a lot of joy.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Storm76 (Jul 23, 2015)

owlbear said:


> Mine is/was an avicularia versicolor named Cupcake. Cupcake has molted three times for me and has some of her adult colors now, she's beautiful and I love her. Just needs a bigger home now, but I am waiting until she's out of premolt, since she's ready to molt again! Can't wait to see how vivid she is this time. Perfect spider and I have zero regrets for starting with a beautiful avic. Her little web canopy brings me a lot of joy.


It can be done, it's just the majority of beginner keepers out there messes up on the conditions for the cage and ends up with dead Avics - it's the reason why a lot of us discourage people from starting outright with one. To prevent a sad happening like that.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Nicolas C (Jul 26, 2015)

My first T was a little sling Brachypelma boehmei, sold to me as B smithi by a local pet shop. I learnt a lot with him (a did lots of mistakes!), but he had a long and frenetic life until maturing male. He was so skittish, never keeping the setae on his abdomen more than a few weeks after a molt!


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## owlbear (Jul 30, 2015)

Storm76 said:


> It can be done, it's just the majority of beginner keepers out there messes up on the conditions for the cage and ends up with dead Avics - it's the reason why a lot of us discourage people from starting outright with one. To prevent a sad happening like that.


Huh... I remember reading that. I may have just been lucky with mine, I haven't really done anything special, other than misting one side of her web once a week. :s Good heads up though.


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## orionsXlight (Jul 30, 2015)

owlbear said:


> Huh... I remember reading that. I may have just been lucky with mine, I haven't really done anything special, other than misting one side of her web once a week. :s Good heads up though.


It doesn't take anything special to care for an Avic. When I first got into the hobby I got a diversipes and versi right off the bat. Avic deaths are from negligence or ignorance. A little humidity some crickets and tah dahhhh happy spider. I still very much love my Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. No I am not a "Brony" but naming my spiders after my little ponies was a great tactic to make my daughter less terrified of them ;D


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