a. geniculata keepers...

[BayBredBeardies]

Definitely a great addition. You said you were only getting one. Let us know how that goes because I'm sure a lot of us said that

 

[ryancreek]

Get one! If I could only have one tarantula it would be an A. genic! This is my favorite species so far. Thicker white bands than the very similar A. brocklehursti. I have a 2 1/2 inch A. geniculata juvenile right now. Awesome coloration, never hides, and ALWAYS eats. It attacks the water every time I fill the bottle cap. It is a little on the defensive side and when rehousing it flicked hairs and bit the q-tip. But with gentle slow movements, I could probably handle it if I wanted too.

Right now it is in a small critter keeper. I try to keep humidity around 70-75%, temp around 80 deg f. When humidity is higher it climbs the walls, if much lower it huddles around the bottle cap. Remember this species is from northern Brazil.

 

[webbedone]

big gluttonous spider nuff said get one if you can!

 

[Poxicator]

If I had to get rid of my terrestrials I'd have a hard decision over these or GBBs they are equally stunning species.
They make great display species and as Talons vid shows they are quick off the mark when it comes to feeding. They'll eat more than 3 crickets at a time and until they become fully grown they rarely refuse food. If you want a T to show off, that's almost guaranteed to be out, that will pounce on any food that you put in and is beautifully patterned then its hard to beat this giant. Get it, love it.

Found them hard to mate though, both my feamles moulted out after they eventually became receptive.

 

[winwin]

That is one big butt gal (hopefully) you got there winwin.

Hupababy, In my experience which consists of raising a single indiv female from around 2.5" to adult now since Dec of last year-

I don't find them defensive so much as being greedy eaters. My female has slapped at me once or twice but most of the other movements that could be attributed to aggression have been, by behavior shown at the time, a feeding response. She's actually much more handleable than say, my B boehmei- certainly moreso than my L klugi and of recent, the subadult male G pulchra. I would say that my A geniculata and N tripepii are my two most handleable adult t's. The genic's hairs used to bother me some but she rarely even kicks now. There's a recent pic of her in Killy's "handling A geniculata" thread.



WinWin, Nice, healthy t! However, I found out that my girls but grew even more and more misshapen from frequent feedings. It got worse and worse. I slowed her down tremendously after she was only slightly bigger than the above pic. They seem to be prone to this moreso than some other spp- likely a reflection of their eagerness to feed. The huge female I got Joey (possumburg) was grossly overweight when I got her. He's slowed her down now and she's a beaut!! They're an awesome addition to any nw terrestrial collection.

Terry

That's not a geniculata, that's a lotta genic!

I actually fed it so much last week since I'm going home for 2 weeks for Christmas break. I actually didn't handle her until the day before I left, she gets kinda defensive and pounces anything that gets close but she was really nice the day that I was about to leave.

 

[hupababy83]

Thank you all for your replies and beautigul pictures! This is the spider I want! I can't wait!