An OBT as a good beginner's species?

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Arachnoprince
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Love how it goes from murinus to albopilosum.. What a jump.. Junk article author is a moron..
 
Ellenantula

Ellenantula

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I think I have seen that site before -- I saw a site somewhere recommending OBTs for beginners due to their hardiness. They are so readily available and inexpensive (plus gorgeous, imo), I can see why so many newbies end up with one.
An OBT was my second T.
 
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Arachnoprince
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Ellenantula said:
I think I have seen that site before -- I saw a site somewhere recommending OBTs for beginners due to their hardiness. They are so readily available and inexpensive (plus gorgeous, imo), I can see why so many newbies end up with one.
An OBT was my second T.
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Mine too and the cause of my obsession with Ts.. Got hit by one that was in my buddys collection and was so amazed at the potency of it's venom that i had to take it home.. My first was a boring but pretty A.hentzi years earlier. Allthough i don't really recommend murinus to most keepers it really opened up the world of tarantulas for me..

Honestly though with all the gorgeous species out there that make calmer captives and are easily aquired and cared for i dont understand why people gravitate to the obt..

It may be inpart that the general public still things that all tarantula bites feel similar to a bee sting.. That may of been somewhat true in the U S pet trade up till the mid 1980s but its not any more.. Theres a few hot species out there now and obts are real close to the top..
 
roman

roman

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It has a bad attitude and dangerous venom. It is also small (5" adult size) but extremely fast and ready to bite. Yes, nr1 beginner T.
 
Tomoran

Tomoran

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I read that list a when I first began researching new species to get, and it was the one that opened my eyes to the fact that there was a lot of contradictory information the web about tarantula keeping. A quick Google search for "OBT" produced dozen of articles and posts that completely debunked that a P. murinus would make a good beginner tarantula. Hardiness alone is not a good criteria. Sadly, it's still out there for all to see, and I've had a few people point to it when arguing why they thought they were ready for one.
 
K

KristinaMG

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Ellenantula said:
I think I have seen that site before -- I saw a site somewhere recommending OBTs for beginners due to their hardiness. They are so readily available and inexpensive (plus gorgeous, imo), I can see why so many newbies end up with one.
An OBT was my second T.
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It was my second T as well. Though retrospectively I was NOT ready for it and got lucky that my clumsy rehouse did not result in a bite or escape.
 
Sam_Peanuts

Sam_Peanuts

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I'm sure I'll get rocks thrown at me, but, in my opinion, it kind of had its place on the list back when the article was written.

First off, it's number 10 so it's the last one recommended and he very clearly describe it as having strong venom and being very fast and aggressive/defensive so people have a good idea of what they're getting into. They can't say they though their bite was like a bee sting or stuff like that.

As a first tarantula, it's not a good idea in my opinion, but if someone has some knowledge about them and wants a more aggressive/defensive species, then the OBT was a good choice back then for the reasons mentioned. Personally, I would have said it was a list for beginners(meaning not only their very first one) and not for people new to the hobby(which implies it's for their first one, but might not have been what he meant) though.
I'm sure my own experience makes me quite biased on this since I got an OBT as my second one and never regretted the decision even once, but I feel like if you have basic tarantula experience and are searching for something more challenging(meaning you think have the skills to handle it), it wasn't that bad of a choice back then.

Nowadays(since that article was made in December 2008), there's a lot more old world species available than back then and at much better prices so a more chill old world could be recommended instead.


My opinion on this is based on assuming people aren't idiots though which is sadly not always the case so some people may get them for the wrong reasons because of such a list.
Some people do make mistakes and realize they aren't cut out for it after the fact, but that won't make them idiots as described above, just to be clear, it happens when it's something you haven't actually experienced yet.
 
cold blood

cold blood

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I truly hate these beginner t lists, they are all too often put together by someone with an obvious lack of experience...like this one.

His preface shows this with the line that ALL tarantulas can cause serious medical consequences....right there you can see he has no clue what he's talking about and has no business trying to help newbies. He lists 3 reasons why OBT is a good beginner, one is that they're hardy....yeah, so is EVERY SINGLE BEGINNER NW T...c'mon man, they can all go a month without food if healthy. The next 2 reasons are simply TERRIBLE reasons for a beginner to make a purchase. 1. Grows fast...yeah, this means that the t will easily outgrow the newbies experience level in no time. Slow growing is clearly better for a newer t keeper. And 2. pretty colors....sheesh, what an idiot...newbies shouldn't EVER be buying ts based on pretty colors, that's the most ridiculous thing this dude could have written....especially considering all the pretty t's that ARE actually good beginners, like the red-leg Brachys. Heck 6 or his beginner t's are NOT even what you'd call a pretty t.

OBTs have no business in the hands of inexperienced keepers.
 
sezra

sezra

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no way would i ever recommend an OBT to a beginner. Ive been keeping T's for years and have had experience with quite a broad range of species so decided to get an OBT about 3 years ago (it was male and died earlier this year), and to be honest i dont think i would keep them again. I had more than one occasion where i was re-housing or doing general cleaning and it teleported out of the enclosure and onto the ceiling :p

Bear in mind, im not scared of spiders at all, however my respect for my OBT was verging on fear and that is not a good thing. they are just way too aggressive and too fast for my liking tbh.

I'll stick to the more docile, less venomous species haha
 
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Chris LXXIX

Chris LXXIX

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Ah ah, i remember that list. Well, except for Pterinochilus murinus, that list IMO isn't so bad. Here Lasiodora parahybana was considered, prior to the ban, a Theraphosidae "more" into the begginner ones rather than an intermediate like a Phormictopus cancerides for instance. But here, as i've said, the hobby was/is a very niche one with no YT "bravados" nor impulsive buyers.

It's not a secret that i view Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens as a good beginner one. Had yet to see a "Psycho" GBB, unlike sometimes with Grammostola rosea, one of the most used/abused T when it comes to beginners.
I mean.. yes, they are somewhat speedy (not so much for my point of view) but they aren't defensive.. if someone is really interested in T's keeping, a GBB speed shouldn't be a problem, otherwise.. fish.

Acanthoscurria geniculata isn't the best as well for a complete beginner, maybe, but not even impossible for someone with, at least, a decent "T basics".
 
awiec

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Chris LXXIX said:
Ah ah, i remember that list. Well, except for Pterinochilus murinus, that list IMO isn't so bad. Here Lasiodora parahybana was considered, prior to the ban, a Theraphosidae "more" into the begginner ones rather than an intermediate like a Phormictopus cancerides for instance. But here, as i've said, the hobby was/is a very niche one with no YT "bravados" nor impulsive buyers.

It's not a secret that i view Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens as a good beginner one. Had yet to see a "Psycho" GBB, unlike sometimes with Grammostola rosea, one of the most used/abused T when it comes to beginners.
I mean.. yes, they are somewhat speedy (not so much for my point of view) but they aren't defensive.. if someone is really interested in T's keeping, a GBB speed shouldn't be a problem, otherwise.. fish.

Acanthoscurria geniculata isn't the best as well for a complete beginner, maybe, but not even impossible for someone with, at least, a decent "T basics".
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I had a GBB whom would yo-yo between skittish and "I want to eat your finger", it didn't phase me much as I worked with various lycosids before I took up tarantula keeping. Which there are some people this type of attitude wouldn't phase either but if you are a bit arachnophobic or are surprised easily, some of the "potato" genus would be much better choices. I feel the attitude of no OW for beginners mainly stems from the fact that our hobby is now getting into the public aka the government eye. Normally I wouldn't care if some moron got bit by a potent OW but we are currently in a time where that moron could get all of us who keep our animals responsibly in trouble and our animals destroyed.
 
Chris LXXIX

Chris LXXIX

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awiec said:
I had a GBB whom would yo-yo between skittish and "I want to eat your finger", it didn't phase me much as I worked with various lycosids before I took up tarantula keeping. Which there are some people this type of attitude wouldn't phase either but if you are a bit arachnophobic or are surprised easily, some of the "potato" genus would be much better choices. I feel the attitude of no OW for beginners mainly stems from the fact that our hobby is now getting into the public aka the government eye. Normally I wouldn't care if some moron got bit by a potent OW but we are currently in a time where that moron could get all of us who keep our animals responsibly in trouble and our animals destroyed.
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I share your concern about that issue. I'm a perfect example of that. I live in a nation who banned ALL arachnids in 2003.
 
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