Becoming a Tarantula parent...

[BusyTmomma881]

Hi, I'm Katherine and I am soon to be a first time tarantula mommy to two beautiful species that will arrive next week and will be coming as just slings. I bought a Mexican Red Knee and a Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater. If anyone can give me tips or advice on having my first tarantulas I would appreciate it so much. I just think they're one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen and I want to give them the best life I possibly can...

 

[Tarantuland]

Tarantula Information for Beginners (and More)

Below are some helpful resources. (Rather than having half a dozen or more pinned threads, which clutter the top of the board, we are pinning this index.) While the focus is on beginners, there are other threads on health and more advanced species that may be useful to more experienced keepers...

arachnoboards.com

Welcome to the boards. Utilize the search function, most beginner questions have already been asked many times. Those are excellent beginner species.

 

[viper69]

Hi, I'm Katherine and I am soon to be a first time tarantula mommy to two beautiful species that will arrive next week and will be coming as just slings. I bought a Mexican Red Knee and a Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater. If anyone can give me tips or advice on having my first tarantulas I would appreciate it so much. I just think they're one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen and I want to give them the best life I possibly can...

tips and advice— read the forum before you buy exotic animals

what specific questions do you have?

no point in writing general info that is already here, waste of your time and mine.

 

[AlbaArachnids92]

Hi, I'm Katherine and I am soon to be a first time tarantula mommy to two beautiful species that will arrive next week and will be coming as just slings

Welcome!

2 pretty solid and hardy T's, even as small slings. You should have a pretty good time of it if you are keeping up with the basics.

The link provided by is a great start point for general care information and is a lot more accurate than is typically found through a google search!

The search function is fantastic as so many new keepers have asked almost everything imaginable at this stage,. I picked up a few things that I'd suggest as search tips:
- always search for a topic before beginning a new thread (you'll most likely get the answer and a friendly nudge to use the search function in future )
- try searching for scientific names if your not getting many results (you'll find experienced keepers may not know which T you are asking about based on common names)
- try wording your search as simply as possible e.g. "species name husbandry" might not gain you many results but "species name care" might

So far, I've yet to need to start a new thread for any questions regarding care, it's all here!

 

[BusyTmomma881]

tips and advice— read the forum before you buy exotic animals

what specific questions do you have?

no point in writing general info that is already here, waste of your time and mine.

I'm just trying learn much as I can on how to care for them before they arrive. I'm sorry, I'm new to this, I've never been a part of a forum before.

 

[viper69]

I'm just trying learn much as I can on how to care for them before they arrive. I'm sorry, I'm new to this, I've never been a part of a forum before.

all of us were new to this

however asking general question is not helpful, given 99.9% of what you will ask is already here if you do the research.

it’s better to come back with specific questions.

you can’t expect people to give up their free time to type stuff that you may already know

 

[Matt Man]

welcome to the hobby, you are in the right place for a wealth of information.
The first one is this - they are pets, you will not be their mommy / parent.
This goes for every other animal on Earth, if and when you have a kid you will understand the vast differences between the 2.

But people calling them their 'kids' is why we wind up with pets in places they 100% absolutely don't belong, and people making horrible decisions in regards to them.
This isn't directed at you personally, this covers a lot of ground and human beings, including a major Pet Store Chain that pushes this idiocy.

Dog, 2 Rabbits, 2 Snakes, Leopard Gecko and around 30 Ts and a daughter. She is my only child

as you can probably tell, this is beyond a peeve for me.

 

[Craig73]

I’ve never really called myself a ‘pet parent’, if I have it’s few and far between. But people, mostly work people cause they know I have no kids, call me one, or call me their ‘daddy’. Last time I checked I had human dna and certainly wouldn’t want implications my pets came to being with any of my help. Doesn’t irk me one way or the other though.

I just asked my pup who his daddy is and got no reaction. The SO on the other hand came running into the room asking what I wanted.

 

[l4nsky]

Hi, I'm Katherine and I am soon to be a first time tarantula mommy to two beautiful species that will arrive next week and will be coming as just slings. I bought a Mexican Red Knee and a Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater. If anyone can give me tips or advice on having my first tarantulas I would appreciate it so much. I just think they're one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen and I want to give them the best life I possibly can...

There is a host of tips, tricks, and information that can be found by learning and using the search function here on the boards (as everyone else has stressed). Word of warning though, AB has been around for quite some time and is a large repository of care information, some of which may be outdated. If you find some contradictory info or have some more specific questions, don't hesitate to ask for clarification via a new thread. Also, no one really uses common names as they are pretty inaccurate and could refer to more than one species (for example, Mexican Red Knee is a common name for both Brachypelma hamorii and Brachypelma smithi). Keep this in mind when searching.

Probably the one thing that I really stress to new keepers is that tarantula care is not really like the care of any other animals (especially mammals like cats or dogs!). In fact, tarantula care is more akin to plant care and can most accurately be described as "beneficial neglect" and bothering them too much can make them stressed. They don't need to eat every day, they don't need water everyday, they don't need any kind of enrichment, and there are no benefits to handling. They are an observational "pet", and I use that word loosely lol.

 

[thomlennon]

I'm just trying learn much as I can on how to care for them before they arrive. I'm sorry, I'm new to this, I've never been a part of a forum before.

Don’t mind him <edit>