Expectations vs. Reality

[l4nsky]

I have given up almost all fossorials. I still find the animals interesting and great, but for me personally there is no point in keeping them. If I hang up a poster of the species I have more visual impressions than if I put up a container with soil....

IMO, you just haven't found the right enclosures to really be able to enjoy keeping them .



When you can view them whenever you want by pulling the enclosure off the shelf and can set them up in a way that encourages them to be in the front of the enclosure when they're sitting at the mouth of their burrow, it's a game changer.

 

[8 legged]

I dare to doubt whether a burrowing species really wants a light-flooded cave...

 

[l4nsky]

I dare to doubt whether a burrowing species really wants a light-flooded cave...

Agreed, which is why I'm in the process of modifying these magazine holders to attach directly to my racks. That way the top heavy enclosures have less chance to turn into dominoes and they get a dark hide.

 

[CutThroat Kid]

Lasiodora parahybana

I have one and its actually one of my favorites because of how much it moves around and builds mountains out of its substrate. A goofy boy indeed. So much, in fact, that I put him into his full size enclosure at only 3 inches. He terraforms every inch. Right now he's building a tunnel system that streches from his hide all the way under his water bowl, yet he never hides in it. I cant wait for mine to show the darker colors of maturity.

 

[Liquifin]

View attachment 442495
Agreed, which is why I'm in the process of modifying these magazine holders to attach directly to my racks. That way the top heavy enclosures have less chance to turn into dominoes and they get a dark hide.

I do something similar at times, but I use cardboard because it's free, recyclable, and cheap for the poorest person like me.

 

[l4nsky]

I do something similar at times, but I use cardboard because it's free, recyclable, and cheap for the poorest person like me.

Oh I have as well, but cardboard doesn't do much in making sure 5+ pounds of substrate in a tall enclosure with a narrow base doesn't topple over .

 

[ReleaseTheQuacken]

Good expectation vs reality:
I thought my now 2- 2.5 inch B emilia wouldn’t be showing off adult coloration after molts. But she does and she has beautiful almost g pulchra black (for black sections), and vivid red.

bad expectation vs reality:
When I got my A chalcodes I was like, “Oh it will probably molt in a few months or a year”



ITS BEEN 3 YEARS

My a hentzi wont even eat for months... spooky as heck. shes not loosing weight either

 

[Mustafa67]

Have you ever had a spider that completely defied your expectations/ surprised you in some way? Temperament, size, activity level, etc. I'd like to hear some of your stories about outliers, a specimen that pleasantly surprised you, or one that was a disappointment for some reason or another.

Surprised disappointed - Brachypelma Bohemi and Smithi. They don’t eat for a long time and are pet rocks. Colour of my B Bohemi isn’t as bright as in many pictures of them.

Surprised love - A Geniculata and T Albo. My Genic is always showing himself/herself and is gorgeous. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I do. Its also pretty calm and not flicked hairs at me at all (Yet). My T Albo is also impressive, but not as impressive as the Genic.

I’d like some similar tarantulas to A Genic

I do feel disappointed about buying the Brachypelmas. They were the most expensive and are dull.

 

[Olan]

Disappointed: all 3 Cyriocosmus individuals I’ve had I never got to see. Underground all the time.

Surprised: I got a genic thinking it would be a cool spider to have. Did not expect just how amazing she looks as a big 7.5” adult. Massive, gorgeous, ravenous.


She’s molting as I type, so she will be even more impressive in the morning

 

[Kodasea]

Expectation: They’re little organic computers with a limited range of response, don’t expect personality or anthropomorphize.

Reality: They’re little organic computers with a range of responses, and personalities! It tickles me how skittish my g. porteri/rosea is, while my 1’’ b. hamorii knows no fear in comparison.

Also thought it was funny how hyped up the activity was on GBBs, but my sling is incredibly content to sit in his webbing and ponder his spider thoughts. Maybe it’ll change as it grows.

 

[Smotzer]

Expectations: I didn't have a whole lot of expectations as I have never met anyone else who has kept them but I was able to get my dream dwarf baboon genus Harpactirella, but I suppose I expected it to have a decent appetite or feeding response like a lot of other dwarfs.

Reality: First of all, the feeding response for tarantula, and for a dwarf in particular, is pretty damn awful, I could not get them to take anything live for over the first year of keeping and were even extremely timid towards anything but the smallest pre-killed prey. They also has been a much slower grower than I was expecting they took about 1year to molt at .25-.3 in which is quite a while, not that I mind that though maybe for a dwarf it'll have a longer lifespan in captivity?

But overall even though I have never seen it outside of its burrow it is still a pleasure to keep it and view it through the window into its turret burrow and even got to see it drink water dripping down into the substrate from within the safety of its burrow, which was an amazing interaction to witness.

 

[campj]

When I started to allow specimens with urticating hairs other than type 2 into my collection (5+ years after getting into the hobby I might add).

• Expectation: I'm going to have to dress down in PPE looking like Walter White every time I open up these enclosures and I should still expect to get hit with them.
• Reality: Why does my finger slightly itch? Oh, because I removed all the burrow spoil blocking the cross ventilation from the Aphonopelma sp Michoacán enclosure by hand while she just sat there and watched me from the mouth of her burrow. I should probably use gloves next time. Anyways, I wonder if she'll eat this month...

You just need to find the species that really kicks a lot of hair, and that your body happens to really dislike. I've owned many NW species and haven't had much trouble with most, but B. boemhei helped me realize that it's an effective defense mechanism. Man, talk about rashes! Simple cage maintenence would result in my forearms itching and red for close to a week. Never had a reaction like this with any other species fortunately.

One spider that I never would have considered but have grown to really like is Chaetopelma olivaceum. Got it as a freebie, and it looks much better in person than in photos and has really interesting behavior.

Disappointment falls to all the pet rocks. I simply won't buy most of the NW hobby staples because they don't do anything, are slow, grow slowly, and straight up bore the crap out of me.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

You just need to find the species that really kicks a lot of hair, and that your body happens to really dislike. I've owned many NW species and haven't had much trouble with most, but B. boemhei helped me realize that it's an effective defense mechanism. Man, talk about rashes! Simple cage maintenence would result in my forearms itching and red for close to a week. Never had a reaction like this with any other species fortunately.

One spider that I never would have considered but have grown to really like is Chaetopelma olivaceum. Got it as a freebie, and it looks much better in person than in photos and has really interesting behavior.

Disappointment falls to all the pet rocks. I simply won't buy most of the NW hobby staples because they don't do anything, are slow, grow slowly, and straight up bore the crap out of me.

The worst hairs for me are from Pamphobeteus. Had a juvenile P. antinous kick a flurry of hairs as I unpacked her from shipping, some landed on my neck and caused an extremely itchy, blistering rash for a few days. I've had minor irritation here and there from other species, but nothing close to this, even from my AF T. stirmi! Thankfully I don't react much to hairs in general (except from this genus), but I pity the people who do.

 

[Westicles]

Surprised disappointed - Brachypelma Bohemi and Smithi. They don’t eat for a long time and are pet rocks. Colour of my B Bohemi isn’t as bright as in many pictures of them.

Surprised love - A Geniculata and T Albo. My Genic is always showing himself/herself and is gorgeous. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I do. Its also pretty calm and not flicked hairs at me at all (Yet). My T Albo is also impressive, but not as impressive as the Genic.

I’d like some similar tarantulas to A Genic

I do feel disappointed about buying the Brachypelmas. They were the most expensive and are dull.

Of course it varies from individual to individual and such, but my B. boehmei is a bulldozing, eating machine! Lol

 

[l4nsky]

You just need to find the species that really kicks a lot of hair, and that your body happens to really dislike. I've owned many NW species and haven't had much trouble with most, but B. boemhei helped me realize that it's an effective defense mechanism. Man, talk about rashes! Simple cage maintenence would result in my forearms itching and red for close to a week. Never had a reaction like this with any other species fortunately.

Lol now that sounds like a job for Coyote Peterson, not me. I won't be volunteering for those experiments anytime soon. I do have quite a few Aphonopelma growout groups I'm raising up for future projects with only a handful being larger than slings. I'm sure once they start to put on more size and I'm exposed to them more and more, I'll find out how effective they are as a deterrent, sooner or later lol. I'd also like to work with some other NW hair kickers in the future, but I think generally I'll stay away from some of the more notorious genera like Theraphosa or Pamphobeteus with maybe one or two exceptions.

 

[LucN]

Disappointment falls to all the pet rocks. I simply won't buy most of the NW hobby staples because they don't do anything, are slow, grow slowly, and straight up bore the crap out of me.

You see a negative in that ? To me, their inactivity simply means I'll enjoy them much longer than most other Ts in the hobby. Who cares if they sit still for hours on end ? They look good while they're at it

 

[campj]

You see a negative in that ? To me, their inactivity simply means I'll enjoy them much longer than most other Ts in the hobby. Who cares if they sit still for hours on end ? They look good while they're at it

Yeah man, I need some excitement in my life lol.

Lol now that sounds like a job for Coyote Peterson, not me. I won't be volunteering for those experiments anytime soon. I do have quite a few Aphonopelma growout groups I'm raising up for future projects with only a handful being larger than slings. I'm sure once they start to put on more size and I'm exposed to them more and more, I'll find out how effective they are as a deterrent, sooner or later lol. I'd also like to work with some other NW hair kickers in the future, but I think generally I'll stay away from some of the more notorious genera like Theraphosa or Pamphobeteus with maybe one or two exceptions.

Coyote Peterson just rubbing all these different spiders on his body and waiting for a reaction. I wouldn't watch. Aphonopelma are pretty tame in my experience, rarely kick and not too itchy. Pamphobeteus might give you a run for your money, they're... nervous lol.

 

[Chris73G]

My geniculata suprised me. First her size when i moved her into her enclosure and she fully unfolded herself after sitting tucked away in a corner of the transport box. I mean, i knew she would be around 8 inches and with that 2-3 inches bigger than my previous tarantulas, but i didn´t expect that to make such a difference in appearance. And shes really laid back, no food reflex to tongs and water streams refilling her dish and even prey can live for many hours in her enclosure because she waits for her food to almost walk into her fangs by itself.

 

[l4nsky]

Coyote Peterson just rubbing all these different spiders on his body and waiting for a reaction. I wouldn't watch.

.... now that's a mental image I DIDN'T need

 

[ReleaseTheQuacken]

Yeah man, I need some excitement in my life lol.


Coyote Peterson just rubbing all these different spiders on his body and waiting for a reaction. I wouldn't watch. Aphonopelma are pretty tame in my experience, rarely kick and not too itchy. Pamphobeteus might give you a run for your money, they're... nervous lol.

Yea he's very much a masochist. He just finds any reason to self inflict pain in front of a camera. Surprised south park hasnt touched that yet(if it hasnt already).