Feather leg as first tarantula?

[Mushrommy]

Hi,
I wanna get my first tarantula and I've stumbled along the feather leg baboon. I love it. It's legs look so cute, like little mittens. But I've read they're really venomous and bolty. People say that they aren't good first tarantulas but I really really want one. I want advice if I should get one or if there are similar looking species.
Thanks!

 

[A guy]

Don't

 

[Brewser]

Research New World Arboreals

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Hi,
I wanna get my first tarantula and I've stumbled along the feather leg baboon. I love it. It's legs look so cute, like little mittens. But I've read they're really venomous and bolty. People say that they aren't good first tarantulas but I really really want one. I want advice if I should get one or if there are similar looking species.
Thanks!

Don’t they are very fast , strong venom and for advanced keepers. I had one it escaped for a Week then later on died for no reason I could find.

 

[bonewax]

Avicularia come in several variants all of which are beautiful. They are much better suited for a beginner and will be much more visible. The web tunnels they create are beautiful and impressive in their own right. Just research their husbandry and they can be a good beginner species.

Aside from s. calceatum's temperment and venom, having a beautiful spider you rarely see is not very satisfying for most beginners with few (or 1) tarantulas. Once you have a few and are feeling comfortable with basic husbandry and rehousing, adding a beautiful and rarely seen tarantula makes a lot more sense. When you have several spiders to keep your interest, seeing some of them less often isn't as big of a deal.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Read this for suggestions of species for a beginner.

Admin Announcement - 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

 

[Tinyspiderzz]

Eucratoscelus pachypus has feathery legs that look like they're wearing trousers! They're a small and relatively calm OW tarantula which may be better suited although they can be expensive and elusive to find. Otherwise, Tlitocatl albopilosus (Curly hair) is a very fluffy tarantula and a solid NW beginner species

 

[Arachnophobphile]

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Hi,
I wanna get my first tarantula and I've stumbled along the feather leg baboon. I love it. It's legs look so cute, like little mittens. But I've read they're really venomous and bolty. People say that they aren't good first tarantulas but I really really want one. I want advice if I should get one or if there are similar looking species.
Thanks!

No.....just no

Ask your parents and be honest with them. If they say yes then your parents should never had kids.

 

[Glorfindel]

avicularia are pretty nice

 

[Tinyspiderzz]

Eucratoscelus pachypus has feathery legs that look like they're wearing trousers! They're a small and relatively calm OW tarantula which may be better suited although they can be expensive and elusive to find. Otherwise, Tlitocatl albopilosus (Curly hair) is a very fluffy tarantula and a solid NW beginner species

Psalmopoeus ecclesiasticus!! It's a bit fast but it's got that feathery look and it's NW

 

[fcat]

This feels like rage bait I find on other social media sites, and follows a similar pattern of having no other post history. We’ve been infiltrated guys!

 

[Mushrommy]

Hi,
Thank you all for the advice, and sorry for making some of you mad? Either way, I won't be getting and will be focusing on an avicularia.
Again, thanks!

This feels like rage bait I find on other social media sites, and follows a similar pattern of having no other post history. We’ve been infiltrated guys!

I'm just asking a question...

 

[viper69]

Hi,
I wanna get my first tarantula and I've stumbled along the feather leg baboon. I love it. It's legs look so cute, like little mittens. But I've read they're really venomous and bolty. People say that they aren't good first tarantulas but I really really want one. I want advice if I should get one or if there are similar looking species.
Thanks!

Go ahead and do what you want, if you go to the hospital with a painful bite lasting days- that’s your responsibility. Who cares.

 

[Wolfram1]

This feels like rage bait I find on other social media sites, and follows a similar pattern of having no other post history. We’ve been infiltrated guys!

dont take the joke seriously, it is always hard to tell if someone genuinly asks a question or if they come here to purposfully ask a question that is part of a loaded topic that has already been heavily discussed

S. calceatum is widely agreed to be one of the worst starter tarantulas you could pick. And not one we would recommend to minors, ever.

basically you stepped on a mine here, nothing against you personally, there are sadly some people that research these topics and then ask these questions to rile everyone up, they feed off the attention...

 

[Ratmosphere]

Heck no!

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Welcome to the tarantula hobby. You are in the best place to get information on keeping tarantulas. Featherleg baboons, Stromatopelma calceatum, are beautiful, but are a very advanced species for their potent venom and lightening fast speed (you can’t react faster than they can). A bite from one of these lovelies would mean a trip to the emergency room. While it wouldn’t kill you, it would make your life very unpleasant for days, weeks or possibly even longer. Check out others’ experiences here:

Tarantula - Stromatopelma calceatum

Stromatopelma calceatum bite reports

arachnoboards.com

As mentioned above, Avics are great beginner species and have cute little pink toes! If you go to the genus galleries on this site, you can see a lot of pictures of these sweet, little goofballs. Caribena versicolor is always a crowd favorite as it starts its life blue and develops adult colors that are magenta. Read up on them a lot, a lot and come here for questions before you get your new T.

 

[Mike41793]

Agreed with others, I wouldn't as your first.

Another genus I'd suggest is Psalmopeous if you're looking to jump into arboreal with speed. cambridgei get about the same size as an S. cal but they're green. They grow quickly, are pretty hardy and a nice green color. If you get a well started sling you can grow with it and learn tarantula behavior and speed potential. I still would not want to take a bite from anything but if a mistake were made it's a new world so venom is not as bad. I really like the victori too, it's a sick black and red color. Kinda has a fuzzy look to it like the S. cal too

 

[bonewax]

Hi,
Thank you all for the advice, and sorry for making some of you mad? Either way, I won't be getting and will be focusing on an avicularia.
Again, thanks!


I'm just asking a question...

Good choice. If you find yourself still interested in something with fuzzy legs, Nhandu tripepii and T albopilosus are both cool beginner friendly options.

 

[Sauga Bound]

Damn. I erased this post and wrote a different reply when I saw you had decided to get an Avic as your first T.

I think you made very good choice. I have a small Avic Juruensis M2 juvie right now and I love it. I am looking forward to adding a Caribena Versicolor to the family soon, too. Make sure you do plenty of research, because there are lots of different avics out there and the prettiest are not always the easiest to keep alive. See if you can find a breeder selling juvies so that you dont have to raise it from sling your first go-round.

In time, you will be ready to keep more challenging species, and in a couple years you should be ready for a stromcal, but consider getting a pokie first. P. Metallica is a giant, insanely beautiful tarantula that has a really nasty bite, but is pretty good-tempered. Once you can keep a pokie confidently, get yourself a featherleg, if that is what you really want. My own personal Mt. Everest of arboreals is an Omothymus Violaceopes. The trouble is that I may never be able to keep OW because I am susceptible to rhabdo, which is a potentially deadly kidney condition that can occur with OW bites. There are so many OW species I want to keep that I may never be able to. Thankfully, there are tons of awesome NW species to make up for it.