First potential tarantula

[KevinsWither]

I was thinking of getting a tarantula. What species would be good for beginners? Any thing with aboreals?

 

[TownesVanZandt]

I would rather go for a terrestrial as a first T, but if you want an arboreal a semiadult Avicularia will be the best choice.

 

[viper69]

I was thinking of getting a tarantula. What species would be good for beginners? Any thing with aboreals?

There's a lot of threads, including recent ones, which are exactly this topic. I would search the forum for these threads (if you search Google it is likely easier, as it indexes the forum) if you haven't done so already. You'll get a much broader viewpoint over the course of years to decade.

After you have narrowed it down to say 10 species and conducted research on them, come back and ask specific questions to make your final choice.

In short you will find 2 schools of thought

1. Get the T you want right now
2. Get a T that you may like, but prepares you for the one you actually want in the future.

 

[EulersK]

Ask any questions you have after watching this

 

[Poec54]

Not a good idea to start with arboreals. So many people lose their first Avic or two before they get the cage conditions dialed in. We've had a lot of 'My Dead Avic' threads here, too many. Get the basics down with some terrestrials first.

 

[bryverine]

Ask any questions you have after watching this

What is the meaning of life?

 

[EulersK]

What is the meaning of life?

That's a very deep question that is difficult to answer, but a good place to start is classic rock.

 

[bryverine]

That's a very deep question that is difficult to answer, but a good place to start is classic rock.

:wideyed: Woah! It all makes sense. I've been doing it all wrong. All this time I thought it was regular rock...

As for @KevinsWither I'd go with a terrestrial, NW, juvenile (2.5+"). My first was a B. smith.

Once you decide, look here for info about setting up a proper enclosure. Anything you find that recommends heat mats or hygrometers is garbage. Good luck!

 

[Estein]

Here is a nice list of good beginner species with some general info--it's a great springboard for further research. Enjoy--there is so much to learn!

 

[Haemus]

What @viper69 said is exactly what happened to me. By the time I finished researching I changed my mind a few times on what T to get. I eventually settled on the G. pulchripes as my first.

 

[symbol]

If you take a look at the sticky titled "Beginner Info - Read Before Posting", you'll actually find links to a bunch of threads discussing both good and bad "starter" Ts.
The Quick Reference Guide to Answer Common Questions sticky also has a lot of helpful information. Especially posts #8 and #12.

 

[viper69]

If you take a look at the sticky titled "Beginner Info - Read Before Posting", you'll actually find links to a bunch of threads discussing both good and bad "starter" Ts.
The Quick Reference Guide to Answer Common Questions sticky also has a lot of helpful information. Especially posts #8 and #12.

Nice to see someone actually uses the forum resources to help another new person, great job.

 

[symbol]

Nice to see someone actually uses the forum resources to help another new person, great job.

Haha, yeah, I lurked these forums for nearly a year before I actually joined. Gave me lots of time to get acquainted with the stickies and other relevant, useful, and/or interesting threads. Lots of good stuff here! Eventually decided that I'd like to be able to participate in conversations too, so I finally got an account.

 

[KevinsWither]

Now I would like b smithi, only thing is that it is expensive. I was thinking about starting with slings. I'd like to see my tarantula grow with me and hopefully along with the enjoyment and passion of mines to care for invertabrates, on the side it would be a nice barrier to narrow down the selection of potential dates. But back to the subject, are slings hard to care for?

 

[cold blood]

What @viper69 said is exactly what happened to me. By the time I finished researching I changed my mind a few times on what T to get. I eventually settled on the G. pulchripes as my first.

That's so true, often people get started, do some research and are 100% convinced they know exactly what they want. Down the line they realize there's 100 ts they like better than the one they were convinced was the end all be all of tarantulas.

When I got started all I wanted as a H. lividium...thought it was the coolest t ever....Many years later I am glad I never went that route, and that same t I thought was the "coolest" isn't a t I'd probably even take unless it was free. Had I bought that to start like I wanted to so badly, I would have been so disappointed as its not a species that one sees very much of, on top of that, I'm sure I would have had mold issues or lost t because of a lack of moisture.

Aside from preparing you for more species, the "ladder system" also serves to open a person's eyes to more species they never realized they would like so much....there's so many incredible NW ts its simply amazing. Now I love me some OWs, but I think there's more "jewels" available on the NW side of the field.

 

[cold blood]

Now I would like b smithi, only thing is that it is expensive. I was thinking about starting with slings. I'd like to see my tarantula grow with me and hopefully along with the enjoyment and passion of mines to care for invertabrates, on the side it would be a nice barrier to narrow down the selection of potential dates. But back to the subject, are slings hard to care for?

B. smithi is one of those ts I was referring to. I had zero interest, thought they were nothing special, then I got one...its become one of my favorites in a collection of hundreds.

I got this girl as a 1" sling 3.5 years ago....she's already near 5"...some do grow real slow, others, like mine, can grow at a decent pace. Its not a difficult t to raise as a sling, I would just suggest at least 3/4". When they're tiny, they're appetites aren't always so good and their growth rates can actually be much slower as a result, meaning a long time with a small sling.

 

[symbol]

Now I would like b smithi, only thing is that it is expensive. I was thinking about starting with slings. I'd like to see my tarantula grow with me and hopefully along with the enjoyment and passion of mines to care for invertabrates, on the side it would be a nice barrier to narrow down the selection of potential dates. But back to the subject, are slings hard to care for?

In general, slings are more fragile than juvies or adults. How much more fragile depends on species. From what I've seen, most folks do tend recommend against slings for newbies because they can be a bit more fragile and difficult to care for. That said, I did decide to start with a couple slings and it's been going fine so far (but I've only had them for a couple weeks, so I'm not exactly speaking from a position of experience).

If you do decide to go the sling route, make very sure to do your research first. Make sure to do your research anyway! But be aware that you'll generally have less margin for error with slings.

 

[viper69]

Haha, yeah, I lurked these forums for nearly a year before I actually joined. Gave me lots of time to get acquainted with the stickies and other relevant, useful, and/or interesting threads. Lots of good stuff here! Eventually decided that I'd like to be able to participate in conversations too, so I finally got an account.

I did the same pretty much.

 

[viper69]

View attachment 220971
B. smithi is one of those ts I was referring to. I had zero interest, thought they were nothing special, then I got one...its become one of my favorites in a collection of hundreds.

I got this girl as a 1" sling 3.5 years ago....she's already near 5"...some do grow real slow, others, like mine, can grow at a decent pace. Its not a difficult t to raise as a sling, I would just suggest at least 3/4". When they're tiny, they're appetites aren't always so good and their growth rates can actually be much slower as a result, meaning a long time with a small sling.

Look at you w/the big CLEAR images...NICE NICE NICE

 

[Storm76]

Before you get ANY tarantula, please do research and look up their housing requirements, traits, behavior and all the other things that are important before someone does impulse buy an animal.