Friendliest Tarantula

[stubby8th]

Suggestion . . .

Hi!

another dumb newbie ?

since having tarantulas, my arachnophobia has been downgraded from severe, to manageable.. now i am tempted to handle one.. but which one?

i took my first steps by letting my tiny 1/2" L. parahybana crawl over my hands, but now i want to handle one of my bigger spiders.

whats a good choice? (they're all approacing 2 inches)

G. pulchra? (this guy seems a bit skittish)
B. albop? (passes the ass test with flying colors)
avic? (scared the crap out of me when i rehoused it)
P. cancerides? (haha)

Of the choices you have given, the G.pulchra will be your best bet . . . mine is about 2" and a little skittish as well, in her enclosure . . . until actually in your hand, then is truly a calm sweetheart.
For what it's worth, I have had two Eupalaestrus campestratus, Pink Zebra Beauties (PZB) and both have had the BEST disposition of any T I have owned. They can be somewhat skittish, but once in your hand - very predictable, very calm,very beautiful! Give one a try . . .

 

[Pofecks]

I have a 3 inch curly hair that we lovingly call Dr Venture. He is nothing but friendly. When I open his kk, he climbs up on his little house and puts his front legs in the air for someone to pick him up. Sometimes I catch him flicking hairs when changing his water, but other than that he is pretty well behaved.

 

[BGBYTOY]

Of the choices you have given, the G.pulchra will be your best bet . . . mine is about 2" and a little skittish as well, in her enclosure . . . until actually in your hand, then is truly a calm sweetheart.
For what it's worth, I have had two Eupalaestrus campestratus, Pink Zebra Beauties (PZB) and both have had the BEST disposition of any T I have owned. They can be somewhat skittish, but once in your hand - very predictable, very calm,very beautiful! Give one a try . . .

I have a Pink Zebra Beauty that I bought from Tom, (stubby8th) This thing is awesome, loves to crawl on people.. My 12 year old Grandson will agree...she settles right in and just sits.. nothing aggressive about her whatsoever...

I bought a bunch of "Beginner "T's" she is the Best of the Best ! (or at least mine is )

 

[MikeW]

Don't be scared of your avic, they're awesome. They're generally very nice and won't bite or flick any hairs, but they're super fast and really acrobatic. Also they're poop machines. Mine was so happy to get out of his box after two days that he squirted one right on my blanket. He's a little jumpy too, and he's in pre-molt now so I can't imagine how he'll be when he's done with that.

But yeah I would say you have to pick the one you feel most comfortable with (and more importantly, one that's comfortable with you).

 

[BGBYTOY]

We just took this one of the G.pulchra. Fist time we've handled him.. WOW ! another favorite !

 

[stubby8th]

Wow!

We just took this one of the G.pulchra. Fist time we've handled him.. WOW ! another favorite !

Man! Nice G.pulchra.

 

[Beccas_824]

Honestly, I think this may have to be a judgement call on your part. We know which T's are "known for being docile" but not all T's fit their stereotypes of being docile that they have been given (how many poeple have a Psycho Rosie?)
So you may have to decide which ones may be the most comfortable being handled even if they are not known for being easilied handled. We here don't know you T's temperments so to say.

 

[rosehaired1979]

I would have to go with the others and say the B.albo and the G.pulchra Here is my G.pulchra its not much bigger than yours (maybe .5"-.75" bigger)

 

[Gesticulator]

Bearskin...you always get me with your handling pics.....

NickS, if your curly hair seems the most laid back, then go with that one. Avics do get a bit jumpy but are good candidates too. Remember YOU have to feel comfortable. My G pulchra is usually okay once on my hand but gets kinda antsy when I touch it inside its enclosure.

Avic metallica, my most docile baby

 

[Pennywise]

PZB a Great Starter T

Pink Zebra Beauties are easy to take care of and real Teddy Bears
when it comes to handling. They seldom kick hairs and are slow moving
and docile. Mine is 4 1/2" got it from SCR at Daytona.

I just took this photo.

 

[Greaper]

My two nicest T's are Grammostola acteaon and my Avicularia metallica.

I have both of them for 2-3 years and neither of them have ever showed aggression!

 

[Bearskin10]

Bearskin...you always get me with your handling pics.....

NickS, if your curly hair seems the most laid back, then go with that one. Avics do get a bit jumpy but are good candidates too. Remember YOU have to feel comfortable. My G pulchra is usually okay once on my hand but gets kinda antsy when I touch it inside its enclosure.

Avic metallica, my most docile baby

Nice metallica you have there, I have a 2" sling but am picking up what was said to be a 7" female at a show next weekend and also a female Avic. juruensis and a female Avic. avic. hope my new metallica looks as nice as your but I can't wait to get my hands on the juruensis have been looking for one of these for years... Greg

 

[cloud711]

In my opinion g rosea, b emilia are some good choices.

 

[pitbulllady]

re: Friendliest T

In my opinion g rosea, b emilia are some good choices.

I have had several G. roseas, and have yet to have one which did not go through periods of time, of varying duration, during which they are as psycho as the worst P. murinus! You never know whether they will be very calm and tolerant of handlling, or rear back immediately upon the enclosure being opened, with fangs bared and ready for action! G. roseas are also prone to that maddening tendency to go on prolonged fasts, which can be really frustrating for a relative newbie. My B. emilia has never given a real threat display, but she kicks hair like crazy and runs around like she's on crank if I so much as touch her. After a couple of near-disasters while I was handling her, during which she panicked and ran for no apparent reason and nearly fell, I have relegated her to the "look but don't handle" category.

pitbulllady

 

[Apocalypstick]

I have always had g.pulchras. The females from sub adult to adult can be so sweet... but can also suprise you with a dry bite just for the fun of it. But your boy is most likely gonna be your favorite T to hold... he is gorgeous too!

 

[Kid Dragon]

Hi!

another dumb newbie ?

since having tarantulas, my arachnophobia has been downgraded from severe, to manageable.. now i am tempted to handle one.. but which one?

i took my first steps by letting my tiny 1/2" L. parahybana crawl over my hands, but now i want to handle one of my bigger spiders.

whats a good choice? (they're all approacing 2 inches)

G. pulchra? (this guy seems a bit skittish)
B. albop? (passes the ass test with flying colors)
avic? (scared the crap out of me when i rehoused it)
P. cancerides? (haha)

My G. pulchra doesn't bite, but it poops a grey liquid on people. Would you consider that being friendly?

 

[CreepyCrawly]

Well, I have an adult female B. albop who is very interesting to watch (esp. to watch feeding) but I don't know if I would be brave enough to handle her. Not that she's ever shown any aggression, but she has kicked at me before, and sometimes I have a nasty reaction to urticating hairs. If I didn't have a reaction to the hairs (like I used to, or rather didn't used to) I would have no problems handling her - or any of my Brachys. I have a G. pulchra baby (probably near 2", a little smaller) who I have handled several times. She is a teensy bit skittish in her cage, but is an absolute sweetheart. I also have a PZB baby who I would probably start handling, if she would come out of her hole for anything but crickets. Avics are pretty skittish, and I learnt my lesson rehousing my little avic versi not all that long ago. Crazy and fast little spider, and it never even broke a sweat - of course, I was sweating enough for both of us. I had an adult P. cancerides for a while, and she was very spooky. She would climb up to the lid on her cage and run around it tapping on the lid super hard, making surprisingly loud tapping noises all around the lid of the cage... sort of creepy.

 

[lta3398]

First off, everyone that posted here has beautiful Ts! The pulchra is a good choice. My cancerides is kind of defensive....Warpath, yours is a beaut!She just molted about a month ago, and she is still nice and black from the brown that she was. But she is not a T that I would handle (just mine, I mean, not all of that species). My avic is not defensive, just darn fast!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to be careful of her speed, if anything. My rosies are a little skittish, but not terribly bad, but not all are like that, I know. I have yet to get another pulchra after mine passed away, but it was definitely the most handlable (is that a word?) of my Ts.

 

[NickS1004]

My G. pulchra doesn't bite, but it poops a grey liquid on people. Would you consider that being friendly?

haha! thats more insulting than a bite!

My G. pulchra has suddenly turned into the nuttiest spider i have, i cant open the lid without it running around in circles with its abdomen in the air like a madman, its got like a large 9inch diameter deli cup for a 1 inch spider, so im thinking about putting it in a smaller enclosure and giving it a hide (peat is deep enough, but no burrowing).

 

[Apocalypstick]

LOL, I agree with Nick... it's an insult
My pulchra never poops on me and is pycho about
being clean. She can be a moody juvy girl at
times though and quite hateful. I absolutely
love her