Good sized starter s'lings? Avic. geroldi or avic. avic.?

[greensleeves]

Okay, originally I was going to get an Avic. avic. because there were a good quantity of them available to me locally at a good price. But my first choice was an Avic. geroldi. which this supplier has recently acquired. So, having never had a spider before, my question is:

Should I go with a:

- 1/2" Avicularia avicularia or
- 3/4" Avicularia geroldi

Okay, advantages to the avic. avic.s - they're cheaper, and younger, so I get to enjoy them for longer, plus buy one or two extra in case I mess them up with my newbieness. Although I will be extremely careful to keep the cuties alive. The geroldi costs 4 times as much, but it's a bit bigger, and therefore, probably a bit further along in growth and not as likely to drop dead, possibly?

Also, one of my concerns is size. I've never really seen slings except in pictures, so what would a 1/2" avicularia look like? Would it still be naked and pink, like those 'forget me nots' someone posted from a recent eggsac, or would they be starting to get some colour?

I'm having a really hard time visualizing them, size-wise.

What do you guys say? :?

Greensleeves

 

[defour]

There really isn't much practical difference between .5" and .75". The difference in age is small, like a few months at most. I would pick whichever species appeals to you more. As for color, I would guess the half inchers are still pretty pale, but I haven't owned any A. avicularia, so I could be wrong.

Steve

 

[nemesis6sic6]

I will

I will strongly recomend an Avic. avic because they're cute even as little ones. I don't really know about geroldi but I've heard alot in the forum of how they're really not good in hygene and not clean individuals, while I've seen my avic clean them selves alot and don't make a mess in their container. well any ways it dosn't matter if the avics are small, I find them to be easy to take care of. They have a fast growth speed if you ask me but maybe its how I keep them. Avic. avic is such a pretty specimen with thoes blues reds pinks and sometimes weird coloration. any ways have a nice day.
geo

 

[Immortal_sin]

spider hygiene!

LOL....that is the first time I've heard anyone recommend a spider due to their cleanliness habits =D
Like Defour said, there is not a whole lot of difference between the two sizes, that's only an instar or two difference. Therefore, for your first spider, I'd pick the cheaper one, that way it won't be so hard on your pocketbook. I killed my first A avic with my 'newbiness', and believe me, it would have sucked ALOT more if it had been alot more expensive
That being said, Arachnopets wasn't around, and I didn't have the excellent advice of advanced hobbyists....like you will!

 

[greensleeves]

Re: spider hygiene!

Originally posted by Immortal_sin
LOL....that is the first time I've heard anyone recommend a spider due to their cleanliness habits =D

Why do I have a sudden image of a geroldi sitting around in its underwear, scratching itself in inappropriate places and tossing beer cans around its home while picking its teeth with a cricket leg?

"Slobby tarantulas, and what to do about them - next on Geraldo"

Hee hee hee!

Greensleeves

 

[Valael]

I'd pick an Avic. Avic. also. The difference between the two even as adults is tiny. The extra money isn't really worth it. Especially when you're new to spiders.


I've got two A. Avicularias between .5 and .75 (closer to .5) and they're showing their colors brightly. Granted, some people tend to exaggerate size and they could just barely be .5 and not showing much color at all.


But even my A. Avics can take a full grown 1 inch (female, so it's even bigger yet!) cricket with no problems. Just kind of difficult to eat while hanging, I'd guess

 

[Lopez]

The differences are so small that a lot of people are of the opinion that A. geroldi may just be acolour variant of A. avicularia.

At 1/2" both will likely be salmon pink with black feet. They get slightly darker after a couple of moults and then suddenly turn deep bottle green.

 

[SpiderTwin]

I agree with Immortal. Being that it would be your first sling, it would be good to go with the A. avic until you have some experience in caring for them.

Both of these T's are beautiful, they both have their subtle differences. Go with the A. avic first, and then get the A. geroldi.

 

[WYSIWYG]

Re: Re: spider hygiene!

Originally posted by greensleeves
Why do I have a sudden image of a geroldi sitting around in its underwear, scratching itself in inappropriate places and tossing beer cans around its home while picking its teeth with a cricket leg?

"Slobby tarantulas, and what to do about them - next on Geraldo"

Hee hee hee!

Greensleeves

ROFL!=D =D =D

Actually, I'm the guilty party who originally brought up the geroldi's messiness!

I cleaned it's cage again recently and was the MESSIEST T enclosure I've EVER had to clean. This thing poops EVERYWHERE and he had one side of the enclosure practically COVERED in white excrement and I had cleaned it around the same time as when I cleaned my A. avic's container. There was QUITE a difference. In fact, the last time I cleaned the geroldi's cage was about 2 weeks ago and it's already starting to get messy (but not TOO BAD....yet).

I'll need to clean out the A. avic's cage soon, but it's not even
HALF as messy as the geroldi's was.

Wysi