Hi all, first-time poster here. So I've never owned any type of arachnid before, although I have experience with some lizards I used to have when I was younger. But my daughter, who turns 7 in a couple of weeks, told me last week that she wants a tarantula for her birthday. I am all for that because I think there is a lot a child can learn from taking care of a pet. Anyway, I've been doing research into what type of tarantula would be good for her, and trying to do it fast so that she can have it on her birthday. Originally I was looking at the Grammastola rosea because they are said to be good for beginners, so I planned on that being the one. However, I'm now also reading that they spend most of their time burrowing, and I don't think that would be very satisfying for my daughter if she rarely would get to see it. So I looked into it a little more and found the G. pulchripes, which I'm trying to get a little information on. I want to get something that would be good for handling every once in a while in case she wants me to ever take it out of its enclosure (or if she wants as she gets a bit older). At the moment I have a 10-gallon glass tank, which I was going to use for a Rose hair, and I ordered some coconut fiber substrate which is arriving today, but since I am re-thinking which tarantula-type, I'm not sure if those are suitable for the G. pulchripes. Everything else for the enclosure I was going to pick up this week so that everything can be ready for her birthday. So, I wanted to post on here because one can find different opinions all over the internet, but I would rather put my trust in people who have first-hand experience. Which would be the better breed, and what type of enclosure/substrate, etc. would you recommend? Thank you all in advance.
Grammastola pulchripes or rosea for beginners?
- Thread starter btw990
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Pulchripes 100% is a good T BUT NO T IS GOOD FOR HANDLING! That’s how they die jeez. These animals are fish on land, no one handles fish….
Get her a pet she can handle like a dog.
size of T dictates size of box it lives in
Get her a pet she can handle like a dog.
size of T dictates size of box it lives in
Well that makes me feel a bit better about it cause honestly I'd prefer it not to be handled at all, lol. And she would be fine with that; I just want her to be satisfied with whatever it is I get for her so I'm trying to think of all avenues. Is coconut fiber substrate okay for the pulchripes then, or would you recommend something else?
inquisitivechemist
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Both awesome. However, the rosea grows stupidly slow. I got two half inch slings last march. One year later they are 0.75 inches 
Grammostola pulchripes grows a bit faster and those golden knees are gorgeous!
This is my 6 inch female. I've got a 4 inch male. I'd never handle my female as her prey drive is wild. However, my male is super chill.
Grammostola pulchripes grows a bit faster and those golden knees are gorgeous!
This is my 6 inch female. I've got a 4 inch male. I'd never handle my female as her prey drive is wild. However, my male is super chill.
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Read through the site’s beginners guide it’s a really good resource, and if you have any specific questions after reading then defo ask them:
If you’re planning to get an adult either species is good (my adult rose hairs never ever burrow), if you’re getting a juvenile go for pulchripes as it grows significantly faster than rosea (still not fast growth rate, but not glacial like rosea).
Coco fibre substrates work fine many people have used it over the years. Many however would recommend an appropriate topsoil instead, or a mix.
I’m a huge grammostola fan & think both are super, that said pulchripes is the best beginner tarantula IMO as it has all the beginner-friendly traits of other grammostola (gorgeous looks, often calm temperament, large as adults), but as mentioned previously it won’t take a lifetime to grow if you start with a small one.
Examples below of both types of g. rosea (‘red colour form’ and ‘no colour form’) and g. pulchripes (all adults).
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
If you’re planning to get an adult either species is good (my adult rose hairs never ever burrow), if you’re getting a juvenile go for pulchripes as it grows significantly faster than rosea (still not fast growth rate, but not glacial like rosea).
Coco fibre substrates work fine many people have used it over the years. Many however would recommend an appropriate topsoil instead, or a mix.
I’m a huge grammostola fan & think both are super, that said pulchripes is the best beginner tarantula IMO as it has all the beginner-friendly traits of other grammostola (gorgeous looks, often calm temperament, large as adults), but as mentioned previously it won’t take a lifetime to grow if you start with a small one.
Examples below of both types of g. rosea (‘red colour form’ and ‘no colour form’) and g. pulchripes (all adults).
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Thanks everyone for the responses so far. I'm a newbie with arachnids and I just want to make sure I know at least the basics to start so I can make a comfortable home for one. I was going to order my T (well my daughter's but I'm sure I'll be doing all the care lol) from Exotics Unlimited USA but if anyone knows of any more reputable sellers that would be cool. As far as enclosure, so I have a basic 10-gallon glass terrarium, but I'm seeing people recommend a custom acrylic lid with holes drilled into it for ventilation, or simply a Sterilite container. I like the idea of the glass tank better since it will be in my daughter's room and she can have it nicely displayed, but then I'm not sure how to go about getting the proper lid. Or if there are better enclosure suggestions that would be cool as well. Also, is it better to upsize the enclosure as they grow, or is it okay if, when smaller, they are already in a big enough enclosure for when they reach max size?
Thank you, I'm going to look into the beginner's guides now.Read through the site’s beginners guide it’s a really good resource, and if you have any specific questions after reading then defo ask them:
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
If you’re planning to get an adult either species is good (my adult rose hairs never ever burrow), if you’re getting a juvenile go for pulchripes as it grows significantly faster than rosea (still not fast growth rate, but not glacial like rosea).
Coco fibre substrates work fine many people have used it over the years. Many however would recommend an appropriate topsoil instead, or a mix.
I’m a huge grammostola fan & think both are super, that said pulchripes is the best beginner tarantula IMO as it has all the beginner-friendly traits of other grammostola (gorgeous looks, often calm temperament, large as adults), but as mentioned previously it won’t take a lifetime to grow if you start with a small one.
Examples below of both types of g. rosea (‘red colour form’ and ‘no colour form’) and g. pulchripes (all adults).
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While rosea has all the characteristics, well most of the characteristics one would want in a beginner species, it's also got three TERRIBLE qualities....they're boring, they are like keeping a potato as far as activity....They also have an extremely low food requirement, which leads directly to absurdly long fasting, adding to the boring ....they take forever to learn anything factor.....all this also leads to EXTREMELY slow growth....adults may go 3 to 6 YEARS between molts.
I started here.....it took me a decade to learn anything.....got a pulchripes and hamorii and learned more from them in three months than I did in over a decade with the potato.
Pulchripes is better looking, a significantly better eater, significantly more active, grows faster (still slow, but nothing like rosea), fasts less and has a more consistently predictable behavior.
Your research did fail you in one respect....rosea aren't typically much of burrowers in captivity.....pulchripes moves substrate around a lot, but they're typically a great display species that's out most, if not all the time as well.
I started here.....it took me a decade to learn anything.....got a pulchripes and hamorii and learned more from them in three months than I did in over a decade with the potato.
Pulchripes is better looking, a significantly better eater, significantly more active, grows faster (still slow, but nothing like rosea), fasts less and has a more consistently predictable behavior.
Your research did fail you in one respect....rosea aren't typically much of burrowers in captivity.....pulchripes moves substrate around a lot, but they're typically a great display species that's out most, if not all the time as well.
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Check your PM inbox. I sent you a message.
I wouldn't order anything until your Ts home is setup. Also I KNOW the price for such a COMMON species is ridiculously OVERPRICED. There are plenty of AB members who breed and sell for easily half that price.
Smarter to increase size of container as they grow.