Help needed on deciding species

Ehliza

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Messages
29
Hi all :) I'm getting my very first T soon, and it's going to be a sling so I wanted to start off with a fast growing species. I've narrowed it down to two species but wanted some input from people who are experienced or have owned or own either of these. Lasiodora Parahybana or the Acanthoscurria Geniculata? I'm leaning towards A geni. but I'd like some advice.
 

TownesVanZandt

Arachnoprince
Joined
May 12, 2015
Messages
1,041
Hello,

Both are great choices for a first tarantula, so you should go for the one that is most appealing to you. If you have the option to get a female sub-adult instead of a sling, I would do so.
 

BobBarley

Arachnoprince
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Sep 16, 2015
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1,486
Acanthoscurria geniculata all the way. Nothing wrong with Lasiodora parahybana, but to me, the genics just look way better visually. And no doubt, somewhere along the line, you'll pick up an LP as a freebie.
 

Ehliza

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Messages
29
Acanthoscurria geniculata all the way. Nothing wrong with Lasiodora parahybana, but to me, the genics just look way better visually. And no doubt, somewhere along the line, you'll pick up an LP as a freebie.
Thank you for the reply :) Yea I really like the black and white on the A geni. And from what I've read they're pretty similar care and temperament wise.
 

BobBarley

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Thank you for the reply :) Yea I really like the black and white on the A geni. And from what I've read they're pretty similar care and temperament wise.
Yup, just make sure to overflow the water dish once in a while.
 

Haksilence

Bad At Titles
Arachnosupporter
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Dec 6, 2015
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405
The Acanthoscuria. Definitely.
That species, in my opinion, is probably THE best display species and probably one of the best starter ts.

Some of the best feeding responses
Very active species
Beautiful coloration and markings
Can get pretty damn massive
Fast growing
Hungry, but not agresive.

All super important for a first specimen. LP have similar mannerisms but aren't nearly as active or colorful. And as others have said, LP are a dime a dozen, literally I've seen them sold for 50 cents before. Chances are you will get a LP sling or two as freebies
 

Paiige

Arachnobaron
Joined
Oct 2, 2016
Messages
335
I would also say A genic...however, would not recommend starting with a sling. Slings are a lot more work and can be much more stressful than picking up a juvie/subadult. I had already had several juveniles/sub adults/adults prior to my first sling and I'm glad I waited. They're more fragile when they're small, more needy and their husbandry is a little different. However, if you're prepared and have educated yourself sufficiently, I say go for it! And welcome :)
 

Ehliza

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Messages
29
I would also say A genic...however, would not recommend starting with a sling. Slings are a lot more work and can be much more stressful than picking up a juvie/subadult. I had already had several juveniles/sub adults/adults prior to my first sling and I'm glad I waited. They're more fragile when they're small, more needy and their husbandry is a little different. However, if you're prepared and have educated yourself sufficiently, I say go for it! And welcome :)
Thank you for this:) I know a lot of people advise against starting with slings but I have been reading up on their care. Also I've kept tonsss of tiny spiders in the past so their size doesn't concern me
 

Paiige

Arachnobaron
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Oct 2, 2016
Messages
335
Thank you for this:) I know a lot of people advise against starting with slings but I have been reading up on their care. Also I've kept tonsss of tiny spiders in the past so their size doesn't concern me
Ah you'll be okay then, when I got my first sling I was so scared it was going to run away and get lost somewhere! I still won't bother with slings 1/2" or smaller for that reason
 

Ehliza

Arachnopeon
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Nov 29, 2016
Messages
29
Ah you'll be okay then, when I got my first sling I was so scared it was going to run away and get lost somewhere! I still won't bother with slings 1/2" or smaller for that reason
Although I do have some questions. When I read online sling care I come here and see a lot of hate towards it and not to trust it. Do you have any advice towards this? Does the A geni have super different sling care? Im mostly worried about humidity and temperature
:/
 

BobBarley

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Sep 16, 2015
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Although I do have some questions. When I read online sling care I come here and see a lot of hate towards it and not to trust it. Do you have any advice towards this? Does the A geni have super different sling care? Im mostly worried about humidity and temperature
:/
Don't pay attention to t care sheets that give specific numbers. Humidity for this species is pretty much dry and just slightly moist with a full water dish. Temperature is just room temp. For example, I keep all my t's down to 67 at night in the winter. During the day, in the summer the temp is in the 80's. These guys have a large range of temp tolerance.
 

Paiige

Arachnobaron
Joined
Oct 2, 2016
Messages
335
Although I do have some questions. When I read online sling care I come here and see a lot of hate towards it and not to trust it. Do you have any advice towards this? Does the A geni have super different sling care? Im mostly worried about humidity and temperature
:/
The reason you see a lot of hate towards caresheets is because a lot of new keepers will not question them and this often leads to sick/dead Ts. Care sheet information varies from website to website and a lot of sites will have "general" caresheets - aka telling new keepers that all arboreal Ts require the same humidity, or that if you don't keep the temperature at exactly 80 degrees your T will die, etc. Do as much research on this site as you can - if someone is talking about a T on here, it's because they have personal experience with that T. Take everything you read elsewhere with a grain of salt and fact-check with what you see here.

Check out this thread, and don't be afraid to use the search bar :D
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/my-first-a-geniculata-0-0-1-sling.213221/
 

Ehliza

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Messages
29
The reason you see a lot of hate towards caresheets is because a lot of new keepers will not question them and this often leads to sick/dead Ts. Care sheet information varies from website to website and a lot of sites will have "general" caresheets - aka telling new keepers that all arboreal Ts require the same humidity, or that if you don't keep the temperature at exactly 80 degrees your T will die, etc. Do as much research on this site as you can - if someone is talking about a T on here, it's because they have personal experience with that T. Take everything you read elsewhere with a grain of salt and fact-check with what you see here.
Thank you all for this :) I'm glad the tarantula community is so nice and helpful. The rat community is quite unpleasant. I should be getting it when all of my cricket necessities come in and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Check out this thread, and don't be afraid to use the search bar :D
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/my-first-a-geniculata-0-0-1-sling.213221/
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
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Jan 12, 2016
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3,686
It just so happens I have 10 A.geniculata slings at the moment, and I already enjoy them, as small as they are. The biggest is half my pinkienail in size, the smallest is the size of the head of a needlepin.
Ferocious eaters, taking down crickets their size or bigger. I keep them in the vials they came in, and have twice added some water to their substrate for drinking and a bit of humidity. They are 2nd and 3rd instar now. I've fed them five times, but they were communally refusing food yesterday so I think there's a molting wave coming up.
Temps are roughly 19-24°C.
There are a lot of stickies in each forum for new keepers, you could check those out. If you need additional info, feel free to ask away.

Off topic; what is it with people keeping rats apparently not being able to be nice and helpful? For most rat-forums here it is the same story. Not sharing info, lowering prices just to annoy a fellow breeder. I quit keeping rats for years now, I couldn't deal with their mortality rates and illness', but sometimes check the forum, only to discover it is the same s**t/different day :(
 

Ehliza

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Messages
29
It just so happens I have 10 A.geniculata slings at the moment, and I already enjoy them, as small as they are. The biggest is half my pinkienail in size, the smallest is the size of the head of a needlepin.
Ferocious eaters, taking down crickets their size or bigger. I keep them in the vials they came in, and have twice added some water to their substrate for drinking and a bit of humidity. They are 2nd and 3rd instar now. I've fed them five times, but they were communally refusing food yesterday so I think there's a molting wave coming up.
Temps are roughly 19-24°C.
There are a lot of stickies in each forum for new keepers, you could check those out. If you need additional info, feel free to ask away.

Off topic; what is it with people keeping rats apparently not being able to be nice and helpful? For most rat-forums here it is the same story. Not sharing info, lowering prices just to annoy a fellow breeder. I quit keeping rats for years now, I couldn't deal with their mortality rates and illness', but sometimes check the forum, only to discover it is the same s**t/different day :(
I've heard they're good eaters :)

Yea the rat community is just toxic. You ask a simple question or you do things differently than them and you get absolutely s**t on :/ Kinda funny how the community of hairy "scary" tarantulas is nicer than the community of the cute little "mini dogs" smh. That's one of the nice things about this community. Tarantulas aren't considered your average family pet, so owners are always accepting of other "weird" pets such as rats, mice, etc.
 

Paiige

Arachnobaron
Joined
Oct 2, 2016
Messages
335
Yea the rat community is just toxic. You ask a simple question or you do things differently than them and you get absolutely s**t on :/ Kinda funny how the community of hairy "scary" tarantulas is nicer than the community of the cute little "mini dogs" smh. That's one of the nice things about this community. Tarantulas aren't considered your average family pet, so owners are always accepting of other "weird" pets such as rats, mice, etc.
I would have never imagined that a community built around fuzzy, sweet little rodents would be bad :wideyed: Not that I knew there even was a rat community but I guess it's not surprising
 

Andrea82

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="Ehliza, post: 2564695, member: 117408"]I've heard they're good eaters :)

Yea the rat community is just toxic. You ask a simple question or you do things differently than them and you get absolutely s**t on :/ Kinda funny how the community of hairy "scary" tarantulas is nicer than the community of the cute little "mini dogs" smh. That's one of the nice things about this community. Tarantulas aren't considered your average family pet, so owners are always accepting of other "weird" pets such as rats, mice, etc.
Oh no, tarantula keepers may be more into 'weird' pets, but that definetely doesn't go for all pets. Some tarantula keepers also keep beetles or earwigs, which to me are my nightmare of creepy crawlies. I keep a cat, what other keepers wouldn't like for themselves.
But I get your meaning.
Arachnoboards has its own issues, but if a new keeper enters and shows he or she is willing to learn, and is open to critism, more experienced keepers are willing to help out. EulersK (a member here) has made an entire series of videos for new keepers (and not so new keepers) to get started. It is called AraneAid, on YouTube, you should check it out. It covers housing, feeding, different types of T's, pretty much everything :)
 

cold blood

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My suggetion is to just get a G. pulchripes. Similiarly sized, similiar appetite and growth rates that are better than just about any of the best beginner species....plus their care is even easier and they are significantly more docile and less skittish.
 
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