How fast did you accumulate tarantulas? Etc.

Fisher

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 15, 2018
Messages
27
Just curious because I went from my first (Avic avic) at the end of September and suddenly I have 8... and preparing to get 4 more some time this week..... all except 2 will be less than 2". no plans to get any more after this

I feel just a little bit crazy, which is fine because i am, but is this sort of thing common or, like, am i going too hard lol

ANYWAY here are my questions for people:
How many Ts do you have?
How long after your first T did it take you to get your second (or more)?
How long did it take you do get your first OW tarantula, and what was it? (assuming your first T wasn't an OW, but if it was, I still wanna hear about it!)
 

Poonjab

Arachnoking
Active Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
2,755
Slow. I followed the tarantula rule book for success. I acquired T’s based on a point and skill system. And that’s how I worked my way up to T.albopilosum
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
I didn’t move that fast, nor do I understand why people collect so fast like skittles.

I had a Rose Hair until it died - it was a male.
Picked up anotther single T- also male
It wasn’t until I met a well known breeder and we Became friends that my collection increased. In part because I had someone who is a legitimate resource. I didn’t know about AB. I was fortunate as we spoke monthly. There was “no” chance things would go wrong, until Avics.

But when I failed at keeping versicolor due to poor venting- I didn’t try with Avics for about 5-6 yrs. I did extensive reading and learning so I would make sure not to kill another Avic in my care. So far so great on that.
 

Craig73

Arachnoangel
Joined
Jun 2, 2016
Messages
790
38 in 22 months which doesn’t include the four’ish slings that didn’t make it. Started in March 2020 and had my first ow (P. met) by June 2020. P. met was traded a few months back, not the right fit for me, but I do have a number of ow that are.

100% too fast to grow a collection IMO. I’ve had to spend time and money remodeling my shelf system to accommodate things. I lack sufficient rehousing experience, and have yet to experience an adult T.

Why is my collection so large? I lack self control, something I readily acknowledge.
I also started keeping later in life, so given life expectancy of some T’s I figured now or never if I want to keep them before I’m in pampers.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
I didn’t move that fast, nor do I understand why people collect so fast like skittles.

I had a Rose Hair until it died - it was a male.
Picked up anotther single T- also male
It wasn’t until I met a well known breeder and we Became friends that my collection increased. In part because I had someone who is a legitimate resource. I didn’t know about AB. I was fortunate as we spoke monthly. There was “no” chance things would go wrong, until Avics.

But when I failed at keeping versicolor due to poor venting- I didn’t try with Avics for about 5-6 yrs. I did extensive reading and learning so I would make sure not to kill another Avic in my care. So far so great on that.

OW - waited many years, there’s NO rush. Peeps that get them too early have a T that out grows skill set in a year
 

nicodimus22

Arachnomancer
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
715

vicareux

A. geniculata worship cult member
Joined
Mar 14, 2020
Messages
496
I'm 1 year and 9 months in.
I currently have 23 T's, and i plan on not going above that number since i got quite a bit of females that i bought as a single sling (lucky), and i'm in the process of giving some of the T's away ( Already gave away 1 sus. female B.emilia )
I got my first OW almost exactly a year ago. So, 9 months into collecting. I felt confident in getting a tame-ish OW (M. balfouri), because I assumed my experience with skittish, angry NW Tarantula (N.chromatus) would act as a jumping board. And i assumed correct since that chromatus was the hardest to work with so far lol

So when i give the spares away, my collection will ideally be, and stay at:
1.1 T.albopilosus (1.0 is already mature)
0.1 G.pulchra (Already sexed)
0.1 M.balfouri (Already sexed)
0.1 C.versicolor (Already sexed)
1.2/2.1 A.geniculata ( 0.1 sexed)
1.1 B.emilia (Both Already sexed)
1.1 P.murinus "RCF" (1.0 sexed)
0.1 P.sazimai
0.1 C.darlingi (Already sexed)
0.1 H.gigas (Already sexed)

With this, i am happy with my collection and i'm in the process of upgrading and getting their adult enclosures ready for when they grow.
When you get your T's fast, as slings, it seems simple and not a problem at first, but your eyes get opened and get overwhelmed when:
-You see how big do the adults actually get. And i don't mean a number on the computer that you googled, but seeing it in person. Then you realize how much space you will actually need.
-You experience how fast do some of the slings grow. You upgrade their enclosures and a few months in, they already need another upgrade and more space.
 

Squitchy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 29, 2021
Messages
6
I'm 9 month in and have 19. Just bought my first 2 old worlds yesterday. A p.murinus dcf, and a m.balfouri. Both are about 1/2 inch slings. Some might say that is rushing in a bit fast, but I feel comfortable with all my turantula and the rehousings. Tbh 19 is pretty small considering some people end up with 50+ in the first year. At the same time 19 is quite a collection, so I've been making sure I don't go off the deep end. That way I'm always comfortable with the amount I have. Last thing I want is to start stressing out over giving proper care to all of Ts I have.
 

kingshockey

Arachnoangel
Joined
Sep 4, 2017
Messages
826
my first was a gift from gf my second was an m balfouri close to a year later :rofl: i blame this forum here since the more i read posts or see pictues posted that catch my eye/interest so ofcourse i end up researching and learning what i can about the t pretty much how i ended up at my max limit of 5(gave away 2 mm so next month adding 2 new slings but its better to add more slowly your (intrerest wiil change as you go) the tiny freebi lp as tiny slings i got has become one of my favorites and i had no desire of ever owning an lp from day one i was all about my a genic when it came to big greedy ts
 

spideyspinneret78

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jul 19, 2019
Messages
1,253
I've been keeping tarantulas for about 3.5 years and now have 30. I've been acquiring them at a consistent pace, I'd say.
 

Craig73

Arachnoangel
Joined
Jun 2, 2016
Messages
790
So if we take years in the hobby, number of tarantulas, and factor keepers age that will put me on on par to be within an acceptable range that must be accepted by the community. I can live with that.
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
How many Ts do you have?
Currently 70, I've been keeping them for a little over 5 and a half years.

How long after your first T did it take you to get your second (or more)?
About 2 weeks.

How long did it take you do get your first OW tarantula, and what was it? (assuming your first T wasn't an OW, but if it was, I still wanna hear about it!)
3 months but only because I got sent a Chilobrachys huahini sling as a surprise freebie with my Brachypelma emilia, the first one I willingly purchased for myself was after a year and that was a Poecilotheria subfusca "Lowland".
 

TheHound

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 22, 2021
Messages
163
7 tarantulas

I bought my first (T sabulosus juvie) in January this year. Then picked up a D pentaloris sub adult in Febuary. Then in April I bought a C versicolor sling, which came with a tiny 1st instar N chromatus freebie. I stayed on 4 until 1st December, when I got a GBB sling and an almost juvenile B hamorri, followed by a juvie X immanis 2 days later.

I may get more but don't ever see my collection ballooning to the level of some. My wife said I can keep as many as I can reasonably and attractively display (i.e. no stacks of functional containers), which seems reasonable, though the spiders are competing with the overflow from our board game collection for space on the same Kallax shelving units. :D

I currently have no plans to get any old world species. I do fancy a jumping spider, though.
 

LucN

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 22, 2009
Messages
315
Currently at 4, though there was a time I had a 5th. I'd roughly had 1 new T a year from 2010 to 2013. It would take another 4 years before I'd get my latest.

Here's a quick overlook and how it went. You'll see that I did do a bit of swapping at first before I finally settled down.

Early 2009 : First foray into the hobby, after reading about them for 6-8 months, I finally take the plunge with a WC G. porteri AF from my LPS.

Early 2010 : Almost a year goes by before I decide to get a second. This is currently the T I've had the longest, a B. boehmei, also purchased at the LPS.

End of 2010 : Decide to sell off my porteri to a new hobbyist on the grounds of not feeling ready to for it to suddenly die on me, not knowing how old it really is.

Late 2011 : I get an opportunity to get a sexed juvie B. hamorii (sold as smithi then) from TarCan and I take it. Been wanting the ultimate Hobby icon since I saw one at the Montreal Insectarium way back in 1996.

Middle of 2012 : I get another transaction with TarCan, this time being a sexed juvie B. emilia. A year goes by before I get the itch again, but this time, I do something which I still regret today...

Late 2013 : After having read The Legacy of Annie Rose by Swagerle, I suddenly get the urge to get multiple G. porteri. It just happens that my LPS had a couple of significantly smaller ones this time around, about 3" each. But first, given that I was and still am limited on space, something had to go... and I stupidly sold off my B. emilia so I could get that pair of porteri. And I initially intended to get a third, capping my collection at a extremely reasonable 5. Something went awry with the LPS supplier and that's where my mystery WC Aphonopelma came from. At first, I was disappointed, but quickly changed my tune once I realized that Aphonopelma aren't terribly common up here in the Canadian side of the hobby.

Middle of 2014 : I decide that I don't need two porteri after all, so I gift one to the person which was raising a T. albo. From that point on, my collection sticks to 4. That porteri eventually died suddenly...

Late 2017 : After a few years of frustration and fasting, my Aphonopelma is finally found curled up in a corner of her cage. Given it's slow decline, I chalk it up to extreme old age and vow to never buy a WC T again. I go to my LPS to get crickets for my remaining trio and find a recently abandoned T. albopilosus near the entry. The LPS staff know that I have a real passion for spiders, so they give me the T for free. FREE ! 4+" T. albo, ventrally very female, for free ! For me, the best deal since the TarCan hamorii purchase.

So there you go, you could say that I acquired them at a snail's pace, compared to so many people out here. And that's my adventure at its utmost brevity. To quote @Westicles from a recent thread : Would I want more ? Sure. Do I need more ? Nope.

:)
 

greeneyedelle

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
199
How many Ts do you have?
17
How long after your first T did it take you to get your second (or more)?
7 years
How long did it take you do get your first OW tarantula, and what was it? (assuming your first T wasn't an OW, but if it was, I still wanna hear about it!)
Lol 7 years

Started with a 5-year old female g. porteri (I lament the fact that I bought her from someone who clearly didn't realize $50 is cheap for a female tarantula including the enclosure). About a year ago, I started thinking about the fact that even though I've still got many years left with my porteri, she's not gonna live forever, and what am I gonna do without her? 7 years later now, I went to a reptile expo, definitely not prepared for a tarantula vendor to be there, walked away with a h. pulchripes and p. pulcher. After hours of poring over sling keeping, it snowballed. I got my fourth, fifth, sixth... seventeenth, and here we are! It's a healthy mix of slings and juvies, a couple adults. OW and NW, slow growing and fast growing. I'm echoing Craig here, this is entirely down to a lack of self-control, but I have no regrets (yet).
 

0311usmc

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 16, 2017
Messages
332
Slow as cold molasses pours is how fast i accumulated tarantulas. Ist in 2007 and 2nd in 2009. Slowly started adding more since. Most i have ever had at one time is 22-24.
 

Matt Man

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jul 4, 2017
Messages
1,685
It has been a dad / daughter project since its inception. Build up: slowly. Started 13 years ago with just one. A couple years later added 2 more because a cute little girl, with a handful of cash asking for a deal on a GBB is entertaining. Then started working shows, got to a decent amount (around 30) and I actually have reduced the numbers. I hooked a buddy up with my marshalli (she has already mated since then) and was using my darlingi as the model for my terrarium lids and a young woman fell in love with her. IMO people of late go too sling crazy and haven't properly visualized how much room large numbers of adult Ts take up. All the more so when they are larger species that need bigger enclosures. Some folks are gonna freak when they realize they need a bigger place or entire room for their collections
 
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