Info on keeping GBE? I'm very interested.

[WillEagle]

Considering in a few months on getting a GBE. I do not trust any other sites on the web when it comes to spider keeping. Could someone enlighten me on this species?

 

[RonnyT]

Considering in a few months on getting a GBE. I do not trust any other sites on the web when it comes to spider keeping. Could someone enlighten me on this species?

Do you mean GBB as in Green Bottle Blue?

 

[PetrZ]

Do you mean GBB as in Green Bottle Blue?

GBE - Goliath Bird Eater?

 

[WillEagle]

GBE - Goliath Bird Eater?

Yes. Goliath bird eaters. I'm really fascinated by them.

 

[spookyvibes]

I would wait until you have a bit more experience dealing with tarantulas. I've never had one, but I've heard that Theraphosa sp. can be very unforgiving when it comes to husbandry mistakes. If you want a big tarantula, I'd recommend getting a Lasiodora parahybana. They're easier to take care of and a lot cheaper.

 

[PidderPeets]

I have no first hand experience with them and never will because their urticating hairs are supposedly among the worst there are, and I refuse to consciously buy something knowing that I may have to give it up if it turns out to be a hair kicker. That being said, my understanding is that they're a moisture dependant species that needs moist substrate and enough ventilation to keep the air from getting stagnant.

How much experience do you have with tarantulas? Because of their husbandry requirements, I wouldn't consider them a beginner species.

Additionally, there's the Theraphosa blondi and the Theraphosa stirmi. Theraphosa blondi is what people (not pet stores) are usually referring to when they mention "Goliath birdeater tarantulas", but there are tons of spiders that get referred to as "birdeater tarantulas", so you really should be using the scientific name, not the common one. Also, T. stirmi very frequently get sold as T. blondi, especially at pet stores because they don't know better and don't care. They look very similar to the untrained eye and care is the same, but the true prices are pretty different, so make sure that if you want a blondi, you're paying for a blondi.

 

[nicodimus22]

The husbandry for them is very specific, and they're expensive as well. If you're just starting out, but you want something big, you might want to consider something in the Lasiodora genus instead. Parahybana, difficilis, and klugi are the species I commonly see available for sale. They are much cheaper and are not as difficult to care for, which makes them a better choice for someone just starting into the hobby.

 

[PetrZ]

Goliath bird eater. The

You write that you do not trust to other sites, but be carefull here. As I could find, most of people here are like unexperienced and scared children and will explain you how is everything hard and not suitable for you instead of real help. As you can see by yourself, the first guy tried to aswer without the basic knowledge what GBE is. I bet that someone will mention that you should have something different at first...

So, T Blondi is ok, you need two things. The first is big enclosure. The bigger the better, not only for T, but it is safer for maintenaince etc. The second thing is that they have very aggresive hairs and this hairs can cause problems even when cleaning up the enclosure.

And the rest is easy - get something smaller, sling, everything will come as it will grows up. So, if you want it, buy it, prepare suitable enclosure and be carefull when cleaning. And, of course, be carefull about advices and recommandations from this forum. Including me

 

[spookyvibes]

You write that you do not trust to other sites, but be carefull here. As I could find, most of people here are like unexperienced and scared children and will explain you how is everything hard and not suitable for you instead of real help. As you can see by yourself, the first guy tried to aswer without the basic knowledge what GBE is. I bet that someone will mention that you should have something different at first...

So, T Blondi is ok, you need two things. The first is big enclosure. The bigger the better, not only for T, but it is safer for maintenaince etc. The second thing is that they have very aggresive hairs and this hairs can cause problems even when cleaning up the enclosure.

And the rest is easy - get something smaller, sling, everything will come as it will grows up. So, if you want it, buy it, prepare suitable enclosure and be carefull when cleaning. And, of course, be carefull about advices and recommandations from this forum. Including me

Just trying to save someone from buying a $200+ taxidermy piece. Is that so bad?

 

[Sarkhan42]

While I'd agree with maybe getting a little more experience first, if you're dead set on getting one, doing your research is a great start. I would recommend getting a sling over an adult not because the care is any easier, but most adults and juveniles you'll find being sold are wild caught and can have a variety of problems, be it being beaten up from transport or some other issue they encountered in the wild.

Secondly, the setup is no different size wise from other terrestrial enclosures. Enough sub to burrow if necessary, hide, maybe some decoration, and with Theraphosa I would recommend a large water dish. Theraphosa really like their moisture, so insuring that the substrate remains damp, but not wet, is a must. I do this by pouring water into the substrate whenever I see any sign of it drying out, depending usually on how the furnace is running and drying things out.

These guys are also absolutely voracious eaters, and for this reason my stirmi is one of my favorite Ts. They'll eat just about anything that moves that they can get their fangs into, roaches, waxworms, crickets, hornworms, supers, you name it. Generous feeding will result in some incredible growth rate as well.

The hairs are said to be very bad, but as someone who doesn't react to hairs I can't really comment. If you're careful, wear rubber gloves maybe, you'll be just fine.

Finally- Get a stirmi, not a blondi. They're near identical, stirmi on average get a bit bigger even though they share around the same max size, and stirmi are MUCH cheaper.

Another thing I forgot to mention- ventilation can also be important to avoid serious mold issues as Theraphosa are very messy. Cleaning the water dish and spot cleaning the enclosure are a good idea to minimize this regularly, so investing in large tongs is a great idea.

 

[PetrZ]

Just trying to save someone from buying a $200+ taxidermy piece. Is that so bad?

Yes. He wrote "Could someone enlighten me on this species?". He did not ask whether he should buy it or not

 

[Mjb30]

Yes. He wrote "Could someone enlighten me on this species?". He did not ask whether he should buy it or not

The title suggested he was very interested in keeping one.

Anyway, the OP has been provided some excellent information about keeping one and can make an informed descision.

 

[PidderPeets]

You write that you do not trust to other sites, but be carefull here. As I could find, most of people here are like unexperienced and scared children and will explain you how is everything hard and not suitable for you instead of real help. As you can see by yourself, the first guy tried to aswer without the basic knowledge what GBE is. I bet that someone will mention that you should have something different at first...

So, T Blondi is ok, you need two things. The first is big enclosure. The bigger the better, not only for T, but it is safer for maintenaince etc. The second thing is that they have very aggresive hairs and this hairs can cause problems even when cleaning up the enclosure.

And the rest is easy - get something smaller, sling, everything will come as it will grows up. So, if you want it, buy it, prepare suitable enclosure and be carefull when cleaning. And, of course, be carefull about advices and recommandations from this forum. Including me

I wouldn't consider the members suggesting that a possibly inexperienced person avoid getting a species with more specific care requirements as "scared children". More like we're worried about the care of the animal, and want to make sure that the person possibly getting it won't endanger it's life. People did offer care advice, so it wasn't a completely one-sided "Don't do this, we won't give you advice" scenario. People are just mainly trying to determine his level of experience, so they can offer suggestions in the event he might not be ready for a species that isn't so forgiving to husbandry mistakes.

@RonnyT did not try to answer the question without basic knowledge of the species. Rather, he asked for clarification, because he was unsure what the OP was even talking about. I had no idea what a "GBE" was either. Common names are usually useless, and abbreviations of common names can be even trickier. The use of scientific names leave no room for confusion, and that's what many of us on here use for that exact reason, so it's no surprise that a few of us were confused by the abbreviation used.

You yourself offered very little information on their care as well. You suggested a big enclosure and to watch for their hairs. Enclosure size is dependent on the size of the T, and without that specification, you could inadvertently be encouraging a new owner to put a sling into an adult enclosure. Warnings about their hairs are important too, but also not relevant to keeping the spider alive. If you're giving others grief for not offering the OP information on how to keep this species, you should be offering that information yourself if you know it. Such as the conditions the animal needs to thrive in captivity.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

As you can see by yourself, the first guy tried to aswer without the basic knowledge what GBE is.

100% correct: who in hell doesn't know what a 'GBE' is, to begin with?!@#

Back to basics, people. To basics

 

[PetrZ]

You yourself offered very little information on their care as well. You suggested a big enclosure and to watch for their hairs.

You are right. But the reason is simple - everything was already written, there is nothing new you could add. Yes, I could rewrite http://www.theraphosidae.be/en/theraphosa-blondi/ here, but why? I am sure that WillEagle already made some "technical" research and now he ask for personal recommandations and experience, some trick and tips. Are you serious when you think that we should write here that this T needs high humidity? So, fact about care are well known, why to write them again?

 

[Chris LXXIX]

You are right. But the reason is simple - everything was already written, there is nothing new you could add.

Pffff... never heard such a more wrong statement, for that this is probably one of the few hobby (altough I don't like to use that term) where nothing is written.

You can take 10 P.cambridgei owners and read about 10 different kind of experiences with such specie, for instance.

 

[WillEagle]

I would wait until you have a bit more experience dealing with tarantulas. I've never had one, but I've heard that Theraphosa sp. can be very unforgiving when it comes to husbandry mistakes. If you want a big tarantula, I'd recommend getting a Lasiodora parahybana. They're easier to take care of and a lot cheaper.

Will look into it. I don't want to fail any spiders.

I wouldn't consider the members suggesting that a possibly inexperienced person avoid getting a species with more specific care requirements as "scared children". More like we're worried about the care of the animal, and want to make sure that the person possibly getting it won't endanger it's life. People did offer care advice, so it wasn't a completely one-sided "Don't do this, we won't give you advice" scenario. People are just mainly trying to determine his level of experience, so they can offer suggestions in the event he might not be ready for a species that isn't so forgiving to husbandry mistakes.

@RonnyT did not try to answer the question without basic knowledge of the species. Rather, he asked for clarification, because he was unsure what the OP was even talking about. I had no idea what a "GBE" was either. Common names are usually useless, and abbreviations of common names can be even trickier. The use of scientific names leave no room for confusion, and that's what many of us on here use for that exact reason, so it's no surprise that a few of us were confused by the abbreviation used.

You yourself offered very little information on their care as well. You suggested a big enclosure and to watch for their hairs. Enclosure size is dependent on the size of the T, and without that specification, you could inadvertently be encouraging a new owner to put a sling into an adult enclosure. Warnings about their hairs are important too, but also not relevant to keeping the spider alive. If you're giving others grief for not offering the OP information on how to keep this species, you should be offering that information yourself if you know it. Such as the conditions the animal needs to thrive in captivity.

I won't be getting one until I am much more experienced. I didn't know it was an advanced level spider. Sorry about the abbreviation. Will use scientific names from now on.

I would wait until you have a bit more experience dealing with tarantulas. I've never had one, but I've heard that Theraphosa sp. can be very unforgiving when it comes to husbandry mistakes. If you want a big tarantula, I'd recommend getting a Lasiodora parahybana. They're easier to take care of and a lot cheaper.

I looked up Lasiodora parahybana. Cool looking spider! What do you know about husbandry to this species? I hate getting my spider information anywhere else but here, because it led me to a fatal mistake.

 

[Sarkhan42]

I looked up Lasiodora parahybana. Cool looking spider! What do you know about husbandry to this species? I hate getting my spider information anywhere else but here, because it led me to a fatal mistake.

Very simple, substrate to burrow, hide, overflow the water dish now and then, and feed generously

Depending on the individual they may prefer a little more moisture, but that's easily gathered by where they spend their time. Hovering around the water dish constantly? Try wetting down more sub. Climbing a lot and staying off the sub? Let it dry out. Useful behavioral tics for any T honestly.

 

[PidderPeets]

You are right. But the reason is simple - everything was already written, there is nothing new you could add. Yes, I could rewrite http://www.theraphosidae.be/en/theraphosa-blondi/ here, but why? I am sure that WillEagle already made some "technical" research and now he ask for personal recommandations and experience, some trick and tips. Are you serious when you think that we should write here that this T needs high humidity? So, fact about care are well known, why to write them again?

But if the information is already there, how can you accuse people of not offering real help? That contradicts itself.

Additionally, the fact that the OP is asking for information on the species and that he even stated that he doesn't trust any other online source when it comes to spider keeping implies that this is where he came to for his "technical research"

 

[Nightshady]

Just my 2 cents... if I was going to make a list of the top 25 T’s I wanted, neither T. stirmi nor T. blondi would be on that list.

Yeah, they’re big, but there’s a lot of T’s nearly as big with more upsides and less downsides.

I think new keepers are gravitated to those species because of size, but there are SOOOO many better T’s out there.

Just my opinion. Best of luck.