Myths in the Hobby

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
"If you're comfortable in a T-shirt then they're comfortable"
Humidity being relevant to tarantula keeping
SADS
DKS
"P. irminia are uber reclusive psychopaths but P. cambridgei never hide"
"[Insert species] are semi-arboreal"
The notion that if an Avic enclosure doesn't have so many holes in it that it looks like Blain went to town on it with old painless then it isn't well ventilated enough.
"[Insert any species that isn't M. balfouri] can be kept communally"
B. dubia are incapable of harming a tarantula.

There's bloody loads tbh.

feeding schedules
 

justanotherTkeeper

Arachnosquire
Joined
Feb 26, 2020
Messages
96
New worlds are for any beginner

No.

Point 1: Every T is an individual - even "docile" species has it's buttheads

Point 2: Ephebopus murinus

Nuff said.
 

justanotherTkeeper

Arachnosquire
Joined
Feb 26, 2020
Messages
96
The E Murinus is a butthead?
So, first of all, when I mentioned "New worlds are for any beginner" as a myth, I was referring to the typical NWs such as Brachypelma, Aphonopelma, etc, because you can sometimes end up with a mental B. hamorii, or sassy A. chalcodes.

But E. murinus is generally viewed as one of the faster and more defensive NW's, and they are not recommended for beginners. As beautiful as they are, it'd be best for someone acquiring this T to be a more experienced keeper familiar with flighty and defensive T's
 

Frogdaddy

Arachnoprince
Joined
Nov 13, 2019
Messages
1,067
All prospective tarantula owners do a ton of research before buying and only come to AB before they have a problem.

No one drops a tarantula while attempting to hold one.

ICU's are helpful no matter what is wrong with the tarantula.

I don't need more substrate in my enclosure because my tarantula never climbs.

Something is wrong with my tarantula. I've fed it it 10 crickets two days ago and now it won't eat.

I've got 75 T's after being in the hobby for a month. I'll be keeping till the day I die.
 

Jesse607

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 29, 2002
Messages
715
Tarantulas REQUIRE bone dry substrate
Moist (not wet) substrate stresses my T
Mexico is a bone dry desert
All USA species live in bone dry deserts that never receive rain
Water dishes are required for all stages
Tliltocatl are slow growers
Pelinobius REQUIRES bone dry substrate, or even benefits from it (and then wonder why it stays hidden in the bottom forever).
Tliltocatl sp. are desert tarantulas
 

Smotzer

ArachnoGod
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Jan 17, 2020
Messages
5,275
ICU's are helpful no matter what is wrong with the tarantula.
This^^^. ICU’s in general.

can anyone explain where the whole ICU thing came from? When did this start? I have never seen an example of an ICU helping a tarantula.

Where did this idea come from that if something is wrong- you then need to increase the moisture way up, and decrease the ventilation. It just makes zero sense to me to put something that might be sick in a humid,wet and stuffy space..... When I’m sick I would hate to be in an environment like that for any length of time.

Water dishes are required for all stages
This is slightly disagree with, while they don’t have water dishes in nature. I have never found a down side to including a water dishes at all times, but I have seen down sides to not including a water dish at all times.
 
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Jesse607

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 29, 2002
Messages
715
This^^^. ICU’s in general.
.


This is adamantly disagree with, while they don’t have water dishes in nature. I have never found a down side to including a water dishes at all times, but I have seen down sides to not including a water dish at all times.
If they were REQUIRED for all stages I wouldn't have successfully reared hundreds of healthy tarantulas from sling to adulthood over the last twenty years ;)
 

Smotzer

ArachnoGod
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If they were REQUIRED for all stages I wouldn't have successfully reared hundreds of healthy tarantulas from sling to adulthood over the last twenty years ;)
I didn’t say they were required!!! ;) They are clearly not required. Maybe I should have worded my reply differently.

I’m only saying that I’ve never seen any downsides to including them, but we do occasionally see people have problems without them.
 

Jesse607

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 29, 2002
Messages
715
I didn’t say they were required!!! ;) They are clearly not required. Maybe I should have worded my reply differently.

I’m only saying that I’ve never seen any downsides to including them, but we do occasionally see people have problems without them.
That would mean you don't actually adamantly disagree with me then. I originally said "Water dishes are required for all stages" was a myth, I didn't say they were bad. :)
 

Smotzer

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That would mean you don't actually adamantly disagree with me then. I originally said "Water dishes are required for all stages" was a myth, I didn't say they were bad. :)
Agreed my wording was poor :wacky: Let me go edit that lol
 

Rigor Mortis

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 7, 2018
Messages
498
All Tliltocatl albopilosus are docile, gentle sweethearts who will love you. Temperament expections in general, really. They're good rules of thumb but should not be taken as gospel for every single species.
 

USNGunner

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 30, 2020
Messages
148
There's nothing wrong with having them it's just they're not needed. Feeding an adult tarantula every 3rd Wednesday for instance.
Well, guilty. I feed the slings every 4 days. With the hamorii and GBB getting bigger, they're going to a week schedule. It works for me. :geek:

B. dubia are incapable of harming a tarantula.
Bazinga. I want to say right up front that I don't doubt this. I have seen crickets eat a toad. That one really pissed me off. Anyway.

But while possible, is it common? Like, routinely documented? Or "it's possible"?

I ask, I feed my Tarantula's appropriately sized B. lateralis from the colony I have running. We were feeding the other day, and when I went to feed the Cyriocosmus Perezmilesi (which I hadn't seen for awhile but that's no unusual for that one) my Grandson's buddy said "There's already a roach in there."
"Wait. What?"
Sure as hell, there was the previous feeder, which I had watched run into the T's tunnel and had seen no further trace of, dug in the corner void behind the water dish. Whoa! So I snatched that little buggar out and repurposed it. No pardons around here for feeders. ;)

But on reflection the panic set in. "If it didn't eat, it's in molt....... AW CRAP!" So I've been watching it's enclosure like a hawk and was so so happy to see Belle out in her new bigger clothes a few days ago.

This brings me back to my question. If you don't know the T is in pre-molt, and you drop a feeder in and it disappears into the moss or the webbing, then what? My C. Versicolor has this elaborate web maze around her "tree" that they will get in and I can't get to them without trashing her enclosure at that point. How much do I need to worry about that I guess is my concern here.


I get it, they eat stuff with manibles and can suck stuff too. I guees I'm wondering about how big of a concern it needs to be. Rehouse until I know for sure? Or "we'll see?"

Thanks.
 

Braden

Arachnoknight
Joined
Nov 3, 2019
Messages
193
The belief that ts, or even certain species, require very specific temps and humidity....I could just leave the word humidity to stand on its own.

The belief that certain substrates are best or are required for certain ts.

Abdomen size is an indicator of sex....ummm, no its not.

And finally....the adult size of anything Lasiodora.....its never as big as people think.
When I did research on my first T(T albopilosus) I read they can get a leg span of 13 cm, and I thought that was per leg lol, boy was I wrong

"If you're comfortable in a T-shirt then they're comfortable"
Humidity being relevant to tarantula keeping
SADS
DKS
"P. irminia are uber reclusive psychopaths but P. cambridgei never hide"
"[Insert species] are semi-arboreal"
The notion that if an Avic enclosure doesn't have so many holes in it that it looks like Blain went to town on it with old painless then it isn't well ventilated enough.
"[Insert any species that isn't M. balfouri] can be kept communally"
B. dubia are incapable of harming a tarantula.

There's bloody loads tbh.



Dubias can harm T's?
 
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