New to Tarantula keeping

[Lauralou]

Hi, I’m just after opinions on keeping either the antilles pink toe (caribena versicolour) or the striped-knee tarantula ( aphonopelma seemanni) as my first tarantula, i have over the years kept many snakes, chameleons and mantids, although i have A fear of spiders i also have a massive interest in tarantulas, i find them fascinating. I have little to no interest in handling or really disturbing them once they are set up other than general care etc but still not sure which would be best as a first time keeper. The viv that i have is an Exo terra extra tall mini 30x30x60 which im guessing would be ok for an adult versicolour? thankyou

 

[jbooth]

It would be huge lol, 20x20x30 would be about normal for the versi... Otherwise good though, definitely good ventilation. I'd say like a 30cm cube for the seemani. assuming both are adults of course. Not to say you couldn't fill that with 40cm of substrate... might have to glue the front door shut though.

 

[Stu Macher]

If it were me, I would start with the A. Geniculata. They get to a really impressive size, are out in the open often, and never turn down a meal unless in premolt. And their beautiful T's.

Or you could start with a versicolor as well. But why not both?

 

[viper69]

Hi, I’m just after opinions on keeping either the antilles pink toe (caribena versicolour) or the striped-knee tarantula ( aphonopelma seemanni) as my first tarantula, i have over the years kept many snakes, chameleons and mantids, although i have A fear of spiders i also have a massive interest in tarantulas, i find them fascinating. I have little to no interest in handling or really disturbing them once they are set up other than general care etc but still not sure which would be best as a first time keeper. The viv that i have is an Exo terra extra tall mini 30x30x60 which im guessing would be ok for an adult versicolour? thankyou

Without units I can’t say, not enough info

 

[MariaLewisia]

Welcome to the hobby! Both C. versicolor and A. seemanni are good choices for a first T. Personally I'd go with the versicolor for a more interesting experience. Aphonopelmas are notorious "pet rocks", aka. they just sit around and don't do much, while versicolors, well, they actually move around lol. But that's just my preference! Any of these are fine!

Regarding the enclosure it's waaay to tall for a versi. They can suffer a lot of damage if they happen to fall so generally you only want any potential fall to be at most 1.5 times the leg span of the tarantula. Like jbooth said, you could always fill it up with a lot of substrate if you don't want to get another enclosure.

 

[Wolfram1]

Yep, both would be good starter species, with the A. seemanni beeing more forgiving to mistakes.

CM? that would be fine for an adult C. versicolor but way too big for a smaller one.

A. semanni is a fossorial species so it will likely burrow and be hidden most of the time, are these the two species available to you or could you choose something else?
My recommendations would be Grammostola pulchripes or G. pulchra if you prefer black over gold, or indeed ether Lasiodora parahybana or Acanthoscvurria geniculata, both are easy to get cheap and are fantastic. With the A. gen you just run the risk of beeing absorbed into the vile Cult following that species.

Just browse a bit and get a picture on how you would set each of them up. You can always get feedback if your setup will work before u eventually get one.

 

[fcat]

With the A. gen you just run the risk of beeing absorbed into the vile Cult following that species.

You mean to tell me I have been waiting for a formal induction ceremony for nothing????

 

[Lauralou]

Without units I can’t say, not enough info

Thankyou very much, very helpful info in you’re link, please excuse me but not sure what you mean by units?

Yep, both would be good starter species, with the A. seemanni beeing more forgiving to mistakes.

CM? that would be fine for an adult C. versicolor but way too big for a smaller one.

A. semanni is a fossorial species so it will likely burrow and be hidden most of the time, are these the two species available to you or could you choose something else?
My recommendations would be Grammostola pulchripes or G. pulchra if you prefer black over gold, or indeed ether Lasiodora parahybana or Acanthoscvurria geniculata, both are easy to get cheap and are fantastic. With the A. gen you just run the risk of beeing absorbed into the vile Cult following that species.

Just browse a bit and get a picture on how you would set each of them up. You can always get feedback if your setup will work before u eventually get one.

Hi thankyou, no not limited to these just these are the ones i like the look of and research so far, i also really like the Brazilian jewel but being a complete novice i do not want to go out of my depth and hurt any of them, will get a smaller enclosure for the versi if i go down that path, good old internet is full of false info which i the reason id rather ask on here.

 

[Gevo]

Thankyou very much, very helpful info in you’re link, please excuse me but not sure what you mean by units?

Welcome!

Our members are from all over the world and measure their own tarantulas and enclosures and such in different units, so when you say 30x30x60, people don't know if you mean inches, centimetres, etc. so it always helps to be specific.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Welcome!

Our members are from all over the world and measure their own tarantulas and enclosures and such in different units, so when you say 30x30x60, people don't know if you mean inches, centimetres, etc. so it always helps to be specific.

He's in the UK. It doesn't take a genius to know which units he's referring to.

 

[Lauralou]

Welcome!

Our members are from all over the world and measure their own tarantulas and enclosures and such in different units, so when you say 30x30x60, people don't know if you mean inches, centimetres, etc. so it always helps to be specific.

Thankyou, sorry im in the uk so 30cm x 30cm x 60cm tall

 

[Introvertebrate]

Thankyou, sorry im in the uk so 30cm x 30cm x 60cm tall

No harm done. It was very obvious.

 

[viper69]

Thankyou very much, very helpful info in you’re link, please excuse me but not sure what you mean by units?


Hi thankyou, no not limited to these just these are the ones i like the look of and research so far, i also really like the Brazilian jewel but being a complete novice i do not want to go out of my depth and hurt any of them, will get a smaller enclosure for the versi if i go down that path, good old internet is full of false info which i the reason id rather ask on here.

Quite welcome- the measurements inches or cm.

He's in the UK. It doesn't take a genius to know which units he's referring to.

I am not- and some of us don’t have time to figure things out.

 

[Gevo]

He's in the UK. It doesn't take a genius to know which units he's referring to.

No, it doesn’t, but they got feedback and asked what it meant.