OW readiness

[Andrea82]

they turn round and lol at/attack it.

Your OW lol at your paintbrush??
What species do you have, I would love a laughing spider

 

[Nixphat]

The hardest part about OW in my opinion is rehousing them, instead of running away from the brush like a NW does they turn round and lol at/attack it. But a little patience and it's no problem, the speed isn't an issue as long as you have prepared for the job correctly.

Someone needs to tell my G porteri to get with the memo, one specifically turns around at everything. It's actually easier to coax her straight on, if I tap at her back legs she just flips around and grabs at whatever I'm using. When I put part of an egg carton right in front of her, she literally just climbed right on it. Difficult little thing

Oh, and I have read E Pachypus is a good starter OW, for what it's worth

 

[Bread]

Your OW lol at your paintbrush??
What species do you have, I would love a laughing spider

The main culprit is the goddess

 

[Andrea82]

The main culprit is the goddess

your goddess laughs at you? You lucky man...all I get to see is her butt. Pretty, but well, it's just a butt....

 

[MGery92]

I've been thinking about this for a while. How does a person know if they're ready for an OW tarantula or highly venomous spider? Are there any guidelines? People often overestimate their own abilities or underestimate the tarantula.

Years of experience seems to be an iffy standard. A person could spend a decade making mistakes and never learning from them.

What about species like Sicarius? What should be the guidelines for owning a species like this?

I'm not talking about legal restrictions. I mean how are keepers supposed to know when they're ready for advanced/expert species?

Well, if you are lucky enough to get an OW as a freebie (I've got my only one OW spider, an O. sp. "negros", as a freebie), you have to be able to care for them asap. When I got him/her, I wasn't ready for an OW (and still not ready for more OW's after 8 months of T keeping, this one is far enough), so I had to learn a lot in a short period of time. But I think that if you are collect enough information, respect them and stay focused during their maintenance, nothing bad will happen. They are tarantulas too, maybe a bit faster, more venomous and defensive tarantulas.

 

[Nonnack]

Imo the best way to know if you are ready to OW is to own Psalmopeus, Ephobopus and maybe Phormictopus. If you can take care for them, rehouse them safely, and don't freak out when they suddenly bolt out of enclosure or bite your tongs, you shouldn't have problems with old world tarantulas.

If you can't wait to get it, i suggest buying sling, that way you will still have lot of time to learn, before it will become dangerous.

 

[TarantulaArvind]

I think you are being a bit overcautious. I understand why you feel this way, and I know you need extensive research for yourself to keep Theraphosids, but this goes for you, it is what you feel comfortable with, and doesn't go for everybody .

Also, Sicarius sp are not only kept for being a macho, they have some very interesting behaviours.
Do you need to do extensive research to keep 'hot' spiders? Yes. Should they be banned...I don't know.

maybe im being little overcautious, i don't deny. maybe it is because i haven't started owning Ts and most probably my opinion might change once I start keeping them .

but for now, wrt sicarius, funnel webs et al, im only speaking from what i've read about these species on the boards. all I want for is , is for the hobby to be safe from persecution arising due to untoward incident, and also for the unsuspecting people to not come in harm's way...

 

[Andrea82]

maybe im being little overcautious, i don't deny. maybe it is because i haven't started owning Ts and most probably my opinion might change once I start keeping them .

but for now, wrt sicarius, funnel webs et al, im only speaking from what i've read about these species on the boards. all I want for is , is for the hobby to be safe from persecution arising due to untoward incident, and also for the unsuspecting people to not come in harm's way...

I understand.
I think a lot of keepers have met someone of who they thought 'now THAT person should never ever ever keep OW or hot spiders'....just a random 'tarantula' search on YouTube produces a lot of those people....

 

[viper69]

I've been thinking about this for a while. How does a person know if they're ready for an OW tarantula or highly venomous spider? Are there any guidelines? People often overestimate their own abilities or underestimate the tarantula.

Years of experience seems to be an iffy standard. A person could spend a decade making mistakes and never learning from them.

What about species like Sicarius? What should be the guidelines for owning a species like this?

I'm not talking about legal restrictions. I mean how are keepers supposed to know when they're ready for advanced/expert species?

There are no rules, no way to really know. Sure there are some people on here that write things and its obvious they shouldn't get an OW as their first or even 4th T etc.

In determining if you are ready, you can only go by your experience. If you flip out because your B. albo had a temper tantrum, you aren't ready.

That's why I always recommend the ladder system, gradually getting Ts with increased abilities or concerns an owner may have, and seeing how you do after a few years (why a few years, see below) assuming it's a sling. Or one can look at all the bright colors and collect OWs like they are M&Ms, and end up with a serious problem.

You see the size of a T matters. Far too many people on here buy OWs and think they "can handle it", and they can't or couldn't (selling off their OWs). What they don't care about is that T will outgrow the skill level set of the owner, and along the way of getting larger, the T will get more brave as all animals do that get larger, and less likely to just run away. I had small M balfouri at 1" giving me a threat pose. Imagine a 5" or larger OW doing that in a simple feeding or rehouse situation.

There truly is no rush to get an OW, they will be around for a very long time. There's no need to get one either. It's all a want, nothing more.

I'm not impressed with someone who has a NW collection or a OW collection or a mix.

Nor am I impressed when I see someone hold an OW T, only impressed with their stupidity. Now if that same person was free-diving with a Great White Shark, I'd be impressed.

 

[user 666]

I've been thinking about this for a while. How does a person know if they're ready for an OW tarantula or highly venomous spider? Are there any guidelines? People often overestimate their own abilities or underestimate the tarantula.

Years of experience seems to be an iffy standard. A person could spend a decade making mistakes and never learning from them.

What about species like Sicarius? What should be the guidelines for owning a species like this?

I'm not talking about legal restrictions. I mean how are keepers supposed to know when they're ready for advanced/expert species?

when you snatch the pebble from my hand, grasshopper.

 

[Tanner Dzula]

Imho..., when you dont have the flinch reaction anymore then is the time to make the transfer.

i think this right here is a good indicator for the mental aspect of it.
theres only one thing worse then getting bit by an OW, IMO and thats getting bit by a OW that you just tossed onto the wall/floor that is now running wild throughout the room, because you flinched when you got tagged, that you now need to catch with one of your arms/legs/hands/ETC thats literally in some excruciating pain now.

 

[Angel Minkov]

Whenever you want an OW, you get an OW as a sling. That's pretty much it. You can go by the ladder system, or you can choose to skip it. My 3rd tarantula was a P. murinus, did fine with it and I was probably 12. Then I lost it (still no idea why it croaked), took a 3 year break from tarantulas, came back and bought a P. regalis, then switched almost exclusively to OWs. Never had big problems with them. I had a little fear in me when I got the regalis, but it passed quickly.

 

[Tanner Dzula]

maybe im being little overcautious, i don't deny. maybe it is because i haven't started owning Ts and most probably my opinion might change once I start keeping them .

but for now, wrt sicarius, funnel webs et al, im only speaking from what i've read about these species on the boards. all I want for is , is for the hobby to be safe from persecution arising due to untoward incident, and also for the unsuspecting people to not come in harm's way...

while agree there is no reason to keep some of these species, keep in mind, these are FAR from the most dangerous animals in the pet trade.

id very well prefer somebody with 50+ sydney funnel webs, then say ,1 person with a few pit vipers/rattlesnakes/mamba's ETC.

But at the same time, when you start making that a argument more and more, then its very easy to start classifying some of the more dangerous and potent T's, IE: H. Mac, S. Cal's, ETC

 

[Walker253]

There is really no right or wrong time honestly. If you have common sense, you'll most likely be ok. You'll have a learning curve either way. You're going to get nervous and be jumpy no matter when you start.
If you've waited 5 years to get into OW's, you been thinking about it for 4 years and 11 months. No matter what you say, you've created an image of the evil old world long before it arrived. Your heart is going to race. The learning curve may be faster, but it's still there.
Give the OW a suitable environment and if it's content, you'll be ok if you don't mess with it unless you have to of course. I tend to keep them in a little bit bigger container so the rehouses are less than they need to be.
I frankly have more issues with NW's than OW's. This last weekend, my E trucelentus threw the best OBT threat pose she could muster and my B vagans bolted and ran all over me before I cupped her on my upper arm.
If you lack common sense, you wouldn't know it anyway (or be willing to admit it). You'll be posting a bite report or a how should I catch my OBT thread before long.

 

[gypsy cola]

Its like swimming in a pool.

When are comfortable you edge towards the deep end. Or some people just dive right in and hope they don't drown.

It's all based on confidence and ability.

 

[Kendricks]

Well, my most recent addition was a juvenile P. murinus and I feel very fine with that decision.

Educate yourself in advance, learn from those who have experience and apply your gut feeling to filter the info. Done.

How would one prepare for rehousing a P. murinus? From rehousing Brachypelma for years?
If you have the general basics for T's down, and feel confident, I see no reason not to get 'advanced species'.

Long story short:
You learn to shoot a gun by shooting a gun. Simple as that. No black magic behind it.

 

[TarantulaArvind]

I understand.
I think a lot of keepers have met someone of who they thought 'now THAT person should never ever ever keep OW or hot spiders'....just a random 'tarantula' search on YouTube produces a lot of those people....

There are so many(cueDTG(if you know what I mean ))

Actually I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to admonish the honest serious experienced keepers (capable of keeping sicarius etc) in the earlier post .. But only those who want to go all guns blazing sooner than they are ready, jus to prove to themselves or others that they are capable of handling the "hots"and subsequently coming short in the handling department.

The hobbyist should not have anything to do with proving anything to others, but should rather promote the T keeping in a positive way and teach others to appreciate these wonderful creatures.

 

[Magenta]

I'm not personally interested in owning any OW Ts and certainly not Sicarius and such. I have a 1yr old daughter and 2 cats, I'm not sure if I'll ever be comfortable with OWs. However, M. balfouri are stunning. But...no.

 

[GreyPsyche]

Honestly, I love OWs.

I mean I know my OBT wants to eat my soul like the dementors from Harry Potter and pokies using alien predator stealth camo just waiting to pounce on my and string me up in a tree by web, I know the Goddess is planning on laying a sac and birthing a thousand aliens Goddess to latch onto my face at night and kill me ala aliens. I don't care. I know what they want. I don't know about them hairy butted NWs, they're cute and always sitting there staring at me, I can never tell what they want! They can't be trusted...however OWs, at least I know they want to eliminate my entire being...

Yeah, I'm new, still more interested in OWs despite some of the beautiful NWs.

I just like the survival tactics of OWs better, NWs just don't seem to care about life, that's disturbing. Soulless beings! I kid...

 

[Jason B]

I encourage one to use the ladder system, its works and its encouraged for a reason. What you don't want to end up with is a spider that your afraid to take care of properly. I can tell you first hand the potential for failure is there. My first time in the hobby I decided to skip the bridge species and go straight to pokie, now I had already gotten an obt sling as a freebie by this time and what I should have done is atleast let the molt a few times and rehouse it a few times for experience. But no, I was like this obt sling ain't that bad I'm gonna get a p. regalis and not even a sling but a 3 inch juvie. I still remember unpacking that T like it happened yesterday and not 7 years ago. What followed I should have recorded as a what not to do video as I tried for 20 some odd minutes to get my new P. regalis into a catch cup. I was fortunate enough to succeed without being bitten but it was free roaming for those 20 minutes.

The only plus side to that whole experience was ever since then every unpacking, rehousing, cage maintenance when dealing with OWs has pretty much been easy peasy lemon squeezy in comparison.