Pros and cons of popular tarantula YouTubers?

[Seemannnni]

I keep up with Petko's videos and watch whatever Tom Moran releases. TTC is overly cinematic for me, but I do enjoy his personality and his care for the tarantulas in his collection.

 

[Piek]

This answer is a controversial one. A good majority of new T. hobbyist are brought in by Youtubers like the Dark Den and Exotics Lair, which is a somewhat good thing. Everything else is almost a negative from there on. More hobbyist equals more demand of T.'s resulting in price inflations due to supply and demand issues and many more.

These people are trying to make T.'s entertaining to lower the fear in arachnophobes, which is a good thing. But Youtube is a double-edged sword in terms of this hobby. Exotics Lair and The Dark Den are entertainment tarantula Youtubers that want to help people out. But in return, fans worship them like literal gods. Logically, they are swaying this hobby into a new course. Either good or bad, it's up to how you see it.

The Dark Den is entertaining and I'm subscribed to his channel because it's fun and entertaining (I can admit this). But then again when a young enthusiasts person watches this, they instantly think this hobby is all rainbows and sunshine. Which in reality, there is also drawbacks and people who are really desperate to start with a cool dangerous OW T. than rather starting with a NW in this hobby. I like the Dark Den, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with everything he does, which is not a bad thing. Every keeper has their way of doing things, but they shouldn't encourage or show it to the audience on a normal basis like handling (in general) for example. Look, at the end of the day don't watch, but learn, research, and care for T.'s yourself to get your own personal taste on this hobby and not rely on one or two Youtubers to save you.

Exotics Lair is wayyyyyy tooooo overrated. His enclosures are small, his ventilation is poor in his terrestrial enclosures and his explanations are wayyy too vague. I'd rather watch the Dark Den over Exotics Lair if I had to choose between the two. Exotics Lair should be called Exotics West Coast Exotics Jr. Not trying to be mean, but his enclosures are too small. Sure, they can do fine in them, but it's not an ideal enclosure for any T. He's so vague and uninformative on info. All he does is scratch on the bare basics on things. The only thing in depth he ever did was his dubia roach care video regarding animals. If I compare any bad youtuber (Deadlytarantulagirl,West Coast Exotics) to Exotics Lair, I can see how similar there enclosures can compare very closely. Poor levels of substrate, small or tight enclosures, flexing, and depressing. Now that I think about it, West Coast Exotics and Exotics Lair have about the same amount of substrate levels. Do I like Exotics Lair? Mostly no, even his T.'s don't like him that's why almost all rehouses results in bolting. In this case scenario, i'm cheering for the T.'s to escape from Exotics Lair and be free rather than being forced into a barely suitable enclosure. I'm pretty certain he's getting to a level where PETA is going to get involved.

I’m a newbie at tarantula care and the like, I’m doing my HW for my first new world. What did Deadly tarantula girl do wrong? I don’t watch her content often, but I’ve seen her sometimes on YouTube.

This is also coming from someone who is more knowledgeable on reptiles then tarantulas, but his enclosures and care for his snakes is poor.

 

[Liquifin]

I’m a newbie at tarantula care and the like, I’m doing my HW for my first new world. What did Deadly tarantula girl do wrong? I don’t watch her content often, but I’ve seen her sometimes on YouTube.

Just note that some of my opinions have changed since my initial post, but The Deadly Tarantula is one that hasn't. Keeping tarantulas on just vermiculite as a base substrate alone is not a common nor recommended practice anymore as that method of keeping tarantulas was something from the 90's. In modern times now, tarantula keepers and hobbyists have improved on care significantly, which plain vermiculite as a base substrate is now consider poor/bad practice as we have learned that tarantulas prefer more loose and softer substrate such as coco-fiber and top soil. Vermiculite is now just an additive to a substrate but not used as a substrate base itself, meaning you can add vermiculite to topsoil or coco-fiber for better/stronger burrows, but it's not recommended to use it alone as a single substrate. The Deadly Tarantula Girl uses and still practices outdated and unapproved methods by today's standards. Keeping tarantulas with just vermiculite is like walking on nails for tarantulas.

This is also coming from someone who is more knowledgeable on reptiles then tarantulas, but his enclosures and care for his snakes is poor.

Who is this referring too?

 

[Piek]

Just note that some of my opinions have changed since my initial post, but The Deadly Tarantula is one that hasn't. Keeping tarantulas on just vermiculite as a base substrate alone is not a common nor recommended practice anymore as that method of keeping tarantulas was something from the 90's. In modern times now, tarantula keepers and hobbyists have improved on care significantly, which plain vermiculite as a base substrate is now consider poor/bad practice as we have learned that tarantulas prefer more loose and softer substrate such as coco-fiber and top soil. Vermiculite is now just an additive to a substrate but not used as a substrate base itself, meaning you can add vermiculite to topsoil or coco-fiber for better/stronger burrows, but it's not recommended to use it alone as a single substrate. The Deadly Tarantula Girl uses and still practices outdated and unapproved methods by today's standards. Keeping tarantulas with just vermiculite is like walking on nails for tarantulas.


Who is this referring too?

Oh it’s about exotic lair. His snake care is awful.

 

[Liquifin]

Oh it’s about exotic lair. His snake care is awful.

Snakes are not my strong suit, but it's sad to hear that his snakes are kept in less than ideal conditions.

 

[Piek]

Snakes are not my strong suit, but it's sad to hear that his snakes are kept in less than ideal conditions.

I did not like how he cared for his boa constrictor, I felt like the enclosure was small.

 

[vurzachee]

Just saw an exotics video where he’s ripping the cover webbing off the burrow & throwing roaches down the den, keeping arboreal species terrestrially, & his c lividum has like an inch of sub and he’s surprised that he’s getting snapped at.

 

[Royalty]

I did not like how he cared for his boa constrictor, I felt like the enclosure was small.

His fishcare is pretty sad too. It looks like it is too big for the tank now and the whole thing is barren.

 

[moricollins]

Can I just say here that I've NEVER watched a tarantula YouTube video?

 

[Craig73]

I watch a lot of the popular channels. I started initially as I started to consider owning T’s. The videography is good and topics in general are interesting, although some may question my taste in general as questionable at best.

I was, and am, currently only interested in seeing the T’s on YT. I can’t say I’ve ever relied on husbandry guidance from any channel though. I prefer forums where info is much more accessible in terms of communicating with the masses that keep the species and feedback is quick; there may be different perspectives but at least there’s a dialogue to make informed decisions.

 

[bobbibink]

Tom Moran is fantastic! Such a great teacher and he’s goes into depth with information. I also like The_Tarantula_Collective— I mean, the guy puts so much time and effort into his videos. So enjoyable to watch. I think he’s also great for new folks coming into the hobby.
Another one I like is Tarantula Haven — he’s very entertaining and you can tell he’s passionate about sharing information. All of these guys are IMO.

I stopped watching Exotic Lair when he was purposely prodding his tarantulas to get a threat pose.... no wonder those poor T’s don’t like him.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

There is really only one legit person that does educational videos on husbandry and that's Tom Moran.

There is another person that does videos of tarantulas in their natural habitat and that is Guy Tansley of bugsnstuff.

I highly recommend both of them.

 

[LucN]

Ok, I feel I can update my views on certain Youtubers.

The absolute best for the hobby aspect are Tom Moran, Dave's Little Beasties, basin79, The Tarantula Collective and Tarantula Haven.

I'd throw in Jon3800, but he rarely uploads nowadays, which is a shame. I really enjoyed his vids when I started off over a decade ago.

Exotic's Lair is pure garbage, no reason to return there.

As much as Petko is passionate about his Ts, often I find his videos cringy. Same goes for Tarantula Kat. Sorry, but no thanks.

For the natural aspect of Ts, Andrew Smith and Guy Tansley are the best. Honourable mention to Birdspiders.ch.

And to scratch my Birb itch, Mr. Max TV is still the best. Another I got into recently is Pet Goose George. I can understand many would have issue with Bob's voice and ramblings, but you can tell his heart is in the right place.

That's it for now.

 

[bobbibink]

I like Dave’s Little Beasties too—

 

[basin79]

Ok, I feel I can update my views on certain Youtubers.

The absolute best for the hobby aspect are Tom Moran, Dave's Little Beasties, basin79, The Tarantula Collective and Tarantula Haven.

I'd throw in Jon3800, but he rarely uploads nowadays, which is a shame. I really enjoyed his vids when I started off over a decade ago.

Exotic's Lair is pure garbage, no reason to return there.

As much as Petko is passionate about his Ts, often I find his videos cringy. Same goes for Tarantula Kat. Sorry, but no thanks.

For the natural aspect of Ts, Andrew Smith and Guy Tansley are the best. Honourable mention to Birdspiders.ch.

And to scratch my Birb itch, Mr. Max TV is still the best. Another I got into recently is Pet Goose George. I can understand many would have issue with Bob's voice and ramblings, but you can tell his heart is in the right place.

That's it for now.

Cheers ears but I wouldn't put myself in the same category as Tom. He genuinely offers advice and makes really helpful vids for those that need them.

All I do is upload feeding vids, the odd update and a pic vid now and again.

 

[Robert Marley]

Tom Moran is fantastic! Such a great teacher and he’s goes into depth with information. I also like The_Tarantula_Collective— I mean, the guy puts so much time and effort into his videos. So enjoyable to watch. I think he’s also great for new folks coming into the hobby.
Another one I like is Tarantula Haven — he’s very entertaining and you can tell he’s passionate about sharing information. All of these guys are IMO.

I stopped watching Exotic Lair when he was purposely prodding his tarantulas to get a threat pose.... no wonder those poor T’s don’t like him.

I found him by stumbling

Cheers ears but I wouldn't put myself in the same category as Tom. He genuinely offers advice and makes really helpful vids for those that need them.

All I do is upload feeding vids, the odd update and a pic vid now and again.

I had stumbled on Tarantula Haven videos and he talked really highly of Tom Moran. So I sought out his content and immediately got the impression that he’s a wealth of correct information. Found out he has a podcast, which I enjoy the most. So most of my drive time and activities are accompanied by me absorbing his previous episodes. You can tell he’s a great teacher and as a noob, helps to ease my concerns. Plus I’ve only asked one stupid question on here. Had I found him sooner, I wouldn’t have asked any...

 

[basin79]

I found him by stumbling


I had stumbled on Tarantula Haven videos and he talked really highly of Tom Moran. So I sought out his content and immediately got the impression that he’s a wealth of correct information. Found out he has a podcast, which I enjoy the most. So most of my drive time and activities are accompanied by me absorbing his previous episodes. You can tell he’s a great teacher and as a noob, helps to ease my concerns. Plus I’ve only asked one stupid question on here. Had I found him sooner, I wouldn’t have asked any...

If I'm asked a question regarding "what's the best beginner tarantula" or something similar I always advise them to watch Tom. And 1 of the great thing about his vids is he'll cover a tarantula or tarantulas throughout their lives. Housing and rehousing slings up to the adults.

And I've typed this before but it can only be a good thing if Tom's channel gets massive. Because it's likely more and more will find his videos rather than some of the others.

 

[YoungBrowner]

I'm a bit late to this party, in fact, I'm late to this site in general, especially considering I've been in the hobby since 1994. This thread popped up during a google search, and I had to join the forum in order to put my 2 pence worth in, so, here I am. In answer to the question, I do believe certain YouTube personalities do the tarantula keeping hobby a good service.

Tom Moran - has already been mentioned several times, and I can only offer that I highly agree. He is an extremely knowledgeable keeper, offering really good production value to his followers. He explains everything so thoroughly, from enclosures and feeding, genus reviews, all the way through to rehousings and general notes. I can't recommend him highly enough.

Basin79 - I'm a huge fan of his channel. His tarantula husbandry is first rate in my opinion, his videos are entertaining, plus he includes some exceptionally good photography runs on his collection, something I really rate him for being a photographer myself.

Arachnotube - I do enjoy Gar's videos, he's knowledgeable, has a lot of time served in the hobby and has some great insights.

TarantulaDan - Another great YouTuber, passionate about the hobby and knowledgeable. He does tend to come and go quite a lot however which is a shame as he does put some great content out there.

The_Tarantula_Collective - I think his work speaks for itself and the production quality he puts out there is really something special. You can tell he puts an awful lot of time and effort into his videos, which is always appreciated.

There are a number of other T oriented YouTube channels that I rate, but I'll keep it to my favourites, as listed above. However, a few who are also worth checking out are; PetRockNRoll, The Tarantula Cave, Dave's Little Beasties. If I can think of any more off the top of my head, I'll come back and add them in an edit.

Now, for the downsides and the YouTubers who are not for me.

Exotics Lair - He may have a huge fan base, most notably from among the younger generation. I couldn't tell exactly how old most of them are, but judging by the looks, I'm thinking early mid teens and up. This could be viewed as a good thing as it increases the curiosity of youngsters to learn what these fascinating invertebrates are all about. However, it also worries me that these youngsters then get the idea that it's just a cool thing to keep Ts, and worse still, that they may 'ape' his example and start keeping their own captives in the same conditions; i.e cramped enclosures, poor ventilation, inadequate substrate depth for fossorial species and so on. Many of his pairing videos end in disaster. I know there is an inherent risk of cannibalisation when attempting a pairing, but I somethings get the impression that something is not quite right, since to my mind most of his pairings end in disaster.
Lastly, I believe he's in this for the money and the views, or vice versa, one leading to the other. A lot of clickbait titling, shouting and unnecessary riling up of his spiders - e.g waving his hand around as hard and erratically as possible in front of a Cyriopagopus lividus and then yelping "whoa what is wrong with you?" when it rears up and starts slapping. That may have something to do with the fact you've just riled it up mate by waving your hand around in front of it, deliberately trying to get a reaction to boost your views.

The Dark Den - I hate to say this, because I do find some of his stuff entertaining, however I feel he's been swept up in the 'Exotics Lair' whirlwind. I could be wrong, but it certainly appears that way. He does appear to have some questionable husbandry issues as well here and there.

I'll leave this here for now, though there are others on YouTube who could be worth a mention in the 'not so good' list, but I'll cut this short for brevity as my reply has already droned on.

Thanks.

 

[8 legged]

I can only repeat over and over again being a supporter of Dave's little beasties. You can tell that he doesn't do this YouTube thing to be the center of attention, but he is a credible representative of the hobby! It shows that spider posture is quite demanding and that you don't have to be absolute chaos to enjoy it. With him the animal is clearly in the foreground and not a need for recognition!
In this sense: "Be calm, be gentle and love your spiders!"

 

[Help Me]

This video showed up in my recomended list on youtube today.

I have never seen videos from this guy before and the title and the overdramatic buildup and music was just anoying to begin with but I have to say that the guy's pure enthusiasm and passion for the hobby grew on me and I ended up grinning like an idiot for the second half of the video. Genuine passion, good showmanship and correct, if a touch dramatic, information given about the T

That guy does ants most of the time and other animals sometimes.