Questions regarding getting my first tarantula in a few weeks!

[gabbylovestarantulass]

Hey guys, im getting my first tarantula in a few weeks! I picked out a Tliltocatl Ablopilosum sling.
But the seller offered a freebie ( Tliltocatl Vagnas) sling as well.

Would it be okay to accept these two tarantulas, even though I’m a beginner who has never owned tarantulas before. I do understand that they cannot be housed together, and I am prepared for the two slings (space wise)

What tips do you guys have if this would be acceptable to do? I want to give both of these cuties the best lives I can, and I don’t know if this would be considered “too much” for a beginner.

 

[DaveM]

Hey guys, im getting my first tarantula in a few weeks! I picked out a Tliltocatl Ablopilosum sling.
But the seller offered a freebie ( Tliltocatl Vagnas) sling as well.

Would it be okay to accept these two tarantulas, even though I’m a beginner who has never owned tarantulas before. I do understand that they cannot be housed together, and I am prepared for the two slings (space wise)

What tips do you guys have if this would be acceptable to do? I want to give both of these cuties the best lives I can, and I don’t know if this would be considered “too much” for a beginner.

Do it! Take them, and don't worry. These are both good beginner species. It will help kindle your interest to have two spiders, more chances that one is doing something interesting.

This is how it began for most of us. Plan to get one, then get two, and four and ten... and then somewhere around maybe 130 or so, you start wondering if you should stop, if it's becoming an unhealthy obsession, and after a couple of seconds you shrug it off and still want more. Then you will breed them and get hundreds to thousands of slings, which you will spread to others, like a viral infection that pleases you very much to spread. It's not evil. It's appreciation of natural wonders. Only two spiders? Probably the only regret you'll encounter is that you didn't get more!

On a responsible note: please take good care of them. Post photos of your enclosures on here so people can help you succeed.
Oh, and for tips:
-- Add enough substrate to the enclosures, to within 1.5x the spiders' diagonal legspans of the top of the enclosures, so that they won't fall too far when they climb to the tops of your enclosures.
-- Don't be disappointed if they sit still for most of the day. Sitting still and not doing anything is their favorite pastime.
-- These species don't need much attention to moisture, the substrate should be mostly dry, but they will benefit if you let the waterbowl overflow a little when you fill it so that a small area of the substrate is damp.

Also, enjoy being Canadian, especially from Ontario The people from there are so awesome that I had to add one to my collection by importing my wife from a suburb of Toronto. She's great, but her feeding/housing/care/husbandry requirements are much more labor-intensive than for any spider species. Get many spiders, but one wife is enough. I've heard that husbands can be even more taxing, but I wouldn't know about that. I regret that I don't know about keeping every kind of living creature; sorry, can't please everyone.

 

[Charliemum]

Hey guys, im getting my first tarantula in a few weeks! I picked out a Tliltocatl Ablopilosum sling.
But the seller offered a freebie ( Tliltocatl Vagnas) sling as well.

Would it be okay to accept these two tarantulas, even though I’m a beginner who has never owned tarantulas before. I do understand that they cannot be housed together, and I am prepared for the two slings (space wise)

What tips do you guys have if this would be acceptable to do? I want to give both of these cuties the best lives I can, and I don’t know if this would be considered “too much” for a beginner.

If you've done your research, have the space and resources I don't see why you couldn't. I would say go for it the sp you have chosen/been given don't need any crazy care both beginner sp go for it

Do it! Take them, and don't worry. These are both good beginner species. It will help kindle your interest to have two spiders, more chances that one is doing something interesting.

This is how it began for most of us. Plan to get one, then get two, and four and ten... and then somewhere around maybe 130 or so, you start wondering if you should stop, if it's becoming an unhealthy obsession, and after a couple of seconds you shrug it off and still want more. Then you will breed them and get hundreds to thousands of slings, which you will spread to others, like a viral infection that pleases you very much to spread. It's not evil. It's appreciation of natural wonders. Only two spiders? Probably the only regret you'll encounter is that you didn't get more!

On a responsible note: please take good care of them. Post photos of your enclosures on here so people can help you succeed.
Oh, and for tips:
-- Add enough substrate to the enclosures, to within 1.5x the spiders' diagonal legspans of the top of the enclosures, so that they won't fall too far when they climb to the tops of your enclosures.
-- Don't be disappointed if they sit still for most of the day. Sitting still and not doing anything is their favorite pastime.
-- These species don't need much attention to moisture, the substrate should be mostly dry, but they will benefit if you let the waterbowl overflow a little when you fill it so that a small area of the substrate is damp.

Also, enjoy being Canadian, especially from Ontario The people from there are so awesome that I had to add one to my collection by importing my wife from a suburb of Toronto. She's great, but her feeding/housing/care/husbandry requirements are much more labor-intensive than for any spider species. Get many spiders, but one wife is enough. I've heard that husbands can be even more taxing, but I wouldn't know about that. I regret that I don't know about keeping every kind of living creature; sorry, can't please everyone.

I got the should I stop at 100

And lmao don't let your wife see that

 

[DaveM]

I got the should I stop at 100

And lmao don't let your wife see that

She knows! She's incredibly expensive to feed and clothe, and I have to heat the house extra warm just for her. Not the best beginner wife at all, but a great display specimen, and an ideal cohabitant for the long run.

Now, for beginner species of tarantulas we all know that it's usually best to start with New World / American species like these that @gabbylovestarantulass is getting, before acquiring any of the more difficult Asian species. Good job, Gabby! You're off to a great start

For wives, expecting that I would be limited to just one, I needed to shop around strategically. I got lucky and found one that is Asian by birth, but a naturalized Canadian citizen. It's the best of both worlds, like a two-for-one sale. Expensive and difficult, though, but she learned to love the spiders eventually and helps considerably with their care. So my pet Asian Canadian import and the little hybrid humanlings we bred take care of the spiders and the spiderlings we bred. Never thought my little circle of life would work out so nicely, like a self-sustaining ecosystem

But all this felicity came down to getting off on the right foot, as @gabbylovestarantulass is doing now. I'm sure she'll do all the research she should here on Arachnoboards, discovering vitally important care tips, friendly support, and interesting factoids about her new family members. She might learn, for example, that not all T. albopilosus look exactly alike. The ones purportedly from Nicaragua appear to have a crazy good or crazy bad hair day depending on your perspective. The naming changes too, from time to time. Brachypelma albopilosa (per Valerio, 1980) --> Brachypelma albopilosum (when it was realized that Brachypelma is neuter so the feminine form of the Latin adjective albopilosa ["white-hairy"] had to be corrected to match the neuter gendered genus name) --> Tliltocatl albopilosum (per Mendoza and Franke, 2020) --> Tliltocatl albopilosus (when it was realized that Tliltocatl is masculine, so the Latin adjective had to be made masculine; this is currently the correct name).

Then about T. vagans, there has been a non-native colony in a citrus grove near Ft. Pierce, Florida. Vagans means "wandering" -- but they didn't wander from their native range across the Gulf of Mexico to establish themselves in Florida. They had human help, of course. Now, no comments here at all related to border security or illegal imigration, but focusing solely on humanity and goodness: this species is beautiful and righly inspires human admiration wherever it finds a home. Apparently, the T. vagans that settled on Cozumel Island grow to become the largest, and ones that make their way as far north as Canada grow to become the most charismatic and cherished.

 

[Charliemum]

She knows! She's incredibly expensive to feed and clothe, and I have to heat the house extra warm just for her. Not the best beginner wife at all, but a great display specimen, and an ideal cohabitant for the long run.

Now, for beginner species of tarantulas we all know that it's usually best to start with New World / American species like these that @gabbylovestarantulass is getting, before acquiring any of the more difficult Asian species. Good job, Gabby! You're off to a great start

For wives, expecting that I would be limited to just one, I needed to shop around strategically. I got lucky and found one that is Asian by birth, but a naturalized Canadian citizen. It's the best of both worlds, like a two-for-one sale. Expensive and difficult, though, but she learned to love the spiders eventually and helps considerably with their care. So my pet Asian Canadian import and the little hybrid humanlings we bred take care of the spiders and the spiderlings we bred. Never thought my little circle of life would work out so nicely, like a self-sustaining ecosystem

But all this felicity came down to getting off on the right foot, as @gabbylovestarantulass is doing now. I'm sure she'll do all the research she should here on Arachnoboards, discovering vitally important care tips, friendly support, and interesting factoids about her new family members. She might learn, for example, that not all T. albopilosus look exactly alike. The ones purportedly from Nicaragua appear to have a crazy good or crazy bad hair day depending on your perspective. The naming changes too, from time to time. Brachypelma albopilosa (per Valerio, 1980) --> Brachypelma albopilosum (when it was realized that Brachypelma is neuter so the feminine form of the Latin adjective albopilosa ["white-hairy"] had to be corrected to match the neuter gendered genus name) --> Tliltocatl albopilosum (per Mendoza and Franke, 2020) --> Tliltocatl albopilosus (when it was realized that Tliltocatl is masculine, so the Latin adjective had to be made masculine; this is currently the correct name).

Then about T. vagans, there has been a non-native colony in a citrus grove near Ft. Pierce, Florida. Vagans means "wandering" -- but they didn't wander from their native range across the Gulf of Mexico to establish themselves in Florida. They had human help, of course. Now, no comments here at all related to border security or illegal imigration, but focusing solely on humanity and goodness: this species is beautiful and righly inspires human admiration wherever it finds a home. Apparently, the T. vagans that settled on Cozumel Island grow to become the largest, and ones that make their way as far north as Canada grow to become the most charismatic and cherished.

That sounds like a perfect self sustaining ecosystem you are lucky to have found such a perfect balance . And I am more then sure op will appreciate all the info to get started on .

 

[Andrew Clayton]

Hey guys, im getting my first tarantula in a few weeks! I picked out a Tliltocatl Ablopilosum sling.
But the seller offered a freebie ( Tliltocatl Vagnas) sling as well.

Would it be okay to accept these two tarantulas, even though I’m a beginner who has never owned tarantulas before. I do understand that they cannot be housed together, and I am prepared for the two slings (space wise)

What tips do you guys have if this would be acceptable to do? I want to give both of these cuties the best lives I can, and I don’t know if this would be considered “too much” for a beginner.

1st of all welcome to AB. It's always recommended to go for new world terrestrials as a beginner So definitely go for it, try and get some sizes off the seller though as a sling can be pretty small like less than 1cm small. After that come here and we will all help with you're setup and stuff, And then when they arrive and are housed you just repeat the process that simple lol.

 

[LucN]

Welcome to the forums !

As everyone mentioned before, you'll do fine with these two to start your journey. Even if both are slings, you'll see some growth pretty soon. Both are hardy and (generally) mild-tempered, though I've heard of irate vagans over the years. Don't let that deter you. The biggest piece of advice I can give you is : Take it slow. Deal with just these two for a year or so. There's no need to have an army, get what seems reasonable to you. I've been keeping Ts for 16 years now and only owned 5 at most. Been with the same 4 for about a decade now and couldn't be happier.

Enjoy seeing your albo and vagans grow ! They'll get out of the delicate sling stage relatively quickly. By the time they reach 1.5 - 2" in legspan, you can start keeping them like adults : Mostly dry sub with a water dish.

Also, feel free to peruse the Beginners thread pinned at the top of this sub-forum, you'll find a lot of useful information there.

Enjoy the hobby !

 

[Charliemum]

Welcome to the forums !

As everyone mentioned before, you'll do fine with these two to start your journey. Even if both are slings, you'll see some growth pretty soon. Both are hardy and (generally) mild-tempered, though I've heard of irate vagans over the years. Don't let that deter you. The biggest piece of advice I can give you is : Take it slow. Deal with just these two for a year or so. There's no need to have an army, get what seems reasonable to you. I've been keeping Ts for 16 years now and only owned 5 at most. Been with the same 4 for about a decade now and couldn't be happier.

Enjoy seeing your albo and vagans grow ! They'll get out of the delicate sling stage relatively quickly. By the time they reach 1.5 - 2" in legspan, you can start keeping them like adults : Mostly dry sub with a water dish.

Also, feel free to peruse the Beginners thread pinned at the top of this sub-forum, you'll find a lot of useful information there.

Enjoy the hobby !

Now that's what I call will power , I am weak n couldn't stop

 

[Andrew Clayton]

Now that's what I call will power , I am weak n couldn't stop

Lol I'm with you on that got my 1st T around 16 years ago and had 5 within the year, I'm around the 60 mark just now but most are slings.

 

[Charliemum]

Lol I'm with you on that got my 1st T around 16 years ago and had 5 within the year, I'm around the 60 mark just now but most are slings.

4 years at Christmas 30 in my first year now sitting at 104 ranging from slings to 8 inch females
It's not all my fault though my partner breeds t's so I get slings n females as presents from him, plus my family get them for me too for birthday Christmas ect sooooo I ended up with a few but have stopped collecting for a bit I need a proper dedicated t room before I go any further. But yer I am weak and can't resist a floofer .

 

[fcat]

I did the thing Dave is talking about, except the Canadian spouse...but I do have a BIL so at least we got one in the family

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Hey guys, im getting my first tarantula in a few weeks! I picked out a Tliltocatl Ablopilosum sling.
But the seller offered a freebie ( Tliltocatl Vagnas) sling as well.

Would it be okay to accept these two tarantulas, even though I’m a beginner who has never owned tarantulas before. I do understand that they cannot be housed together, and I am prepared for the two slings (space wise)

What tips do you guys have if this would be acceptable to do? I want to give both of these cuties the best lives I can, and I don’t know if this would be considered “too much” for a beginner.

Great place to start is via the link below. Also use the search feature on the home page here. T. vagans and T. albopilosus are extremely hardy tarantulas. Gratz on joining arachnoculture

Admin Announcement - Tarantula Information for Beginners (and More)

Below are some helpful resources. (Rather than having half a dozen or more pinned threads, which clutter the top of the board, we are pinning this index.) While the focus is on beginners, there are other threads on health and more advanced species that may be useful to more experienced keepers...

arachnoboards.com

 

[Mustafa67]

Hey guys, im getting my first tarantula in a few weeks! I picked out a Tliltocatl Ablopilosum sling.
But the seller offered a freebie ( Tliltocatl Vagnas) sling as well.

Would it be okay to accept these two tarantulas, even though I’m a beginner who has never owned tarantulas before. I do understand that they cannot be housed together, and I am prepared for the two slings (space wise)

What tips do you guys have if this would be acceptable to do? I want to give both of these cuties the best lives I can, and I don’t know if this would be considered “too much” for a beginner.

Yes

SEARCH THE FORUM

 

[Gevo]

Yes, if you're open to having two, get both! It's really not any more difficult to have a few than it is to have one. In fact, I'd argue it's sometimes more challenging having fewer of them because it's easier to manage feeders in larger numbers. (I have only two myself, so I keep a little bug-money pouch with change in it so I can buy just a couple of crickets, hornworms, or silk worms at time!)

In addition to the beginners' thread shared above, I'll also recommend Tom Moran's comprehensive sling guide: https://tomsbigspiders.com/2016/08/26/tarantula-sling-husbandry/

 

[Ratmosphere]

Yes

SEARCH THE FORUM

Don't be yellin like that mane!

 

[DaveM]

Don't be yellin like that mane!

@Ratmosphere, aren't you from Connecticut? Isn't "mane" what they say in the south and especially Memphis and/or among phonk music creators?

But thinking of manes as distinct outgrowths of hair, @gabbylovestarantulass, do you know about urticating hairs yet? They're not really hairs, but "setae" (singular "seta"). The species you're getting are not among those that have the worst urticating setae, nor are they among those typically most prone to kick them in your direction, but they do have them. Every rose has its thorn, but nothing to worry about as long as you are forewarned. It's good to have an intermediate level of defense between hiding and biting. Pepper spray saves lives and ammunition, et cetera.

 

[Mustafa67]

Don't be yellin like that mane!

Direct, constructive advice

@Ratmosphere, aren't you from Connecticut? Isn't "mane" what they say in the south and especially Memphis and/or among phonk music creators?

But thinking of manes as distinct outgrowths of hair, @gabbylovestarantulass, do you know about urticating hairs yet? They're not really hairs, but "setae" (singular "seta"). The species you're getting are not among those that have the worst urticating setae, nor are they among those typically most prone to kick them in your direction, but they do have them. Every rose has its thorn, but nothing to worry about as long as you are forewarned. It's good to have an intermediate level of defense between hiding and biting. Pepper spray saves lives and ammunition, et cetera.

Often here in the UK people say “mate” which would fit there in that context even if they aren’t really friends. It’s interesting how similar those phrases are/contexts they are used, so similar in spelling & both 4 letter words too.

 

[gabbylovestarantulass]

Do it! Take them, and don't worry. These are both good beginner species. It will help kindle your interest to have two spiders, more chances that one is doing something interesting.

This is how it began for most of us. Plan to get one, then get two, and four and ten... and then somewhere around maybe 130 or so, you start wondering if you should stop, if it's becoming an unhealthy obsession, and after a couple of seconds you shrug it off and still want more. Then you will breed them and get hundreds to thousands of slings, which you will spread to others, like a viral infection that pleases you very much to spread. It's not evil. It's appreciation of natural wonders. Only two spiders? Probably the only regret you'll encounter is that you didn't get more!

On a responsible note: please take good care of them. Post photos of your enclosures on here so people can help you succeed.
Oh, and for tips:
-- Add enough substrate to the enclosures, to within 1.5x the spiders' diagonal legspans of the top of the enclosures, so that they won't fall too far when they climb to the tops of your enclosures.
-- Don't be disappointed if they sit still for most of the day. Sitting still and not doing anything is their favorite pastime.
-- These species don't need much attention to moisture, the substrate should be mostly dry, but they will benefit if you let the waterbowl overflow a little when you fill it so that a small area of the substrate is damp.

Also, enjoy being Canadian, especially from Ontario The people from there are so awesome that I had to add one to my collection by importing my wife from a suburb of Toronto. She's great, but her feeding/housing/care/husbandry requirements are much more labor-intensive than for any spider species. Get many spiders, but one wife is enough. I've heard that husbands can be even more taxing, but I wouldn't know about that. I regret that I don't know about keeping every kind of living creature; sorry, can't please everyone.

Hello there! Thank you so much for your reply, as I only want to give my two tarantulas the best lives I can. I was worried that this would be too much to take on as a beginner, since the people in my life think I’m a bit crazy for wanting even one T lol! They’re gonna have to suck it up though, because I’ve fallen in love with this hobby and I haven’t even got my first T yet. I’m so excited to be able to gain some hands on experience, and continue to update you all on my journey!

As well as I completely agree, Canada is pretty awesome! There is a lot of nice people here, and good food too. I’m going to a small reptile expo in a few weeks where I plan to get my T. Ablo sling. As well as the T. Vagnas freebie, which is a pretty sweet deal. I’m excited to meet more tarantula lovers in real life, and hopefully introduce my family members to the hobby as well.

Cheers my friend

 

[LucN]

Now that's what I call will power , I am weak n couldn't stop

It's actually due to lack of space to house them. Even if I had more room, I wouldn't get more. I'd give them bigger/better enclosures instead. I do have a "wishlist", yes. But that's all it is : A wishlist. I'm not going to give in to temptation to acquire more. My quartet of Ts gives me all that I want : Beauty, visibility and longevity. Should any of them pass suddenly, yes, they'll be replaced with another species. Definitely another Brachy, species will depend on availability.

 

[Brewser]

Welcome to A Boards,
Congratulations on incoming T's Curly & Red.
Good advice given, more may be found with the Search Function - Upper Right.
Wish Amigos a Happy New Year,

Enjoy