Remember when you got your first T?

babyjtwizt

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 12, 2014
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So I have two previous threads so far. One about getting my first T and one that involves me freaking out after I tried to feed her for the first time and getting roaches all over her enclosure and about 3 escapees somewhere in my house. T IS FINE though. Lesson learned. I have figured out a few tricks from now on so feeding should go more smoothly. The hubby is not too excited about the 3 missing roaches though... sorry hubby.

Now back when you got your first T... what lessons did you learn the hard way and what do you remember most? Were you scared? Excited? Overwhelmed?

What mistakes did you make?
 

Misty Day

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
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Aug 9, 2013
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Well one of the mistakes I made which thankfully worked out without any mistakes was getting a P.Regalis sling as one of first T's. I had her bolt once when unpacking her but I subdued her in a matter of minutes, she's now 6.5 inches and one of my favorite T's. Another mistake I made was only getting one of each. I also got a GBB which turned out to be a male, luckily the Regalis was a female. I always try to get at least 2 or 3 of the spider I want to up my chances of getting a female.

But overall, my slates relatively clean, I've always respected my spiders and left them alone besides maintenance from day 1. No escapes, no tags, I had an A.Versicolor sling die due to husbandry issues but people on here helped me out and haven't had one die due to my husbandry ever since.
 

acrooks

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
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3
I caught a female Aphonopelma hentzi when I was 12 (1996), and convinced my parents to let me keep it. I kept her in a 2.5 gallon tank with reptile bark as substrate, and would often dump several crickets in at once. The first time she molted my mother thought it had given birth! After several years of care she passed, and I ceased to own anymore due to school.

After a 15 year break, I got back into the hobby in 2012 and purchased several slings and juveniles. Mistakes are much rarer these days with the internet and various forums being available.
 

AphonopelmaTX

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Now back when you got your first T... what lessons did you learn the hard way and what do you remember most? Were you scared? Excited? Overwhelmed?

What mistakes did you make?
When I got my first tarantulas, I was maybe 5 years old. :) I still have memories from those first tarantulas: a "pink toe" and "rose hair."

Lesson #1: Don't house a pink toe like a rose hair because that pink toe is on the ground in its enclosure in the pet store.
Lesson #2: Don't buy beat up looking pink toes that are resting on the floor of its enclosure in the pet store. I found out the hard way that it usually means that it is about to die.
Lesson #3: From when I was much older, but same rose hair from when I was 5 years old... Don't use your hands to pick things out of a cage. A rose hair will slap you. Seriously. I was slapped on the hand by my rose hair. I will never forget that.
Lesson #4: A tarantula lying on its back before school is not dead, but after school you will have two tarantulas. At an early age, I thought a molt was a completely different spider and I couldn't figure out how they multiplied until I picked up the molt (I wish I knew about lesson #3 back then) and noticed it was a shell. The lesson was, if something looks "off" about your tarantula, leave it alone for many hours and check back later.
 

SysAdmin

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 5, 2016
Messages
36
So I have two previous threads so far. One about getting my first T and one that involves me freaking out after I tried to feed her for the first time and getting roaches all over her enclosure and about 3 escapees somewhere in my house. T IS FINE though. Lesson learned. I have figured out a few tricks from now on so feeding should go more smoothly. The hubby is not too excited about the 3 missing roaches though... sorry hubby.

Now back when you got your first T... what lessons did you learn the hard way and what do you remember most? Were you scared? Excited? Overwhelmed?

What mistakes did you make?
This one isn't much of a big mistake

I learned that my B. Smithi likes to fast for long periods :p
 

babyjtwizt

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 12, 2014
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This one isn't much of a big mistake

I learned that my B. Smithi likes to fast for long periods :p
If you saw how my T was frantic trying to get away from the roaches... how I didnt look into the roaches before I just thought I could just pick one up with my tongs... and finally ... my husband's face when i told him 3 roaches got loose. Yeah... huge mistake. Especially when i am worried about them multiplying in my house. I have been cleaning, vacuuming, spraying (dont worry.. my T is not even on the same floor as where I am spraying), putting down diatomaceous earth powder everywhere I can think of... all day... this is my life today. Trying to track down and kill the roach fugitives and any trace of them.

Yep.. huge mistake
 
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Venom1080

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Sep 24, 2015
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4,611
If you saw how my T was frantic trying to get away from the roaches... how I didnt look into the roaches before I just thought I could just pick one up with my tongs... and finally ... my husband's face when i told him 3 roaches got loose. Yeah... huge mistake. Especially when i am worried about them multiplying in my house. I have been cleaning, vacuuming, spraying (dont worry.. my T is not even on the same floor as where I am spraying), putting down diatomaceous earth powder everywhere I can think of... all day... this is my life today. Trying to track down and kill the roach fugitives and any trace of them.

Yep.. huge mistake
yeah, tropical roaches cant live your climate. they'll die in a couple days or so, and if not, those are baby roaches and will be eaten by something else. also, they dont have access to food as they eat fruits and veggies as far as i know. so, dont panic. there is literally a 0.01% chance they will live more than a few weeks (at the most) in your house.
 

babyjtwizt

Arachnopeon
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Oct 12, 2014
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This one isn't much of a big mistake

I learned that my B. Smithi likes to fast for long periods :p
I bet it freaked you out when your smithi wouldnt eat. If i get past my fear and do well with my euathlus... i would like to get a b smithi next. Preferably an adult
 

babyjtwizt

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Oct 12, 2014
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yeah, tropical roaches cant live your climate. they'll die in a couple days or so, and if not, those are baby roaches and will be eaten by something else. also, they dont have access to food as they eat fruits and veggies as far as i know. so, dont panic. there is literally a 0.01% chance they will live more than a few weeks (at the most) in your house.
Im calming down. It just freaked me out that everywhere i looked to get info on them said things like...

Beware.. will breed very quickly... will infest your home... will lay eggs everywhere as they walk... infestation will occur... multiply very very fast

My brain said... OH GOD NO... MY HUSBAND IS GOING TO KILL ME. lol, he specifically asked me to feed my T downstairs where I would have more open area and a better chance of catching runaways. I didnt. I thought, I can handle this upstairs at my desk. I didnt want to move my T downstairs to feed her because its very cool down there. Im just gonna got her one roach... not gonna be a big deal. Nope... bad idea. When i told him what happened... he said..... i told you.... to do this downstairs. Next time... please listen. I could tell he was trying to not blow a gasket at me.
 

Venom1080

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Sep 24, 2015
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Im calming down. It just freaked me out that everywhere i looked to get info on them said things like...

Beware.. will breed very quickly... will infest your home... will lay eggs everywhere as they walk... infestation will occur... multiply very very fast

My brain said... OH GOD NO... MY HUSBAND IS GOING TO KILL ME. lol, he specifically asked me to feed my T downstairs where I would have more open area and a better chance of catching runaways. I didnt. I thought, I can handle this upstairs at my desk. I didnt want to move my T downstairs to feed her because its very cool down there. Im just gonna got her one roach... not gonna be a big deal. Nope... bad idea. When i told him what happened... he said..... i told you.... to do this downstairs. Next time... please listen. I could tell he was trying to not blow a gasket at me.
haha just put them in a big cage next time you feed so theres more room to grab just one.
 

Crone Returns

Arachnoangel
Joined
Mar 22, 2016
Messages
990
I wouldn't worry about the roaches.
You're doing great (no I'm not an old timer). I got my first T in Feb. I did my research all over the net, then somebody told me about this site. I lurked for awhile then worked up my courage and joined. You've found the best site.
And you've got a sweet little rascal and you'll probably get another specie in a couple of months. Just remember that regarding then husband that it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission! Lol
 

Vanessa

Grammostola Groupie
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Mar 12, 2016
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2,423
I learned that people keep tarantulas.
I got my first tarantula back in 1999. A friend saw her in miserable conditions in one of the worst pet shops ever and called me because I love spiders. I went and bought Evelyn, an adult G. porteri (rosea back then), and then tried to find all the information I could on how to keep her. I had no idea and didn't even know people kept them in captivity.
 

Red Eunice

Arachnodemon
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Mar 2, 2014
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666
Can't recall the exact year, mid 60s, in summertime relatives came from TX for a visit. My uncle handed me a small fish bowl containing a tarantula. Caught it while walking a path to his favorite fishing spot.
I kept it in a 10 gallon aquarium, fed it crickets from the back yard and watched it move about for hours.
Fast forward a few months, saw it laying on its back not moving. Oh no! Its dead! Gently scooped it out and placed it in the kitchen trash container. After dinner that evening, mom was tidying up and let out a scream. Hearing both my first and middle yelled, indicating "I'm in trouble", I came downstairs into the kitchen. "Why the hell did you put that spider in the trash?" she said with a menacing look. Looked down and saw 2 tarantulas on top of a mac and cheese box. Poor thing had molted and I thought it died. I put in back in the aquarium and it lived for a couple more years. After school, checking on it, it was truly dead, in what is known as the "death curl".
My second T wasn't acquired until 1991 and I still have her, alive and well.
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
5,845
Yes of course if I remember :)
but wasn't a Theraphosidae only, but two T's (a G.rosea turned male and a juve A.avicularia that we traded after a couple of months) and a scorpion (a genus Heterometrus one) in one move, lol.

Since in my city no one had nor sold T's and such, back then just like today (and I don't live exactly in the middle of nowhere, but think about Italy, especially in 1992) we reached Milano (where existed a couple of pretty good exotic/inverts shops, no chains and such, go figure... only owned by real keepers/breeders) in train, since we (me & Bro) were basically teen brats.

We went with two friends (for help with the enclosures, btw glass ones and so forth) and, especially, for cheating our family after on the arrival, that, needless to say, were totally unaware of our plans, with a "plan" studied days prior ah ah :p

So when in late afternoon we arrived home, my Bro and a friend started to talk with our family (let's see... my Mom, Grandfather/Grandmother... not sure if Dad was at home now) about a "... junkie that used his full of AIDS needle in front of us and a badass tramp that wanted to rob us but we managed to escape safely!" (how much stupid we were, lol?) while me and another friend hidden (fast as light) in our room the inverts.

After a week, my Grandmother was cleaning our room while we were at school, and all of a sudden she heard the crickets "song" from the wardrobe, lol. But she didn't opened that :angelic:

She suspected something, however, and after a couple of days when she, again, heard that noise called our Dad in our room and told him that story. Dad reaction was more or less:
"Meh. It's probably just the another joke of the guys, they are always busy to perform things like that..." but my Grandmother, lol, tought differently that moment and opened the wardrobe and they found the enclosures :rofl:

Moral, we were "punished" (just for saying) not for the T's and that, but because saying that lie about the junkie & tramp we made our family worried. From that day our collection started to grow and they were on full display in our room, not anymore hidden :)

Christ, how much years passed...
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
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Dec 25, 2014
Messages
5,845
I love reading your stories, @Chris LXXIX - you take 'colourful' to a whole new realm.
Thanks VanessaS :)
Me & Bro were indeed very, very, very lucky. Not for the T's, but for the family. They were sort of "Mom" and "Dad" even for some of our friends, that weren't so lucky, on that sense.
 
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