Rose haired tarantula

[ChrisTy]

I agree with this and am always confused when people recommend Brachypelma to new keepers.

I completely agree it depends on the individual T. B. Vagans was my first and completely stole my heart. I've never gotten hairs flicked at me, never a threat pose, and rehousing is more simple than with any of my others. While in its enclosure it is quick to run and hide if I even breathe the wrong way, but will hang out in the open a lot and also the feeding response is amazing. I bought mine at 1 1/2 in, now she's about 4 1/2 in.

 

[Paiige]

I completely agree it depends on the individual T.

I sometimes (often) forget my B. albopilosum is a Brachypelma. Ooops. It's because she's literally nothing like my fiery hair-kicking monster. I'd recommend a B. albo as a beginner T in a heartbeat.

 

[Anoplogaster]

As people have stated: there is easy, and there is TOO easy (boring). Of course, each individual is different. But rosies have a tendency to do a lot of nothing. There are numerous posts on here from beginners with rosies who are freaking out because their spider won't eat, or has sealed off her hide, etc.... Everything happens on a slower time scale with rosies, so patience is key with them. Some will refuse food for a year or more (seriously!). I mean, as incredible as that is for an animal, routine food offerings get to feel more like a joke after the first few months of your T refusing food. After a year, you're pretty much just waiting for it to show some signs of life! Get something fun to watch. Euathlus spp. are good for that. More active

 

[Rob1985]

I agree with this and am always confused when people recommend Brachypelma to new keepers. My B. boehmei is a complete jerk, kicks in her sleep and has given me a threat post more than a few times during tank cleaning - and during rehousing, forget it. I know every T is different but I don't think I'd have ever gotten more if she was my first.

I had a male B. vagans that who was probably the worst hair kicker I have ever had, not counting my Nhandu chromatus which was on another level. I used to get hair kicking and a threat postures from it. That was back in 2007 and I haven't kept a Nhandu genus to this day. lol

 

[Rob1985]

See, this is such an excellent example of T personalities varying from individual to individual. My G. pulchripes has been nothing but a headache since day one.

I had a G. porteri (rosea at the time) that was a nightmare, but my juvy female G. pulchripes (had her when it was still the G. aureostriata) was sweetheart. Never once kicked and was always cooperative.

 

[Paiige]

I had a male B. vagans that who was probably the worst hair kicker I have ever had, not counting my Nhandu chromatus which was on another level. I used to get hair kicking and a threat postures from it. That was back in 2007 and I haven't kept a Nhandu genus to this day. lol

I have an N. tripepii sling that I'm curious to see how she'll behave when she gets older. I've heard they're big kickers with attitudes and I'm a little excited. I don't think anything could be more flicky than my boehmei but if this little Nhandu is going to prove me wrong I might stay away from the genus in the future. I was going to pick up an N. chromatus but decided on A. genic instead just for comparison's sake. My goal now is to start acquiring 2 of every spp. instead of one so that I can compare the individual personalities.

 

[Rob1985]

I have an N. tripepii sling that I'm curious to see how she'll behave when she gets older. I've heard they're big kickers with attitudes and I'm a little excited. I don't think anything could be more flicky than my boehmei but if this little Nhandu is going to prove me wrong I might stay away from the genus in the future. I was going to pick up an N. chromatus but decided on A. genic instead just for comparison's sake. My goal now is to start acquiring 2 of every spp. instead of one so that I can compare the individual personalities.

Individual experiences vary, but the Nhandu and Theraphosa genus hairs are vicious on me. Never again. lol

 

[Shrike]

I can't speak for the entire genus Brachypelma because I've only kept albopilosum and vagans, but I'd say both are great for beginners, B. albopilosum in particular. The albopilosum I've had have all been extremely tolerant and predictable. I'd recommend them over a G. rosea any day.

 

[darkness975]

I can't speak for the entire genus Brachypelma because I've only kept albopilosum and vagans, but I'd say both are great for beginners, B. albopilosum in particular. The albopilosum I've had have all been extremely tolerant and predictable. I'd recommend them over a G. rosea any day.

Nice to see you Shrike! It has been a while lol.

My B. smithi is not much of a setae kicker but she is pretty skittish. It does not take much to send her teleporting which I admit did surprise me the first time she did it, probably because the lid was not fully secured at the time (I was doing maintenance).

 

[Lokee85]

I sometimes (often) forget my B. albopilosum is a Brachypelma. Ooops. It's because she's literally nothing like my fiery hair-kicking monster. I'd recommend a B. albo as a beginner T in a heartbeat.

When I decided to purchase a T and started researching the best sp. to start with, I quickly fell in love with the b. albopilosum and knew that was the one I wanted to start with. Now, I have my little albo baby along with a b. vagans. Neither have kicked hairs yet (they're still tiny slings though and I've only had them a week), they just run and hide when disturbed. But they are incredible to watch, and I stare at them for hours. I was lucky enough that my albo decided to tunnel against the clear acrylic so I can watch her do her mysterious tarantula things. She's always so hard at work excavating. And at first, my little vagans was a bit stressed so didn't do much for the first few days except eat, but in the past few days, he's really started digging out his burrow under the cork bark, which has been fun to watch (no elaborate tunnels, though, like my b. albo).

While I can't really recommend which T between the g. rosea and avics since I'm still a noob myself (although my next T's coming in the mail are avics), I can say that I love these little brachypelma babies and wouldn't change having them.

 

[Andrea82]

When I decided to purchase a T and started researching the best sp. to start with, I quickly fell in love with the b. albopilosum and knew that was the one I wanted to start with. Now, I have my little albo baby along with a b. vagans. Neither have kicked hairs yet (they're still tiny slings though and I've only had them a week), they just run and hide when disturbed. But they are incredible to watch, and I stare at them for hours. I was lucky enough that my albo decided to tunnel against the clear acrylic so I can watch her do her mysterious tarantula things. She's always so hard at work excavating. And at first, my little vagans was a bit stressed so didn't do much for the first few days except eat, but in the past few days, he's really started digging out his burrow under the cork bark, which has been fun to watch (no elaborate tunnels, though, like my b. albo).

While I can't really recommend which T between the g. rosea and avics since I'm still a noob myself (although my next T's coming in the mail are avics), I can say that I love these little brachypelma babies and wouldn't change having them.

If you're looking for good info on Avicularia species, below thread contains pretty much all you need to know to keep them succesfully:
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-husbandry.282549/#post-2461399

 

[Lokee85]

If you're looking for good info on Avicularia species, below thread contains pretty much all you need to know to keep them succesfully:
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-husbandry.282549/#post-2461399

Thank you! I came across that thread once before while prepping for my avics, but it's always worth reading. I'm sure I missed something the first time around.