If you're looking for a large T might I suggest L. parahybana, they are around the same size as a blondi, but they are less agressive/likely to kick hairs in my experience, they are a lot easier to care for, and they are far cheaper. L. parahybana is a great blondi alternative and a better pet for your first non docile species.
this week i am also going to get a cobalt blue,indian ornamental,and if they have king baboons and usambara i will get them too. i dont know if they have T.blondi but if they do i am going to get it. i was thinking about a brazilian salmon pink but i will get that later. i want tarantulas that are aggresive and that are nice looking. do T.blondis need a 30 gallon when they get adults?
i'd agree on the parahybana. Ive had 20 years experience keeping tarantulas and for some reason blondi are the ones that tend to develop problems, often unrelated to each other. Ive had virtually no issues with any other species. Heres some blondi issus ive encountered:
small juveniles dying from presumed infected crickets, literally overnight.
losing legs during moults.
losing fangs during moults
being unable to turn over for a moult, and so requiring assistance which can cause probelms and damage.
large juveniles sick for months becaue of presumed infected crickets.
Others have had the issues with abdominal ulcers present after moults.
Strange. I had no problems with my blondi (other than it eventually turned out to be a male), but had all sorts of trouble with the parahybana and a couple other 'easy' bird eater types. Guess I have my poles reversed for troublesome Ts then.
i would worry much more about the king baboon and usambra than about the blondi in terms of agressiveness. while blondis certainly tend to be defensive, they are seldom as quick as obts and more likely to kick hairs or go into a threat pose first. i had obts bite the tongs without warning.
and that's it. get looong tongs
otherwise, if you want something large and defensive, i'd go for the l. parahybana as well. blondis are not good beginner's ts (sorry, don't know how long you've been keeping ts, just sounds like you never had agressive ones), as they tend to develop all kinds of problems and die off randomly.
also, i would advice against the h. lividum. not because it's defensive, but because you will never see it. they are obligate burrowers - get something nice instead, that you will see more often. like a c. fimbriatus or a pokie.
I just got my first blondi a few months ago after intense studying and reading here. He just completed a problem free molt. So far, everything has been smooth sailing except for one thing...watchout for those urticating hairs! I had to go to urgent care recently because one got in my eye and scratched my cornea good! Incidently, he's for sale.
I've found that aggression really varies from specimen to specimen in blondis. I've had some that were quite mellow and others that required gloves and eye protection before you opened the enclosure (learned the hard way after getting a face full of hairs from that one).
I have also had problematic molts in juvenile blondis even when I provided a damp hiding spot; not sure why.
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