What are the "Hobby Staples"? The T's you have to have?

MissHarlen

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 14, 2014
Messages
89
I am curious as to what specie are considered the "staples" of the hobby; those spiders that your collection would not be complete without?

So far I've heard these:
P. murinus "OBT"
C. cyanopubescens "GBB"
B. smithi (now hamorii)
and A. avicularia

I'm interested in hearing the opinions of my fellow hobbyists on what are the must-have T's, both Old and New World.
 

nicodimus22

Arachnomancer
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
715
There isn't really such a thing, I think. It's all about personal preference. You buy based on some combination of factors like:

-What Ts do you like the appearance of?
-What Ts tend to behave in the manner you want?
-What size T do you prefer?
-How difficult is the care for this T?
-How much do you want to spend?
-What do you have the room/enclosure for?
-How will the other people/pets I live with feel about it?
 

cold blood

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,223
B. smithi
GBB
A.geniculata
C. versicolor
P.cambridgei
B. vagans/albopilosum
C. marshalli or darlingi
at least one pokie.
 

JoshDM020

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 24, 2017
Messages
356
Acanthoscurria geniculata, of course. Brachypelma albopilosum (the nicuragua variety, at least for me). Hmmm... some that are on my "definitely one day" list are P. cambridgei, P. muticus (PBUH), and a P. miranda, but those are based mostly on personal interests. Oh! Almost forgot H. maculata.
 

Olan

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 23, 2002
Messages
857
Geniculata.

On my personal list of "always will have one":
A pampho
A phormic
Multiple Brachys
 

BobBarley

Arachnoprince
Joined
Sep 16, 2015
Messages
1,486
Well I mean IMO a collection can't be complete without like... all the Pamphobeteus. So my collection is never complete. But I would say at least have like 6 large South American terrestrials in your collection at one time.
 

Sarkhan42

Arachnoangel
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
Messages
901
Nobody has mentioned T. stirmi or blondi :eek:, heresy I say. I couldn't imagine a collection without one, at least not for me.
 

GreyPsyche

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 19, 2016
Messages
92
IMO...


New Worlds
Avic Sp. OR C. Versicolor
Brachy. Sp OR C Chromatopelma OR C. Rosea
E. Murinis

Old Worlds
Poec. Sp OR H Maculata
OBT OR M Balfouri
P Muticus OR C. Lividus

So if you have all of these you have at least one fossorial, arboreal and one terrestrial in both OW and NW categories. You'll also have an Asian and a African species from all three categories. Also, I gotta admit I'm partial to OWs so the list of NWs is a little less extensive. Personally I'm trying to collect all on that list.
 

Amarok815

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 4, 2017
Messages
23
Nobody has mentioned T. stirmi or blondi :eek:, heresy I say. I couldn't imagine a collection without one, at least not for me.
I hear they have a pretty bad set of hairs and know how to use 'em! I personally wouldn't get one because of the hair flicking, but from all the threads about them getting ulcers or rupturing stuff. (Of course that could happen to any T.) Those have scared me away from the species though.

My must have list would be:
Encyocratella olivacea
Ephebopus cyanognathus
Tapinauchenius gigas
Haven't gotten them yet, but they're definitely my absolute must haves.
 

Sarkhan42

Arachnoangel
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
Messages
901
I hear they have a pretty bad set of hairs and know how to use 'em! I personally wouldn't get one because of the hair flicking, but from all the threads about them getting ulcers or rupturing stuff. (Of course that could happen to any T.) Those have scared me away from the species though.

My must have list would be:
Encyocratella olivacea
Ephebopus cyanognathus
Tapinauchenius gigas
Haven't gotten them yet, but they're definitely my absolute must haves.
For whatever reason, over 6 years keeping all kinds of Ts, mostly new world terrestrials, I've never had a reaction to hairs, so I am very very lucky. I think even if I did though I couldn't resist, there's just something about them.
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
3,686
IMO...


New Worlds
Avic Sp. OR C. Versicolor
Brachy. Sp OR C Chromatopelma OR C. Rosea
E. Murinis

Old Worlds
Poec. Sp OR H Maculata
OBT OR M Balfouri
P Muticus OR C. Lividus

So if you have all of these you have at least one fossorial, arboreal and one terrestrial in both OW and NW categories. You'll also have an Asian and a African species from all three categories. Also, I gotta admit I'm partial to OWs so the list of NWs is a little less extensive. Personally I'm trying to collect all on that list.
Wow, I think your phone played tricks on you....it is supposed to be:
Avicularia species or C.versicolor
Brachypelma species or Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens
G.rosea and E.murinus.
OW
Poecilotheria species or H.maculata
OBT or M.balfouri
P.muticus or C.lividus ;)
(Not my preferences, just editing)

@Op, just get as much as can fit in your house and will not break your wallet :p
 
Last edited:

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
356
You MUST have at least one pet hole so you can know the meaning of the term, I actually don't even recommend tarantulas for this purpose.
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
A. geniculata
N. chromatus
C. versicolor
At least one Avicularia sp.
B. hamorii/albopilosum/emilia
P. cambridgei/irminia
C. cyaneopubescens
At least one Poecilotheria sp.
 

sasker

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 9, 2016
Messages
1,091
I've never had a reaction to hairs, so I am very very lucky.
Have you been properly haired by one of your Ts, though? I never experienced any serious effects of the urticating setae either, but somehow most of my Ts are reluctant to kick them in my direction. The really love me, that's why! :troll:

Avivularia species or C.versicolor
Avivularia?! o_O :happy:

I think everyone should have at least one tarantula that gets relatively big to show off to visitors, like a Pamphobeteus, LP, A. geniculata, Phormictopus (or all of them ;))
 

Sarkhan42

Arachnoangel
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
Messages
901
Have you been properly haired by one of your Ts, though? I never experienced any serious effects of the urticating setae either, but somehow most of my Ts are reluctant to kick them in my direction. The really love me, that's why! :troll:



Avivularia?! o_O :happy:

I think everyone should have at least one tarantula that gets relatively big to show off to visitors, like a Pamphobeteus, LP, A. geniculata, Phormictopus (or all of them ;))
Oh yes absolutely, in fact a friend and I were rehousing my Lasiodora klugi a few weeks ago and both got pretty badly haired in transfer, her hands flared up terribly and she couldn't even bend her fingers properly, I didn't experience anything.
I've gone as far as to experiment, handle long used substrates, blatantly laced with hairs, to no effect. I haven't gone out of my way past that, once or twice, as I'm wary of stories of responsiveness being linked with sequential exposure(I believe Poec54 used to speak on how bad his response to hair became after unpacking large shipments), but so far still no results. Fingers crossed I suppose.
 

sasker

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 9, 2016
Messages
1,091
I've gone as far as to experiment, handle long used substrates, blatantly laced with hairs
Hm. Perhaps I should give that a try as well. Or I will just wait a little longer until my LP needs a bigger enclosure and see if that would give me any reactions. Hopefully I am as much a medical miracle as you are. Fingers crossed...:)
 
Top