What species are best for someone just starting to venture into old world tarantulas?

spideyspinneret78

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At this time, my only old world tarantula is a subadult female P. murinus. I'm very cautious with her and haven't had any issues. I'm interested in expanding my collection to eventually include some of the more advanced species (O. violaceopes and P. regalis are some of my dream spiders), but am still a bit intimidated by their speed and the potential for a dangerous bite. I feel like I need to gain more experience with some additional old world species first before I make the jump to some of the more advanced Asian arboreals (and possibly a fossorial or two). I'm curious to see what those of you who've been in the hobby for a long time would recommend, and which species you personally believe have helped you learn the most as a keeper. At this moment the spiders in my collection include: P. murinus, T. stirmi, N. coloratovillosus, L. klugi, A. seemani, P. cambridgei, and A. avicularia.
 

Vanisher

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The best are obvious speicies that are less willing to bite. There are a few. M balfouri are generally not that defenssive.. there are a few others as well
 

nicodimus22

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I've always heard that M. balfouri is a good candidate for that from people who keep OWs.
 
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hunterc

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P. Regalis was my first OW and the one i learned from and still learn from the most..its out roaming around 99% of the time, very chilled out, and amazing feeding responce. Eventually i intend to have the entire genus in my collection
 

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scooter1685

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The Tarantula Collective released a YouTube video last year that mentions Harpactira pulchripes as a good introduction to Old World Ts, but I don't know how many keepers agree with that. I only have New Worlds so far.
 

cold blood

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The genus Psalmopeous, especially cambridgei....despite being NW, they are great prep for OW.

Some of the calmer, more managable OWs would be P. lugardi, C. marshalli/darlingi, M. balfouri....and my personal favorite that i most often reccomend, A. ezendami.

 

jrh3

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Poecilotheria are not that bad of a species that some people make them out to be. Sure they have bad venom, but I think you have a better chance getting bite by an OBT than a pokie. All of mine have been chill and not very skittish. They would rather hide than bite. As slings they would run around the enclosure but as they got older they would just go into their hides. So if you already have an OBT, a P. Regalis wouldn’t be that big of a jump.
 

Vanisher

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Hard to say if a Poecilotheria or P murinus is best for a person that has limited experience. I say both are bad choices but IMO Poecilotheria is generally more nervous/bolty
P murinus are more bitey/defenssive
But they can be problematic in diffrent way. The most important thing to do is set them up right. By doing this, one can save a lot of problems. For example giving a Poecilotheria a corkbark tube means that the spider most likely retreat into this while feeding and watering it. They even stay put so when rehousing, one can take the entire tube and move it with the tarantula inside into its new enclosure
Giving a P murinus deep substrate and a good hide means a spider that retreats and are less defenssive during maintenance
 

RezonantVoid

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Ive been keeping Selenocosmia/Phlogius for 2 years and while the potential for bolts and the venom is absolutely there, i can say ive never had any issues. In fact, due to restrictions i had no choice but to begin with OW's, but with enough caution this rediculously underrated genus is very entertaining to keep.

They are very unlikely to bolt outside their enclosure during maintenance, grow fairly quickly and go through alot of colour shifts as they mature and molt. Plus they web everywhere
20200115_221207.jpg 20191209_161532.jpg 20191020_202505.jpg
 

bulbophyllum

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A P. regalis was one of the first T's I bought. I haven't found it that bad to deal with. Sure it is fast bad it never got crazy on me. I think people worry too much about tarantulas. They are just not that hard to manage.
 

SonsofArachne

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While I've never had any issues with any of my OW's probably the most laid back I have are Haplocosmia himalayana and Orphnaecus philippinus (this one is a little bolty, though).
 

Minty

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Poecilotheria are not that bad of a species that some people make them out to be. Sure they have bad venom, but I think you have a better chance getting bite by an OBT than a pokie. All of mine have been chill and not very skittish. They would rather hide than bite. As slings they would run around the enclosure but as they got older they would just go into their hides. So if you already have an OBT, a P. Regalis wouldn’t be that big of a jump.
Similar to my experience.
 

Teds ts and Inverts

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M. balfouri, H. pulchripes, P. lugardi, and Ceratogyrus sp. are all good choices for a first (or, in your case, second) OW. Psalmopeus sp. and Ephebopus sp. are NWs that behave like OWs, and therefore also make good stepping stones to OWs.
 

The Grym Reaper

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Ephebopus spp. (NW but a good intro for Asian fossorials)
Psalmopoeus/Tapinauchenius/Pseudoclamoris spp. (NW but a good intro for Pokies)
Augacephalus ezendami
Ceratogyrus spp.
Monocentropus balfouri
Idiothele mira
 

smitherson

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My first old world I got over 10 years ago was a p. Regalis and I regret nothing. Even as a sling it was never bolty during rehousing. it would just walk from one enclosure to the next with the occasional detour. There were only a handful of times I ever got a threat pose. Of course I got lucky. my p. Metallica’s are nothing like it and are a little more defensive but still not super bolty. If your looking for something that will prepare you a little better I could personally recommend psalmopoeus and tapinauchenius. There both nw species but can be lightning fast. My p. Irminia teleported everywhere it went including out of its enclosure during feeding time a few times. It was more of a terror than any of the ow species I’ve kept. The important thing to remember is every T has its own personality and most keepers are going to have different experiences. Do your research and make the jump when you feel your ready.
 
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