What was your first Tarantula and why?

[tomodell]

you guys in the states are incredibly lucky. the arachnid hobby is so small, you will find a P. imperator and an adult male rosea in the lps. i am off to the british tarantula society show, on the 22nd so i should come back with a first few. i am getting a free G. rosea from a friend there and am hoping to get an A. avic.
these spiders seem docile and grow to be large and nice looking.
plus, i am possibly swapping 2x pantan cichlids for a 'kilamanjaro mustard baboon' with the viv etc. result or what?

 

[Kisato]

My first and currently only T is a G. rosea. I got her when I was in middle school. I was finally able to have my own pet and I always had a passion and love for arachnids so when my parents took me to the pet store, my sister went to the hamsters and I went to the Tarantulas, Scorpions and Centipedes! There were 4 or 5 T's to choose from but I only remember the G. rosea, who looked to already be close to maturing if she wasn't already and a B. smithi sling. I think I chose the G. rosea because she was bigger and only cost 10 dollars, but I fell in love with her. This year marks 10 years with her and she means everything to me. I love her so much that I got a tattoo of her!

 

[CFleming]

My first T was an A. versicolor sling about 1.5". I choose her because of the colors and disposition. I was very afraid of spiders, saw a thread on a snake forum of some very pretty Ts and was amazed. I always thought they were brown or black. I had no idea. Well I asked him some questions and then I started doing research on my own. And a week or so later I added the versi sling to an order for a snake that was waiting for warmer temps to ship out. When I opened the deli cup she was shipped and she crawled out onto my hand I was hooked. I got her the begining of March, and has now molted twice and is showing adult coloration. I also now have 14 Ts and will be getting 8 more next weekend.

 

[Quazgar]

Got my first 2 months ago. Chose a B. smithi because I read they were good beginner tarantulas with nice colors. I had somebody else find one at a reptile show they were going to (Repticon Columbia I think) and was amazed how small it was when I got it.

Have since caught the bug, so to speak, and just ordered 6 more I'm awaiting. 2 versicolors, 1 p. irminia, 1 m. cabocla, and 2 n. chromatus. Haven't told the wife about these yet...

 

[Raven9464]

2001, purchased an adult female Rose Hair for my son who had just had surgery, a stroke, and was going thru chemo & radiation for a brain tumor cancer. We wanted something that wouldn't require much care and was inexpensive but would bring a smile to his face while we focused on HIS care.

July 2010, the rosie died, but my son celebrated 9 years of remission :clap:
I replaced the rosie with another one but my son told me he was more into snakes now than T's. So the rosie became mine.....purchased a P. murinus/Usambara Baboon sling I found while browsing thru Craig's list earlier this year and was hooked! :drool: I'm now at 37 Ts so far and my son will celebrate 10 years of remission in July of this year

 

[Mojo Jojo]

G. rosea, because that was the one being sold at the petstore.

 

[The Spider Faery]

I was gonna just have one but now I'm finding it hard to pick just one... I might end up with a room of T's... I feel very sorry for my boyfriend....

Sorry in that he doesn't have a say in the matter? That's funny.

 

[k2power]

B. vagans that was abandonded at my summer job about 17 years ago. It was just dropped of and supposedly someone was coming to get it. Months passed and nothing so I took it home. I worked in the entomolgy dept so food and water were easy to come by. Never a great eater after I got it so I gave it away, but that started the off and on keeping.

 

[LeilaNami]

First one was a large, old, female G. rosea. A science teacher at my high school was retiring and selling her animals. I begged my mother for the 8 foot albino Burmese python and she said no but I could have the tarantula instead. So I did tons of research, realized the teacher didn't know squat about keeping tarantulas and it was evident in the way she was keeping this one, and bought the T.

EDIT: The enclosure I bought her with had no hide, aspen substrate, and a large glass bowl that I'm pretty sure if the T could drown in.

 

[Formerphobe]

my son will celebrate 10 years of remission in July of this year

:clap::clap::clap::clap:

 

[HotPocket]

female B. smithi
About 6 years ago i stopped in a lps that was going out of business. she was in a 10 gallon glass tank. i got her the tank water dish and hide for $15. and it was probably the best $15 i have ever spent. i still have her today and she is doing great.

 

[pavel]

G. rosea -- because, from everything I had read they are a good first T (generally docile, and hardy), it was rather inexpensive, and it was common & so easily available.

 

[takelondon]

Our first tarantula was our female B. emilia. Sam and I were originally both afraid of spiders to some degree (he somewhat more than I), but after being awed by bighairyspiders.com (particularly the site owner's H. lividum) we became fascinated with tarantulas. For our first tarantula we wanted something very docile with interesting coloration that would be relatively inexpensive (we weren't comfortable spending $150 on a creature we were complete beginners at caring for). After quite a few searches (and before finding arachnoboards) we found someone on craigslist rehoming his three tarantulas along with their enclosures. The rehoming fee he was charging seemed very reasonable at only $60. So we made the drive out to meet up with him and picked up our new Ts; all females, a G. rosea, G. rosea RCF and B. emilia. He included The Tarantula Keeper's Guide along with a couple of other books, which have increased our knowledge exponentially in the month and a half we've had our emilia.

We have since sold the RCF to someone on here and have been searching for a nice home for the other G. rosea (as was our plan from the beginning). However, our B. emilia will never leave us. She is an even-tempered, docile T and a great huntress to boot; she helped us overcome our fear with her kind nature and opened the door for us to get the nine other Ts (not including the G. rosea) we now have in addition to her.

 

[mouldylemons]

Oh my mother just LOVED it..

I was planning on getting a T for a few months (1.5 yrs ago) but every time I asked my mom she gave me roughly the same excuses: "NO. They are dangerous and its going to get out and I don't want it in my house. What if it smells bad or you get bit and die"... etc, etc.

So my little sister who at the time was quite angry with our mother, took it upon herself to go to the pet store, buy me a T, and give it to me for my birthday. I was just as excited as my mother was pissed off

I named her Fifi and convinced my mom that she was harmless, and that this species was friendly (G. rosea).

....Until after a bit of research I found out that the LPS had mislabeled and my "harmless fury rosie" ended up being an extremely moody and vicious female LP. I wasn't complaining, I was stoked to get a 9-10" spider

Don't tell my mom that though, she thinks it will stay at 3.5"....

Oh, and now I have 7 different species including OBT, GBB, and a Cobalt.
All sooo friendly!:}

 

[astraldisaster]

G. rosea, because that's what the pet store had on hand. I was always slightly freaked out by the idea of tarantulas (though never arachnophobic), until I started working at a place that had a rosie (named Rosie) as an office pet. I fell in love with her, and decided to get a T of my own. At that point, I hadn't found this site, and wasn't aware of all of the other species available -- or the fact that they could be ordered online.

That spider ended up being a gravid female, and I gave away the sac she made to a more experienced keeper than myself. Many of her babies are alive and well now. So is the mom, I'm sure (I gave her away to a friend when I moved last year).

 

[Lorraine68]

Used to be arachnaphobic

My first was a practical joke! I used to be a major arachnaphobic. Horrible 'friend' in middle school gave me a huge (I thought it was huge at the time) tarantula wrapped as a birthday gift in a box for my 12th birthday. I had a total freak-out, but oddly enough after I calmed down I felt bad for the little guy and started some exposure-type therapy on myself--amazingly enough I now love the little freaks! I called him St. Luke, but of course he's long passed now.

 

[Thorhees]

Lorraine, your story made me smile and take another look at my T.

My first (and only) one I got about 2 months ago. He's a B. Albopilosum.

I have always had a fascination with spiders and I wanted a pet for my dorm that could be easily maintained and quiet. After a huge emotional breakdown (unrelated to spiders at all), I decided that I absolutely needed to get a T. I did as much research as fast as the internet would let me and settled on a curly hair. After calling a few local petstores and realizing that I would only ever get a rose hair if I looked locally, I ordered my new sling from Ken.

It was love at first sight when he crawled out of his little tube. :3 Holding Varg was all the therapy I needed and I was even able to quit my depression medication since getting him. I love the darling like a son (or daughter... I haven't had Varg sexed).

 

[astraldisaster]

It was love at first sight when he crawled out of his little tube. :3 Holding Varg was all the therapy I needed and I was even able to quit my depression medication since getting him. I love the darling like a son (or daughter... I haven't had Varg sexed).

Is (s)he named after the infamous Varg?

 

[le-thomas]

Chaco golden knee, but rose hairs are just as great as first tarantulas. I chose the chaco because I knew a lot about them and knew that they grew large. VERY interesting species.

 

[Thorhees]

Is (s)he named after the infamous Varg?

Yeah, actually. Surprised it was caught that quickly!