What your first Tarantula and how did it go?

[Toxoderidae]

Avicularia from a petstore. I set her up alright, just didn't give her enough webbing anchors. She still made a web tube and hung out. She had a wet molt sadly and died.

 

[Alana]

G. porteri, B. smithi and B. albopilosum sub-adults given to me when I was around 19/20 to get over my phobia of spiders. All kept in Contico boxes with eco-earth, water bowl and a cork hide. Probably not enough substrate looking back. They all fed and moulted well and apart from the B. smithi which flicked hairs, they had very good temperaments and I got over my fear enough to get more tarantulas. I had to sell everything when I was pregnant with my first, so I'm not sure if they're still around or not.

 

[JumpingSpiderLady]

I don't have my own yet, but a few years ago I bought a G. pulchripes for my husband. (It was an anniversary gift.). He named it Serenity and we've called it "she" all this time, but now it seems to be a male. I don't know. It's over double the size it was when I bought it and is still healthy and lovely.

 

[Thistles]

I got my first 2 at an expo in Portland. I'm pretty sure the vendor was Jacobi. I had done a lot of research and was elated to find both of the species I wanted at his booth. I left with a 3/4" Avicularia versicolor sling and a 1" Grammostola pulchra sling. Both thrived, and when the versi matured male I traded him for a female Ceratogyrus darlingi. The pulchra is a female and I still have her. It went very well for me.

 

[Janie]

I started about 8 weeks ago with two slings 1.5cm Philogius Sarina and Philogius Rubisetta.

I have been making a list, confessions of a new tarantula owner. Here goes

Forgive me Anansi for I have sinned.

I had read arachnoboards and knew better but...
-Over feed my slings and I mean a live cricket and a piece of meal worm every night.
-I dug up my Sarina after a moult because I hadn't seen her and she had a broken cage on delivery, she climbed out of her burrow very offended.
-I touched my plumpies because I was worried when I saw clear water in its mouth after feeding.
-I probably over moistened my two first slings substrate (two weeks in) and am waiting for it to dry out a little, back to the moist stage.
-Opening the lid of the enclosure of my first two (a lot)
-Initially choosing a sunny window spot to keep them, ( half a day)
-To heat lamp or not, initially no then yes then no then yes but with monitoring, then no.

-I lost a baby scorpion, outside when giving time in the sun. I think a bird ate it.

Oh dear re reading the list seems terrible.

Anansi forgive me.

 

[Graves6661]

My first is my MM GBB. Got him off the classifieds here on the forum as a juvenile. Started out about 3" and grew like crazy. Molted about every 3-4 months and was a suspected female. Then he surprised me when he molted earlier this year and hooked out. Now hes a beautiful 4.75" male that paired up nicely with a friend of mines mature female.

 

[Storm76]

~2.5" B. smithi juvie
~3" P. irminia juvie

 

[Zenith]

I started two years ago with a 1/4" G. pulchra. He/she is about two inches now and is still going strong.

 

[mistertim]

Started out a bit over a year ago with a 1.5-2" B. smithi female. She's about 4" now and recently returned to me after having a bit of a walkabout (aka escape). She's doing well and was indeed a gateway tarantula as I will, as of tomorrow, have 12 Ts. I did "ok" for my first as far as setup. Not enough sub, too worried about humidity and temp numbers, but I had been reading AB for a while before I got her so it wasn't too bad.