Your First Tarantula?

[skadiwolf]

i must say that when it comes to my animals i definitely have a tendency to indulge myself.

they all eat better than i do and it makes me all the happier. it's like caring for yourself through your children i guess. at least, that's how i see my babies. they're all my kids. the fact that they aren't even my species is merely a minor technicality.

 

[atavuss]

My first t was a WC b. smithi that I got way back in the early 80's. I paid 9.99 for it at a pet store (this was before CITES and WC smithis could be legally sold). after the smithi I ended up with a g. rosea and it snowballed from there.
Ed

 

[pategirl]

My first tarantula was a rosie named Lucy. I got her my junior year in high school from a now out of business pet shop. I didn't know a thing about her, I was just kinda drawn to it. I asked them questions about her care and everything, and then took her home. My then boyfriend was not pleased at all, and my parents weren't thrilled either. It took me a while to get up the nerve to hold her, but I was hooked anyway. I went back a few months later and bought another one that I named Mildred. I expected her to be as docile as Lucy, but I was wrong. I showed her off to the neighbor and got myself bit trying to pick her up. My neighbor was horrified, hehe. I kept those two for a while(my stupid boyfriend at the time didn't want me to have more), then Lucy died of unknown causes. Mildred was an only T for two years, until I found out about the reptile show around here. My now fiance and I went and I took home a female A. seemanni the first time. The month after that, I bought a 3" L. parahybana for $25 and I got C. brachycephalus, P. regalis, and A. versicolor spiderlings too. I had tried to keep slings alive before them, but I failed numerous times. Those three are all alive still, knock on wood. That's my T story.

 

[Static_69]

good ole rosies!!!!





Risto

 

[Arachnopuppy]

My first was an unknown species. One of my friends was going to study abroad and he didn't want to bring his tarantula with him. I thought that it might be the opportunity to get rid of my arachnophobia. I never took the time to find out what species it was. I do know that it was very very very agressive and fast. The poor thing died right after a molt, probably from dehydration. It was going to be a year later that I got another one. It was a G. rosea. She was the one that helped me get over my phobia. She is still standing in my room right now.

 

[invertepet]

Originally posted by skadiwolf

(it also doesn't help that people like swifty label them 'superfuzzies'...i mean, what chic can resist THAT?)

Hmm - actually, I think that was me.

bill

 

[sunnymarcie]

Our first T

It was a G. rosea (Rose Hair) Not mine really, it is my sons T.
We picked it because of its size and ease of care.
Then after that "we" picked up an A. moderatum (Rio Grande Gold) and an A. seemani (Stripe Knee) Then of course an
A. avic (Pink Toe) for it's speed and it's cute little boots. LOL!

"Our" new T's, from the show
2- PZB slings =D Very tiny one's!~just had to have these.
I've never had anything so little

3- Usambara slings @ an inch in size
We bought these for their looks and speed.
They sure take off like a rocket when you open the vial.
I almost lost one of them when I was feeding it.

And last (for now) but not least a Curly=D
So that makes 10 T's
A small but fun collection!

 

[phoenixxavierre]

My first tarantula

was a G. rosea! I named her Lillith, after an evil spider goddess. Well, she ended up being hardly evil, though at times she would show her 'tude. At any rate, I was in a petshop when I saw her, and something deep inside me awoke after a long sleep. I grew up catching anything and everything I could, keeping the captives and feeding them, etc. My parents wouldn't allow me to get a tarantula or anything even close, though they allowed me to keep a black widow outside, as well as numerous wolf spiders inside. At any rate, after many problems at home and outside of home, when I saw this delicate little G. rosea, I had to have her! With my wife's approval, I bought her. Little did my wife know what this first t purchase would result in! Muahahahahahha!!!

My second t was from the same pet store, and was a male (I didn't know it at the time). I believe it was some sort of Rio Grande Aphonopelma, the Big Bend species, beautiful male, jet black legs, very long-legged (I probably have pics somewhere still of both my first t's!) with brownish abdomen and a very brightly colored and metallic, shiny carapace (copperish colored, like a shiny brand spanking new penny).

Let's see, the way I figured out he was a male was that I was holding him and suddenly he began vibrating like an aquarium air pump! I froze stiff, I had no idea why he was doing this. I originally started holding him (and the G. rosea female) with gloves, as I wanted to avoid any chances of a bite. Eventually, I learned they had no interest in biting, so I began holding them without gloves. At any rate, this male Aphonopelma was on my forearm, just a vibrating away and slapping his legs I down on my arm! I was expecting a bite to occur, so I moved him to his aquarium again. He was nearly impossible to move from me to anything else. He was the type that I'd let him crawl out on me, but any attempt to put him back was quite unsuccessful. He would hold on tight with those tarsi, and wouldn't be budged! So I started carrying him around with me. At any rate, I called up Todd Gearheart and told him the situation. He said at first that the t was warning me by slapping its legs on me that it was going to bite me. I then told him about the vibrations. He sounded surprised and said that normally ts don't hit on humans, lol! He said it was pretty rare and he wondered if it was my body chemistry. He claimed the male tarantula thought I was a prospective mate! Must be my dna, being I'm from the apache tribe native american, my ancestors have probably held all KINDS of US and Mexican species!

I never did find that fellow a female, though I posted pics all over the net looking. No one seemed willing to identify him. He died unbred (though no doubt he bred in the wild). He was a great t though, and my wife and I used to laugh at him when he would try to get out of his tank. He looked as if he was doing an imitation of the Roxettes (with the legs IV lifting up repeatedly in the air as he attempted to find a way out of the tank). He would hang from the lip of the tank and just kick away! lol!

Okay, after that, I think I purchased Avicularia avicularia and Eupalaestrus campestratus (which I believe to be something else).

Of my original tarantulas, I have offspring of the first Avics still, now set up and breeding. I also have the "E. campestratus".

I picked the avics because I was interested in keeping arboreal tarantulas, and I was told they are reticent to bite. The E. campestratus I bought because they're downright beautiful!

The Aphonopelma I purchased because I thought it looked way creepy (what with the extreme legginess) and HAD to have him! I was inexperienced at the time, though, so I didn't know he was a male let alone what difficulty I would have in finding him a fem.

Welp, I've probably written more than enough! lol!

Take care,

Paul

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Rosie...I was about 10 years old.

N.

 

[Immortal_sin]

A seemanni
My daughter and I had no clue, we just went to Petco, and they happened to only have those.
After about a week, I found a WC G rosea at another pet shop.
Then, I found the online dealers.....whhheeeeee!!!
I ordered C cyaneopubescens and A avicularia from Golden Phoenix, then I found a beautiful CB A chalcodes at an exotic pet show from Spiderpatch.
This was in the first month I owned spiders.... October of 01.
In November, I got 17 more, and finally let up a bit.
Now, I've had 4 sucessful eggsacs, and hundreds of Ts.
Sometimes I think I'm insane
=D

 

[skadiwolf]

oh, you're right bill, my apologies!!!

that was highly effective marketing btw...(grin) plus, you have awesome pictures of all those animals.

bless you for having them in S. sbs order too. that SO helps us newbies learn the names.

 

[vulpina]

My first T was the typical G. rosea about 15 years ago. Since then I've had over 50 different species, currently I have 28 species. I'm always looking for more and different species.

Andy

 

[The_Phantom]

My first tarantula....

when I was 17, I found out that my best friend Lisa's brother, Andrew, owned a tarantula ! I was somewhat afraid of spiders, but I really wanted to hold this tarantula. So he let me !! I couldnt believe how light he was. There was this "giant" spider, standing on my hand, and I couldnt even feel him !!

So Andrew ended up getting married....his wife wasnt so tolerant and insisted he get rid of it. Bad news for him, GREAT news for me. He gave it to me !!!!

So his name was "Soul Eater" but I changed it to "Harrison".

I had him for 9 months. He would walk all over me, and would walk around in my room (supervised!). Then one day, I saw him starting to curl and he died. I was devestated. He was soooooo incredibly docile. He would let me pick him up when ever, and would let me rub his belly when he stood....he was a AWSOME pet. I still miss him. I replaced him w/a female Rose hair, who I still have.

and 2 a.avics and a b.smithi.

 

[Venom]

Wow, according to the poll I'm the only one to vote who started out with a pzb. I guess that means I'm special =D

 

[jwb121377]

Spider_savior are you still getting your P. regalis? I haven't herd you speak of it lately and wondered what was up?

My first was a G rosea that I bought from a pet store. It was the only tarantula I had for a long time until I found the tarantula fourms. Now I have lots and enjoy every second I spend with them.

 

[cweg]

my 1st T

After my 10 year old eastern corn snake died, I was playing with the idea of a T or a scorp. I recieved my first Chilean Rose for X-mas, from my father. Sorry to say she passed after about 5 years.

 

[krystal]

my first tarantula was an a. chalcodes that my friend, anne, had given to me. she got her from her boyfriend who had lived in arizona. anyhoo, the poor spider was full grown and in the smallest sized pet-pal with no substrate or anything. when anne gave her to me, the first thing i did was name her "vlad" instead of "queenie," set up a 10-gallon aquarium, filled it up with colored aquarium gravel (hey, at least it wasn't cedar bedding!), and i figured that since she was such a huge tarantula, she didn't need a lid on the enclosure. she lived for two years without a lid, then finally i had to get a lid to appease my grandmother (whom i was living with). anyway, vlad lived for a good four years with me. she must have been really old, too, because she only moulted once the entire time i had her.

i got back into tarantulas (hardcore now) about two years ago after i saw a show on t.v. about tarantulas. i NEEDED to have another one, so i called everywhere to find a place that sold them. eventually i found a mom and pop store that had a 3" a. geniculata and a 2.5" b. boehmei. i opted for the genic because of it's striking contrasting colors and ultimate adult size, but eventually bought both because i fell in love. then the pet store got in the pterrors, and of course, i had to get one of those, too.

ever since then, i've been getting my tarantulas via the mail because that mom and pop store has a crappy variety--whenever they HAVE tarantulas, that is.

now i have ten tarantulas, am waiting for 18 more, and have had several t's die on me.

 

[jerrard]

I consider my brothers T my first,Which is a rose hair, I'm the one who took care of it, but technically my first T was Bandersnatch my aphonopelma moderatum which i got sometime in last November. By the way my brother got Agememnon in last October.

 

[MrT]

Mine was a Aphnonpelma sp. I found when I was taking my son to camp. It was crossing the road, so I took a big gulp cup and caught it. I brought it home and it died within 3 months. ( male )
I then went out and bought a G. rosea..

 

[Lasiodora]

My first tarantulas were a B.smithi and a P.fasciata. The reptile petsore I worked in carried tarantulas. They placed a big order with spider patch and I added those two to the shipment.
The P.fasciata died in a molt two years ago. The smithi is now six yrs old and doing well. I bought them both because of their beauty and the sizes they would attain. I was actually afraid of spiders before I started working at that place. My next spider was a king babboon. After that one I stopped getting spiders for a about 3 years. Last year I got bit by the bug again and I now I have 21 more spiders.
Mike