Hey.

So, it looks like we're gonna a T. A couple of months ago my wife was "warning" me not even to think about a T, that would be "too much" according to her in term of arachnids at home. Well.. people/times change, and yesterday she calls me from work saying she really wants a Chilean Rose. She wants to overcome her fear of arachnids this way, glad she does though, that means more scorpions too

Anyway, how good are G. Roseas for beginners? My friend that breeds these, warned that maybe she could pick up something else, as her female is kinda nuts, not docile at all, flicking hairs all around, and also stops eating for several months.

from what i have been told and read; G. rosea are not very good for starter spiders, but lots of beginners are sold them.
it seems as if lots of people feel that G. pulchra or B. smithi are good starter spiders. they seem to not flick hairs so much and G.pulchra is very docile.. by comparison, but of course, wait for others to reply, since getting 3 or 4 replies is a good way to get a mixed view

Thanks Tom.
Lets wait for Peloquin and others to come by. I know he'll doom straight away your suggestion about B. Smithi though lol

ha.
he's very good to talk to, defo knows his stuff.

Lol, cheers.
You are right about smithi- NOT a good starter spider in my opinion. To unpredictable and VERY flicky.
G. pulchra are a real good spider but expencive. An adult costs loads, spiderlings are pretty cheap but are such slow growers you/ your Wife will be bored stupid watching and waiting for it o grow.
G. rosea/ G. porteri (both Chile Rose) are great starter spiders, USUALLY docile, cheap, slow growing but acceptable.
They are usually aggressive when kept too warm. They need no more than room temp, no additional heating needed.
Downside is they are a bit plain, though G. rosea is a little better to look at.

Personally, I'd say go for a Curly Hair- B. albopiosum or Red Rump -B. vagans.
You cant really handle them, though they are pretty docile, the Curly more so. They dont tend to strike or flick hairs, are tough as boots so easy to rear, grow a bit quicker than Chile Rose and are better to look at (vagans are LOVELY).
They do cost a little more, but not too bad price-wise.

However, if the Wife wants a Chile Rose then it's probably safer to get a Chile Rose.
A good all round spider that gets to a good size for not much money.

haha yes he will, because B. smithi can be really flicky however I love my B. smithi. It's one of my spiders that's always out and about doing something.

G. rosea's do get recommended to beginners alot but I think you get the odd nutty one. If you was thinking of handling I'd like to suggest Grammostola pulchripes, Chaco golden knee. Mine is so calm and docile, easy to handle.

My adult female pulchripes was very docile until she got out. I caught her a few days later and now she is evil. She strikes at anything going near her and actually has venom showing on her fangs before she strikes.

Yeah,
We were talking with the breeder friend and he gave us several other choices, (B. albopilosum,
N. chromatus, G. pulchra, B. auratum ,G. pulchripes). But he didn't like any of them, he told me they're too boring looking, lol. Looks like she've fell in love with the Rose (it's a red morph btw). So I suppose that's what it'll be in the end. I suspect tht won't be the only one though, I can predict an addiction coming, as I've get for scorps. Nothing bad on that though Smile



Well, if she wants the rose so much, she'll get it. When she sees she can't handle it, I'll just "have to" get her a second one

Someone here once used the word flickypelma.. I hate them for it.
When I started out I had an Avicularia metallica and a Flickerpelma emilia.

Although both were docile, I think the avicularia was easier to keep and nice to look at.
It never flicked hairs.. then again I never handle any of the inverts.

Lol, yeah, I've called them Flickypelma for 15 years.
Avics are ok once grown on but, especially as spiderlings they have a habit of just dropping dead.

Yes I have a few flickypelmas lol and I heard there's a word for the avic sling deaths, SADS (sudden avic death syndrom)

i would say go for a B. albopilosum i got one from peloquin and its awesome very docile doesnt leg it like my salmon pink does and is gorgeous, recently molted to and is very cute...

this is her before her first molt in my care...


And here she is just after...



samon pink (lasiodora parahybana) is awesome to though...




and they get to be this big which is really awesome lol...

My first T was Aphonopelma chalcodes. Its a very slow growing desert species from the southwest US. It's pretty slow moving and generally has a sunny disposition. there are reports of females living for 25 years in captivity. They aren't as pretty as a rosie, but are pretty hardy.

I have a grammostola rosea and it is very docile. i got it from a friend as and adult and he handled it quite often. i also have an avic avic and from what i read they are quite docile although they get scared easily but they cant flick their hair. they can only rub it on you ? i laso read that they could jump. i handled my avic 2 or 3 times and it seemed preety calm.

In the end we chose the Brachypelma auratum, female at around 11i. She's very docile and the colours are stunning.