What should i get?

Hi there

thinking of getting a tarantula, i9ve never owned one before only ever had scorpions. what do you reckon would be a good beginners choice? because i quite like the curly hair but i dont really know anything about them.

cheers

http://tarantulakeeper.blogspot.com/2008/12/top-10-beginners-tarantulas.html

try this...
unless someone with experience happens to come by...

Sorry Mikey, I might have to disagree with some of that list, although some of the top general recommendations are also mentioned. ***Edited - I went and fully read the reviews on that link and they are actually a good read and warn about the OBT I mention bellow as my biggest disagreeing argument. It also talks about other Old Worlds. The Bird Eater was a surprise and I might have to go get one now Also forgot to mention - the Green Bottle Blue is very skittish so that may not be a good beginner but is very beautiful!***

Stay away from the Orange Baboon Tarantula as a 1st, they are super fast, aggressive and tend to bite fore running off.

Rose Hairs are the most common and generally are good. They are prettier in person too, but the downside is their temperment is a crap shoot. Some are great, with a mellow demeanor but some are pretty ornery too, they are a bit unpredictable.

From what I've seen around on other forums is that anything in the Brachypelma genus is a good bet. I have a B. Smithi and love it although it is still a sling.

Brachypelma Smithi - Mexican Red Knee
There is also the Red Leg, Fire Leg, Red Rump and the list goes on. These are pretty docile, with mellow temperment and are also beautiful.

One other tidbit, probably look to more of the New World Tarantula's. New World is anything from the America's and Old World would be pretty much everything else. I say this because old world tend to have the more aggressive species with a strong bite, they are also known to be more prone to bite. New World species generally have a weaker venom and are less prone to bite but are also known to kick uriticating hairs, usually off of their abdomen. If you have sensitive skin, or allergies this can be worse then if you don't but still not too bad. In the eyes could be very annoying though. I'm forgetting the name but The Brazilian Black Tarantula is also supposed to be a good beginner T.

I hope this helps. There are probably more people on here with more experience than I but if you have any other questions I can try to answer them, I used to teach too so I try to make a conscience effort if I am not positive with an answer I will go and find out. I've buddied up with some other guys fortunately who are big into T's so I should be able to find things out pretty quick as they have always been very helpful to me in learning about this side of the Arachnids

All in all though, I don't think there is a T out there with a life threatening bite, just some far more painful than others. This being said if you are responsible and research up on any species you are interested you are probably ok.

oh dude its cool, i have NO knowledge what so ever on Ts...
the only true knowledge i have, is that i run faster in the opposite direction from spiders...

it was just in the 1st couple sites i googled...

thats why i said he should try it, until someone with more experience/knowledge came by...
btw, thank you for the slightly in depth knowledge of the Ts, i found the stuff you wrote better than the original site =)

the lycan mikey wrote:

oh dude its cool, i have NO knowledge what so ever on Ts...
the only true knowledge i have, is that i run faster in the opposite direction from spiders...

it was just in the 1st couple sites i googled...

thats why i said he should try it, until someone with more experience/knowledge came by...
btw, thank you for the slightly in depth knowledge of the Ts, i found the stuff you wrote better than the original site =)

Thanks Bro, I just hope my response didn't come off too scatter brained, just finished the 2nd coffee for the day when I posted it up

I had to edit the post because I actually did find the link informative and picked a few things up although I'm just confused at why they'd put a couple of those species on there. Oh well, thus the importance of cross referencing everything on the web

I can't pretend to know too much but hopefully I laid some good ground work for the start and some basic stuff some of the other more experienced individuals on here won't have to repeat

I love T's too, just can't let myself get too carried away or I end up with less room for the scorps and I enjoy those far more, hands down!

I just had a H. Maculata (see THIS for a quick description) escape on me. It was only a sling but I don't try to handle any of my T's or Scorps a whole lot and had to put my hand down to block him and ran right up my arm :/!! Finally got him back home but didn't know if I was gettin' bit or not, lol! These are supposed to have a mean bite too, but absolutely beautiful spiders!

iitomodachi1 wrote:

the lycan mikey wrote:

oh dude its cool, i have NO knowledge what so ever on Ts...
the only true knowledge i have, is that i run faster in the opposite direction from spiders...

it was just in the 1st couple sites i googled...

thats why i said he should try it, until someone with more experience/knowledge came by...
btw, thank you for the slightly in depth knowledge of the Ts, i found the stuff you wrote better than the original site =)

Thanks Bro, I just hope my response didn't come off too scatter brained, just finished the 2nd coffee for the day when I posted it up

I had to edit the post because I actually did find the link informative and picked a few things up although I'm just confused at why they'd put a couple of those species on there. Oh well, thus the importance of cross referencing everything on the web

I can't pretend to know too much but hopefully I laid some good ground work for the start and some basic stuff some of the other more experienced individuals on here won't have to repeat

I love T's too, just can't let myself get too carried away or I end up with less room for the scorps and I enjoy those far more, hands down!

I just had a H. Maculata (see THIS for a quick description) escape on me. It was only a sling but I don't try to handle any of my T's or Scorps a whole lot and had to put my hand down to block him and ran right up my arm :/!! Finally got him back home but didn't know if I was gettin' bit or not, lol! These are supposed to have a mean bite too, but absolutely beautiful spiders!

more power to you bro, i cant do the spiders thing...
they freak me out above anything else...

although some of them look awesome, i couldnt have them in my house if i even got the guts lol

thanks for the info guys. ive been doing a little bit of research and im kinda drawn towards the Mexican Red Knee. when i went into my local pet shop they said the same thing about the Orange Baboon Tarantula to stay away from it untill you've got more experiance, looks pretty tho.

Yeah, I have 10 OBT slings and they are getting prettier and prettier, any pictures I've seen haven't done any justice at all! They are also awesome at webbing and building stuff, some burrow, some climb but they all make cool things!
I love my B. Smithi and think in general that they are some of the coolest looking T's, just absolutely gorgeous! I liked the Fire Leg too, B. Boehmi, but they are a bit more expensive and harder to find. I definitely have no regrets with my B. Smithi over that either Good luck with the decision making, that is the hard part!

update people
i got my first T. i got a Grammostola pulchripes sling.
ive got some pictures but there pretty blurry but im gonna post them up anyway

Great pics, and I think that will be a great choice for a 1st T. Big and Beautiful!!

cheers mate, ive been trying to get some more pictures but the little fellow is always burrowing lol

Just wanted to know what you guys think of a Mexican Blood Leg (Aphonopelma Bicoloratum) as a first T? I'v been thinking about it and reading alot but still not really sure if they'd be good for a beginner. Thinking of having just one T and wanted a bit of colour, like the look of these.
Thanks

yeah they do look pretty sweet. id speak to rob in S and F and see what he recommends. he has got a Juvenile blood leg for £25


http://scalesandfangs.co.uk/invert-stock-list-ezp-4.html?zenid=5138000cbcd7938cf69bf5158a0b9f83

congrats on the new T sling Manser...

cheers manser and sweet lil curly hair. Yeah I saw that young blood leg last time I was in there, thats what got me thinking. I'll see what they say.

DLP wrote:

congrats on the new T sling Manser...

cheers mate.

yeah Rob knows his stuff when it comes to T's. there always helpfull in there, they dont try and get a sale out of you they just want whats most comfotable for you.

Hey Manser. Sorry I realise now thats not a lil curly hair you got in the end. I popped in scalesnfangs at the weekend to see about the bloodleg. I really liked it but seemed quite quick to me. They suggested the G. Pulchripes that you have so I went with it!
Quick pic

nice one bro, really nice T. cant wait for mine to get a bit bigger. is it a juvenile?? how much he charge?

G.pulchra, B.smithi both very good for a first tarantula.

good choice though !!! nice pics!

Cheers guys. Yea its a juvenile about 2 inch legspan I suppose. It was 15 I think, also got a new scorp.

cool bro, yeah i see on the website he had some new scorps coming in. what ya get

I just got my first tarantula and it's a Haitian brown bird eater... I'm loving him.. he is about 7-9" leg span... I wanted a very big one for my first... I like the red tent on your's.. I think my next one will be a blue.

nice one mate. tried holding mine the other day but bottled it lol

haha Manser, you get tagged by a C. keyserlingi as soon as you get it but bottled it from a lil sling!!

I got a dune scorp (S. mesaensis) about to puts some pics up.

lol i see that on the website and was thinking to myself i need to get that before jamie does lolhaha,,,yeah i know i can hold my scorps all day, get tagged all day but when it comes to spiders just aint got the bottle to pick one up (yet) but that why i got it really ,, wanna get better with them