the best vendors i've found are:Well does anyone recommend and places online they order Ts from? I have a local reptile store I got to, but they are more common Ts like pink toes and rose hairs. I'm a little nervous online and the T being transported because where I live its pretty cold for the next few months.
www.petcenter.info
www.fearnottarantulas.com
www.net-bug.net
www.kenthebugguy.com
I won't order T's from www.jamiestarantulas.com because she uses USPS for shipping and i don't trust them to deliver on time. Plus it's a felony to ship through them The others above all use FedEx and i've never had any problems ordering from them, even in the dead of winter. In fact almost all of my and my son's collections were ordered between November and February last year, only a few were ordered this spring/summer.
Just make sure you're there to receive the shipment, and order a heat pack. The vendors above, especially Anastasia at net-bug, will check weather in your area and update you on shipping, if it's too cold they'll email you and let you know when they'll ship.
Did you decide on what you're ordering yet? you mentioned docile, for those i'd stick with the Brachypelma genus. They don't go into fasting like the rosea and some of the other Grammostola species do, so they're not as high stress for a new keeper.
I'd suggest the Brachypelma albopilosum for your first, either the Nicaraguan or Honduran curly hair. Great beginner T, and the slings love to burrow and push dirt around. both of mine are docile and you can handle them. i've never seen them kick hair unless they are in premolt and you disturb them.
Brachypelma Smithi is another favorite for a beginner, the Mexican Red Knee. Both of mine are docile and never kick hairs.
The Brachypelma boehmei is one of my favorite of the genus. Ours is docile, doesn't kick hair unless in premolt, and not skittish. Almost aggressive, she'll swat the tongs or grab the water dish when you're cleaning it or trying to remove it to clean. But, once she's removed from her enclosure she's very calm.
That's true with a lot of Brachypelma species, remove them from their enclosure and the aggressive/defensiveness will go away and they can be handled. My son does that with his boehmei, and i do it with my smithi. I would strongly suggest not putting your hand in the cage to handle them, all of mine think anything that comes into the enclosure is food. My son has had a couple close calls that way, he tends to learn the hard way