T. Apophysis. Beginner?

[Goldiesgiants]

Hi all.
So I ordered a beginner box as I wanted more spiders and my wife wanted one too. The one I bought was specifically beginner but one of the Ts was a rather large Juvie theraphosa apophysis and I'm pretty sure they are definitely not a beginner species. I have no quams about keeping the T as I love it already but its very fast and was throwing up defense poses left and right when unboxing.
Is this a beginner species? (I know "beginner" is a very broad term) I'm not stupid after she(?) Arrived I started doing as much research into the species as possible. I also got an L. Klugi and a B.hamorii. both of which were extremely docile and went into their enclosures with no trouble.
Thanks guys.

 

[PanzoN88]

Hi all.
So I ordered a beginner box as I wanted more spiders and my wife wanted one too. The one I bought was specifically beginner but one of the Ts was a rather large Juvie theraphosa apophysis and I'm pretty sure they are definitely not a beginner species. I have no quams about keeping the T as I love it already but its very fast and was throwing up defense poses left and right when unboxing.
Is this a beginner species? (I know "beginner" is a very broad term) I'm not stupid after she(?) Arrived I started doing as much research into the species as possible. I also got an L. Klugi and a B.hamorii. both of which were extremely docile and went into their enclosures with no trouble.
Thanks guys.

Definitely not a beginner species mainly due to their care requirements. The big thing to watch out for with the genus in general is the hairs. They are reportedly among the worst, if not the worst. I haven’t raised one myself to prove it, but I think stuffy enclosures are the cause of most Theraphosa deaths.

 

[Goldiesgiants]

Definitely not a beginner species mainly due to their care requirements. The big thing to watch out for with the genus in general is the hairs. They are reportedly among the worst, if not the worst. I haven’t raised one myself to prove it, but I think stuffy enclosures are the cause of most Theraphosa deaths.

Thank you! I actually was not expecting a theraphosa at all! I have the T in a larger enclosure for its size with damper substrate as it is a moisture dependent species. And they tend to roam alot. It has air vents around all 4 sides of the enclosure so I'll make sure to keep the sub a bit more damp on the bottom. I have no intention of getting rid of the T just because I'm a beginner and it's not a beginner species. I am a biology student and one of my lecturers is an entomologist specialising in spiders so I will ask him some questions if I get the chance.

 

[m0lsx]

The Lasiodora klugi is a beautiful T. Lucky you.

We have had a couple of Theraphosa apophysis for a couple of years & I have to say I don't find ours to be anything but easy to keep. ALL of our enclosures are well ventilated & I do nothing special to keep them. yes, I keep them moist, but they take no special care or caution. Ours are not prone to rapid movement, or flicking. If anything, they seem to be easy to keep & work with.

I am told the hairs are much worse than other species. But we have several stirmi's & blondi's & I am much more likely to be flicked by those than our apophysis. My big stirmi is one of 3 T's I have named. I call her Felicity, or Flick for short & on feeding day I am far more likely to need a good hand & lower arm wash, plus an antihistamine, due to a Brachypelma, than a Theraphosa.

One of our most stroppy T's is a hamorii, she is known as psycho*****. And she will flick hair as the International Space Station passes overhead.

 

[Goldiesgiants]

The Lasiodora klugi is a beautiful T. Lucky you.

We have had a couple of Theraphosa apophysis for a couple of years & I have to say I don't find ours to be anything but easy to keep. ALL of our enclosures are well ventilated & I do nothing special to keep them. yes, I keep them moist, but they take no special care or caution. Ours are not prone to rapid movement, or flicking. If anything, they seem to be easy to keep & work with.

I am told the hairs are much worse than other species. But we have several stirmi's & blondi's & I am much more likely to be flicked by those than our apophysis. My big stirmi is one of 3 T's I have named. I call her Felicity, or Flick for short & on feeding day I am far more likely to need a good hand & lower arm wash, plus an antihistamine, due to a Brachypelma, than a Theraphosa.

One of our most stroppy T's is a hamorii, she is known as psycho*****. And she will flick hair as the International Space Station passes overhead.

Thank you so much for your reply. It was honestly just unexpected in a beginners box. And she(?) Was quite. Sprinter when trying to house her. Very stroppy. I usually let my son watch me home my tarantulas with my wife holding him but with this one I didn't quite want to take the risk as there was a definite break for freedom through the bottom of the paper rather than the part I was actually trying to get her out of. I've already had a few people say to me " oh it's not a spider for beginners you should give it to someone who knows what they are doing." It's a pet. I wouldn't get rid of a cat or a dog just because it wasn't what I was expecting. That's just cruel.