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Hello from north Idaho

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Steph

New Member
3 Year Member
Messages
24
Hi, I'm Steph and I joined yesterday after finding the forum online. On Weds I received a baby (3/4") Brachypelma smithi from Jamie's Tarantulas. I haven't owned a T in a little over 20 yrs & that was an adult Grammastola rosea female. So I don't know anything about raising a baby T, but I've been closely studying my copy of Schultz & Schultz's The Tarantula Keepers Guide. Compared to the books I could find on caring for T's 20-some years ago, I'd say knowledge in the area of keeping or raising tarantulas has vastly improved. Thank goodness for that.
I also have a rescue cat, Indy (short for Indigo), an old Skipperke (Kelly), and a chatty African Grey named Gracie. My folks have Walter, a spunky terrier. I moved back in with them in '98 after being diagnosed w/ insulin-dependent diabetes, and systemic lupus. My folks are my guardian angels in disguise, they never even hesitated about welcoming me back into their home when I got sick.
I'm glad I found this forum as I think there's a lot to said about learning from others who are more knowledgeable than me regarding whatever subject I'm trying to learn about. Steph
 
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Steph

New Member
3 Year Member
Messages
24
Christell Erasmus said:
Hi there.
Welcome to the forum. Hope to hear and see a lot more of your little smithi. I own a few brachypelmas and I am going to add a smithi to my collections soon. It is amazing to have caring parent like you do. Hope you enjoy the forum. :D
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Hi Christell, thanks for the nice welcome. That is an incredible collection of T's you have, I am really impressed. Did you start with each of them as babies? And the pics of them are cool. Did you take them? One of these days I'd like to acquire a Grammastola pulchra, they are so beautiful. From what I've read, they aren't too aggressive. And there are a coupla other species I've read about that interest me. I sure am glad I found this forum :)
 
S

Steph

New Member
3 Year Member
Messages
24
HungryGhost said:
Welcome to the forum! B. Smithi are pretty hardy even as slings. The toughest part is finding the proper sized prey when they are tiny.
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Hello, I appreciate you're letting me know about B. smithi's hardiness, even when they're just little buggers (pun intended). Even tho the description of these slings was 3/4", not having seen a baby tarantula, I was still amazed when I unpacked mine at how little it seemed. Do you know roughly w/ a sling of this size approx how many weeks or months old it is? I asked the folks I got her from when the hatch date was, but I have as yet to hear back from them about that.
And I'm glad I bought some 8" tongs when I got the spider, as small as the flightless fruit flies are that I also got, I figure the tongs will make it at least somewhat easier to handle the flies when I go to offer one to the sling. I got her on late Weds afternoon, so I thought I'd try the first feeding on Mon or Tues.
 
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Steph

New Member
3 Year Member
Messages
24
HungryGhost said:
You don't need tongs for feeding. Just tap several fruit flies into the slings enclosure and she'll find them on her own. I don't really know what age it would be by the size, sorry.
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Hey thanks for the suggestion, I really appreciate that. Feeding her that way right away hadn't occurred to me (obviously!). Today I heard back from one of the folks at Jaime's Tarantulas & they said she was at about the 4th or 5th instar, & that they'd hatched the slings during the last quarter of last year. Steph
 
Christell Erasmus

Christell Erasmus

Well-Known Member
3 Year Member
Messages
679
Location
South Africa, Mpumalanga, Kaapsehoop
Hi Christell, thanks for the nice welcome. That is an incredible collection of T's you have, I am really impressed. Did you start with each of them as babies? And the pics of them are cool. Did you take them? One of these days I'd like to acquire a Grammastola pulchra, they are so beautiful. From what I've read, they aren't too aggressive. And there are a coupla other species I've read about that interest me. I sure am glad I found this forum :)
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Thank you for the compliments. Yes I raise all my tarantulas from tiny slings. I feel you get to know them better that way and spend more time with them. Grammastola pulchra is a beautiful tarantula, I would love to own one as well. I do take the pictures of the tarantulas. I hope you have a great day. :D
 

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