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General Tarantula Discussion
Moving on from beginner species?
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<blockquote data-quote="Tortoise Tom" data-source="post: 153434" data-attributes="member: 27883"><p>Great advice in this thread so far...</p><p></p><p>I kept several easy species of new world tarantulas for years, and only about a year ago I went crazy and got all sorts of new and novel species. Anytime I became aware of any new species, I'd look them up online and try to learn about them. A few dozen of them appealed to me, so I bought a bunch of them to try out. I now have around 30-40 species from all over the world and love them all. None have been hard to care for or given me any problems. Even the so-called "super aggressive" old worlds behave themselves and stay in their enclosures when I open them for feeding and maintenance, and moving them to new enclosures has been no problem at all.</p><p></p><p>Here are my tips. These are the things that have helped me as a beginner to all of these more "exotic", fast, aggressive and potent species:</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Go on YouTube and watch videos of the species you are interested in. Arachnoclown has tons of great videos to watch. This showed me how each species moved and behaved. How fast they were, how sensitive and reactive to touch they are, how jumpy, and what they are likely to do when messed with. I got to see a cross section of personalities of each of these species and "get to know them" a bit. There is no where near me that I know of to go see these species in person, so the videos were extremely educational and helpful.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Arboreal species go UP when you mess with them. Hold your catch cup accordingly. I was used to terrestrials that typically jump straight ahead when you prod them to move, so the upwardly mobile arboreals caught me by surprise. But no disasters because I...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Use a large plastic tub to work in. Go to Walmart or the nearest big hardware store and get a big transparent tub. Something 40-50 gallon size. Whenever I have to open an enclosure of a species or individual that I don't know well, I put the whole enclosure inside the big tub, and I have an assortment of catch cups, prods, and cardboard blockers, at the ready within arms reach. If something unexpected happens, your tarantula will be contained in this large tub and you'll have time to react and contain the wild beast with a handy catch cup. The tub buys you time, saves you from chasing a loose spider all over the house, prevents losses or escapes, and contains unexpected messes too. Having said that, I have one H. pulchripes that throws me threat postures when I open the top to feed, but all the others have been no different than any Brachypelma or Grammostola when it comes to feeding and watering them. The tub really has not been needed, but working inside it gives me peace of mind and ups my confidence level significantly because I know that things will be fine, even if something I'm not expecting happens.</li> </ol><p>Just for reference, here are some of the genus and species I'm talking about:</p><p>Poecilotheria</p><p>Hysterocrates</p><p>Psalmopoeus, including the irminia that was already mentioned. Love that species.</p><p>Theraposa stirmi - my favorite</p><p>Avicularia/Caribena</p><p>Haplopelma</p><p>Davus pentoralis - aggro little buggers, but so pretty...</p><p>Pterinochilus murinus OBT</p><p>Cyanopubescens GBB</p><p>Pterinopelma sazimai</p><p>Pelinobius mutica</p><p>Orphanaceus</p><p>Nhandu</p><p>Lasiodora</p><p>Idiothele</p><p>Ephebopus</p><p>Harpacitra</p><p>Monocentropus</p><p></p><p>Plus a whole bunch of Brachypelma and Grammostola too.</p><p></p><p>Branch out. Try new species. You will love it!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tortoise Tom, post: 153434, member: 27883"] Great advice in this thread so far... I kept several easy species of new world tarantulas for years, and only about a year ago I went crazy and got all sorts of new and novel species. Anytime I became aware of any new species, I'd look them up online and try to learn about them. A few dozen of them appealed to me, so I bought a bunch of them to try out. I now have around 30-40 species from all over the world and love them all. None have been hard to care for or given me any problems. Even the so-called "super aggressive" old worlds behave themselves and stay in their enclosures when I open them for feeding and maintenance, and moving them to new enclosures has been no problem at all. Here are my tips. These are the things that have helped me as a beginner to all of these more "exotic", fast, aggressive and potent species: [LIST=1] [*]Go on YouTube and watch videos of the species you are interested in. Arachnoclown has tons of great videos to watch. This showed me how each species moved and behaved. How fast they were, how sensitive and reactive to touch they are, how jumpy, and what they are likely to do when messed with. I got to see a cross section of personalities of each of these species and "get to know them" a bit. There is no where near me that I know of to go see these species in person, so the videos were extremely educational and helpful. [*]Arboreal species go UP when you mess with them. Hold your catch cup accordingly. I was used to terrestrials that typically jump straight ahead when you prod them to move, so the upwardly mobile arboreals caught me by surprise. But no disasters because I... [*]Use a large plastic tub to work in. Go to Walmart or the nearest big hardware store and get a big transparent tub. Something 40-50 gallon size. Whenever I have to open an enclosure of a species or individual that I don't know well, I put the whole enclosure inside the big tub, and I have an assortment of catch cups, prods, and cardboard blockers, at the ready within arms reach. If something unexpected happens, your tarantula will be contained in this large tub and you'll have time to react and contain the wild beast with a handy catch cup. The tub buys you time, saves you from chasing a loose spider all over the house, prevents losses or escapes, and contains unexpected messes too. Having said that, I have one H. pulchripes that throws me threat postures when I open the top to feed, but all the others have been no different than any Brachypelma or Grammostola when it comes to feeding and watering them. The tub really has not been needed, but working inside it gives me peace of mind and ups my confidence level significantly because I know that things will be fine, even if something I'm not expecting happens. [/LIST] Just for reference, here are some of the genus and species I'm talking about: Poecilotheria Hysterocrates Psalmopoeus, including the irminia that was already mentioned. Love that species. Theraposa stirmi - my favorite Avicularia/Caribena Haplopelma Davus pentoralis - aggro little buggers, but so pretty... Pterinochilus murinus OBT Cyanopubescens GBB Pterinopelma sazimai Pelinobius mutica Orphanaceus Nhandu Lasiodora Idiothele Ephebopus Harpacitra Monocentropus Plus a whole bunch of Brachypelma and Grammostola too. Branch out. Try new species. You will love it! [/QUOTE]
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