New to the Hobby

[I Luv Creepy Crawlies ; )]

Hey You!
Yeah, you reading this. My name is Ellie. I have been researching all year (since Feb 2020) on getting my first tarantula but I still cannot choose! I really love the Gooty and its beauty but I want to be able to see my cute eight-legged friend at least once a day. I also cannot decide if I should start with a dwarf old new world or a large goliath bird eater. Ugggh I would like to have all of them but I want to have experience with raising a sling to juvenile into adulthood so I know what to expect before starting a small collection. I will be making his/her enclosure bioactive and I breed my own insects as I have bearded dragons and leopard geckos. I also breed mice for my snakes as well. Sometimes I have stillborns and I know some of the larger tarantulas will eat them so their life won't just go to waste. Needless to say, my new baby will have plenty of nutritional food to eat. Anyway, I am finally ready to get my first creepy crawler. Anyone have suggestions? Advice?

 

[Oursapoil]

Hello Ellie and welcome to the forum/hobby!

 

[I Luv Creepy Crawlies ; )]

Hello Ellie and welcome to the forum/hobby!

Thank You Oursapoil, nice to meet you!

 

[Lawrence b]

Hi and welcome

 

[Konstantin]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Keeping tarantulas is very different from keeping reptiles.Its good to hear that you have done some research on them.I will recommend for you to start with New world terrestrial as they are more manageable than OW or even dwarfs as those can be very fast and skittish.Also NW terrestrials are more visible once they put some size.Almost all slings will hide away till put some size to them so avoid oversized enclosures when they are small to be able to keep track on them easier.
T.albopilosus,Grammostola Pulchripes, any Brachypelma or even Lasiodora Parahybana can make great first tarantula .Brachypelmas do grow a little on the slow side.
Regards Konstantin

 

[Konstantin]

Also not all tarantulas are suitable for bioactive enclosures as some like it on the dry side and thats too dry for clean up crew to survive

 

[WolfSpider]

As per Konstantin, all great points. Allow me to emphasize a recommendation : Lasiodora are voracious eaters, are the second heaviest genus behind the Theraposa, will take mice as adults, grow like weeds, and frequently are on display.

But Gooty sp. Are so beautiful, I get it. Welcome to the forum. Let us know what you choose please.

 

[ilovebrachys]

Hi and welcome to the forum and hobby
I too would recommend a L. P as a first T as they are Hardy, easy to find and very affordable they are also large and very nice looking and would suit a bioactive set up

 

[Enn49]

Hello Ellie and welcome.
Just a word of warning if you feed any T a mouse be sure to remove it at latest next day as they become very smelly very quickly.

 

[Oursapoil]

Adding my two cents if you wouldn't mind, there are much better food to give your Ts than dead baby mice and I second Enn49, they stink up the place very fast. Something to also consider with new world tarantulas (as you are someone I imagine will want at some point to handle you Ts) is that almost all of them have urticating hairs they can "dust" your way with their back legs when disturbed or in a bad mood Some people have higher sensitivity than other and some Ts have worse hairs than others but it is something to keep in mind. I can't wait to see what you will be getting!!!!

 

[I Luv Creepy Crawlies ; )]

I would definitely not be feeding mice to my T as the main food source. I breed dubias and superworms for my lizards and I get crickets everyother week to make sure my Lizards have a variety of insects not to mention they have their own mini-fridge for tier vegies-Spoiled or Nah lol. I was just saying if in the future I had an adult Goliath it would be like a once a year treat. I have snakes and yes mice can get smelly so is snake poo eww. I have a whole room dedicated to the mice and my lizards. The snakes are in a separate room so they don't live smelling their prey 24/7.
My T will be on my corner desk where it is kind of dark but warm where I do my college assignments.

 

[I Luv Creepy Crawlies ; )]

Hello Ellie and welcome.
Just a word of warning if you feed any T a mouse be sure to remove it at latest next day as they become very smelly very quickly.

Thank you. Yes they can get smelly I breed them. One time my ball python took a mouse but then I smelled something a few days later. I assumed it was the big pile of poo I saw in the corner of her tank so when I was cleaning her tank I found the mouse uneaten (not regurgitated) in her cold hide ewww. The smell of death is horrible!

 

[m0lsx]

Hello & welcome to both the forum & the hobby.

 

[PanzoN88]

Welcome to this highly addictive hobby and of course the forum. All the information that you asked for and then some has already been stated, so I will emphasize what has already been said above.

 

[Angelo]

I started with three tarantulas: Grammostola pulchra, Aphonopelma chalcodes, and Tliltocatl albopilosum.

The G. pulchra was a sling-juvenile (about 1.75" when I bought), and within 10 months with me, it molted twice two-three times already and is about 2.5" in size and is now blackier than before.

The A. chalcodes is a beauty with the whitish-blonde coloring, however mine tends to hide in the burrow throughout the colder months and will emerge only in spring. It completely shut off the entrance of its burrow and so I have not seen nor fed it for about 2 months now. I could still see some of its legs as the burrow is right next the side of the enclosure and it moves from time to time so I know it's still alive.

The T. albopilosum is docile (however it may vary in each individual). Mine is very chill and does not mind being held. It has not bitten me once nor kicked hairs at me yet. It is also a medium size tarantula so it's just perfect for me (not too small and not too intimidating like the goliaths).

As much as I want to have adult tarantulas, the process of just raising them from slings to adulthood is very rewarding!

If you only want to look at your Ts without handling, you may go with the gooty (however be very careful!). But if you want to occasionally hold your Ts, I suggest go with the more docile species. However, the longer that you stay in the hobby, the higher the chance that you're gonna acquire other species anyway

 

[menavodi]

Welcome to TF.