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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SwedishArachnophobe84" data-source="post: 173943" data-attributes="member: 31783">On a different note:Until recently, I have basically only thought about getting sexed females and slightly bigger specimens…but after listening to a podcast; where Tom Moran said something about how slings resemble “normal spiders” (more than the larger tarantulas do). I started thinking and I have come to a conclusion that I believe is inevitable.It feels like the only natural “second step” and that is that I will have to get at least one or two slings in the future. Forcing myself to interact and care for a sling or two will probably help a lot in going forward. I believe I would be better “prepared” to deal with the common spiders that might enter my house, that I might see I my garden etc. if I will get some slings.Normally, I have less of a problem with smaller spiders…but when it comes to tarantulas specifically, it is slightly different. I still have a massive problem with bigger spiders (and I would never want something extremely enormous such as a T. blondi) but I do feel that slings freak me out in a different way…because they are similar in appearance, speed etc. to a “normal spider”. To me the most terrifying spiders are the true spiders (? I think they are called that).Specifically, I absolutely hate the look of the common house spider (one of the biggest spiders found in Sweden) and spiders resembling black widows (and this is despite the fact that there are no dangerous spiders here).They are just so gross…I am getting more and more used to tarantulas now, but the house spider…we are by no means anywhere near feeling better about those yet. I believe a sling or two will be able to help with this.I have come to the conclusion that some of my favorite species is less suitable to buy as slings and I will try to find these as somewhat bigger specimens. Specifically, I am thinking of the particularly slow growing species (such as B. albiceps, A. chalcodes and so on).When I come to the point that I feel ready to take on a sling or two:Which species are good species to start with as slings and what species would you recommend? Feel free to suggest species that I do not currently have on my list as well.I am obviously still looking for docile, nice and beginner friendly species but since getting slings will be further into the future; I do believe that it would be ok with slightly faster species (still looking for fairly slow-moving species though).I do realize that I will not be able to get a sling that have been sexed (right?), but despite this I feel like this is the right move to make for me. Partly because it will help with my arachnophobia as stated above, but also because the more I read and learn, the more I realize that it would be a very valuable lesson to raise a tarantula from sling to adulthood.So far, I am considering getting a GBB as a sling (not at the moment of course) would this be a wise or a foolish choice? I have also thought about getting a C. elegans as a sling (yes, I realize that it would be insanely small…but maybe a slightly larger sling?), good or bad idea? Any other species that might be worth looking into, specifically to get as slings?/SwedishArachnophobe84</blockquote>

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