What Constitutes a "not for begginers? Tarantula?

[Dr Mengele]

Hi all, this is my first post and i want to say Hi to my fellow Tarantula folks. My question is as followers and then my thoughts. What exactly constitutes a "not for beginners" Tarantula ? Is it the cost? How aggresive they are? Food costs? I have 2 myself already A Mexican red knee 'B smithi" and a Brazilian salmon giant birdeater,. I have had them for over 10 years and they are doing fine. I just ordered a Goliath pink foot bird-eater and should get her tomorrow. I have a 15 gallon tank set up with 4 inches of eco earth, A Nice Cork tube buried for her home and a water dish all set up easy peasy. If I get her and the set up seems small then i will go and get a 20 gallon tank and set it up. My qustion is that are these a 'Not for beginners" spider? I would not EVER handle mine and i just like to watch them. Also, all mine get is large crickets and they seem good. Should i include mice for them? how many times a year? what am i missing? I want to thank aLL OF YOU in advance !

 

[MassExodus]

Hi all, this is my first post and i want to say Hi to my fellow Tarantula folks. My question is as followers and then my thoughts. What exactly constitutes a "not for beginners" Tarantula ? Is it the cost? How aggresive they are? Food costs? I have 2 myself already A Mexican red knee 'B smithi" and a Brazilian salmon giant birdeater,. I have had them for over 10 years and they are doing fine. I just ordered a Goliath pink foot bird-eater and should get her tomorrow. I have a 15 gallon tank set up with 4 inches of eco earth, A Nice Cork tube buried for her home and a water dish all set up easy peasy. If I get her and the set up seems small then i will go and get a 20 gallon tank and set it up. My qustion is that are these a 'Not for beginners" spider? I would not EVER handle mine and i just like to watch them. Also, all mine get is large crickets and they seem good. Should i include mice for them? how many times a year? what am i missing? I want to thank aLL OF YOU in advance !

Howdy Doc You'll get different responses from folks on what is and isn't a "not for beginners" spider. The truth is it's different strokes for different folks. I started out with OBTs and Poecis, yet if you ask most people, they would tell you that's not smart. There is an overwhelming number of hobbyists that preach using a "step system" to work your way up to "tougher" species and keep spiders appropriate to your level of knowledge and experience. Sometimes it has to do with speed and venom potency, like with Poecis, sometimes it's defensiveness and venom potency, like OBTs. Then you have S calciatum, with speed, defensiveness, and venom potency...
Then there's the species that require particular care, such as Theraphosa blondie/stirmi (not quite as delicate as the blondie) and some others.
The fact is, if you research the spider you intend to keep, thoroughly, and if you're an adult who takes their pet's care seriously, you'll do fine. I watch all the videos I can on species I want to own, and read posts on forums like this, and blogs, and even outdated care sheets (which are often horsecrap, or too generalized to be of use). Research, research, research! It will help you immensely. and you have to dig, don't just listen to the first guy on a youtube video or a forum. By the way, Goliath pink foot, is that the Theraphosa apophysis you refer to? Common names are misleading, try to learn scientific names to better describe a tarantula. Its a pain in the ass but we all do it Unfortunately it leads to confusion when someone uses common names on a forum.. But your T apophysis is one of the particular care species...improper care will kill it eventually. Research, Doc

 

[Enn49]

Hi and congratulations on having your 2 Ts for so long.

Most people consider NW Ts to be the better ones for beginners, less potent bites, and the OW Ts to be a no no. Saying that my first 2 were an OBT (supposedly one of the most aggressive) and a P. metallica both OW. As for the Goliath I will leave someone with experience of them to give advice.

Crickets are fine but you can give a mouse very occasionally as a treat if you want.

 

[Chubbs]

Speed and venom are the two main things. Some people can handle a highly defensive tarantula even if they're new to the hobby. What catches a lot of them off guard is just how damn fast some of these things can be. Many people who are new often want a species they can handle. Most tarantulas are fairly hardy creatures, but some need more specific requirements that can be difficult to accomplish if you don't even have basic tarantula care down. This is why I don't recommend Avics as a first tarantula. Definitely as a first arboreal, but not as your very first tarantula. They are a bit more susceptible to nooby mistakes.

 

[Dr Mengele]

Ok , you all had great thoughts and Solid advice. What i have ordered is Theraphosa apophysis. From what i have gathered from reading is that they dont seem particulaly difficult to care for. I have watched at least 4 or 5 videos and the owners didnt seem to feel that they were delicate or very demanding. As far as their Genus Of Theraphosa goes they might be one of the least demanding so i will be observant and watchful like i am with all the animals in my care. As ghastly as it might be i will get mine some mice. After all, it is THEY that are eating them, not me ! LOL

 

[Enn49]

Ok , you all had great thoughts and Solid advice. What i have ordered is Theraphosa apophysis. From what i have gathered from reading is that they dont seem particulaly difficult to care for. I have watched at least 4 or 5 videos and the owners didnt seem to feel that they were delicate or very demanding. As far as their Genus Of Theraphosa goes they might be one of the least demanding so i will be observant and watchful like i am with all the animals in my care. As ghastly as it might be i will get mine some mice. After all, it is THEY that are eating them, not me ! LOL

You could always buy frozen mice, defrost in warm water before feeding. I couldn't bring myself to feed live even my Royal python gets defrosts.

 

[Chubbs]

Actually Theraphosa are considered one of the more difficult genera to care for because they require pretty specific conditions. They seem to have more molting issues than a lot of other tarantulas. I don't know about that particular species. Strmi is supposed to be the toughest of the genus. Blondi is the most delicate, so maybe it's a good thing that they're extremely rare. This genus is usually quite defensive and the urticating hairs are supposed to be extremely painful.

 

[MassExodus]

You could always buy frozen mice, defrost in warm water before feeding. I couldn't bring myself to feed live even my Royal python gets defrosts.

I agree..I also feel like mice and rats are too intelligent to use as feeders though, which is all that's kept me from buying Royals..I love them, but nope. I had pet mice as a kid...those things are way more intelligent than your average animal. They show affection, as well...just cant do it. And a tarantula can live its whole life without eating a mouse or rat, and do just fine.

 

[MassExodus]

Actually Theraphosa are considered one of the more difficult genera to care for because they require pretty specific conditions. They seem to have more molting issues than a lot of other tarantulas. I don't know about that particular species. Strmi is supposed to be the toughest of the genus. Blondi is the most delicate, so maybe it's a good thing that they're extremely rare. This genus is usually quite defensive and the urticating hairs are supposed to be extremely painful.

I've actually been interested in the apophysis before, but never read up on them because I never see slings for sale..and when I do, they're just too expensive, for an unsexed sling. I think that will be my reading tonight..

 

[micheldied]

Ok , you all had great thoughts and Solid advice. What i have ordered is Theraphosa apophysis. From what i have gathered from reading is that they dont seem particulaly difficult to care for. I have watched at least 4 or 5 videos and the owners didnt seem to feel that they were delicate or very demanding. As far as their Genus Of Theraphosa goes they might be one of the least demanding so i will be observant and watchful like i am with all the animals in my care. As ghastly as it might be i will get mine some mice. After all, it is THEY that are eating them, not me ! LOL

In general, beginner Ts are going to be those that aren't very quick, don't have a bad bite, those that aren't very willing to bite, and those that are hardy(do not require more specific keeping conditions).
Of course, this tends to be very general and geared towards those with absolutely no experience with animals that aren't very domesticated.

All the Theraphosa are, by definition, not "beginner Ts", since they're not as hardy as most other New World terrestrials. But don't let that scare you. As long as you've done your research and try to match the recommended conditions, you should be fine. I've kept T. apophysis like any other tropical T and never had a problem with them. Just kept them like you would keep most slings; slightly more moist and warm. They were a blast to own and were very fast growers.