Keeping one Genus/Species?

bravesvikings20

Arachnosquire
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Messages
69
I started out in reptiles, and many people in that hobby only keep ball pythons, or only corn snakes, or only leopard geckos. I learned quickly that many people keep a wide variety of T's. But do any of you only keep one genus or species? Is that a crazy idea? Like anybody only focus on breeding GBB's, or only on the Avicularia genus, or only breed P.irminia's?
 

JadeWilliamson

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 8, 2011
Messages
207
That's boring. Who wants to be good at just one thing? Some people may start on just a B albopilosum and get a few more Brachies, but that's just cost effective. Others (like me) love overindulging and getting in over our heads. We love learning the hard way.

It's interesting to see how all the different genera act imo. It'd be boring to just keep GBBs. For one, you'd have web all over your house and you'd have to run to the pet store for crix every five minutes!

That's my two cents.

I will say that many spp in genus A will need similar care/act similarly. For example: I have two A avicularia, two A diversipes, two A versicolor, and two A urticans and they are extremely similar version of the same spider in different skins. I have six B vagans and they act about the same as my B albopilosum, needing similar environments and feeding schedules.

It's an addiction I will never deny.
 

venom81

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2009
Messages
25
with T's it's difficult to keep just one genus.but if i could i would love to keep and breed Brachypelmas.
 

JadeWilliamson

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 8, 2011
Messages
207
That's no fun. Brachies are too slow. It's nice to have a bunch of tarantulas eating and working at different paces.
 

Ryancw93

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 14, 2011
Messages
27
I went with the most colorful, while being semi-docile so that I may show my gf my love for them without her dumping me after being bitten. I chose A. Versicolor, and a GBB. Keep what you want.. I do wish I had a big green T like a p. Cambridgei though.. :)
 

happysmile88

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
154
I started out in reptiles, and many people in that hobby only keep ball pythons, or only corn snakes, or only leopard geckos. I learned quickly that many people keep a wide variety of T's. But do any of you only keep one genus or species? Is that a crazy idea? Like anybody only focus on breeding GBB's, or only on the Avicularia genus, or only breed P.irminia's?
People here don't really limit themselves to any particular Genus/Specie and I'm sure that it would be quite rare to find any member of AB to keep only one kind of tarantula (Genus/Specie). More or less, they will get the urge to purchase more Ts

Have you tried crested geckos? they're really cute IMO :3
 

bravesvikings20

Arachnosquire
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Messages
69
People here don't really limit themselves to any particular Genus/Specie and I'm sure that it would be quite rare to find any member of AB to keep only one kind of tarantula (Genus/Specie). More or less, they will get the urge to purchase more Ts

Have you tried crested geckos? they're really cute IMO :3
I have an adult trio of cresties actually lol. I was just wondering if anyone did, because its more common in reptiles. I figured maybe that there would be someone focusing only on breeding and keeping pokies, so that in the future, with all of the information they have gathered throughout the years, they could develop a pretty knowledgeable text.
 

pnshmntMMA

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
465
I have a versicolor, l parahybana, rosea, and p murinus. That's one arboreal, one nw terrestrial, one rock lol, and an OW pet hole terrestrial. To complete my collection I need a pokie.
 

Formerphobe

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
2,336
I started out with one G. rosea. Decided I was going to keep just Grammostola. Then just Grammostola and Brachy. Then just terrestrials....
The largest part of my collection are Grammostola and Brachy. Most of the rest are terrestrial. But, I now also have fossorials and a few arboreals.
There are just so many neat ones to choose from! :)
 

skar

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
434
I tried to keep one . . . didn't work out .
 

JC

Arachnolort
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Messages
1,421
I'm joined this hobby to learn as much as I could about all tarantulas, not to become a breeder of one species.

Breeding just one tarantula species and having nothing else is very boring, not to mention much more difficult, and time consuming than breeding your average reptile.
 

Redneck

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 1, 2009
Messages
1,393
I recently sold all my tarantulas. Needed a break, and wanted to get some thing taken care of.
I plan to come back very soon. When I do get back in the hobby, I will only keep pokies., & psalmos.... They are the only ones that truly interest me now days.
 

jakykong

Arachnobaron
Joined
Sep 19, 2011
Messages
452
I'm a rank novice and I couldn't get just one :p My G. pulchripes just came in today, which makes two so far. I doubt it'll stay that way. :geek:
 

funkymonk

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 13, 2011
Messages
11
It's nice to have a bunch of tarantulas eating and working at different paces.
I'll second that... I started off with a G rosea, then G pulchra, then got 2 brachy slings, then an OBT, have my first pokie arriving tomorrow plus A geniculata & L parahybana slings, a good variety of sizes, colours, stages of growth, habbits and temperments. Only ever intended getting 1 T, but found it was just a waste of crickets as they died quicker than only 1 T could eat them...
 

Formerphobe

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
2,336
Not to mention than most breeders and distributors will send you a random species freebie or two when you place an order...
 

cnapple

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
152
No way, there's too many fascinating and beautiful species to limit myself to one sp. or genus. I've always been one to just pick up whatever catches my eye rather than having preselected criteria I'm looking for in a spider. I do prefer terrestrials but, there were some arboreals I couldn't resist keeping. IMO, it's more fun when you have a wide range of species with their own unique behaviors. I love having an assortment of pet holes, pet rocks, spazzes, bulldozers, pet webs etc.
 

Petross

Tarantulaholic
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
72
My favorite Ts are avics and pokies, but i still have mine other spiders because in my opinion have just one genus is a kinda boring.
 

LucN

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 22, 2009
Messages
315
I have no problems limiting myself to one genus. In my case, it's Brachypelma. I don't see their slow growth and metabolism as a hindrance, if anything it simply allows me to enjoy them for much longer than most other genus out there. As one person mentionned, they are indeed cost-effective. They may be fairly inactive compared to most others, but they have the decency of usually sitting out in plain sight for all to marvel at them. Another plus is that they rarely burrow (both my B. boehmei and B. smithi don't) and don't obstruct view with webbing.

Urticating hairs are of little concern for me since I don't handle at all. And I never bother them enough to get them to use them :) So they stay pretty between molts.

All I have desired since I've started the hobby nearly 3 years ago was a couple of Ts. One of them had to be B. smithi. Everybody knows and loves them, right ? And I wanted a pretty T to provide some visual contrast. So I got myself a B. boehmei. And as luck would have it, both are females, so I should have their company for at least a couple of decades. In that sense, I don't need any more than those two. They suit my wants and needs perfectly.

Hopefully this should make sense.
 

bravesvikings20

Arachnosquire
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Messages
69
Excellent post! Exactly what I was looking for...just wondering if people did it. I personally keep different species, but only from a select few genus.
I have no problems limiting myself to one genus. In my case, it's Brachypelma. I don't see their slow growth and metabolism as a hindrance, if anything it simply allows me to enjoy them for much longer than most other genus out there. As one person mentionned, they are indeed cost-effective. They may be fairly inactive compared to most others, but they have the decency of usually sitting out in plain sight for all to marvel at them. Another plus is that they rarely burrow (both my B. boehmei and B. smithi don't) and don't obstruct view with webbing.

Urticating hairs are of little concern for me since I don't handle at all. And I never bother them enough to get them to use them :) So they stay pretty between molts.

All I have desired since I've started the hobby nearly 3 years ago was a couple of Ts. One of them had to be B. smithi. Everybody knows and loves them, right ? And I wanted a pretty T to provide some visual contrast. So I got myself a B. boehmei. And as luck would have it, both are females, so I should have their company for at least a couple of decades. In that sense, I don't need any more than those two. They suit my wants and needs perfectly.

Hopefully this should make sense.
 
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