First OBT?

So, I am fairly new to the T hobby. I have 4 T's, my first was a G. rosea that I got back in September, and since then I have acquired a B. smithi sling, an adult A. metallica, and an A. avic. Of course, these are all pretty easy to handle, they don't mind when I clean around in their cage, and they are pretty docile and stationary.

Well, I just found a 10 gal tank at my local Savers for 5 bucks, so naturally I am itching for a new addition to my collection. I usually try to search around online in the ads for people who are trying to get rid of their spiders so that I get spiders that need new homes with keepers that understand how to properly care for them...and...I came across someone selling their adult femal OBT.

So, here's my question. How long should I keep T's before I am ready for a more aggressive sp? How different is caring for an OBT or other aggressive/fast/etc sp from caring for the few T's I already have? What advice can you guys give to get ready and feel prepared and confident about caring for a more challenging spider?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

I got mine about a year into the hobby (January 2012) and they are crazy fast and crazy mean. The very first day I had her, I was trying to feed and she bolted under my bed. It was the scariest thirty minutes of my life getting her out. Luckily I had just cleaned my room, or I'd have lived in fear until I found her.
If you give them adequate room to burrow/hide and web (they are notorious for being heavy webbers like most other baboons) you shouldn't have too much trouble. A ten gallon should be sufficient if you fill it with 4-6" of substrate and keep it fairly dry. Even if you give her a hide she may burrow some other place. It's up to them. I just hope you have a lock for your tank so nobody can accidentally get into it!

You'll be fine, just do tons of research before you jump in so you know what to expect and what problems to anticipate. From what I hear OBT's are worse in temperament and speed than H. lividum, which is hard to believe because my H. lividum... when she wants to eat you she'll go into lunge mode and sometimes stay in a threat pose for near an hour before going back into the burrow, even if I leave the room and come back later. But I went from an A. metallica, A versi, GBB and G, rosea to a H. lividum and a P. metallica. I have to say Avics are nothing like old world meanies, however having a few T's you'll avoid a lot of beginner mistakes like adding too much heat, not locking the cages, using wrong beddings, not knowing what preshed is etc etc.

Honestly I felt like I was ready for my two old worlds, took them home and was terrified of them for a week or two. Eventually I realized they are not NEARLY as bad as you're going to make them seem in your head, they may be bad but not THAT bad. Just pay really close attention to behavior, get some long tongs and hemostats and a few different sized and shaped capture jars. Do your first transfers in a bathroom so the T can't escape into the house and DO NOT expect it to run away from your tongs/paintbrush if you try to use one to coax it out of the purchased container to its enclosure... Avics and Roseas are usually flighty... my H.lividum's first reaction was to turn around, bite the paint brush several times and then try to run up it. the easiest thing to do is put the container it comes in, inside the enclosure, leave it open over night and the T will come out and find a hide. Once it feels safe it might be agressive, but probably not nearly as aggressive as it would be fresh out of the container you buy it in. If you're nervous about doing cage cleaning you can secure a capture cup under the substrate with a little sub in it, as a hide, so when you need to move the T or do something in the tank you just cap the hide and stop worrying. Another thing you can do is get a grate from a grill, with spacing too small for a T to fit through and put that on top of the tank while you use tongs to pull bolus through the grate. These are usually unnecessary, but they make you feel calmer until you feel confident enough to just do things the regular way.

Nice choice, beautiful Ts, and very hardy Ts as well, even as slings. As said do your research on them, and maybe put some thought into a suitable enclosure design.

They don't want for much, and are adaptable to a fairly broad range of conditions, I keep mine in deep dry substrate with only a water dish for humidity, only very occasionally misting.

They'll spend a lot of time in either a burrow or web, which would provide them with added humidity, but could also provide you with opportunities to carefully carry out any cage maintenance that needs doing.

Getting an already AF OBT may be a lot less tractable than a smaller specimen, so take care when transferring it (that's one reason that a well thought out enclosure can be very handy with these Ts.)

I suggest reading through the bite reports first. Especially (InvertFix's) bite report. If you are still comfortable, proceed with your research, then go from there. They are a handful. They are very fast, will not hesitate to bite without warning, and have bad venom. Good luck.

You Can certainly get what you want.
I advise you to try your hand at a Nhandu or Acanthoscurria first, just to get used to some speed and defense.
Or just get it and becareful, they're quick.

skar said:

You Can certainly get what you want.
I advise you to try your hand at a Nhandu or Acanthoscurria first, just to get used to some speed and defense.
Or just get it and becareful, they're quick.

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I agree.With OBT's if you have any doubts then just work your way up.What Ryan and John both said is good advice.Start with somehting that can be quick and defensive,but not put you in a world of hurt if you are bitten.Once you are comfortable with that THEN it is time to think about the OBT.

---------- Post added 03-05-2012 at 09:26 PM ----------

That said,Kelly brought home our first OBT as our 3rd spider. It was a CL find,and sent its previous owner to the hospital.His loss was our gain,and $10 later we had a 2.3-3 inch female OBT.

catfishrod69 said:

I suggest reading through the bite reports first. Especially (InvertFix's) bite report. If you are still comfortable, proceed with your research, then go from there. They are a handful. They are very fast, will not hesitate to bite without warning, and have bad venom. Good luck.

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... I.F's bite report was scary stuff.. i was shocked when i first read it.. glad shes ended up ok in the long run... To the OP,just take everybodys advice and DO YOUR HOMEWORK, know what ur gettin into. i got my 1st obt like 3 months into the hobby and have never had a problem or regret

Remember - if you get an OBT, you may never see it. It's a notorious pet hole. I haven't seen mine in like, six months. I hope it's still alive.

I'm getting species-specific bite protocols made for my Old World species, so it might be worth doing the same just in case you run into the same situation as InvertFix or worse; I figure that I may as well have a guide for the doctor to follow in case something goes very wrong in the event of a bite. Then again, that could just be me over-thinking stuff since I'm already getting species-specific bite protocols for native venomous snakes and other hots that I'll be working with soon.

I think I should start out with a gateway T.

There is someone selling Psalmopoeus combridgei second instars in the city I live in. They are apparently just down the street from me in fact. Would that be a better place to start with getting used to speedy T's? There was only one bite report for this sp, and it wasn't nearly as terrifying as the P. murinus. I would love to raise another sling in addition to my B. smithi, especially since these guys grow so fast. What do you guys think?

If you're having doubts then I say don't do it, get yourself a Holothele incei and be ready for terrestrial speed combined with heavy webbing.

I got a Haplopelma lividum two months ago with no doubts about my ability to leave it alone and not stick my fingers in there.

Which brings me to the point that if you don't have a pair of 10-12" tongs now, get some.

i'm freaking getting one, i notice alot of obt people use exo terra style ones that open in the front, seems like a good idea if you set it up so they make their home in the back

Wiggles92 said:

I'm getting species-specific bite protocols made for my Old World species

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Just curious as to what your species-specific bite protocols will include. Other than the relative severity of each species (which is really all over the place depending on the bite), is there anything that can be done other than painkillers (that probably won't dull most of it) and going to the hospital to be monitored (in the worst case scenario)?

Muscle relaxers and pedialyte. From my understanding alot of people report lots of sweating with ow's and a budy of mine said his gums bled which i've heard more than once now so i imagine hydration helps but other than the muscle relaxers and pain killers i would say no. Just suffer through it for the most part i guess.

Oh what about a banana for the cramping, potassium helps with cramps.

@ the OP: There's a good balance of opinions here in this thread, as you'd expect; the species warrants that, but hopefully you're not too deterred from keeping one. I think you'd have such an easer time if you raised one from a sling; to coin a cliché, you're experience would grow along with the T, and it will give you the opportunity to plan enclosures in advance, which again, I think is important with these Ts.

I am not contradicting anyone else's opinion here just for the sake of it, but how would keeping a Nhandu prepare you for keeping an OBT? It can't IMO.

They warrant cautious keeping and bite report reading etc, is very wise when deciding to keep one, but don't fall into the mindset that they are evil killers, just waiting to stalk you at every turn!
Of course, I understand that they must not be thought upon as predictable at all, and a cautious mentality must be exercised, but I would imagine now that you've kept a few species of tarantula already, and the fact that your'e enquiring and researching this Ts opposed to just buying on impulse, that if you did decide to buy one, then you'd have good success keeping it.

There are also one or two who have said they advise caution but still acquired an OBT fairly early into keeping Ts (myself included). I can say that this has worked well for me due to the fact that I started with an L2 sling (now pre sub-adult, and this has been the simplest T of my collection to care for so far).

Maybe that AF OBT could well turn out to be the nightmare you may be anticipating with this species, but if you'd really like to keep the species, I'd say a sling could be a great way to go. They do not take long to grow at all.

jayefbe said:

Just curious as to what your species-specific bite protocols will include. Other than the relative severity of each species (which is really all over the place depending on the bite), is there anything that can be done other than painkillers (that probably won't dull most of it) and going to the hospital to be monitored (in the worst case scenario)?

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The protocols are going to include the LD50 (if available), average and maximum venom yield, recommended treatment in the case of a severe bite, and stuff like that. It seemed like a good idea to me to get these made after I read about InvertFix's OBT bite as well as when I read a P. striata bite report; the biggest danger is still the possibility of an allergic reaction which will make the situation way more serious (although I've never had a problem with native spider bites before).

Odds are that I'll probably never need to use the protocols even if I take a bite, but I'd rather have them in case it turns out to be pretty severe rather than something that I can treat at home, especially in the case of the P. striata which seems to have some interesting long-term effects that I would prefer to avoid or at least minimize.

I am on my second, they are fast they are quick to bite, but I never get that close. I make my own cages though and have a "sliding lid feed hole" atop the enclosure so I need not open the tank for feeding and as far as cleaning goes they tend to make their shed molt a part of their home and everything else for that matter, keep a water dish below the food hole and you will not need to worry about that either. My one died after becomeing a mature male...just died, my new one is starting the webbing of the enclosure...treat them with respect and you should be fine...just don't touch them.

It's seriously up to the OP, but if you have any doubts about yourself being able to take care of an OBT - don't get one. With doubts and probably being super-nervous when working around an OBT, I think an accident is an assured thing to happen at some point. Personally, I wouldn't get any species that I don't think I can deal with. That's one of the reason why I don't get any Poecis, for example. I have 2 irminias, and so far, they don't give me any trouble. But I got the suggestion from Jon for example, if you can deal with speed-demons, you can deal with speed-demons that have even more attitude than an irminia.

Plus, personally, OBT's are not that spectacular looking for me. It's their temperament that makes them so special, not their coloration really - just my thought.


Anyways, fact is: If you are unsure - don't. If you think you can deal with it - go for it.

i like how assertive they are