When is a T newb an average keeper hobiest?

CLICKBANGBANG

Arachnopeon
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Aug 4, 2013
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35
What makes a newb to Ts graduate to the next "grade level"? I know advanced keepers spend decades keeping, learning, and studying spiders. But what is between the beginner hobiest and andvanced keeper? Specifically, what do you need to learn and experience before trying out more difficult Ts?

I've been keeping tarantulas for better than a year now but still consider myself as very new to the hobby. I'm very comfortable with the spiders, and have really enjoyed it (I also am a beekeeper, 35 hives). My current list of spiders are-

0.0.1 Acanthoscurria geniculata,
0.0.2 Brachypelma smithi,
0.0.1 Brachypelma vagans,
0.0.1 Grammostola pulchra,
0.0.1 Grammostola pulchripes.

All of my spiders are under 2.75". I had an A. versicolor, but it passed from a bad molt when it was very small. I think I was having a hard time keeping the humidity up (extremely dry here) even with damp sub and misting. It had one good molt, and was eating and webbing nicely. I'll try a versi again one day.

I'm waiting on delivery of a Lasiodora parahybana sling now. I'd like a T that will get some size to it (vs some of my slow growers), and would love to have this extra large T in my collection. I do not think I'm ready ready for an old world T, or sencitive arboreal species. But I'd like to get a Hapalopus sp. Colombia. Anyone think adding an LP in my collection was preemptive? Is getting a pumpkin patch sling a bad idea right now for me?

With beekeeping, books and info online is endless. I can do a lot of studying and have had great success with my bees. There are only so many times I can read The Tarantulas Keepers Guide, and outside of AB, I'm reluctant on others online information. Where else can info be found, and experience learned with Ts?

That got long. Thanks for any info and help. :)
 

cold blood

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My current list of spiders are-

0.0.1 Acanthoscurria geniculata,
0.0.2 Brachypelma smithi,
0.0.1 Brachypelma vagans,
0.0.1 Grammostola pulchra,
0.0.1 Grammostola pulchripes.

All of my spiders are under 2.75". I had an A. versicolor, but it passed from a bad molt when it was very small. I think I was having a hard time keeping the humidity up (extremely dry here) even with damp sub and misting. It had one good molt, and was eating and webbing nicely. I'll try a versi again one day.

I'm waiting on delivery of a Lasiodora parahybana sling now. I'd like a T that will get some size to it (vs some of my slow growers), and would love to have this extra large T in my collection. I do not think I'm ready ready for an old world T, or sencitive arboreal species. But I'd like to get a Hapalopus sp. Colombia. Anyone think adding an LP in my collection was preemptive? Is getting a pumpkin patch sling a bad idea right now for me?
The avics really require excellent ventilation more than the extreme humidity that "care sheets" make such a big deal of.

As for wanting a faster grower that gets large, are you aware you already have exactly that in your A. genic? It will get to nearly the same size as an lp, grow just as quickly and eat just as voraciously...plus it looks 1000 times better than an lp.

I don't think there would be any issue with getting Hapalopus sp. at all, pretty decent choice, actually.

You have made some good choices so far, well done!
 

vespers

Arachnodemon
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I'm waiting on delivery of a Lasiodora parahybana sling now. I'd like a T that will get some size to it (vs some of my slow growers), and would love to have this extra large T in my collection. I do not think I'm ready ready for an old world T, or sencitive arboreal species. But I'd like to get a Hapalopus sp. Colombia. Anyone think adding an LP in my collection was preemptive? Is getting a pumpkin patch sling a bad idea right now for me?
You already have an A. geniculata, it will get around the same size as an Lp will. The adult size of L. parahybana is often greatly exaggerated. There are some that reach 9 inches or more, but that is somewhat rare and not the norm...7+ to 8 inches is a more realistic expectation. Also, the care of A. geniculata and L. parahybana are quite similar; anyone who keeps one is likely not going to have any problems keeping the other.

I don't think a pumpkin patch sling would be a problem for you either, except for the slings being so tiny.
 

skippydude

Arachnobaron
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Feb 3, 2013
Messages
487
Not sure what my skill level is? At about 20 months into he hobby, this is my collection as of today, it changes weekly:

0-1-2 Acanthoscurria geniculata
0-1-0 Aphonopelma chalcodes
0-1-0 Avicularia avicularia
1-4-162 Brachypelma albopilosum
1-3-0 Brachypelma angustum
2-0-1 Brachypelma auratum
2-0-3 Brachypelma boehmei
1-0-9 Brachypelma emilia
0-0-6 Brachypelma sabulosum
0-0-4 Brachypelma schroederi
2-1-5 Brachypelma smithi
1-4-0 Brachypelma vagans
2-1-5 Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens
0-1-1 Cyclosternum fasciatum
0-0-2 Cyriocosmus perezmilesi
0-1-0 Ephebopus autuman
0-0-1 Ephebopus cyanognathus
0-1-0 Eupalaestras campestratus
0-0-3 Grammostola iheringi
3-2-3 Grammostola pulchra
1-1-0 Grammostola pulchripes
1-1-0 Grammostola porteri
0-1-0 Grammostola rosea
1-0-5 Hapalopus sp. "Columbia large"
0-0-10 Hapalopus sp. "Columbia small"
1-1-1 Lasiodora difficilis
4-0-2 Lasiodora parahybana
1-0-0 Maraca cabocla
1-0-0 Megaphobema robustum
1-1-2 Nhandu chromatus
0-1-0 Nhandu coloratovillosus
0-1-0 Paraphysa parvula
0-0-1 Pelinobius muticus
1-0-0 Poecilotheria formosa
0-0-1 Poecilotheria ornata
0-1-6 psalmopoeus irminia
1-4-2 Pterochilus murinus
2-1-1 Theraphosa stirmi

I have so many mature males out on loan my gal calls me the "Tarantula Pimp" is that a skill level? :?

I think you'll be fine with your Lasiodora and Hapalopus specimens. Both are fast growing and great eaters.
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
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I think the Columbia was a good choice, they love to stuff their faces but do like to bolt so that will train you for faster ts.
 

CLICKBANGBANG

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Messages
35
Thanks for the replies! My LP should be here this week. I'll look at picking up the pumpkin patch next month.

How long do you have to keep Ts before you're an intermediate T keeper? What are some other intermediate Ts that would be a nice addition? I'm maybe looking at GBB next. I'm trying to hold off on buying all of them that I want right at once. lol
 

Storm76

Arachnoemperor
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Jan 30, 2012
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Thanks for the replies! My LP should be here this week. I'll look at picking up the pumpkin patch next month.

How long do you have to keep Ts before you're an intermediate T keeper? What are some other intermediate Ts that would be a nice addition? I'm maybe looking at GBB next. I'm trying to hold off on buying all of them that I want right at once. lol
There's no general answer to that IMO. I think most of us consider "advanced" someone able to deal with the more defensive, skittish, fast tarantulas without problems arising? I can't tell, really. A good part of it is you being confident around your T's and don't lose any sleep over having to rehouse this or that T, know how to keep that species alive and happy and the like. I guess.

One thing I can state from my point of view: People need to keep their actual spiders for a while, raise them, deal with them, learn about them. - Before getting more and more. Having kept a Psalmopoeus spp. sling (!) for 3 months doesn't mean you're ready for an adult Poeci or OBT. But that's just my 2 cents....
 

Poec54

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I think to be an 'average collector' you need to be in the hobby 2 or 3 years and have a variety of species.
 

freedumbdclxvi

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Messages
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One thing I can state from my point of view: People need to keep their actual spiders for a while, raise them, deal with them, learn about them. - Before getting more and more. Having kept a Psalmopoeus spp. sling (!) for 3 months doesn't mean you're ready for an adult Poeci or OBT. But that's just my 2 cents....
This. There are people who buy Psalmo slings and, after a couple months, think they are ready for Poecis or baboons, even though the Psalmos are less than 3" still. Even worse, these people tend to then give "advice" to fellow newbies about how these OW species aren't "as bad as people claim" when they have owned a 2" regalis for two months. Until you've raised the spider to an adult or had the spider as an adult for a good period of time (IMHO at least a year or two), you shouldn't be giving "advice" about something you really have no clue about.
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
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Feb 13, 2014
Messages
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Thanks for the replies! My LP should be here this week. I'll look at picking up the pumpkin patch next month.

How long do you have to keep Ts before you're an intermediate T keeper? What are some other intermediate Ts that would be a nice addition? I'm maybe looking at GBB next. I'm trying to hold off on buying all of them that I want right at once. lol
It all depends on you really. I got several what one would call "advanced species" early on, but I am comfortable re-housing them and caring for them because I've raised wild spiders for years that are faster and have worse tempers. GBB's are very hardy with some speed but people get them as "beginner" T's all the time with little harm done. I would say care and raise your new additions for 4-6 months and then see how that goes, most of the species you have are laid back so a GBB or H.sp Columbia will be a step up but shouldn't be too far out of your league. Also you have unique experience because you have kept bees and you know that you need to keep your cool around them to avoid getting hurt, same goes with Ts. Your A.geniculata probably will have more attitude than an GBB or H.sp Columbia but every spider is different. I have a T.gigas who is as cool as a cucumber and an G.pulchripes that will throw a pose at me a few times a month, you will find individual differences with each species.
 

Formerphobe

Arachnoking
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The transition from 'newbie' to whatever one wants to call the more advanced 'levels' of tarantula keeping is dependent on the individual's personality, passion, state of mind, maturation level and 'dirt time'. Dirt time being the amount of time one actually spends 'interacting' with tarantulas. And, by 'interacting', I don't mean handling, I mean time spent in first hand observation. Some people will be in the hobby for years, have huge numbers of tarantulas that they throw food and water to once a month and never look at them any other time. Folks like this will be forever 'newbs', IMO. Others may only keep a dozen or so species, but spend vast amounts of time observing and taking note (even if only mental note) of how individuals respond to various stimuli (weather changes, prey response, etc) and the subtle changes in their behavior through their molt cycles. They've watched them excavate burrows, web, molt, drink, ...... They get to know the spiders and not just keep them as so many trophies in cages.

At a reptile show just yesterday, I overheard a conversation at a dealer's table. The potential buyer was watching a sling molt. He proclaimed how many Ts he had, how many years he had been in the hobby, yet he had never seen any of his Ts molt, ever.... NEWB! The numbers and years may have just been braggadocio, or he could be a long time hoarder of trophies and not a true hobbiest.

Someone who becomes comfortable with the 'beginner' species won't need to ask if they are ready to take on a more challenging one. They'll get the opportunity and urge and just go for it. (Some of us have 'enablers' to thank for pushing us over the proverbial edge into unfamiliar genera and species. LOL) For some people, the beginner stage may take years, others only months. There is nothing set in stone. In the end, we are all basically newbs and continuing to learn about these fascinating creatures.
 

freedumbdclxvi

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At a reptile show just yesterday, I overheard a conversation at a dealer's table. The potential buyer was watching a sling molt. He proclaimed how many Ts he had, how many years he had been in the hobby, yet he had never seen any of his Ts molt, ever.... NEWB! The numbers and years may have just been braggadocio, or he could be a long time hoarder of trophies and not a true hobbiest.
I gotta say that not seeing a molt doesn't necessarily make one a newb. I've seen plenty of my spiders molt, and I have plenty that I have never caught in the act of molting. To see a molt you have to catch it at the right time, and not being at the "right place at the right time" isn't going to be a credential on whether someone is a newb or not, IMO.
 

Oumriel

Arachnosquire
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One thing I can state from my point of view: People need to keep their actual spiders for a while, raise them, deal with them, learn about them. - Before getting more and more. Having kept a Psalmopoeus spp. sling (!) for 3 months doesn't mean you're ready for an adult Poeci or OBT. But that's just my 2 cents....
This is a fantastic point. A lot of self confidence comes from knowing what the species you have is capable of, even if the specimen you have does not exhibit text book behaviours. This comes from keeping and observing as well as reading.

I think to be an 'average collector' you need to be in the hobby 2 or 3 years and have a variety of species.
I also think that as with learning something new, there is always that learning curve as well as confidence in your ability to practice what you have read and learned. Some people will always advance faster than others in chosen fields of interests. With that being said, some people have a knack for animal husbandry while others have a knack for fixing cars or working with computers I consider someone an advanced keeper when, as Poec said, they have been in the hobby a number of years and have worked with a variety of species, I don't like the term expert because it gives the impression that they know everything that there is to know and no one knows everything. :)
 

Formerphobe

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I gotta say that not seeing a molt doesn't necessarily make one a newb. I've seen plenty of my spiders molt, and I have plenty that I have never caught in the act of molting. To see a molt you have to catch it at the right time, and not being at the "right place at the right time" isn't going to be a credential on whether someone is a newb or not, IMO.
If you've been keeping a variety of species, many from slings, for 10 or more years and have NEVER seen ANY of them molt, then you are a newb by dint of not spending sufficient time observing them. I've only been back into the hobby for about 6 years. I have not witnessed every molt from every spider. But, the only spiders in my current collection that I have not witnessed some aspect of at least one of their molts, be it the beginning, the end or the entire process, are my most recent acquisitions. Some are so recent as to have not yet molted in my care. A few of the 'pet holes' that I received back in the spring are very good at the pet hole thing... Timing is indeed critical. And even pet holes will occasionally molt where they can be observed. Given time, I'm sure I will eventually witness one of the C. fimbriatus molting.
 

freedumbdclxvi

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I disagree. I'd say, however unlikely, it is absolutely possible to be keeping spiders for years and miss seeing am actual molt. Consider an adult working a 9 hour day, sleeping around 6 hours, time spent in traffic and running errands - a person only has x time available each day *and* the spider needs to molt in that specific window. I can tell you I've sat waiting to watch a number of spiders molt, had to leave because of other issues before it started and come home to find a freshly molted spider.

Could it be a criteria for being a newb? Sure. Is it sure fire evidence someone *is* a newb? Not at all.
 

Oumriel

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I disagree. I'd say, however unlikely, it is absolutely possible to be keeping spiders for years and miss seeing am actual molt. Consider an adult working a 9 hour day, sleeping around 6 hours, time spent in traffic and running errands - a person only has x time available each day *and* the spider needs to molt in that specific window. I can tell you I've sat waiting to watch a number of spiders molt, had to leave because of other issues before it started and come home to find a freshly molted spider.

Could it be a criteria for being a newb? Sure. Is it sure fire evidence someone *is* a newb? Not at all.
I think being able to recognize through behaviour and visual signs that a molt is eminent is more important than actually being present for the event.
 

Formerphobe

Arachnoking
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I disagree. I'd say, however unlikely, it is absolutely possible to be keeping spiders for years and miss seeing am actual molt. Consider an adult working a 9 hour day, sleeping around 6 hours, time spent in traffic and running errands - a person only has x time available each day *and* the spider needs to molt in that specific window. I can tell you I've sat waiting to watch a number of spiders molt, had to leave because of other issues before it started and come home to find a freshly molted spider.

Could it be a criteria for being a newb? Sure. Is it sure fire evidence someone *is* a newb? Not at all.
I guess it depends on your definitions of newb versus experienced. Days/weeks/months/years of just having them in one's home? Or hours spent in observation?

I work four days a week. I'm gone anywhere from 10 to 14 hours per day. The other three days of the week my time is divided between working from home, managing the home, caring for my invalid mother and caring for my inverts and other pets. One afternoon per week is dedicated to invert maintenance. Maybe my OCD is in overdrive but, I look in on each of my spiders (all 60ish live in my bedroom) at least four times a day: when I first get up, before I leave for work, when I get home from work, before I go to bed. Since I'm frequently up with my mom one or more times per night, I generally check on most of the Ts then, too. In many instances I'm just peering down webbed holes. But, I recognize when new web has been laid, if there is new excavation, if there is new poop on the wall or in the water bowl, etc. And I also catch a lot of them molting. If I only ever looked at them on maintenance day, then I would see very little in the way of molts, I would know very little about any of them as individuals and most of my species knowledge would be from reading care sheets and not from first hand experience.
 

freedumbdclxvi

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There's a difference between "looking in only on maintenance day" and "never seeing a molt". For example, i have had my big female OBT for years. I have observed in mannerisms in all sorts of situations. She is one of the few kept in my bedroom, so she gets ever more attention than most of my spiders, which are checked a few times a day. I can generally tell what she will do in any given situation (though I always follow my protocol even if she "never" responds to x activity cause there is always the chance she might). However, not *once* have I seen her molt. From sling to her last one, never have I caught her in the act of molting. By your rationale, however, I'd be a newb if she were my only spider, despite having spent combined weeks of time observing her. Discounting the idea that a variety of spiders adds experience, that rationale would be flawed.

Like I said, I would certainly say it could be a criteria for being a newb, but it certainly isn't an automatic proof that someone is a newb.
 

shawno821

Arachno Pimp
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Dec 31, 2013
Messages
172
There's a lot you can do to not be a newbie other than owning a T. Read. Read these boards,books,ect. Look at tons of sexing photos.,ID photos,ect. I have a good time pouring over T's I didn't know anything about on Google. It's led to some purchases :) Learn from other people's mistakes and successes. Then get what you feel comfortable with. For me,that's any T I'm interested in as I used to maintain a collection of 175 venomous snakes(not mine,I worked for their owner) that included mambas and taipans. The consequences of a T bite just aren't to that scale. I fully understand you can't lose your cool when something gets out. With venomous it could mean death. That being said,a year into T keeping (my wife is actually relieved I "only" want T's) and I have 75 T's,including rare (P.sazimai) and hot (Selenocosmia sp. ebony) and I consider myself a newb still. Next for me is trying my hand at breeding. I did pretty good on my first attempt,and am awaiting a GBB sac. My second attempt ended in 1/2 a second with a dead male,C.marshalli. My next attempt will be with X.immanis,which are tough. I paired them,but had to separate them after about an hour of hovering over them because she was having none of it. If I get slings from the GBB or the X.immanis,it will be because of these forums.Maybe then I'll consider myself "intermediate".
 
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