How many tarantulas did you have, when you first started out?

ThePuzzlerOfRid

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Jul 1, 2015
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Umm… Hi! This is my first time posting.

I'm not a T-owner… yet, but I plan to become one eventually. I read the threads in my spare time, and have noticed that a lot of you own a lot of spiders. I'm curious how many you started out with, though.

Did anyone ever start with more than one? If you didn't, how quickly did you get your second one? Was it from the same… family? Genus? Species? What's the correct word? Like Brachypelma or Pokies, etc.
 

Storm76

Arachnoemperor
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Jan 30, 2012
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I got a ~2.5" unsexed B. smithi and a 3" juvie P. irminia when I started. A few weeks later, I bought another 13...*cough* As certain people said "I dove right in" :D
 

Chris LXXIX

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Dec 25, 2014
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I started at six years (i have now 36 years) collecting WC specimen of local spiders in the wild, such Tegenaria domestica, Loxosceles rufescens (best kids starter spiders, lol) Cheiracanthium punctorium (i was bitten by one at 9, and was almost intentional btw), tons of Argiope bruennichi etc
T's in the '90. After some "grammos", I owned every intermediate NW species. Then, years later, jumped into OW, mostly African Baboon T's (imo the best, hardy, OW T's).
Only few arboreals (Psalmopoeus cambridgei) because i like more ground/obligate burrowers T's.
I have, today, due to space issue, only 13 T's. They are a mix of NW intermediate like Acanthoscurria geniculata, Ephebopus murinus, Megaphobema robustum.. and Africans like Pterinochilus murinus, Pelinobius muticus etc.
 

bscheidt1020

Arachnoknight
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Jan 5, 2014
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183
I started with 13 but lost my P. Regalis within a few months. From what I gathered, it was likely a weak specimen. Still miss that little one...there is a lot of variety to choose from and that is the hard part. If you are looking to start, my best recommendations are B. Albopilosum or maybe G. Pulchra. Those are my preferences for fairly docile NW species that are still interesting and eat well but there are many more.
 

cold blood

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Jan 19, 2014
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Believe it of not, I wasn't too keen on spiders when I got my first....which I rescued from being thrown at someone and killed....I took it simply because I value life and couldn't bare to see it needlessly killed for amusement. It took a few years with that t till I became comfortable (I was in fact, a bit arachnophobic).

But when I was ready to branch out, back then there were fewer places to buy them, shipping them was basically in its infancy, and "shipping syndrome" was a common fear, no matter how ridiculous the fear was....not to mention, most of the t's I wanted were simply not available in the hobby...at least here in the us. I had the one for a little over a decade. About 4 years ago or so I realized there was a big industry blooming around me and began to take advantage....one here, one there till I had maybe 5, then a few years ago began to become more serious...went to 8...to 12...to 16...to 21....to 28....to over 50 and recently topped 100 and now have most of those species I coveted almost 15 years ago, like P. cams, pokies, P. nigricolor, N. chromatus, P. muticus and C. schieodtei...and a host I had no idea existed, like A. ezendami, I. mira, LV, and T. okerti and cyaneolum.


And for the record....Brachypelma and Poecilotheria, Grammostola, Avicularia, etc., are all names of the Genus (which is always capitalized), and the name that follows (never capitalized) is the specific species within that genus.:wink:
 

ThePuzzlerOfRid

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That's so cool! I think, when I start out, I'll start out with 2 or 3 at most, Brachypelmas most likely, they're the reason I ever bothered to look into Ts (so glad I did).

I'd say that'll probably be it, for a long while after that, but I already know that's a lie, because I'm already making a list.:tongue:
 

Ellenantula

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Sep 14, 2014
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I had just one T for months before I decided to add more. Mostly, because I loved feeding and having just one didn't give me much to to do. I am still collecting slowly though. I currently have 12.
 

ratluvr76

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Jul 12, 2014
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That's so cool! I think, when I start out, I'll start out with 2 or 3 at most, Brachypelmas most likely, they're the reason I ever bothered to look into Ts (so glad I did).

I'd say that'll probably be it, for a long while after that, but I already know that's a lie, because I'm already making a list.:tongue:
well, there's one I think you really should consider for your beginning group of T's. The green bottle blue, the scientific name is Chromatopelma cyanopubescens. They are STUNNING. Fairly mild tempered, almost always out where you can see them, they web like CRAZY, grow like weeds and have a feeding response you will not believe. As a beginner you really can't go wrong. :)
 

MrDave

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Aug 31, 2014
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I started almost 11 months ago in Aug with an order of 2 tiny LP slings and 1 G. pulchripes. Tarantula Canada included an extra LP to my pleasant surprise. The following Sept, I added a 1/2 inch A. versicolor (versicolour in Canada? :tongue:). All are doing really well. So much fun watching LP slings grow - they're now closing in on 4 inches after the last round of molting.
 

dredrickt

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Jan 27, 2014
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Started with 1 G. Rosea, I think that was almost 15 years ago. One year later I bought an LP, had that thing for years and years until I moved and sold it. Then when I got back into the hobby, I started with 4. Now I'm at 140. :/ haha
 

Cavedweller

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My first T was a mystery Avicularia (2 years later she's still just over an inch long). 2 months after that, I got an MF Aphonopelma and some Bracypelma albopilosum slings. Their ease of care and minimal expense makes Ts horribly addictive. I'm up to 30 Ts now, and I've slowed down now that I have most of what was on my wishlist.

B. albos are my #1 newbie recommendation, hardy, cheap, docile, great eaters. I think NA Aphonopelma species are underrated starters too, but they are difficult to find captive bred..
 

ThePuzzlerOfRid

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well, there's one I think you really should consider for your beginning group of T's. The green bottle blue, the scientific name is Chromatopelma cyanopubescens. They are STUNNING. Fairly mild tempered, almost always out where you can see them, they web like CRAZY, grow like weeds and have a feeding response you will not believe. As a beginner you really can't go wrong. :)

Oooh… They're so pretty! I don't know if it'll be my first, but it's definitely pretty high up there. Besides, who doesn't want a blue pet? :p

---------- Post added 07-06-2015 at 11:47 PM ----------

I've been playing with idea of a Curlyhair. They've slowly been growing on me the more I look at pictures of them. Their coloring doesn't do much for me, but the fuzziness is adorable. A. seemani is simply gorgeous… I think I have to go add it to my list now…

Sadly, it'll be a while before I can actually obtain any of the lovely species mentioned above. I'm still living with my parents at the moment, so until I move out, I'm stuck with my 2 wolfie slings. :)
 

lalberts9310

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Oct 9, 2014
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I started out with a Psalmopeus Irminia sling, he's now a mature male, after about 10 months I got my second, a mature female Psalmopoeus sp.
 

mmfh

Arachnobaron
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Jun 14, 2010
Messages
345
I started out with one. Had her for a month before I added 3 others. I then went a few years before I bought more. I now have 18.
 

Roosterbomb

Arachnopeon
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Feb 18, 2014
Messages
42
I started with one p Scrofa and waited like a year before getting an e campestratus. About 6 months ago things went off the rails and I shot up to over 30. I currently have a list that's going to be filled when the weather eases up. Get any recommended begginer tarantula and you will be pleased but rose hairs are a tad mushroom like.
 

scott308

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Apr 6, 2008
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I had a rose hair for a couple years in college. I was moving, so I took my spider and my snake to a pet store because I couldn't take them with me. Fast forward almost 15 years. We were at a reptile show, and I bought a ball python, but my daughter wanted a tarantula. We bought a Grammostola aureostriata (now G. pulchripes). My wife said her participation ended after she wrote the check. That was about 7 years ago. A few years later, we bought an A genic and an A versicolor or A metallica, can't remember which. The genic lasted for a little while before dying, but the Avic was doing pretty well until one of the cats knocked over its enclosure, causing it to roll off the counter and crashing onto the floor. The spider didn't die...yet. It lost three legs in the accident and when it molted next it didn't make it.

In March of last year, we went to the NARBC reptile show in Tinley Park, Illinois and bought a few more spiders. We bought another Avic, which didn't survive very long. We bought a Chilobrachys fimbriatus which is at about 4" now. And we bought a GBB, which died shortly before NARBC this year, I don't know what the problem was. It seemed fine- it was eating, webbed the heck out of its enclosure, it was active...

At NARBC in March this year, the night before we went to the Arachnogathering held the night before the show. We bought raffle tickets and ended up winning several spiders. We walked out with 2 A. versicolor, 2 Lampropelma sp. Borneo Black, 3 Psalmopoeus cambridgei and a Cyriopagopus schioedtei. Other than the Avics, we knew nothing about the spiders we won. At the show, we bought a Poecilotheria subfusca and a Cupiennius coccineus (a true spider), and I won a Ephebopus uatuman in the USARK silent auction. (For this keeping sore at home, that is 10 Ts and one true spider total we got at the show, all slings.) As you can probably guess, we didn't really know anything about those spiders, either. But at the Arachnogathering, the Borneo Blacks were donated by one of the moderators here, Advan, and he suggested I sign up for the boards here so I could get info on how to care for the spiders. I went to sign up, only to discover I had already done so years ago. Anyway, I was able to get lots of good info and most of the spiders have done well. One of the cambridgeis died shortly after we got it. Two of the three had good webbing in their vials, the one that died didn't web at all and kept running around. It didn't last very long. We also lost one of the Avics. It was the one that seemed to be doing the best, having a big web layer at the top of the deli cup. I'm pretty sure I didn't hydrate it enough and that was the cause of death.

The slings we got in March were doing well, so we recently took the plunge and bought six new species online (this time, I knew what we were getting into with all six before we bought them). We now have a total of 16 tarantulas and one true spider. It took a while to grow the collection, but it is expanding pretty well now. Remember my wife, saying she would have nothing to do with the spider after writing the check? It was she who placed the order. She has definitely changed her mind about tarantulas!
 

Hellemose

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
21
i started as many others with a G. rosea around 20 years ago or so, after a year or so i got me an AF P. regalis, after that some Avic's and a H. lividum it just took off from there.
 

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
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Mar 23, 2011
Messages
1,064
I've been playing with idea of a Curlyhair. They've slowly been growing on me the more I look at pictures of them. Their coloring doesn't do much for me, but the fuzziness is adorable. A. seemani is simply gorgeous… I think I have to go add it to my list now…

Sadly, it'll be a while before I can actually obtain any of the lovely species mentioned above. I'm still living with my parents at the moment, so until I move out, I'm stuck with my 2 wolfie slings. :)
Yeah, that's how I feel about B. albos, and it's fun having pet spiders with a hairstyle that matches my own :D

In my experience, A. seemani is kinda fast and skittish for a starter, but I guess if you've got wolf spider experience it won't be much of a problem. What kind do you have? I've never kept any non-T spiders.
 

johnny quango

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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May 17, 2013
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260
This time I started with just 1 a Brachypelma emiilia I ordered another 2 within 2 weeks they were a female G pulchra and a Gbb now I have 30 including some rare ones
 
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roman

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 12, 2015
Messages
7
Started the hobby with a h. incei and weeks later I bought a p.metallica sling and a euathlus sp. red..
 
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