My first (nw) arboreal

roman

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I am concidering to buy my first (semi)-arboreal a Green bottle Blue, (Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens) I read that they can be a little skitish but have a very hardy character, I do have some expierence with my h. incei. but im new to arboreals. Would this be a good beginner choice? Any other new world (semi) arboreal picks?
 
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johnny quango

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I am concidering to buy my first (semi)-arboreal a Green bottle Blue, (Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens) I read that they can be a little skitish but have a very hardy character, I do have some expierence with my h. incei. but im new to arboreals. Would this be a good beginner choice? Any other new world (semi) arboreal picks?
Off the top of my head the 1st semi-arboreal that comes to mind would be Thrixopelma ockerti. My own experience with Thrixopelma sp leads me to believe they tend to have a wider range of behaviour than my adult female Gbb. My Gbb isn't skittish at all she's really calm and tolerant of any disturbances in her enclosure. They are as you stated very hardy and extremely easy to keep that's probably 1 the reason they are so popular. I keep my adult Gbb bone dry with a water dish, although these can and will sometimes burrow I decided to keep mine in a terrestrial set up with only a few inches of substrate and I gave her an hide to use and climb on this also provides anchor points for her to Web from. Finally a small downside at 1st is the amount of webbing they produce makes it difficult to get to water dishes etc but you should be fine with that. If you find yourself wanting a T ockerti and can't find 1 in the Netherlands pm me and ill point you in the direction of some cheap slings he also as Gbb slings lol
 

Storm76

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I am concidering to buy my first (semi)-arboreal a Green bottle Blue, (Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens) I read that they can be a little skitish but have a very hardy character, I do have some expierence with my h. incei. but im new to arboreals. Would this be a good beginner choice? Any other new world (semi) arboreal picks?
GBBs are terrestrial for the most part, although they do have semi-arboreal tendencies in captivity if provided with such a setup. They're heavy webbers and usually will build big web-castles, ignoring offered hides (or incorporating them in some way). They prefer bone-dry with a waterdish, no misting.

It's true they're somewhat skittish, but not too bad really. It's a very hungry species that attacks anything that hits their webbing and it's one of the most fun reasons why to have one in your collection: The feeding response in general is just plain simple awesome.

Bottom line: C. cyaneopubescens is not really an arboreal, but terrestrial. You may want to check out this video to learn more about them in nature (it's from Rick West) start at 16min 30sec for GBBs

[YOUTUBE]WEczZo7Ifo8[/YOUTUBE]
 

dementedlullaby

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Off the top of my head the 1st semi-arboreal that comes to mind would be Thrixopelma ockerti.
These spiders are insanely skittish in my experience. My juvie can fly around the enclosure like nobodies business. Which seems pretty run of the mill for this species. Also not afraid to kick those hairs. I've only seen a threat posture a few times though, for the most part it just raises it's abdomen and spreads it's spinnerets as far as possible lol. That's when I know it is not pleased...Interesting spiders.

They are semi-arboreal from what I understand. I hear the area they are from gets flooded sometimes which may be the reason they can be considered (at least partially) arboreal? Not sure if it's true.
 

Poec54

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These spiders are insanely skittish in my experience. My juvie can fly around the enclosure like nobodies business. Which seems pretty run of the mill for this species. Also not afraid to kick those hairs. I've only seen a threat posture a few times though, for the most part it just raises it's abdomen and spreads it's spinnerets as far as possible lol. That's when I know it is not pleased...Interesting spiders.

They are semi-arboreal from what I understand. I hear the area they are from gets flooded sometimes which may be the reason they can be considered (at least partially) arboreal? Not sure if it's true.

They're definitely wired. I certainly wouldn't call them arboreal. Moving to a higher spot after rain doesn't really count; a lot of animals do that. Don't they return to the ground when things dry out, making that they're preferred habitat. Who's going to pour a couple gallons of water into their GBB cage?

I don't know why the 'arboreal' label is used so often. Technically anything that lives in a shrub or at the base of a tree is 'arboreal', and then you have a whole bunch of people assuming those same spiders live way up in trees and wonder what's wrong with theirs staying in the substrate.
 

cold blood

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They're definitely wired. I certainly wouldn't call them arboreal. Moving to a higher spot after rain doesn't really count; a lot of animals do that. Don't they return to the ground when things dry out, making that they're preferred habitat. Who's going to pour a couple gallons of water into their GBB cage?

I don't know why the 'arboreal' label is used so often. Technically anything that lives in a shrub or at the base of a tree is 'arboreal', and then you have a whole bunch of people assuming those same spiders live way up in trees and wonder what's wrong with theirs staying in the substrate.
They are an odd species (okerti that is). They do have the body type of a terrestrial, but I've had a few for several months now and none of them spend much time at all on the ground. I have them housed like I would an arboreal, and they do act the part. They are insanely skittish, but also excellent hunters and one of the more underrated t's in terms of good looks. They are quicker than one might expect.
 

dementedlullaby

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They're definitely wired. I certainly wouldn't call them arboreal. Moving to a higher spot after rain doesn't really count; a lot of animals do that. Don't they return to the ground when things dry out, making that they're preferred habitat. Who's going to pour a couple gallons of water into their GBB cage?

I don't know why the 'arboreal' label is used so often. Technically anything that lives in a shrub or at the base of a tree is 'arboreal', and then you have a whole bunch of people assuming those same spiders live way up in trees and wonder what's wrong with theirs staying in the substrate.
I didn't mean just after it rains. I meant serious flooding haha :). Talking about ockerti though, not gbb. I've never been to Peru (or more specifically where T. ockerti are located in Peru :D) or know/read of anyone who has done any real studies of these guys in the wild so I'm not sure if it's just a "folk tale" or not though.

But yes I do digress and agree with your post. The arboreal label is thrown around far too fast and easy.
 

Chris LXXIX

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Buy a "GBB" with no hesitation. They are terrestrial, but they are able to climb pretty well for webbing and stuff. They are always busy making something. Great eaters. Hard as rocks. Their speed is overestimated, btw. I don't found them to be so fast, nor skittish, nor hair kickers. Run and hide T's, mostly, if spooked. Probably one of the best, "docile" T ever.
There isn't a "Psycho GBB" unlike sometimes with Grammostola rosea. Give them a hide, substrate, fake leaves for anchor the web. Humidity.. water dish is enough.
Otherwise there's a good arboreal beast, Psalmopoeus cambridgei, they grow like weed and reach great size. But here speed, care, and sometimes temperament is a bit different.
 

dementedlullaby

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Otherwise there's a good arboreal beast, Psalmopoeus cambridgei, they grow like weed and reach great size. But here speed, care, and sometimes temperament is a bit different.
I'd probably get an Avic (preference goes towards A. avic or A. versicolor) over a Psalmo personally. When it comes to a first arboreal anyway.

I hear that versicolors can kick hairs but mine never has. A. Avicularias need to "press" their hairs into their assailant if I remember correctly. But my main reason for saying Avic over Psalmo is the less potent venom and willingness to bite. I think that the venom from Paslmos is a bit stronger. Plus from what I hear they tend to bite more than once (irminia is usually cited for this). An Avic is more likely to just run and/or shoot poop at you.

I've never been bit but I also don't handle my tarantulas. Hopefully I can keep it that way ;). I encourage new owners to do the same!
 

cold blood

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I'd probably get an Avic (preference goes towards A. avic or A. versicolor) over a Psalmo personally. When it comes to a first arboreal anyway.

I hear that versicolors can kick hairs but mine never has. A. Avicularias need to "press" their hairs into their assailant if I remember correctly. !

I agree, a sub-adult or adult A. avic would be a good first. Psalms are the next step in my mind.

The worst "hairing" reaction I've had was from unpacking and re-housing several adult female A. avic. I made zero spider contact throughout the job, but managed to knock one of the deli cups it was shipped in over and onto my forearms and wrists...wasn't even bad, they basically tipped and the paper towel lightly fell top down onto me. There's little question IME that they definitely lay them, or have the ability to lay or incorporate them into their webbing or the surfaces they frequent. At least my wrists are pretty sure:wink:

My arms turned red, even had a few little blisters that formed before it went away...and it itched like poison ivy for several days. I was pretty surprised.
 

Storm76

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I'd probably get an Avic (preference goes towards A. avic or A. versicolor) over a Psalmo personally. When it comes to a first arboreal anyway.

I hear that versicolors can kick hairs but mine never has. A. Avicularias need to "press" their hairs into their assailant if I remember correctly. But my main reason for saying Avic over Psalmo is the less potent venom and willingness to bite. I think that the venom from Paslmos is a bit stronger. Plus from what I hear they tend to bite more than once (irminia is usually cited for this). An Avic is more likely to just run and/or shoot poop at you.

I've never been bit but I also don't handle my tarantulas. Hopefully I can keep it that way ;). I encourage new owners to do the same!
There's a number of species out there considered "multi-biters", but I wouldn't count Psalms towards that. To my knowledge, they bite and run. Haplos however, and several other asian species, are famous for that multiple biting - I remember a report from a shop owner unpacking an H. lividum female. She escaped, ran onto him, under his shirt and bit him multiple times into the back. Can't imagine that having been fun, but I will say I suspect one reason for those multiple bites was the fact that the tarantula was "trapped" under the shirt feeling it on itself all the time and probably got irritated even more so.

As for venom toxicity of Psalms, people react vastly different to certain venoms and I would consider Psalm venom such one. The only fact that pretty much every person agreed with that has been envenomated by one of them, is intense pain. Others were vomiting, slight cramping, swelling, redness and I believe one had some high temps going. I wouldn't want to try it out, but it's in between NW and OW venom apparently. They don't have urticating hairs, only makes sense their venom and speed is stronger / higher.
 

roman

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Thanks for the advice everyone! I bought the GBB and a Euathlus sp. chile flame (I know, this is a terrestrial)... Hope they will arive alive and well next week!
 

lalberts9310

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Enjoy your new critters, havn't owned either one yet, but I can bet you will enjoy that gbb a lot :)
 

Storm76

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Thanks for the advice everyone! I bought the GBB and a Euathlus sp. chile flame (I know, this is a terrestrial)... Hope they will arive alive and well next week!
Both are very nice species to have. Be aware the Euathlus sp. "red" are dwarfs and don't really grow above 2.5" in legspan. But they're probably the most tolerant species to keep in terms of interaction with the keeper.
 
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