wild caught or captive?

Ropes4u

Arachnosquire
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Does it matter to you? I am trying to decide I actually have pretty much decided that I would prefer to have all captive born but since I am looking for something in the 6"+ range for display I think I might have to rethink my position..

Ropes
 

Mojo Jojo

Arachnoking
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Originally posted by Ropes4u
Does it matter to you? I am trying to decide I actually have pretty much decided that I would prefer to have all captive born but since I am looking for something in the 6"+ range for display I think I might have to rethink my position..

Ropes
Are all the spiders that you list in you signature, s'lings? Because, I think that once your Pokie and irminia are big enough to move from pill bottle to a small vivarium, you will have your displays, due to their web making abilities. The tigerrump should be quite the webber too. Of couse, with patience, the chaco will be a good display t, and the giant white knee will definately be too. Oh yeah, and lets not forget the B. smithi.

Dude! All of your t's are good display t's (Well...I'm not sure about the PZB, I liken them to the poor mans geniculata).

Oh yeah. As far as your question goes, I don't mess with buying large tarantulas. They just cost too much, and you don't know how old they are --- well, unless they have tibial hooks.

I have heard people selling adult geniculatas for over 200 bucks. That is a lot of s'lings.

BD

EDIT: Well, I just got done looking at some more pictures of the PZB that I usually look at. It actually is a pretty nice looking spider. Still, the carapace looks kind of dull. I might have to acquire one of these, as they attain good size and are handleable.

EDIT AGAIN: Actually, I guess it doesn't look like a geniculata. Rather it looks like a L. parahybana.
 
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invertepet

Arachnolord
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Some adult spiders are captive born, or long term captives. Just ask the dealer about the spiders in question, you should expect a straight answer on them. An 'I don't know' should be treated at face value. Sometimes it doesn't matter, especially when the (WC) spider has had some time to acclimate and adjust to being in captivity.

It all depends. Some species are just more hardy and it isn't an issue. Sometimes you'll get something and it will look fine and die in a month. With inverts, it's unfortunately always a question mark unless you know the spider was captive produced (and that's really no guarantee either - as spiders can be stressed from shipping and such).

bill
 

Nikos

Arachnoprince
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Definately captive breed!

The spiders as all animals are situated where they are needed i.e in their native land.

If you take them out you simply leave behind a gap that will disturb the nature's chain.

So, why buy a WC T when there are plenty of CB available in the market?

Also if you take a closer look in some other sites containing insects ads, you'll see millions of ads of people(mostly from third world countries) that are selling WC insects for peanuts without thinking of the consequenses...
DO YOU STILL WANT TO BUY A WC INSECT?
 

jwb121377

Arachnoangel
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As the other have pointed out it is a risk buying adult WC Tarantulas. I paid $65 for a King Baboon (C. crayshawi) and it died three mouths later. If you don't want a sling then a juvie would be a good choice.
 

invertepet

Arachnolord
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Re: Definately captive breed!

Originally posted by vardoulas

If you take them out you simply leave behind a gap that will disturb the nature's chain.

So, why buy a WC T when there are plenty of CB available in the market?
Except for notable instances such as overcollection of B. smithi in the very northernmost regions of Mexico, there is almost no impact of the tarantula pet trade on wild populations of tarantulas and other insects. For the most part, they're simply too prolific in their natural environment for a few exports to make any difference. Andrew Smith once wrote about this, although the more rabid conservationist members of the hobby flatly refuse to acknowledge it. I myself have collected tarantulas in the wild in North America and where I've found them, it would take years of mass collection (hundreds upon hundreds a week) to impact even small populations.

This isn't to say that it's not a good idea to buy CB, nor am I saying that it's OK to overcollect (it does happen occasionally with some overzealous importers and their contacts), but buying WC doesn't always mean you're contributing to the destruction of tarantula wild populations. I firmly believe that in another 20 years, many species of invertebrate will either be gone or only exist in private collections such as ours. In which case, I think it absolutely fine that we infuse the hobby with WC's to ensure a wider gene pool for captive breeding.

Without WC's, you can't captive breed in the first place.

bill
 

Ephesians

Arachnobaron
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Without WC's, you can't captive breed in the first place.
Hrm, I can't say I have ever agreed with Wild Caught animals and still don't except for breeding purposes. But to bring that forth, I never thought of it from that point of view.

Good point.

Marcus
 

Henry Kane

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ALways captive bred if possible. Some species just aren't going to be available as anything other than wild caught though. As long as they're for sale and already caught, may as well give them a good home, no?

With captive pred though the drawbacks are minimal. Mainly I'd say that you may occasionally get a mis-id'd T if you acquire your c/b s'ling from an unreliable source. Also, sexing pretty much can't be determined in tiny c/b s'lings. With c/b adults, all that is pretty much eliminated though.

With wild caught there are more risks in my opinion. You can't determine the age. There's the issue of parasites/symbiotes. Some w/c species don't acclimate well or at all.

Like I said though, if a specie I'd like to keep is availab;e only as w/c, I would settle for that over nothing.

ATrax
 

Phillip

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very well put...

I agree with Bill on this one as he has made a very good point about breeding being dependant on WC specimens. I also agree that the populations in the wild are not really affected by the pet trade as it simply isn't that big. Now of course captive bred is the better choice when available but lets keep in mind guys and gals that all the species that we have available today started out in the hobby with WC specimens being the 1st available. Another thing to consider is that WC do tend to come in in pretty rough shape sometimes but if properly cared for most can be brought around to good health and will do just fine in captivity. All most of them need is a little TLC.

Phil
 

conipto

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Of my small collection of ten tarantulas, two were wild caught. Both were in pretty rough shape, but neither more than I expected when I saw them. I'd prefer to have only captive bred adult females, but half the hobby is raising them, IMO. And without wild caught specimens, none of that would possible.

Bill
 

Ropes4u

Arachnosquire
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Sep 6, 2002
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All godd answers and points and about what I suspected. I also prefer cb T's but understand the need for wc. I agree with Bill that sooner or later if it isnt in someones terrarium it will not be anywhere.

Thanks again, Ropes
 

The_Phantom

Scarlet O' Hairy
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I wouldnt buy a tarantula that I knew was wild caught. But how can one tell ? The pet store doesnt have to tell you the truth do they ? I realise all Ts came from wild caught ones, and Im fine with that, but now that we have breeders, thats what I prefer.
 

invertepet

Arachnolord
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I for one tell people if I know, but even I don't always get that information from my suppliers. I think that some species go without saying that big ones are WC (like G. roseas and Usumbara baboons, for example). Others, like Poecilotheria, are almost always CB, even the bigger ones.

Nevertheless, it's good policy to divulge such information about any animal's origins to a customer, and it's a smart buyer who asks. ;)

bill
 

Nikos

Arachnoprince
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Your comments/views noted but can't say that I disagree nor that I agree with all you guys.

The WC blood line is of course vital to CB but on the other hand I disagree that the world insects population in NOT under danger...

For those that think of the contrary take a look at the below mentioned site and think how many more like this one can be found in the intrenet and how many people in 3rd world countries are living out of illegal insect collection...

Here is the site I was talking about.

http://exotics.net/sticklist/anzeigen.html
 

Tarantula Lover

Psalmopoeus Lover
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I prefer..

I prefer Captive Bred T's. They are more tame, and wild caught are not used to people, I am not sure if i am correct, but that is how I see it! (Correct me if I am wrong!) Hope this Helps!

About a good display spider , I myself would get an adult female Trindidad Chevron! I love mine! They move around a lot! Have great webbing, and you can watch them be so aggressive and fast towards their food! Good Luck!:)

James
 
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