best looking tarantulas. that are good for a beginner

[MAGIC2979]

i am looking for nice looking tarantula or two that i can put in my room. i would like it to have some color and i would like to get one that will be visible. i dont really want one that will burrow down and hide all day and make an apreance once a week.

i have been looking but i havent found to much info..

i really like the Greenbottle blue's (Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens), Mexican Fire Leg (Brachypelma boehmei),Skeleton Tarantula (Ephebopus murinus)


also how do you determine how big of a cage to give a tarantula. i have read that most will only require about half of a 10 gallon aquarium. seems kind of small to me. i would like to get at least 2 different kinds to display in my room and buy a cage that i can seperate in half. just not sure one what kind to get..


Thanks for any and all help

mike D

[Siienceofdeath]

When you say you are going to find a cage to split in half do you mean that you are going to put a divider in one cage to house two tarantulas seperately? If so I would be careful, while this has been done successfully it could lead to disaster. If there is any gap at all between the divider and the cage there is a chance your T can find a way past the divider and to the other side of the cage. IMHO you would be better off with two seperate cages, but that's just me.

[agentbsmithi]

my tarantulas are pretty good beginner species but they are burrowers. i have a seemani and a smithi. my seemani hides a lot but is usually out laying silk down all over the ground. hes out right now doing that. my smithi never started to burrow, he just dug a ditch in his peat and sits there. they have nice coloring.

also, imo you can keep a t in any size terrarium as long as it has plenty of hide spots and the substrate is high enough so that if your t falls from climbing it wont bust its butt from a high fall. i prefer 5 gallon tanks. they arent really big and not small at all. my roughly 3" seemani is in one of those. my little smithi is about an inch to an inch and a half and is in one of the medium critter keepers. just as long as you dont have a sling in a 10-20 gallon tank, should be fine i think. the only time ive seen spiders in anything larger than a 10 gallon tank were bird eaters that are huge.

i think there are some critter keeper or herp habitat things that you can divide in half, but im not sure because i would rather just buy each spider its own little terrarium.

[Cirith Ungol]

When you say you are going to find a cage to split in half do you mean that you are going to put a divider in one cage to house two tarantulas seperately? If so I would be careful, while this has been done successfully it could lead to disaster. If there is any gap at all between the divider and the cage there is a chance your T can find a way past the divider and to the other side of the cage. IMHO you would be better off with two seperate cages, but that's just me.

Dito.
Many people have attempted it and were 100% sure nothing could happen. But they were proven 100% wrong and ended up with one single, but very fat spider.
Another problem you'll encounter is that the only safely devidable tank will be one with a top lid. The problem then will be that if you open one side of the tank you'll mostly be forced to open the other side too and depending on the personality and temper of your T's you might suddenly have to keep an eye on both, while normally concentrating on one at a time can be enough work.

A ground dwelling T will ordinarily only need space equal to 3times its legspan in each direction. You want to have room for a hide and water dish too and the T should still be able to stretch out fully in 2-3 places that remain in the tank.

Larger would be ok but not really preferable from one certain standpoint - You'll get hooked. You won't be content with 2 T's but in time you want only one more... and then maybe only one last T after that so that (wait... calculating...) in the end you have about 10-30 T's.

I know, it might be difficult to understand the equation above but it has been magically proven right time and time again .

So you don't want to go with too large tanks because you will need room for more. It's that simple.

For beginners your choices seem good, eventhought the boehmei might be quite a hair kicker and a bit skittish. But it sure is a beaut. GGBs are some of the most awsome Ts in my oppinion and you won't regret getting one, even if it might hide 3 out of 5 days, kick some hairs and also be a bit skittish. But their personality and beauty absolutely makes up for that.

If you want something big that looks good because of size you could go for Lasiodora parahybana. Awsome eaters but also a bit nervous with the kicking legs.

You can easily check out the rest of the Brachypelma species for looks, they all are good beginners and relatively hardy + most often visible.

One often overlooked but very beautiful T is B. vagans. I recommend it.

[agentbsmithi]

If you want something big that looks good because of size you could go for Lasiodora parahybana. Awsome eaters but also a bit nervous with the kicking legs.


One often overlooked but very beautiful T is B. vagans. I recommend it.

I said the same thing, about the parahybana but i edited it out because i didnt know if he would want a big spider if he just started collecting.

but i concur, b. vagans are awesome. they remind me of the sith in star wars because theyre super dark black and have red hairs. they look evil haha.

[Cirith Ungol]

I said the same thing, about the parahybana but i edited it out because i didnt know if he would want a big spider if he just started collecting.

but i concur, b. vagans are awesome. they remind me of the sith in star wars because theyre super dark black and have red hairs. they look evil haha.

Mine IS evil!
But only if she wants too. Normally chases me out of the tank when I'm trying to get the water dish out when she had another pooping spree. But I think she's only curious and wants to say hello

[MAGIC2979]

i think ill be good with only one or two. i have enough other critters.

i just want to get something that is easy to care for and requires a small cage. when i decided on getting a T. i had no idea that there were so many..lol.

as for kicking hairs and being skitish that doesnt bather me as i wont be holding my T. just for looking..

now for divinding a tank couldnt i get a peice of plexi glass and cut it to the width of the tank and silicone it in? that would eliminate all gaps and make it tall enough so that when the cover is on the cage the plexi sits right flush with the top.

also does anyone know where i could find some care sheets on the Mexican Fire Leg (Brachypelma boehmei),Skeleton Tarantula (Ephebopus murinus) just trying to figure out how large they will be when full grown. and about there temperment and such

[Cirith Ungol]

i think ill be good with only one or two. i have enough other critters.

i just want to get something that is easy to care for and requires a small cage. when i decided on getting a T. i had no idea that there were so many..lol.

That's what they all say... remind me to send you back to this thread in 6 months

as for kicking hairs and being skitish that doesnt bather me as i wont be holding my T. just for looking..

Yeah, but they may just kick when you are doing maintenance. That's when most people get hit from what I know. But with some planning you'll most often be able to avoid it.

now for divinding a tank couldnt i get a peice of plexi glass and cut it to the width of the tank and silicone it in? that would eliminate all gaps and make it tall enough so that when the cover is on the cage the plexi sits right flush with the top.

Yeah, that's what some people have tried doing and for some hard to imagine reason it still failed You could try a search on this forum with the words "divide" or "devider" and see what hit's you come up with.

[Siienceofdeath]

You could do that, but unless you somehow make a hinging lid so that one side opens independently from the other do you want to run the risk of one T getting out when the lid is off because your eye is on the other T? IMO it is not worth the risk, but if this is what you intend to do then good luck.

[Alissa]

Larger would be ok but not really preferable from one certain standpoint - You'll get hooked. You won't be content with 2 T's but in time you want only one more... and then maybe only one last T after that so that (wait... calculating...) in the end you have about 10-30 T's.

I know, it might be difficult to understand the equation above but it has been magically proven right time and time again .

I agonized over choosing my first T, because I was only going to get one, so it had to be perfect. Now I have nine and I am not getting any more. I really am not going to go to ten. Unless something really, really good comes into the shop.

On a side note, this group has convinced me that my fixation on tarantulas is perfectly normal and acceptable and has probably contributed to the problem.

Also, larger tanks make it harder for your T to find food. I'd say a five gallon aquarium is sufficient for almost any T and really, they are inexpensive enough that dividing a ten gallon seems like a waste of time, more of a pain in the butt to clean, not as attractive and generally not worth the trouble. Even a large KK would be sufficient for most T's, I think, though there are varying opinions on those. A lot of ppl use tupperware for housing their spiders as well.

[MRL]

Sorry to be so boring but......






I think it's one of the best looking despite it being so common. I keep this one out in the open so my friends or anyone can see it when they come into my room. Aside from some nasty hairs, she's tame and easily held. Just got her too, and very glad I did.


Here is a smaller version of her which I have, very cute but imo you'll enjoy it more at a larger size, this is my opinion for every T actually so if you get one get a big girl.

[MAGIC2979]

the only reason i was going to divide the 10 gallon tank is i have one sitting around.

and i really dont want to get alot of tanks in my room. so if i could divide a 10 gallon tank into 2/3 seperate sides it would work out real good

[MRL]

the only reason i was going to divide the 10 gallon tank is i have one sitting around.

and i really dont want to get alot of tanks in my room. so if i could divide a 10 gallon tank into 2/3 seperate sides it would work out real good

It's much easier to have three 2.5 gallon enclosures which would be just about the same size if not smaller then a 10 gallon one, also looks better. This size tank imo is big enough for what you would be looking for.

[Windchaser]

the only reason i was going to divide the 10 gallon tank is i have one sitting around.

and i really dont want to get alot of tanks in my room. so if i could divide a 10 gallon tank into 2/3 seperate sides it would work out real good

You certainly are free to do this but as it has been mentioned several times, often you will end up with one very well fed tarantula. Personally, I just don't think its worth the risk. A couple of smaller enclosures aren't that expensive.

As far as care sheets go, I would not put too much faith in them. Many of them are simply wrong and give inaccurate information. For any of the species that you are looking at a dry substrate with a water dish will be fine. Occasionally over fill the water dish to wet the substrate. With respect to temperature, if you are comfortable your tarantulas should be comfortable. They will do fine in pretty much anything over 65 F. They can tolerate lower temperatures for brief periods as well. Humidity is highly over rated and a well hydrated tarantula matters much more than the ambient humidity level. Hence the water dish.

[agentbsmithi]

For any of the species that you are looking at a dry substrate with a water dish will be fine. Occasionally over fill the water dish to wet the substrate. With respect to temperature, if you are comfortable your tarantulas should be comfortable. They will do fine in pretty much anything over 65 F. They can tolerate lower temperatures for brief periods as well. Humidity is highly over rated and a well hydrated tarantula matters much more than the ambient humidity level. Hence the water dish.

this is probably some of the better advice youll get regarding humidity levels and such. take my example..my seemani is in dry bed-a-beast and i used a wide water dish and its plenty for establishing humidity. my hygrometer says its about 70-75% humidity in its tank, and i never mist.