Input on Various Species

[worm]

i have a c.sp blue and honestly i would tell you to get an 3" or bigger if you can find one. I got mine at .75" and its been a long road till it comes out. Most of the time its a pet hole, pretty cool when they do come out but i got to get up like 3 in the morning to see her. But as a sling i belive there easier to take care of because they can adapt to climate better than an adult thats used to being taken care of a certian way. Just my opionon though.

Ive been looking at getting a Tap. though the purple tree spider..some sp.look blue or atleast on this forum and rick west page. But again verry fast.

Anyway i got my Singapore blue from botar at 35 dollars...and i like it alot, theres just lots of differnt color morphs avalible for this spider. ex.sp1-4

 

[DrJ]

I'll be honest and say that I love my Citharischious crawshayi and Hysterocrates gigas (King baboon and Cameroon red, respectively)...but from what I know and have seen of Theraphosa blondi...I am strongly intimidated! Haha! But, I guess I may have to check them out a bit more...PhormictopusMan, you make it sound tempting! I just don't know...I just feel like I got it good having reasonably docile baboons...I don't want to push it too much with a blondi.

Have you ever had trouble with your blondi? This might change things.

 

[robc]

I'll be honest and say that I love my Citharischious crawshayi and Hysterocrates gigas (King baboon and Cameroon red, respectively)...but from what I know and have seen of Theraphosa blondi...I am strongly intimidated! Haha! But, I guess I may have to check them out a bit more...PhormictopusMan, you make it sound tempting! I just don't know...I just feel like I got it good having reasonably docile baboons...I don't want to push it too much with a blondi.

Have you ever had trouble with your blondi? This might change things.

I love my hatian brown also...it is my second favorite T here is my male

 

[DrJ]

I love my hatian brown also...it is my second favorite T here is my male

He is very pretty! Or, should I say handsome? What is your first favorite T?

 

[robc]

He is very pretty! Or, should I say handsome? What is your first favorite T?

my L. parahybana and probaly the T.Blondi I am getting in 2hrs.

 

[CalvinKelly]

I'm still considering a blondi.

 

[Moltar]

Greetings.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my Grammostola rosea, but have decided it's time for something new. My rosehair was beautiful, but, as is the usual complaint with rosehairs, I may as well have had a pet rock; I'm sure I could have safely kept it on my pillow next to me at night and not had to worry about it moving.

Species I'm considering are:

Theraposa blondi (Goliath birdeater - the big daddy), Poecilotheria metallica (Gooty ornamental - the GORGEOUS spider), Cyriopagopus sp. "blue" (Singapore blue - the jewel), or Haplopelma hainanum (Black earth tiger - the asshole).

All are extremely fascinating in their own ways, but do you guys happen to have any input on any of these species?

Secondly, do you know of any respectable American dealers who carry them?

Thanks!

I just read through this again and my understanding is this will be your second tarantula? Up until now you have experience only with G rosea?

Many of the t's that have been reccomended here are NOT beginner level t's. I think you should do som research before you buy anything. C. sp "blue", any haplopelma, Malaysian Earth Tiger, T blondi... none of those are even remotely like a G rosea in terms of keeping requirements.

If i've misunderstood and you do in fact have experience with faster, more defensive t's or t's with very specific environmental needs then disregard my comments.

 

[DrJ]

my L. parahybana and probaly the T.Blondi I am getting in 2hrs.

Haha! Well, reading your thread about the blondi is really tempting me to get one...especially since the one I've been offered is a sexed female and 6-7"...leaning more towards the 7" mark and only $100...I'm beginning to think that that is quite a deal...maybe? It is wild-caught and that is something I'm a little leary of. I wouldn't want to bring any parasites into my home to possibly spread to the rest of the "herd", if you know what I mean.

 

[DrJ]

I'm still considering a blondi.

Now, I've mentioned this before, but then again I am a little prejudiced. haha! But, I am a little skeptical about a blondi, and I have 24 different Ts, ranging from Heteroscodra maculata to Citharischious crawshayi to Hysterocrates gigas and Acanthoscurria geniculata, etc...and out of my experience, the one to best suit you and your wants would be the Cyriopagopus sp. The only reason I say this is that it is not the most fast moving arboreal out there, so it has reasonable speed, and if you do get bit, the bite reports on them aren't intolerable. Not that you would want to get bit or anything...just saying you won't experience a bunch of hoopla that you would experience with the other choices you mentioned. That, and my personal preference leans to the Cyriopagopus genus anyway!

But, the important thing to note is that NOBODY can tell you what you are ready for. Only YOU know what you are ready for, so YOU have to make the call as far as what you want. We've all given you input to help you with your decision, but if you get something you are not happy with, what did that accomplish? If you really want the blondi, I would encourage you to get it...the important thing is that you are happy with your new tarantula!

Hope that helps.

 

[CalvinKelly]

Here are are some respectable american dealers:

http://www.swiftinverts.com/
botarby8s.com
http://krazy8sinvertebrates.com/catalog/

Do you guys know if these sites guarantee female?

And thanks, Drj, I am leaning most towards the C. sp. As novel as I think it would be to own either of the massive spiders (L. parahybana and T. Blondi), I think their eating habits may get to be a little more than I want to deal with. I've read the C. sp isn't a crazy eater, but is still fairly active.

 

[DrJ]

Do you guys know if these sites guarantee female?

And thanks, Drj, I am leaning most towards the C. sp. As novel as I think it would be to own either of the massive spiders (L. parahybana and T. Blondi), I think their eating habits may get to be a little more than I want to deal with. I've read the C. sp isn't a crazy eater, but is still fairly active.

All these sites will guarantee female, but you'll pay more for it. If what you want is only available as unsexed, they will try their best to pick out a female for you, but there is never a guarantee when they pick it out. It is simply sexed on appearance when they do this...but at least that increases your likelyhood of ending up with a female! If you want a better selection regarding larger specimens that have been sexed, check out reptist exotics at reptistexotics.com...sadly though, he doesn't have any sexed Cyriopagopus species avialable, but if that is a concern he is more than happy to work with you. I've done a lot of work with Brandon there at Reptist, and he has spent a lot of time with me to get what I want. But, it's good to check out all options before deciding who to go with...price, shipping, size, and sexed specimens all play a role as well as how well the dealer works with you. I know Brandon has sent me a ton of pictures of individual specimens so I could "hand pick" which spider I wanted. I find that a little important, especially when dealing with larger specimens. Have fun "shopping"!

I am glad you are leaning towards the Cyriopagopus! Whether you get the Singapore blue or the Malaysian Earth Tiger, both grow to be HUGE! Up to or over 8" on either of them! So, it will still be impressive...and very colorful. And, you are right...the L. parahybana and T. Blondi have insatiable appetites! Haha! You pretty much have to feed them everything including the kitchen sink! And then they are still not satisfied! But, I do like that...it lets you know that they are very grateful for whatever food you give them!

 

[Moltar]

Do you guys know if these sites guarantee female?

It depends on what you buy. If they advertise it as a sexed female then yes, they probably will have some kind of guarantee.

Sexing t's with 100% accuracy can only be done by examining a relatively undamaged molt under magnification. That's why so many t's are sold as unsexed. You'll probably find a few sexed adults and maybe some sub-adults and big juvies that are sexed but anything under 3" probably won't be. You'll be paying a premium for guaranteed females too.

If you're a breeder with 3000 assorted animals in stock you probably only have time to sex the stuff you're going to get big bucks for. Nobody's very likely to take that time and effort for a $35 sale of a juvenile G aureostriata or whatever.