What arboreal new world species to get?

[Bambu]

Yeah, you might be jumping the gun just a bit. If the B. albopilosum was your first tarantula, and after only four months you've jumped - in less than a week - from one tarantula to five, that is moving pretty quickly. It might be prudent to exercise a little caution and take it slower now while you become accustomed to keeping multiple tarantulas and accommodating their individual needs. Give them time to put on a little size - and give yourself a chance to become acquainted with their moods and behaviors.

All of the species you've selected are beautiful spiders and are not notoriously aggressive or defensive - but as they grow, you may find that they can be a bit temperamental. Some may be hair kickers while others may go into a threat posture or even try to bite your tongs. No matter what the "typical" temperament is for a given species, individual spiders will have their own personalities - and can experience dramatic mood swings, either gradually over the course of their lifetime or in a relatively short time span.

Once you do move up to arboreals, you need to be prepared for their speed. They can move unbelievably quickly and can run/teleport out of their enclosures - or even up your arm - when you are trying to feed them, refill water dishes, or clean their cages. Depending on the spider selected, venom may also be an issue.

There's no set time period or required rite of passage for transitioning from terrestrial to arboreal species - or even from NW to OW. It all depends on you, your comfort level, your experience, and your knowledge of the spiders you will be working with. Of course, building experience and a reasonable level of comfort/confidence in dealing with tarantulas can only come with time - and with having to deal with the occasional misadventure, such as having to chase down an escaped spider. If they are all perfectly behaved little slings who sit docilely in their cages while you perform your required tasks and never posture, bolt, or flick hairs, then you won't learn as much about how to handle problems when they arise. It's only over time - and with repetition of the regular maintenance plus the occasional rehousing - that you really get a solid feel for what the spiders are capable of - and how you are going to handle any situations that might arise. It's better to go slow - and be ready (or at least as ready as you can be) - than to dive in all at once and then discover that you're in over your head.

My personal progression with tarantulas was to start with a B. albopilosum sling followed by an adult G. rosea within the year. After the B. albopilosum had matured, I purchased an A. versicolor sling - my first arboreal. I waited until that one was sub-adult before progressing to my first (and - so far - only) OW, P. vittata (also a sling). That one is now also full grown or very nearly so, and I recently got a juvenile P. irminia. (While the pokie may have the more potent venom, he's a big chicken and runs and hides every time I get too close. The P. irminia, on the other hand, goes into a threat posture when I walk past its cage - and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it tried to bolt one of these days when I had to open the cage. We have, however, gotten through our first rehousing without incident.)

Thank you for the long and detailed post, I needed to hear all that. I do feel I am going a bit too fast, I'm a very excitable person and this hobby really "clicked" with me I suppose. I'll wait until my current Ts grow up before testing myself with an arboreal.

 

[Trenor]

I think the tarantula hobby, like most things we learn in life, is very individual based.

Like riding a bike for instance. Every kid I've taught to ride a bike has been different. They pick it up at different rates. One person might jump on it and just take off. Another might take twice as long to stay up. Some may prefer training wheels to help get the motion down. Still others want you to hold on and guide them as long as you can.

Learning isn't a one size fits all endeavor. IMO the main thing is to know where you are at and what your comfortable with so you don't tip over.

 

[chanda]

Thank you for the long and detailed post, I needed to hear all that. I do feel I am going a bit too fast, I'm a very excitable person and this hobby really "clicked" with me I suppose. I'll wait until my current Ts grow up before testing myself with an arboreal.

It's very easy to get carried away - especially if you attend expos or visit the online breeders/dealers and see all the really cool species that are available, above and beyond the typical pet store fare.

I'm just as guilty of it as anyone else, having recently used a Geography Day event at my local library as an excuse to add to my collection. In less than two months my collection ballooned from 9 tarantulas to 22 - including my first foray into the so-called "bird eaters." (A friend had asked if I'd like to "put something together" for Geography Day - so I put together a presentation on South American Tarantulas, with 15 spiders from 13 different species, representing every country except Uruguay and Peru. It was a huge hit - especially among the kids - and the Spanish teacher at my kids' school has asked me to bring them to school tomorrow to give the same presentation to all the students in her Spanish classes.)

 

[Bambu]

It's very easy to get carried away - especially if you attend expos or visit the online breeders/dealers and see all the really cool species that are available, above and beyond the typical pet store fare.

Hitting the nail on the head. There's a show in my area on the 14th, I'd be very surprised if I don't walk away with another T from it. I'll make sure it's another beginner-friendly one though. I know a dealer's gonna have sub-adult confirmed female G. rosea RCFs for $75 each there, I hear they can be unpredictable, might make for some good experience. I'll stop acquiring new Ts for a while after that though.

So far the T-keeping has been going well. I set a reminder on my phone for steady feeding times each week. They make me happy, I just need to make sure I'm able to keep them happy as well.

Sorry if I detracted from the topic of this thread too much by the way.

 

[chanda]

Hitting the nail on the head. There's a show in my area on the 14th, I'd be very surprised if I don't walk away with another T from it. ...I'll stop acquiring new Ts for a while after that though.

Sorry if I detracted from the topic of this thread too much by the way.

Given that the majority of this thread was from September of last year, I don't think anyone is likely to mind!

Shows can be dangerous places. I went to my last show looking for a subadult/adult female G. pulchripes, a subadult P. irmina - and a vinegaroon, some scorpions (Heterometrus sp. and/or Hadrurus arizonensis), and a Scolopendra subspinipes. Instead, I brought home the juvenile P. irminia - and a MF T. stirmi, a subadult A. geniculata, a subadult Grammostola. sp. "Maule" and a subadult Grammostola. sp. "Concepcion." (I decided to hold off on the vinegaroon, scorpions, and centipede until the next show - which is coming up in just a few weeks - because I needed the cages and shelf space for all my new T's! I need to get a new rack to put my cages on before I can add anything else - all the existing shelves are full.)

 

[Trenor]

So far the T-keeping has been going well. I set a reminder on my phone for steady feeding times each week. They make me happy, I just need to make sure I'm able to keep them happy as well.

If you use your phone to track feeding you should check this out. It's really good and I use it all the time.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/so-i-made-an-application.256549/

 

[cold blood]

I know a dealer's gonna have sub-adult confirmed female G. rosea RCFs for $75 each there, I hear they can be unpredictable, might make for some good experience.

First off, that's highway robbery...lol...get a Pamph for that price or a few geniculata....1,000,000 times the spiders.

Also, rose hairs are poor experience....they do everything so slowly that learning anything from them takes years.

 

[Bambu]

First off, that's highway robbery...lol...get a Pamph for that price or a few geniculata....1,000,000 times the spiders.

Also, rose hairs are poor experience....they do everything so slowly that learning anything from them takes years.

Thanks for letting me know! I guess that is rather expensive. I just looked up Pamphs and WOW. Definitely going to look into them more.

If you use your phone to track feeding you should check this out. It's really good and I use it all the time.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/so-i-made-an-application.256549/

Thanks for letting me know, the app is great!

 

[cold blood]

Thanks for letting me know! I guess that is rather expensive. I just looked up Pamphs and WOW. Definitely going to look into them more.

Quite possibly the most ferocious eating terrestrial genus there is. They grow fast and put on massive growth per molt, almost like having a brand new t with each molt.

 

[Bambu]

Quite possible the most ferocious eating terrestrial genus there is. They grow fast and put on massive growth per molt, almost like having a brand new t with each molt.

They sound great! Looking into them more, I guess they're similar to LPs as far as size and growth are concerned? Also seem very rare though, I can't seem to find any Pamphs available online. Maybe I'll look into getting an LP and save some money, that'd definitely be some frequent rehousing experience to boot.

 

[cold blood]

They sound great! Looking into them more, I guess they're similar to LPs as far as size and growth are concerned? Also seem very rare though, I can't seem to find any Pamphs available online. Maybe I'll look into getting an LP and save some money, that'd definitely be some frequent rehousing experience to boot.

LMFAO, A pamph is like a Ferrari599, an LP is like a '88 mustang...fun, but you'd never mistake it for a Ferrarri

They do need a little more moisture than an LP, but many of the species will outgrow and outeat an LP....not to mention they look much better.

If you want to get something similar, but more readily available (cheaper) and good looking, get a genic.

 

[Bambu]

LMFAO, A pamph is like a Ferrari599, an LP is like a '88 mustang...fun, but you'd never mistake it for a Ferrarri

They do need a little more moisture than an LP, but many of the species will outgrow and outeat an LP....not to mention they look much better.

If you want to get something similar, but more readily available (cheaper) and good looking, get a genic.

Hehe, yeah. Pamphs are positively beautiful.

Hmm... I think a genic is up my alley then. Thanks for the suggestion!