Taking the Leap!

[Misfit]

I've been periodically opening up Ken the Bug Guy's website and drooling over his Tarantulas available. I've nearly been to his place twice and am definitely heading there someday. I'm about ~3 hours away, so it's close but not close enough to make the trip just yet. I have family nearby him, so I'm thinking over the winter when I visit them I'm going to stop by and probably bring home too many creepy crawlies. ;]

I'm thinking about taking the leap a little earlier than that, though! I've been planning on getting a T eventually, and I'm feeling now might be the time. I love my snakes, but I'm looking for something with some LEGS. ;] I have wittled my list down to four possibilities, and I'm debating on whether or not to start with one or two. They're all around .5-1.5" so they're little guys still.

Avicularia versicolor
Psalopoeus irminias
Haplopelma lividum
Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens

Originally, I scoured the land (i.e. my town) for a GBB, since I am head over heels for their coloring, but now that I've branched out discovered some other Ts that stole my heart.. I'm wavering! I'm definitely going to order online from KTBG, and all four of these are available as slings.

What do you guys recommend? Would it be a bad idea to start with two Ts? And would any of these be terrible for beginner's? I've researched them generally, but haven't gone indepth as of yet, so I'm a while out from ordering them.

[Jessica Loesch]

The middle 2 generally not good starters - aggressive/ fast species, but gorgeous none the less.

I would recommend the versi or the GBB (c. cyaeno) as a first T Then move up to the more intermediate ones when you feel comfy

Oh, and to answer your question, get both It's a great idea!

[Misfit]

Perfect! Those were the two I was most interested in. I'm going to get a sun tiger someday, but the few I've seen all were mentioned as incredibly aggressive.

As far as the versi goes, since they're an arboreal species.. should I include something climb-y in their deli cup? It's .5" so it'll be a super small delicup! hehe

My other questions were how to keep proper heat and temps on them in the deli cups. The GBB is .75" so it'll be a pretty tiny cup too. I was reading that they don't necessarily need to be misted since they come from an arid landscape, would this be true?

Heat-wise.. would it be acceptable to place their cups inside a tank that has a UTH? I'm not entirely sure how to keep 65-85 in a cup! lol

[Jessica Loesch]

Yes! Corkbark is what I have with mine, and it doesn't mold. You can generally find it at petstores i believe, but if you get them from ken I'm sure he may have some pieces to give ya, just ask.

I keep mine on my snake rack so they are close to a nice ambient temperature of 78-80 or so.

I was told to dribble water down the side when they are small, moistening the substrate on one side, and once it dries up almost all the way, do it on the other side. I like seeing visible droplets on the side of the container, just a few, so I know there are droplets of water to drink. Don't mist the spiderling itself though.

What temperature do you keep your home at?



I know what you mean about the p irminias. .. I'm getting one at the end of the month and I'm so excited. I have two beginner species right now and I'm getting 4 more a bit more aggressive species, since I feel more comfortable now.

[Misfit]

My home can get pretty darn cold. I live in snow country, and we can get power outages that potentially last 2 weeks or more at my house since I'm a little ways out of town, BUT in the case of that happening, I can bring them into my father's house whose power only goes out for 2-3 days at MOST. I'm going to packing up my snakes to bring into town anyhow, so it wouldn't be an issue. Do they move easily, or will the drive shock them?

Generally my room stays roughly between 60-70, and more like 70. I have some empty 20 gallons with UTHs and I was thinking of placing the cups in there and then moving them around depending on temperature needs. I'm have a temp gun to check on them, too. :]

So the water-dropleting would be for a versi sling, right?

[Jessica Loesch]

As long as the car doesn't vibrate a lot I don't see it being a problem. I would definitely set them close to an UTH, as in right next to one. I keep mine right next to heat tape, just in case. That way they can't overheat, but the heat radiates to them some. You can do the tank thing, and monitor with your temp gun. I would experiment with deli cups that have some sorta substrate in them to see what kind of temps you can get (leave sitting for 24 hours before temping though to stablize). Should work just fine.

The water dropleting thing will work for them all. Once they get a little bigger you can provide a bottle cap with fresh water.

[Misfit]

Oh! That's a good idea to test with empty cups, lol! Sometimes I don't think of a simple way to do things. :] hehe I'll snag some cups and start doing that. Thank you for your tips and info.

[Nektu]

Dribble water down the side, never spray a mist.

The Irminia is a fast specie, semi aggressive. The GBB will "investigate" anything new dropped into the enclosure. They will also kick hairs. Our mature female went into a threat posture and kicked hairs at the same time on us once. Kind of interesting to see.

The GBB will also web heavily.