I want a pet T.

Hello all. I really want a pet T. I want to watch him/her (hmer) grow. The only thing is, i also would love to be able to hold hmer! I love black/white, black and blues, oranges. :/
I was told a Mexican Red Rump Tarantula would be good for a beginner till i actually did research and found, that it would not be good for me since they are skittish and tend to freak out.

help? :[

-think of me as a child. Child can take care of a T perfectly but needs to hold them and "play" with them.- lol

remember they all bite (some are more venomous than others),,, and some kick hairs... are you looking for a aborial or terrestrial??
good luck with your first!
spooky

There are several great first pet T's to choose from. The T hobby is quite addicting, I may add ;).

I find terrestrials to be the best T's for handling, as arboreals tend to be fast and skittish. I really like the Grammostola species because I find them great for handling and for beginners. A couple good ones to look into are Chaco Golden Knees and Brazilian Blacks. They are both a very docile, calm tarantula. Grammostola have the potential to kick hairs, but not anything like Brachypelma. I have not once had any of my Grammostola species kick hairs.

Although Brachypelma tend to kick hairs, they can also be a great first T. They are terrestrial just as the ones I stated in the above paragraph. The one I love the most out of all is the classical Mexican Red Knee. They are docile and calm as well, and are just stunning in coloration. I would really suggest looking into them.

If you would like to have a T you can handle, I would definitely practice regular handling throughout the time they grow from slings to adults. At some points I would get into handling certain T's each day, but now since I haven't done this regularly they look at me with hungry eyes whenever I open up their tubs. Kind of like a feeding response that snakes can get LOL.

I second the Grammostola Pulchra, a gorgeous all black species that I too have heard of its docile nature. Great info from Tiff.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mr.spooky

remember they all bite (some are more venomous than others),,, and some kick hairs... are you looking for a aborial or terrestrial??
good luck with your first!
spooky

---

I know they all bite. But wondering which ones wont make me sick for a week. or give me a swollen hand that i cannot use.
Well since i would like to touch it. I was thinking a Arboreal T would be easiest for that. So i can gently tap the T onto my hand for walking instead of waiting for it to come out of it's burrow.


Thank you

I would get an avicularia versicolor .. good starter arboreal T.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

There are several great first pet T's to choose from. The T hobby is quite addicting, I may add ;).

I find terrestrials to be the best T's for handling, as arboreals tend to be fast and skittish. I really like the Grammostola species because I find them great for handling and for beginners. A couple good ones to look into are Chaco Golden Knees and Brazilian Blacks. They are both a very docile, calm tarantula. Grammostola have the potential to kick hairs, but not anything like Brachypelma. I have not once had any of my Grammostola species kick hairs.

Although Brachypelma tend to kick hairs, they can also be a great first T. They are terrestrial just as the ones I stated in the above paragraph. The one I love the most out of all is the classical Mexican Red Knee. They are docile and calm as well, and are just stunning in coloration. I would really suggest looking into them.

If you would like to have a T you can handle, I would definitely practice regular handling throughout the time they grow from slings to adults. At some points I would get into handling certain T's each day, but now since I haven't done this regularly they look at me with hungry eyes whenever I open up their tubs. Kind of like a feeding response that snakes can get LOL.

---

Thank you very much. I will actually look into that.
I have been told to get antilles pinktoe tarantula. Any input on them as well? They are nice looking no doubt, but i rather be able to hold it then stare in awe ahah.
It is strange. i have been reading that most Mexican T's like to flick hair. Makes me laugh just because i am Mexican too. Guess us Mexican's are nervous things.

A good starter T to get if you plan on handling it a bit is a New River. By far hands down our wc ones are more docile than our Rosea. There are tricks to find out the temperament of your T. Take a paint brush, bristles end, and "pet" the T down the abdomen away from the rest of the body. If they turn on it, don't handle it. Or if they run from it they are skittish.

G. Pulchripes is also a good starter T.

The antilles pinktoe is the avicularia versicolor, so yes ... I still recommend it :P They are gorgeous.

If you want an arboreal, Avicularia avicularia and Avicularia versicolor are nice. However I will second that they are still rather flighty when compared to terrestrial tarantulas. They do however have very nice colors (the versicolor), and will tend to be visible at almost all times because they're arboreal.

As far as terrestrials go, there are a few that I recommend: Grammostola pulchra, Grammostola pulchripes, Brachypelma smithi (but some do like to kick hairs, you've been warned) and Eupalestres campestratus. These guys have a tendency of being docile and a little more slow-moving, and will not tend to burrow really. They'll just sit out in their cage, or in a hide if you offer one (I highly recommend offering one), so you don't have to rip up a burrow if you want to take it out and will always be visible.

My knowledge of spiders is very limited, but I can definitely vouch for Avicularia species being skittish. We have two A. avicularia and they are fairly docile and have never reared up, but they like to "teleport" at the slightest bit of movement or accidental breath on them. I guess that beats getting bit.

Avoid G. rosea. We have two of those as well. One is kinda sketchy and our other is psychotic.

Seems like with any T you chose you will have to sacrifice something. Looks for attitude. Speed demons instead of hair flicking. Etc. One general rule of thumb though is to avoid any old world species. They are usually very beautiful, but are generally very fast, have poor attitudes, a potent venom and very specific husbandry requirements.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jessica Loesch

I second the Grammostola Pulchra, a gorgeous all black species that I too have heard of its docile nature. Great info from Tiff.

---

I may add to this, I received a G. pulchra from a friend who got his as a sling and hadn't handled her before. She was about 3" when I got her and I handled her no problem. She was quite docile and calm, and I even let friends of mine handle her.

And thank you Jessica :).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lunapoo

I know they all bite. But wondering which ones wont make me sick for a week. or give me a swollen hand that i cannot use.
Well since i would like to touch it. I was thinking a Arboreal T would be easiest for that. So i can gently tap the T onto my hand for walking instead of waiting for it to come out of it's burrow.


Thank you

---

For a beginner, stay away from Old World tarantulas. To my understanding, they won't make you sick for a week, but some bites from certain species (OBT is a good example) will definitely have you spend a few hours of your time at the toilet. Just make sure you look up information on the T's you're interested in so you don't end up choosing an Old World. OW T's also tend to be more skittish, defensive, etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lunapoo

Thank you very much. I will actually look into that.
I have been told to get antilles pinktoe tarantula. Any input on them as well? They are nice looking no doubt, but i rather be able to hold it then stare in awe ahah.
It is strange. i have been reading that most Mexican T's like to flick hair. Makes me laugh just because i am Mexican too. Guess us Mexican's are nervous things.

---

Antilles Pink toes are great. Pink toes are usually an awesome T to start with aside from their teleporting ability as AK stated in the above post. When my Avic was young I handled her all the time even when she "teleported". You will get used to it as it can startle you at first. If you do end up with some type of Avic then I would still practice handling often.

Their defense mechanism is to also shoot poo/webbing stuff at you. My Avic got my hair a couple times, gladly missing my face. I certainly believe they try to aim their butts at your face LOL. But this can be prevented, if you notice the little butt in the air you could take a utensil and just slightly aim the abdomen away from you.

LMAO @ the Mexican thing :8::8:

Still, Avicularia are considered pretty slow compared to a lot of species. Selenocosmia, Tapinauchenius, Psalmopoeus and Poecilotheria are ridiculous! Its hilarious watching them take off and do the 400 yard dash, especially slings. :D