I want a T...

[abrunsen]

Like the title says I want to get my first T. I'm thinking possibly a rose hair or a cobalt blue. The main thing holding me back, I HATE crickets because they chirp all the time and I can never sleep because of it.. Which is why I don't own any lizards. If I got a T could I just feed meal worms or do I need to feed crickets?

[Quantum Constrictors]

Cool congrats on thinking about getting one! I am a Tarantula freak! But I only have one lol.

Anyways I will be calling Tarantulas by thier scientific names becuase many tarantulas can have the same common name. You should get into this habit if you want to get into tarantulas. Scientific names just make you sound cooler in a conversation anyways.

Anyways a Grammostola Rosea are good starter T's BUT! They have been known to be VERY moody. Also when they grow older they turn into pet rocks. Seriously, they will sit in one spot for a week or more. They are also known to go on fasts for many months on end.

My choice for you would be a Brachypelma Smithi. They are from the Brachypelma family so they are generally docile and known to be handlable. They are not to picky of eaters and dont go on fasts. They are slow growers reaching maturity at about 5-6 years old. They get to a decent size at about 5-7 inches for legspan.

As for feeding. Crickets are the prefered method of feeding. Meal worms are iffy because they have a harder shell and a lower meat content. But! People use and I will be switching over to Super worms. They are almost identical to Meal worms but they have a thinner shell and a higher meat content!

[Pampho85]

Meal worms aren't a stable diet, mix in crickets and roaches. Meal worms are pretty fatty and more like a treat for a T.

[Skittles1101]

Female crickets don't chirp. If you're lucky enough you may be able to find an employee who will pick out only females for you.

[John1982]

When I kept tarantulas I fed roaches and only roaches. I hate crickets because of their smell, the chirping doesn't bother me personally.

@reptiliachnids - Scientific names are useful with all animals and especially arachnids which tend to have more common names than most. When you write out scientific names however, only the first letter of the genus is capitalized. The rest, including species/subspecies, is lowercase(e.g., Brachypelma smithi). Just thought you'd like to know this tidbit.