First tarantula

[Pampho85]

I'll be getting a tarantula at the end of the summer once I get my apartment. I have done research over the summer last year, but I seemed to have forgot most things aha. But I've narrowed it down to these:
B. Emilia
B. Smithi
B. Boehemi

At first I wanted a Pampho. but I realized after doing more research it'll be more time and upkeep to keep them at a more humid temp. and they're sometimes more expensive.

But as of that list, what's the growth rate for them? What size should I try getting? What temp. would they require?

[John1982]

All would make decent first tarantulas. If I had to drop one from the group it'd be boehmei; only because they tend to be more nervous which makes them more heavy handed with the urticating hairs. None of the three you've chosen are likely to give threat displays or tag you. When scared they are far more likely to kick a flurry of hairs in your direction. You've pretty much listed them in order of skittishness, from least to most, in my opinion: emilia, smithi, boehmei.

All should grow relatively quickly for you if kept ~80F and fed frequently. Their growth can be greatly affected by playing with temperatures and feeding schedules. I wouldn't recommend keeping any lower than 72F or higher than 82F long term. Unless you like your home unusually cool or warm, most tarantulas can be kept at room temperature comfortably.

If you go small, I mean real small, I mean 2nd-3rd instar small, you could probably get a couple of each pretty darn inexpensively. All three are fairly hardy species and unless you squash them will likely survive to adulthood. You will probably even get them to 2-3 inches within their first year if fed well and kept on the warmer end of their comfort zone. Most brachypelma are decently quick growers, not at all like those grammostola types. Then again, you may be more comfortable starting with something that has a little more size on it. In which case, 2-3 inches is plenty of spider and well beyond any "delicate" stage.

[ginja ninja]

Out of those 3 options I would go with the emilia, simply because I think they are one of the best looking T's out there, although you really can't go wrong with any brachypelma.

Like John said, I'd suggest getting a spider that is at least 2 inches because they are much more hardy and forgiving to human error than a 2nd instar, especially since it's going to be your first T.

I have both an emilia and a smithi who have been kept in the same conditions for the past 6 mos and the difference in growth rate is remarkable (the smithi is pushing 3 in and the emilia is barely an inch), but every spider will grow at it's own rate.

I say you just get all 3, it'll happen in the future anyways haha. Tarantula's are addicting.

[Pampho85]

I'll be living in a shared townhouse since I'll be in college, and the temps can range from 60-70. If need be I can get a space heater for them. I was thinking about getting two right off the bat, a Smithi and Emilia. Would you do this?

I was looking at some sites and they have them at either 1 1/2" and 2", which would you recommend getting? For the Smithi there's also a 1/3" one but I don't know how difficult it would be to raise from that stage..

What size of an enclosure would you recommend for a 1 1/2-2" T? I was thinking something like this:
http://www.net-bug.net/apps/webstore...s/show/3284012

But would it outgrow that fast?

[ginja ninja]

Personally, I'd go w/ 2" slings, it's a little more expensive but they are much easier to feed IMO.

That enclosure would work for a while but at some point you would need to upgrade, it's really cool though I like it. A 1/3 in sling would get lost in there though lol you would have to go smaller for that size T.

As far as temp goes 60's might be getting a little too cool for smaller T's, especially if you want to see significant growth. You can create your own microclimate inside a 5-10 gallon tank by attaching a UTH to the side. The UTH wont drastically change the temps but you should be able to keep the T's about 10 degrees warmer w/ the right insulation.

And yea, I'd buy both if I were you. You won't regret it.

[Pampho85]

Will they take dubia at that size?

I was planning to get a space heater since I'll be also keeping tropical plants in my room so I'll just keep the temps around 75.

Would a 7-1/2" x 6-1/2" x 3-5/8" h be good for the next size up? Also how dry should I keep the eco earth? Or should the water dish be the only source of humidity?

[ginja ninja]

You can feed dubia nymphs to slings if you have your own dubia colony. Slings 3" or less cant handle adult dubia though. You can chop up an adult dubia and try feeding pieces to your slings. I've had some success w/ that. However, I think your best bet is to start out w/ small crickets for a sling.

In my experience, brachy's do fine without high humidity. If you do have a water dish in your enclosure, make sure it is smaller in diameter than the sling or they could easily drown. A sling of that size will get most of it's hydation from its food, and if you mist the enclosure every do often than you should be fine.

A full size critter keeper will be enough room to comfortably house an adult brachy and they are very inexpensive.

[Pampho85]

Would I be able to cut up a dubia adult? Or prekill them? The reason why I don't want to keep crickets is because they smell, kinda loud and I'd have to buy them constantly to keep them going whereas dubia I can just separate them and keep them for longer.

Should I mist them every week or so? Just a few sprays?

So then something like this would work?:
http://www.lllreptile.com/store/cata...den-flat-home/

or would a 14 x 8 x 7" be better

[ginja ninja]

Yeah you prekill the dubia and feed pieces to the slings, but since you're thinking of keeping dubia then just feed the baby dubia to the slings once your colony is reproducing.

I only mist every couple days but everyone has their own way of doing things. Brachy's are not known for needing extremely high humidity to thrive though.

That enclosure would be more than enough for a full grown tarantula.

[bigt0006]

Brachys like it dry so if you get a bigger one try and keep the substrate as dry as possible and just put a shallow water bowl in the enclosure. If you get a sling dont mist it much most slings get their water from their food. As for an enclosure general rule of thumb is 3x the Ts leg span long and 2x wide.

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