My boyfriend and I are interested in tarantulas... so we are trying to figure everything out before we go out and buy one.

The species we like seem to be pretty dang expensive, so I am guessing we will have to buy them younger and unsexed to be able to afford it.

I know I would like a female though, males live such short lives! But I guess that's the risk in buying them, and a male would be a good 'first time' spider I guess?

I see some people saying they have sexed their younger spiders with microscopes or something. I don't want to get ripped off. Is this a real thing? How small can you reasonably know or guess the sex of a tarantula?


We like the green bottle blue tarantulas and the brazilian black giant ones! I know the brazilian blacks are more docile, but I also really like the colors of the green bottle blues.. I know they are more skittish, but I wouldn't mind not touching them or messing with them! "Look don't touch" piece of living art!


How tricky is it to care for the younger spiders?


Also, I see some people feed their tarantulas multiple smaller prey items, or one or two larger prey items, which is better for the tarantula?


I'm still in the middle of research, but I know how unreliable other sites can often be, so I figured I'd ask here as well while I am researching