A good beginer spider..

[mischevious21]

Ok, after making a post asking about Tarantulas and Centipeads, I did some real reseach and decided that I really do want a Tarantula. Ive never been afraid of spiders, and have always really liked one, so Ive decided to get one. Im just curious, peronaly what do some of you guys think are good begginer Tarantulas? Ive looked at a few differnt types that I like, and though I can read whatever I want to see some oppinions from people that really own them. Thanks.

[SatanicIntention]

Curlyhair, Chaco Golden Knee, Pretty much any Avicularia sp.

[darkdreamer]

Rosehair tarantula are the best first spider...

[recycling goddess]

i disagree. if you are going to get any of the avicularia species, make sure they are over an inch in size. when they are small they are so delicate and personally i've never been able to keep one alive. but when i order them over an inch... no problem! (they are higher humidity as well)

a GBB is a great first T... very colourful and out much of the time. that's what i started with. OBT is great but fast and something like an n. chromatus is great cause you see it all the time.

it's almost better to do a search, find a few Ts you really like and then say, "are these good beginners" cause so many are good for a beginner. Ts are not all that hard to own and raise. little care and hours of enjoyment!

[mischevious21]

Alright, thank you for the input and Ill let you guys know in a few weeks which one Ill chose

[Shadowspider]

I agree with RG. Avicularia sp. is NOT the best species to start with. Arboreal tarantulas in general are not the best. Many first time keepers have Avicularia avicularia (common pink toe) as a first tarantula but that is about the *only* Avic. species that is hardy enough and docile enough for a novice to feel comfortable with.
I would steer clear from *any* Old World tarantula. Old World being any tarantula from Africa and Asia respectively. Central and South American and island tarantulas such as Nhandu, Lasidora and Theraphosa tend to be more skittish and more prone to aggression than those from the United States and Mexico.

To give you a place to start, look at Aphonapelma sp. Brachypelma sp. and Acanasccuria sp.

[chris B]

I like Mexican Red knee's and rose hairs. Female's are usually a bit more because they live qutie a bit longer.

[raptorslovepuns]

I agree with RG. Avicularia sp. is NOT the best species to start with. Arboreal tarantulas in general are not the best. Many first time keepers have Avicularia avicularia (common pink toe) as a first tarantula but that is about the *only* Avic. species that is hardy enough and docile enough for a novice to feel comfortable with.
I would steer clear from *any* Old World tarantula. Old World being any tarantula from Africa and Asia respectively. Central and South American and island tarantulas such as Nhandu, Lasidora and Theraphosa tend to be more skittish and more prone to aggression than those from the United States and Mexico.

To give you a place to start, look at Aphonapelma sp. Brachypelma sp. and Acanasccuria sp.

I disagree with the avicularia avicularia comment, if you can get a good size animal (which means $$$$$), most avics are a good starter. Aphonopelma and Brachypelma make great pets, but as they're very slow growing, they can be incredibly expensive for the newb. I paid ~$85 for a 4" b. boehmei female and that's about half what she was worth. Aphonopelma are similar in that respect as are all grammostola except g. rosea.

I respectfully encourage everyone to NOT buy g. rosea as most are wild caught specimens from Chile. Every petco in the country has one that's being poorly maintained in their store. Think about how many that is This is putting undue pressure on wild populations. Also, they're brown spiders that move like rocks and feed incredibly rarely.

Any genus besides avicularia, grammostola, brachypelma and aphonopelma will probably be aggressive or at the least skittish. Lasiodora or Acanthoscurria are GREAT beginner spiders as they're durable as hell, generally out and about and BIG! L. Parahybana gets to ~10" and A. Geniculata gets to ~8"! Chromatopelma is another great spider to get started with, though a little pricey. They are virtually unkillable though. Shadowspider, I also disagree with saying Lasiodoras are more aggressive than Acanthoscurrias, my Genic will rapid strike the tongs that I put into the cage, and he's pretty much the most aggressive spider I've ever had (including poecilotheria, haplopelma and pterinochilus!).

Even old world spiders aren't all that hard to deal with. I've had pokies, pterinochilus, psalmopoeus (grouped here because it's a FAST arboreal new world spider that's closely related to poecs and has strong venom), haplos, etc., and the basic day to day maintenance is the same pretty much. Get a half year of experience with one of the above dudes and you can switch to OW spiders fine.

edit: also, almost ANY herp is a lot more work and time investment than almost ANY tarantula. I've careed for a few dozen spiders at a time and I'm still too nervous to try a ball python.

Here's some good spider links:
www.arachnoboards.com (best tarantula resource on the web, bar none)
www.botarby8s.com (fair prices and professional)
http://www.reptistexotics.com/ (same, but even better prices and more selection of adult spiders.)

[Shadowspider]

I disagree with the avicularia avicularia comment, if you can get a good size animal (which means $$$$$), most avics are a good starter. Aphonopelma and Brachypelma make great pets, but as they're very slow growing, they can be incredibly expensive for the newb. I paid ~$85 for a 4" b. boehmei female and that's about half what she was worth. Aphonopelma are similar in that respect as are all grammostola except g. rosea.

Please read what I said about A. avic. However, I think I should say that *s'lings" are not very hardy but as they get older, the likelyhood of unexplained deaths decreases drastically.
I disagree with the price of a larger A. avic. That particular species is not expensive, even for an adult female... of course "expensive" is subject to interpretation; while one person might consider $50 for a AF A. avic to be expensive, another would not. Now if we're talking sub adults/adult tarantulas in general, yes, they are more pricey than s'lings... that's a given with *any* tarantula, no matter what the species.

I respectfully encourage everyone to NOT buy g. rosea as most are wild caught specimens from Chile. Every petco in the country has one that's being poorly maintained in their store. Think about how many that is This is putting undue pressure on wild populations. Also, they're brown spiders that move like rocks and feed incredibly rarely.

I could not agree more with this statement, except the G. rosea being "brown" thing... they are not brown. Many Aphonapelma species are brown, but G. rosea are not.

Any genus besides avicularia, grammostola, brachypelma and aphonopelma will probably be aggressive or at the least skittish.

This is true in most cases and is generally excepted as pretty much fact. However, that too is highly dependant upon the individual tarantula and thus, should not *ever* be considered the rule without exception... case in point:

I also disagree with saying Lasiodoras are more aggressive than Acanthoscurrias, my Genic will rapid strike the tongs that I put into the cage, and he's pretty much the most aggressive spider I've ever had (including poecilotheria, haplopelma and pterinochilus!).

That may be true for *yours* but is *not* the case for all and to just make a blanket statement (disagree on the whole) because of *one* tarantula is, IMO, a bit novice and especially when discussing what tarantula(s) to get for a potential new keeper, this statement not only contradicts what you said earlier, but also puts forth a false sense of other, in particular, Old World, species that are repeatedly known for their aggression and/or deffensivness. Just because one spider will be more aggressive toward anything entering it's habitat than another is *not* an indication that said spider is more or less "agressive" than another and can cause misinterpretation on the part of a new keeper.

edit: also, almost ANY herp is a lot more work and time investment than almost ANY tarantula. I've careed for a few dozen spiders at a time and I'm still too nervous to try a ball python.

When you've delt with a few *hundred* for several years... then let's discuss difficulity... and aggression/deffensiveness.
I know that was not the point of that comment but seeing as how that was (in my opinion) a bit of a pointless, silly comment, I tried to make some kind of use of it.

[raptorslovepuns]

I disagree with the price of a larger A. avic. That particular species is not expensive, even for an adult female... of course "expensive" is subject to interpretation; while one person might consider $50 for a AF A. avic to be expensive, another would not. Now if we're talking sub adults/adult tarantulas in general, yes, they are more pricey than s'lings... that's a given with *any* tarantula, no matter what the species.

I was talking about the price for avicularia other than the avic avics; a F a. avic for $50 seems like a decent price, but you could easily pay that much for a 2" versicolor or minatrix. I've seen adult females versis and minatrix going for ~$200, which is a bit much for me (someday when I'm a billionaire sigh....). I have heard many people recommend versicolors as a beginner spider if bought at a decent size though.

I could not agree more with this statement, except the G. rosea being "brown" thing... they are not brown. Many Aphonapelma species are brown, but G. rosea are not.

Looks brown to me

<a href="http://img69.imageshack.us/my.php?image=grosea061123ub2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/8017/grosea061123ub2.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>

This is true in most cases and is generally excepted as pretty much fact. However, that too is highly dependant upon the individual tarantula and thus, should not *ever* be considered the rule without exception... case in point:That may be true for *yours* but is *not* the case for all and to just make a blanket statement (disagree on the whole) because of *one* tarantula is, IMO, a bit novice and especially when discussing what tarantula(s) to get for a potential new keeper, this statement not only contradicts what you said earlier, but also puts forth a false sense of other, in particular, Old World, species that are repeatedly known for their aggression and/or deffensivness.

I'm going partially off my own experiences, partially from what I've read on arachnoboards. If you've had experiences with a few hundred tarantulas, well, you're probably right. From what I've read though, acanthoscurria and lasiodora are about the same on the aggression/skittishness scale. I think overall though, aggression in tarantulas is overstated and it's mostly pure defensiveness. The reason I would not recommend an OW tarantula to a newb is the venom toxicity, rather than any considerations on defensiveness, even though on an individual basis nhandu, lasiodora or acanthoscurria might be more defensive.

I know that was not the point of that comment but seeing as how that was (in my opinion) a bit of a pointless, silly comment, I tried to make some kind of use of it.

My point was just that if he can take care of a ball python alright, he can probably keep just about any tarantula species succesfully. Sorry you found it pointless and silly.