Books

[Simon Batten]

I was wondering if anyone could suggest some good books on tarantula care at the moment the only book I have is Tarantulas and other arachnids a complete pet owners manual which is written by Samuel D Marshall which seems quite good but I wouldnt mind some others

[Stewart Macgregor]

I would definitely recommend The Tarantula Keeper's Guide, it's got LOADS of info. I also like Keeping and Breeding Tarantulas by Ronald Baxter, although it is from 1994 so it's not up to date with taxonomic changes. However, it's got good advice and lots of great photos.

The other thing I recommend is becoming a BTS member (if you aren't already) and doing what I do: print the back issues of the journal off A4 size, double sided, using my college's printers so I don't have to pay a penny for the ink I then get a massive ring binder and stick them all in that with divders for each issue. I've also compiled various articles from elsewhere that I might find useful and included those too. It's a great "encyclopedia" of tarantula keeping, and I find myself turning to it a lot more than books.

I made sure to include as much as I could in the folder, even if I didn't need it at the time. One day it all comes in handy, for example I didn't need articles on the husbandry of African arboreals back in the days when all I had was a G. rosea to my name, but they came in handy when I got my first H. maculata.

[Ray Gabriel]

The best book in English is Ron Baxters,

I wont recomend any book that covers hybridisation

Ray

[Andrew climance]

At the risk of hijacking Simon's thread, I too would like to hear of any good titles.

I am also VERY interested in obtaining a copy of Andrew Smith's 'Tarantulas of the USA & Mexico': this was eagerly anticipated when I as last involved in keeping Ts and I now find it is out of print! Aaarrrgghh!

So, if anyone has a copy (or a duplicate copy) for sale, please let me know!

[Mike Conabeer]

Andrew, have you tried contacting Fitzgerald to see whether they have any copies left? Or failing that try a search for it on Amazon or even Ebeay, I've picked up some excellent out of print books that way.

Mike.

[Mike Conabeer]

Andrew, I've just done a search on Amazon for you, try this link

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tarantula-Spiders-Tarantulas-Mexico-Theraphosid/dp/0951093991/sr=1-1/qid=1162286875/ref=sr_1_1/026-6921863-5882026?ie=UTF8&s=books"]Tarantula Spiders: Tarantulas of the USA and Mexico (Theraphosid Spiders of the World S.): Andrew M. Smith: Amazon.co.uk: Books[/ame]

Hope this helps,

Mike.

[Guy Tansley]

There's a list of recommended reading here:

http://giantspiders.com/further_reading.html

[Andrew climance]

Mike, thanks. Yes, Fitzgerald say that it has been out of print for nearly six months. I followed your Amazon link and have ordered it! I don't know why I didn't think to do that myself; I had already tried eBay etc!!

Guy, thanks for the link. I have several of those titles, but it looks like the old credit card will be taking a hammering over the next few days!

Thanks again guys!

Simon, sorry for hijacking your thread!

[Larry Shone]

I would recommend anyone to get both the Samuel Marhasll book and the Tarantula Keepers Guide(Barrons,199,both exellent books for beginners and officionados.

[Simon Batten]

thats alright Andrew mate im just looking for new books

[Richard Gallon]

Hi Folks,
I doubt Amazon will be able to supply the USA book. Andrew Smith told me that Fitzgerald don't deal with Amazon because they demand the books for a fraction of the publisher's price. So since Fitzgerald won't have sold any to Amazon, they don't have any to offer either.

Best bet is second-hand - but they are like hen's teeth

The best English language books IMO on keeping tarantulas are Baxter's & Marshall's ones. Well those are the ones I keep going back to read - the rest just sit on the shelf gathering dust - go figure! Mind you, I'm a sucker for tarantula books so I buy most of them, lol.

Cheers,
Richard

[mary walters]

Same here, Baxters is the first one we bought in 1994 and the one I call my bible.