just introducin myself

[Rhys Wiliiams]

hi im Rhys
im new to the whole tarantula thing so please be patient with me lol
i got a small smithi about the size of a ten pence peace, and i just baught some small crickets for him but he just doesnt seem interested does tha mean hes going to moult??
when i was younger i was scared of tarantulas as most young children ar lol but when i was about 11, i went up my brothers house to find he had a huge collection of tarantulas,and then while he was movin holmes i had to look after 3 and ever since been very interested in them.looking to buy a new spiderling want something very calm and easy to care for any suggestions????

[patsyking]

Hi Rhys.

Could be your T is just setting in. I had my first T in November and have just got T number 4. I have a chile rose that is very docile and a very good beginners spider. I've also got a Green Bottle Blue and a Mexican Red Rump and a tiny tiny B.smithi. People say the chile rose is boring because of its colour but I find them fascinating. I would recommend a chile rose to anyone fora first spider.

[James Box]

welcome Rhys, hope you enjoy it here!
i agree with Patsy...though you do get some ferocious (ie feisty) rosea's, they are a great spider and generally docile. they may look dull in pictures, but they are beautiful beyond belief in person.
other options could be Grammatola pulchra, a large beautiful black tarantula. hard to actually convey how gorgeous a plain black spider can be, but think of a black velvety cat with 8 legs and you won't be far off. perhaps a bit nippier than rosea (i've been pounced at once), but still nice.
also, there's and Aphonopelma chalcodes (again beautiful in person despite "plain" colouring), Brachypelma albopilosum (the golden hairs are unreal!) and Brachypelma emilia (beautiful in any context), three spiders i also have some small experience with, and which have proven to be quite docile under most circumstances, not to mention easy to care for as well!

[Rhys Wiliiams]

thanks

im prob gonna buy a small chile rose.got any advice on where to buy tarantulas i been going on thespidershop.com any hot spots i should now about???

[Peter Lacey]

Hi Rhys

Tarantuala don't eat much so don't expect to have to feed them every day. A single small cricket 2 or 3 times a week is suitable, and a little water bowl should suffice.
There's loads of suggestions but it depends what is available, often the various forums offer tarantula at good prices but you may find an exotic shop nearby and therefore save on the postage. Aphonopelma, Brachypelma and Gramostola genus are usually widely available and easy to care for, requiring similar set-ups.
Take a look in the BTS gallery and see what takes your fancy. Read up on the species and then seek out your new addition. Good luck.

[James Box]

the spidershop is good, as is the tarantula shop.
one of my favourite dealers (http://martingoss.co.uk/, yet another plug! he should pay me) has Grammastola auriostriata and Grammastola sp "North", both of which are i believe quite calm spiders. auriostriata in particular grows fairly large.

[Pam Turner]

Welcome to BTS Rhys! The others have done a great job in helping you already, so I won't try to confuse you further with even more advice.

[matthew spooner]

welcome rhys, may the addiction begin. i got b.smithis myself and they are a beautiful T. another good one for beginners is the Brachypelma vagans (mexican red rump) but generally i agree with the others and say a g.rosea is a good next step, the more you get, the more adventorous u can get lol.

[Rhys Wiliiams]

thanks again lol

cheers uv all been a big help lol i agree the addiction has began i cant go in or out of my bedroom without lookin at my little smithi lol
p.s good news my brother has a lot of spiders and because he and his wife have a baby on the way he has to get rid of a few so he said i can have his chile rose .its a sub adult

[matthew spooner]

nice one mate. they are very slow growers aswell so she/he has got plenty of life left yet. if you think its bad now, keep looking at your smithi, you wait until your collection grows, it takes 4 hours to get a pair of socks lol

[Andrew Ferguson]

Hi Rhys, I'm new to the hobby too and find it absolutely fascinating. I have a B.smithi too, about the same size as well!!



It took a while before Smiffy took its first cricket. Now it seems happy enough.

However, I'm already planning my next tarantula You will be too soon enough!!

By the way, can I recommend two books. The first is Stan Schultz book The Tarantula Keepers Guide. It jammed full of information, probably more than a beginner needs. Although I feel it could do with more pictures. So for those, I would go for Jerry G. Walls The Guide To Owning A Tarantula. A very simple book, but the pictures are out of this world.

[andy hood]

hello rhys and welcome to the bts forum, hope you enjoy it here

[Dave Freeman]

I would recommend a cobalt blue and a king baboon as the top 2 beginners species .

Serious note though however, I find my chaco gold knee a very tame spider, its only bout 3 in at the min, and despite being a bit quick off the mark, is incredibly calm once out of the tank.

Please dont shoot me for the 1st comment, i do have a cobalt and they are naughty, bordering on ruthless (insanity at its best imo) so no touching, and no beginners

Chile roses are a good choice for new comers, with similar temperaments to golden knees in my experience, the benefit to the latter however is they get a little bit bigger and are slightly more colourful.

I would not recommend any baboons, ornamentals or haplopelmas for beginners due to the speedy nature and defensive tendancies they have, and I know this from experience of owning numerous individuals from those categories.

[Kate Arbon]

if you think its bad now, keep looking at your smithi, you wait until your collection grows, it takes 4 hours to get a pair of socks lol

Haha, man that cracked me up. So true

[Dave Freeman]

Haha, man that cracked me up. So true

I only leave the house to go to work, the rest of my time is spent drinking and looking in glass boxes at spiders.