First buyer

[Mike Mosdell]

I've only recently got into tarantulas, I find them extremely fascinating and have always wanted one or two. Now I've been looking at alot of different species of tarantula but wanted to get some advice from people with alot of experience with them.

The two that caught my eye were Theraphosa Blondi and the Haplopelma Lividum. The t. blondi is a beautiful and lovely sized spider and would be great to have but I'm not sure if its something I should get as a first spider or not?

Can anyone give me any advice on this?

I am only 20 years old, but I do not feel age should be a problem when handling tarantula's as long as you have the dedication and commitment when taking care of them, correct?

[Oli Dodds]

T.Blondi are very large, aggressive/defensive, and you will have a faceful of urticating hairs too. They are also harder to keep then the beginner species. My advice- dont even think about it.
H.Lividum are burrowers and you will very rarely see it. to add to this, they can be psychotic and go into threat posture with little disturbance. To add to this they are also very fast and have a potent venom. Once again- wouldnt think about it.
Its not just yourself you need to think about, but also the wellbeing of the spid as you will probably be better off with a lot of experiance first. Sure some people will be saying "MY FIRST SPIDER WAS A ......... AND I WAS OK". But maybe they just got lucky a lot of times
Try having a look at the Brachypelma, Grammostola and Avicularia species for first spids as they are easy to care for and rarely bite.
Hope this helps, Oli

[Mike Mosdell]

Should I be looking at buying a spiderling or a mature adult? Obviously I have no experience so I'm unsure as to what would be the better starting point.

Also thanks for the current advice, I've now been looking at the Brachyplema albopilosum and have noticed that they are regarded as one of the best species for a novice to get.

[Oli Dodds]

Its better to buy a juvenile, as spiderlings sometimes die for no reason, and they dessicate very quickly! If you go for a mature adult, there is the problem of you having no idea how old it is. One of my friends bought an adult spid, it died 3 weeks later from old age lol, you dont want that to happen
The B.Albo is a very good starting spider if you like the look of it. Very docile and slow moving (bar mine, the thing tries to bite everytime i go near it ) Not too flicky either, unlike the smithi, so its a very nice first spider

[Louise~Nichols]

Hi Mike,
Again I'd agree and say opt for a juvenile as then you can *grow* with your spider. Easy spiders to start with are the Brachypelma brigade...but also if you want a good size and very docile try Grammostola Aureostriata, they do get to a very respectable size without having a bad temper! Grammostola Pulchra are also wonderful...beautiful chunky black spiders.

If you fancy brightly coloured and not too difficult to get on with try Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens, the GreenBottle Blue. Whilst these guys can be skittish, they wouldn't be an immense handful for a beginner to try out...and they are beautiful to look at, with an easy enough care regime to get on with. Hope this helps.

[Tom Forman]

brachypelma's are considered a good beginners spider. There are lots to choose from. tarantula-shop.com are selling a few atm.

If you want colourful, these tend to be more aggressive, harder to keep, need bigger enclosures, hide lots etc.

But the chromatopelma is probably the exception beeing one of the most colourful and one of the easier species to keep.

I can also recommend the nhandu chromatus as an easy and good looking spider but I might be biased on this since it was my first T and it is the favourite in my collection.

generally thespidershop.co.uk has got very good desciptions on their current spiders telling you how easy or difficult it is to keep

[Kate Arbon]

My top recommended beginner spiders would be:

Any Grammastola, especially G. aureostriata if you are keen on a big spider. These can get to 8". Very docile, good eaters, don't hide much.

Any Brachypelma. A colourful genus. I find them a bit more skittish than Grammastola and more likely to flick hairs, but still consider them docile.

Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens. Colourful, hardy spider, GREAT eaters, do quite a lot of webbing. Pretty fast moving but nothing to worry about if you just use common sense. Unfortunately these guys seem to be quite hard to come by at the moment, but they are worth it if you can get them.

If you go for a Brachy or a Gramma I'd recommend a juvenile or bigger, or else you will be stuck with a baby spider for a very long time - they grow really slowly. Of course if you are going to get more spiders that doesn't really matter Grammastolas tend to be cheaper than Brachypelmas, and both require the same care which is very simple.

the Chromatopelmas grow quicker and go through great colour changes as they grow so they are excellent to get as slings, also they are very tough as babies so you don't have to worry about special care requirements.

[Peter Lacey]

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum and the expanding hobby - more people and people with more tarantula
I think much of what's been said will make a great introduction, easily cared for and easy to find.
A great introduction to some common species is on the T-store site run by Phil Messenger:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/the.tarantula.store/care-species.htm

Note the colour system. You'll also find the Wanted/For Sale section in the T-store forum can be helpful as can the classified section of the BTS forum and various other For Sale boards in the variety of forums covering tarantula, inverts and reptiles.

good luck and let us know how you get on.

[Rich.Harrington]

Just to add another suggestion to the list, (though some may disagree) Phormictopus atrichromatus Means you can again have a large spider like the G. aureostriata, though personally I prefer the colours of P.atrichromatus, I've also found the one I have to be a very forgiving spider, there have been some threat postures when cleaning or such, but never fully reared exposing fangs, that and the spinning dance they do as a warning is a nice quirk.

[Nicola Dolby]

Hi Mike, firstly welcome to the forum. As you probably gather there are lots of tarantulas you can start with. I originally wanted a cobalt blue but changed to a Poecilotheria because of one simple reason. You'll hardly ever see it! I have an adult female H. lividium now and she only leaves her burrow to hunt late at night (unless there's a male in there!). So to be honest I'd go for a good display spider, plenty of which have already been mentioned here. On the subject of whether to get a spiderling, it all depends on how much time and research you are prepared to put in. If you just want a pet then I'd get an adult, though if you want to become more involved in learning about tarantulas and understand the species you want to buy, then get a spiderling and as it grows learn with it. this is what I did, and there is nothing like the buzz fom seeing the little critter have his/her first moult! Also if you want a T. blondi, get one! There's only one way to learn in keeping tarantulas, and that's experience which you'll only get if you get one, as it were! Hope this helps.

[Mike Mosdell]

Thank you all for the great replies and the welcomes. I was actually looking at Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens seeing as how I've seen so many on the forum pictures and they look very colourful and seem like great spiders, although not found one to buy yet!

I ended up buying a juvenile Brachypelma baumgarteni, I loved the look of her and can not wait to get her in my new enclosure when she arrives. I'll have pics up when she does!

[Dave Freeman]

My top recommended beginner spiders would be:

Any Grammastola, especially G. aureostriata if you are keen on a big spider. These can get to 8". Very docile, good eaters, don't hide much.

Any Brachypelma. A colourful genus. I find them a bit more skittish than Grammastola and more likely to flick hairs, but still consider them docile.

Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens. Colourful, hardy spider, GREAT eaters, do quite a lot of webbing. Pretty fast moving but nothing to worry about if you just use common sense. Unfortunately these guys seem to be quite hard to come by at the moment, but they are worth it if you can get them.

If you go for a Brachy or a Gramma I'd recommend a juvenile or bigger, or else you will be stuck with a baby spider for a very long time - they grow really slowly. Of course if you are going to get more spiders that doesn't really matter Grammastolas tend to be cheaper than Brachypelmas, and both require the same care which is very simple.

the Chromatopelmas grow quicker and go through great colour changes as they grow so they are excellent to get as slings, also they are very tough as babies so you don't have to worry about special care requirements.

Mine is a right hideaway skittish thing. Its only 3 and half inches so do they calm as they age? It is docile once out of the tank but can be a bit wild when you try to get it out of the tank.

[Andrew Ferguson]

Thank you all for the great replies and the welcomes. I was actually looking at Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens seeing as how I've seen so many on the forum pictures and they look very colourful and seem like great spiders, although not found one to buy yet!

Here you go, a reputable dealer.

Viginia Cheeseman

http://www.virginiacheeseman.co.uk/

The Spider Shop did have some juveniles but it seems they have sold out. Shucks!!

[Tom Forman]

wow thats mad, I just told my friend about the greenbottle blue(s) on thespidershop this friday and now there aren't any left?!?

Mike, the B. Baumgarteni is very nice indeed, I had a nother proper look at it and I think I prefer it to the B. Bohemi.

I'm thinking of getting one of these too now, I really should considering my religion teacher was called Mr Baumgarten lol.

where did you buy yours from?

[Peter Lacey]

I know which one I prefer

Brachypelma baumgarteni:

http://thebts.co.uk/forums/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/557

Brachypelma boehmei:

http://thebts.co.uk/forums/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/208

I've got 2 boehmei, both lovely colouring but the one that moulted recently is striking, poppy red legs, pale orange carapace, jet black legs.

Each to their own though and admittedly the GBB is a lovely T, they web lots but tend to be visible upon their web.