A Care Vid

[Stephen Bryceland]

A guy I know who has an exotic shop is using this vid as a guide for newbie's to caring for tarantulas.. seemingly the guy who made the vid is well known herpetologist...

My mate has been giving out advice for keeping tarantulas such as using bug gel for water, putting a layer of bark chippings on top of the coir, using a heat lamp if you cant get the temps to what you need and also vermiculite on its own for subby..I am guessing he's getting the advice from the guy in the vid as my mates said "A herpetologist friend told me thats what to do"..

just like everyones honest views as i'm going to show him what arachnid keepers think of the advice he's handing out



Video

The same person runs a shop and also has a website which has lots of different caresheets on..
this is his caresheet on tarantulas.. Again views please
Care Sheet

Thanks
Steve

[matthew spooner]

with regards to the care sheet.......
the advice to start seems to give information about particular species but generalizes it to be true of all tarantulas.
they seem to be underestimating the severity of a bite, i think we can all wish that it was only a short lasting bee sting, i think they should have explained more about the differing strengths of bite, for instance the possible paralysis from a bite from the baboon family.
a local hotspot of 38c, i dont know about anyone else but i never let any set up get that hot.
i see they are encouraging people to stand tanks on top of heat mats, apparently allowing the heated air to rise to draw fresh air in, hhmmm.
can someone name me a species that grows from spiderling to adulthood in a year?
haven't really got time or patience to read through the rest at the moment to be honest but in my opinion, i think up to that point those are the main points that i would disagree with

[lynn mawdesley]

spotlight yea smart one!!! i think this guy needs to research more

[Chris Sainsbury]

Hi
Nice little vid showing the basics of keeping a pet tarantula.
Sure there are a a few things in it that might be deemed unessary, like the water gel or changing the substrate etc etc, but over all I very much doubt that any of the information given in it would kill or even harm the tarantula to any great extent if at all.
If I am honest the video does a good job at showing how easy it all is to keep such an animal, even with all the heat mats and cables so on a big pluss side I think it can sparkle more peoples interest in the hobby.

Thing is with this type of thing, it doesn't matter how right you think your videos are there will always be someone who can pick holes in this and that about the information you provide saying how they would do it different etc.
Hell, if you ever saw my spider (sort of) room you would most probably have a field day with remarks and criticism about my lack of water dishes, lack of heat matts, bone dry substrate in some, unremoved moults etc, etc, etc, but at the end of the day my spiders are living and in some case breeding all fine and dandy, so would I be right to change my keeping habits if and remarks were made?

I also notice that you pick up on the fact hes a herpetologist which forgive me if I am wrong, is someone who is more into the care of reptiles and amphibians rather than arachnids so I can sort of forgive his Mr Meaners a lot more, especialy since the advice given wouldn't kill the spider anyway. There is no way on this earth I could do the same sort of video about the care of reptiles and amphibians and they still be alive at the end of a week, then I would expect the same kind of reaction from the various reptile keepers as this guy gets from many of us spider keepers , only I think I would deserve it alot more.


Not read the care sheet....well not read it enough to pay any real attention to it but I expect like the video it just covers the basics of keeping tarantulas, so is probably fine as well for this job.
If I want to know about different aspects like the venom, or moulting or even different species I would not even bother looking at a care sheet in the first place, as the information given in them is always very limited in my oppinion, and rightly so because there is nothing more off putting to a new keeper than a list of facts, tables and complicated reading data when all they want is a pet spider! This kind of stuff can be learnt (if wanted to) at a later date.

At the end of the care sheet I did notice:-

Several other species are available from time to time. Keep a lookout at your local pet store or you could join a Tarantula Society. To find about the range of the species and their requirements, read up in one of the many excellent books that have been published or look on the Internet.

Which is a great bit of advice because just one source of information is not the best source of information IMO.
All th best
Chris

[Stephen Bryceland]

spotlight yea smart one!!! i think this guy needs to research more

lol.. seemingly he has 35years experience..say's it at the start of the vid..

[Colin D Wilson]

can someone name me a species that grows from spiderling to adulthood in a year?

L parahybana males

[Stephen Bryceland]

Chris I do agree most of the vid is quite good advice but if you read the caresheet you will see in the housing section he advises on using a hotrock and basking lamp, also a hotspot temp of 38 degrees which is over 100f, this would eventually kill any tarantula..

my main point here is my mates taking advice from this guy and telling newcomers to give the tarantula bug gel instead of water use bark chipping as substrate, use heatlamps to up the temps and also use vermiculite only as a subby...I have told my mate this is the wrong advice to be giving anyone but he keeps saying "well my friend told me thats the way and he's a herpetologist"

I have written to the person in question about the caresheet so am waiting his reply..

[Colin D Wilson]

Which is a great bit of advice because just one source of information is not the best source of information IMO.

Absolutely !!!!

[Colin D Wilson]

The while video seems to be organised to give the prospective buyer the need to constantly monitor the spiders environment and therefore feel the need to buy more (unnessesary) products...i.e a good sales and marketing campaign.

I've been in this game for over 35 years and i've never heard of the bloke either.

[Chris Sainsbury]

L parahybana males

And Phormingochilus everetti (females get can get big also)males Lampropelma violaceopes males (females can get big also) and Cyriopagopus sp. "Sulawesi" females (ok maybe not fully grown but very big) most Psalmopoeus spp. I keep........sure there are many more not yet mentioned.

[Chris Sainsbury]

Chris I do agree most of the vid is quite good advice but if you read the caresheet you will see in the housing section he advises on using a hotrock and basking lamp, also a hotspot temp of 38 degrees which is over 100f, this would eventually kill any tarantula..

my main point here is my mates taking advice from this guy and telling newcomers to give the tarantula bug gel instead of water use bark chipping as substrate, use heatlamps to up the temps and also use vermiculite only as a subby...I have told my mate this is the wrong advice to be giving anyone but he keeps saying "well my friend told me thats the way and he's a herpetologist"

I have written to the person in question about the caresheet so am waiting his reply..

Ok just had a quick flick though and sure what you point out there is maybe a little iffi but I would think it a little more polite to speak to him in private and hear what he has to say first than (what looks to me, though probably not the intent) be-little the guy who I expect means well.

I also find it doesn't matter if anyones not heard of him does this make a big difference? I mean I could tell you the names of a fair few people in the spider hobby who have kept spiders for a good 20 + years who you have never heard off. Put it this way Colin has been in this game for 35 years yet, I only knew of him since June 2006 so should I class him now in the same league?

The while video seems to be organised to give the prospective buyer the need to constantly monitor the spiders environment and therefore feel the need to buy more (unnessesary) products...i.e a good sales and marketing campaign.

Yep looks exactly the same to me as well. A pet shop vid and care sheet to help the pet shop make a bit more cash.

All the best
Chris

[Colin D Wilson]

Put it this way Colin has been in this game for 35 years yet, I only knew of him since June 2006 so should I class him now in the same league?

Thats the point i was making Chris (badly with scarcasm) with reference to the earlier mention of his time in the herp hobby, there's lots of people who have been into herps amphibs archnids etc for many years but if you've never heard of them you dont know they exist..you can't really make an assumption of the capabilities of a person for how long they've been in or how recognised (or not) they are in a hobby.

One thing to mention is the quote "well my friend told me thats the way and he's a herpetologist"....i know of a fair few decent Herpetologists that admit they wouldn't have a blind clue what to do with a spider, give them a reptile and they can tell you what time it last went for a number 2 just from looking at it. The two hobbies are a whole different ball game.

[lynn mawdesley]

lol.. seemingly he has 35years experience..say's it at the start of the vid..

lol ...and dont forget if he was any sort of herpetologist he would say to put a wire mesh box around the spotlight or for any light in fact so the reptile or tarantula in this case does not burn itself ...which trust me is easily done ...or dont tarantulas climb

[Paul Behan]

With all due respect this guys methods contradict almost all that I have learned about Tarantula husbandry in the relatively short time that I have kept them.

[James Box]

just watched the video...i could see nothing worth slagging off, imh.
i don't bother with substrate changes or cleaning (unless there's been a death, as it can get a bit minging)...but it won't hurt the spider.
also, on the video, they clearly show the heatmat being mounted on the side.
sure, it's alot of stuff to buy, and most of us that have kept more than a few spiders realise that gets pricey! and we cut corners, and the spiders do fine!
however, that vid is a great start... not sure about that 3-5 years for a rosea though...maybe for a male!
but i thought they did a good job, they emphasise not handling and also not bothering the spider while moulting etc.
not a bad little vid, a bit cheesy but does the job well.
will post again after i've read caresheets...but i expect it all comes down to the hard fact that there are as many successful ways to keep tarantulas as there are successful tarantula keepers! no matter what advice you've been given or books you've read, there's always the scope for it being wrong or just not suited to the condition balance you provide...

so best not to jump down people's throats, i'm with Chris and Colin on this one!