Best T for a child?

[Mandy Clinch]

I have had a G.Rosea for just over a year now and my 4 and a half year old son loves her. So much that he now wants a T of his own for his birthday. Lola, my rosea is ok being handled (obviously only by me) and i would like one that i could handle occasionally if at all possible.
From looking so far i have thought about a B.Smithi, and he likes the look of them, but i thought i should get some expert advice!

Personally i am planning to add a couple more to my collection this year. A G.Pulchra and an A.Geniculata hopefully before the year is out. Maybe a fireleg too. I have a list! These will be for me, but really wants one of his own. Anyadvice gratefully recieved!

[Peter Lacey]

Brachypelma have a habit of flicking hairs which rings alarm bells with children who often get very close. For most people this is no more than a bit of itching on the hands or arms but get too close and you have the potential issue of hairs in the throat or eyes. Most tarantula from the New World have the ability to flick, its just that Brachypelma are more inclined to.
For this reason I'd either be very observant of the individual you are considering or perhaps look at another genus eg. Grammostola or Aphonopelma. This will included the likes of G. pulchra, A. seemani, A. pulchripes, A. new river etc which should make for a more docile and less skittish tarantula. However, there are some Brachypelma which are far less flicky in my experience and worth considering, B. albopilosum and B. vagans or if you prefer the reds of the B. smithi, B. boehmei etc you might want to consider A. bicoloratum.

[Mandy Clinch]

Thank you so much Peter. Will steer clear of the smithi then. He won't be handling it obviously, but i want it to be a bit on the docile side, so i can show him that spiders are nothing to be scared of. He loves my rosea, but really would like one of his own.
This may mean i'll get my pulchra, in the disguise of it being for my son!

Thanks again,
Mandy

[Daniel Richardson]

I'd agree with Peter here, i have Aphonopelma Bicoloratum and she is the most docile and slow spider i have ever seen!! But even nice spider's have bad day's so it's upto u at the end of the day to judge it's mood.

[Joanna Pendleton]

I still want you to get your G. pulchra!!!!!

that's another one we want too!

x

[Mandy Clinch]

Thank you everyone - still undecided and he is convinced he wants the smithi. I have told them "there aren't any left in the shop" but he isn't really buying it!!!

[Vicky Child]

I have a smithi sling. It's not flicked at me yet. Just because the breed as a whole have a tendency to flick doesn't mean you don't get individual's that won't. I'd speak to the shop/site owner and see what experience they've had with their smithi stock.

Mine just sits there watching what you're doing to it's house when you take the lid off. The rest of the time it just sits there anyway.

[Mandy Clinch]

I fihured if i got a sling and got her used to being handled it might be second nature to her. That's my logic anyway!
Thanks for the advice

[Vicky Child]

TBH I wouldn't handle a sling, they might be a little more on the bouncy side, but they can be very very fast when they want to be. Considering this is for your son too, if he went to get it out while you weren't present (lets face it even the best behaved child is a sneak) and it ran off it would be a nightmare to find and get back in it's house.