Hi everyone, I'm a newbie on here.

[Louise Stewart]

I would just like to say a joyful hello to everyone on here. Myself & my 8 year old son joined because he is absolutely fanatical about Tarantulas & I'm beginning to get slightly addicted too . We have had our first spider (B.Smithi) for almost a year now & we absolutely adore her, she is the perfect pet in every way... apart from giving me a hair shower everytime I clean her water bowl/feed her/spray her or clean the glass lol, she's a moo but we wouldn't be without her

[R Thomas]

Hi Louise and Son,

Welcome to the forum. It is great to hear about you and your B. smithi. I am however very surprised that you have been able to avoid temptation and not buy another in a year. I find it hard to go a week without wanting to add to my collection and no matter how many times I suggest to my children that they should share a bedroom and let me have a dedicated spider room they still resist lol

Well perhaps later you can add a picture or two of your T to the site. I must admit that I need to spend more time camera at the ready instead of it leaving it in the draw.

Best Regards,

Richard

[Ray Hale]

Welcome to the BTS Forum. Always nice to see new members. Ask as many questions as you like. There is always someonehere who will help out.

Ray Hale
BTS Committee

[Jamie Cooper]

Ahh nice to see someone from my part of the country. Welcome to the forum. I live in Torrington, what part of this giant lump of mud (Devon) are you from?

Jamie

[John chambers]

Hi Louise and Son.
I started this year with a B.smithi from the bts fair and a month later I was sent a Juvi B.albopisom and just over a month ago I got a E.campestratus that molted a male that is gong on a 50/50 breeding loan.
Not bad for a ex-archnophobic lol.

John.

[Louise Stewart]

Haha, thanks everyone. Actually we have been shopping this week, and no, I don't mean the clothes variety ( it's a woman thing :0/). We have, in fact been & bought more housing for more Tarantulas lol. We are hoping to get a couple more now that we feel that we are capable of looking after them. We also have tropical fish, a Leopard Gecko & a Giant Hairy Scorpion too, all of which belong to Johnny (son) but cared for by yours truly lol.
Hopefully we will be getting a L.Parahybana as I have read that they are not too hard to look after & they are also fairly robust ... not that we are bad at looking after any T but I really want to feel confident that we are doing the best for them. I added a piccy of Zilla the Killa as my profile pic, I took it this saturday just after her moult & stunning she looks too!
Jamie, we live in Torbay :0)
Also, thanks Ray, this is the best place ever for novices like myself, it has been invaluable, what with everyones knowledge.

Lou

[R Thomas]

Hi Lou and Johnny,

I bought a L. parahybana sling recently and so far it is eating well etc. I do however have a real soft spot for my A. geniculata sling that has after his last moult emerged with a dark body and bright white knee markings. I also have found myself buying B. albopilosa slings purely because they look cute with their slightly wavy hair. I am a sucker for eight legs and must say I have never had so much enjoyment from keeping pets. I find this site so useful myself and learn something new everyday.

Richard

[Nick Ashley]

Hi Louise and son,

What a good mum you are! I had to wait till I was 12 before I was aloud my first spider (many many moons ago!). Funnily mine was also a B.smithi with a tendancy for hair flicking... eventually proved to be a male.
As for you next spider... well everyone will have a different suggestion on that one!! L.parahybana is a indeed a robust spider and very impressive at that! However I would class them as a big ball of fur with muscles.. if you want something a little softer you might want to chack out a Curly Hair (Brachypelma albopilosa) or Chile Rose (Grammostola cala or G.rosea). These tend to be about as docile as you get, the Chile rose also tend to be quite nosey which adds to their charm...

Anyway all the best!

[Colin D Wilson]

Welcome on board,
As Ray has said there will always be someone here to offer assistance so post away, there is no such thing as a silly question so don't worry ...we've all been beginers before
If you're stuck with anything regarding the forum then just PM away.
I also think it's great that you've encouraged your son in the hobby, it's good to educate at an early age.

[Louise Stewart]

Thank's for the compliment Nick, it didn't take much arm twisting though lol. I fell in love with T's when we took a trip to Torquay museum, they had a 'petting' day & I ended up with an adorable G.Rosea climbing up my arm!! That was it! both me & Johnnypants were totally smitten lol
Richard, I will definately have a look at the T species that you mention, I am still trying to get to grips with the names lol.
Johnny has fallen in love with the L.Parahybana, I am nervous now lol, are they a bit ferocious then? I have read that they are quite docile but I understand there are always exceptions to any rule. The only thing I don't want to happen is to get savaged when I go to change the water etc, other than that I am happy to let him have one.... he's already got the name ready for the new arrival & he's all excited.

Thanks guys.
Lou

[Colin D Wilson]

The only thing I don't want to happen is to get savaged when I go to change the water etc,

Long tweezers and/or utensils and treat them as tropical fish (i.e. for viewing only) and you'll be fine

[Louise Stewart]

Thanks very much Colin. No doubt I will have plenty of questions to ask over time. There is one question I did want to know, I am a paid up member of The B.T.S, do you have to show the "proud member of the...." logo on your profile? if you do how do I get it? I was just wondering.

Thanks again.
Lou

[Nick Ashley]

Johnny has fallen in love with the L.Parahybana, I am nervous now lol, are they a bit ferocious then? I have read that they are quite docile but I understand there are always exceptions to any rule.

You seem to already have an understanding of spiders, there are indeed always exceptions to the rules.. though generally I would not class L.parahybana as ferocious. There are a large strong spider, which in itself can be intimidating, but if they are offish with you, I have found they are more likely to flick hairs rather than go fangs first!
You should be fine, as Colin said just make sure you get a pair of long tweesers.
It's all part of the experience, my 3rd spider was a Haitian Brown bought from a pet shop. I didn't know what it was and so didn't realise that they are known to be ferocious.....had my own little Tazmanian devil! Baptism of fire and all that! lol

[Louise Stewart]

Lol, ok Nick, thank's for putting my mind at rest. Sound's not too disimilar to our Zilla B.Smithi lol. I had visions of holding a bucket & a whip out in front of me when I do the maintenance,, bit like a lion tamer!! lol. Reading about your Haitian Brown makes me think that sometimes ignorance is bliss lol,, when you are forewarned you tend to build a picture in your mind, therefore making you super nervous lol I mean that with other creatures too, not just T's.

Cheers :0)

[R Thomas]

Hi Lou and Johnny,

It is hard to get to grips with species proper names but so easy to get confused by similar sounding generic names especially those with the word red in them. The two species I mentioned are sometimes described as the Whitebanded Tarantula, A. geniculata and the Curly Haired, A. albopilosa. The Whitebanded is also known by many as the whiteknee tarantula, giant whiteknee tarantula, giant white knee tarantula or Brazilian giant whiteknee tarantula etc so you can already see the problem in using generic names without the proper name. Well the L. parahybana can grow to sizes around 9" legspan, can be a bit tetchy but tends to be willing to be out often so makes a good display tarantula. Well after the L. parahybana the worlds your oyster - there are so many to chose from. I have both arboreal and terrestrial species and although I love both kinds if I was to be limited to only a few then I would almost certainly keep terrestrial species as I find most arboreal are both mean and fast from siderling to adult whereas most of my terrestrial species are more docile and slow.

Richard