Hi everyone, I'm a newbie on here.

[Christopher Smallman]

Think Im a day late to welcome you and your son to the BTS

But Welcome

I dont think I have purchased a single spider but then I buy from the Internet companies so with the next day postage it just isnt worth buying a single spider.

Hence I have ended up with 35 with another 4 arriving tomorrow.

If you have been keeping a Brachypelma smithi for a year I would say you know your way around these gorgeous creatures and any of the larger spids of the Americas would not pose a problem for you. Maybe with the exception of Theraphosa blondi massive size humid conditions and very itchy hairs.

Well at least you know where to come if you get stuck or just have a question it will start to get busier on the forums now the nights are closing in and it gets colder lol.

Chris.

P.S I pinched my BTS thingy then pasted it on my signature but dont tell Colin just in case you arent allowed to do it that way

[Louise Stewart]

Hi Chris, nice to meet you.
I can easlily understand why you have 35 & another 4 on the way lol. I cannot believe how addictive these furry lil beasts are! lol. I'm/we are only allowed to have 3 :0( as hubby has put a curb on us (at least that's what I let him think ) T shopping, I can feel a foot stomping attack coming on around xmas time!! lol
After reading what you & others on here have told me, I think we will get an L.Parahybana, my littly has really set his heart on it & it sounds a very sociable addition. Scorpy is lovely but he hides up a lot of the time & turns into a mini bulldozer at night, so my littly misses a lot of his activity. You know what B.Smithi's are like so something that is quite active will be a nice variation.
Thanks for the BTS thingy advice too,, I will leave it alone, don't want to get into any trouble already! :/ lol

Lou.

[R Thomas]

Louise, just PM Mark Pennell and give him your membership number and when he has confirmation he will make you a member and give you the logo next to your name. I think you will get enjoyment out of any tarantula you get. I have 2 more spiderlings arriving tomorrow and it is hard to go a week without buying more. I am now skint till payday when I hope to buy 1 or 5 more lol

[Aaron Annal]

So thats how ya get the proud member bit at the top
I've been a member ages and always wondered when it would appear lol
cheers Richard

[Colin D Wilson]

P.S I pinched my BTS thingy then pasted it on my signature but dont tell Colin just in case you arent allowed to do it that way

Hmmmmmmm you're logged as a trouble maker Smallman

Louise, just PM Mark Pennell and give him your membership number and when he has confirmation he will make you a member and give you the logo next to your name.

Just as Richard says, Contact Mark and he'll sort it at his earliest convenience

[Nicola Dolby]

Welcome to the BTS Louise and never worry about aggressive tarantulas, I find running away very quickly helps!!!

[Louise Stewart]

Haha thanks Nicola, nice to meet you. I will defo keep that in mind & make sure I wear my trainers at all times when sorting the little beast out lol

Lou.

[R Thomas]

I wear my trainers at all times when sorting the little beast out

Do you think it is similar logic as to why I wear brown underpants on maintenance day rotflmao

Richard

[Christopher Smallman]

Haha thanks Nicola, nice to meet you. I will defo keep that in mind & make sure I wear my trainers at all times when sorting the little beast out lol

Lou.

Do you think it is similar logic as to why I wear brown underpants on maintenance day rotflmao

Richard

Both of which I could of used earlier when one of my new arrivals Peocilotheria regalis when she did laps around the top of her container and then shot off across the bedroom rug eeeek all 2cms of her lol.

Give me my Brachypelma's any day much more like me old plodders

Chris.

[Joanna Pendleton]

First of all, welcome Louise - as you can see from my signature my kids are very involved in Ts as well. My daughter is the real fan, my son is a little young, so while he proudly announces "my spider" he doesn't take any part in looking after them. My daughter is very knowledgable though (she likes to learn the scientific names for spiders and recognises many from pictures now bless her) and she likes to help feed and maintain the more placid Ts we have. Such a great hobby to get them into. The added benefit is that while most other kids we know are terrified of the bigger creepy crawlies we find in the park or back garden my childrens natural response is for one to guard it so as not to lose it and the other come to find me to request a tupperware box to house it in lol.

We have a juvie L.parahybana and he is a very docile young fellow. Tends to shuffle off to the other end of his enclosure and just chill out and wait for me to finish maintenance. Truely my favourite of the bunch and well reccommended.

When I first started keeping them, I thought I'd never have the bottle for the more aggressive spiders. I know have 2 OBTs (P. murinus), hmmm, that thought didn't last long then?

J x

[R Thomas]

When I first started keeping them, I thought I'd never have the bottle for the more aggressive spiders. I now have 2 OBTs (P. murinus)

Do you actually find your OBT's aggressive? I have two here and whenever I look for them they are most often hidden in a web tunnel and if not soon retreat to it if I start maintainance. I have greater issues than aggression with escapologist arboreals that I have to chase around the top of their containers with tongs to stop from escaping. The only tarantula that I think shows any signs of aggression in my collection is the Cobalt Blue (H. lividum) sling that just gives me the feeling that I need to be ultra careful with and not give them the chance to prove me right. My King Baboon (P. muticus aka C. crawshayi) struts around his enclosure as if to say 'I am a monster leave me alone' but when I remove his lid he goes off to hide and has never as yet showed signs of aggression either. Perhaps I have it all to come later.

Richard

[Louise Stewart]

Hi Joanna
I totally agree with you on that one, they are brilliant pets for kids to get into. Johnny is quite knowledgeable too, he knows far more than I do so I'm trying to catch him up lol. After school last night we had all the T books out & we were trying to swat up on names lol. He is really really enthusiastic about the subject too. He is (actually we both are) getting to grips with Old world & new world... we had a little quiz in the car on the way to school this morning lol. I think it makes children more compassionate about animals/creatures & like you say, takes away the fear of so called scary beasts.
I am glad that you told me about your L.parahybana, especially as you have kids too. I have never been scared of any spider but I must confess that I am terrified (I don't think that word is strong enough lol) of snakes lol I'm a wooooos I know, but I just cannot help it lol

Lou.

[Joanna Pendleton]

Funny you should say that Louise, I'm not as terrifies as you are of snakes, but I'm definitely not their biggest fan. People always seem to assume that cos I love spiders, I must like snakes too - erm, why? lol

My children love the Ts and love showing them to their friends. We even took the Ts into my daughters nursery and did a talk on them for the kids there! My daughter likes to do quiz's too. I show her pictures and she tries to remember the names of them. She can do about 10-15 species now and knows the names of some others but gets a little mixed up with some as they look similar to others!

I would definitely say get an L.parahybana! I love ours and so do the children! Especially good as they sit out a lot!

x

[Joanna Pendleton]

Richard, I find my OBTs can be a bit bipolar to be honest. some days not much aggression shown, more of an escape effort, some days they attempt to bite the tweezers! Either way as soon as I open the enclosure slightly they run at the opening lol, whether to escape out of it or attack whats goping into it. The exception was the one that used to just run and hide, but he has sadly passed on now x

[R Thomas]

Well since a childhood incident involving me poking an umbrella into a wasps nest I have been phobic of anything that pierces the skin and gives me pain. So I avoided needles, wasps, bees,snakes and tarantulas for years and you wouldn't catch me near one to save my life. In the last few years I have had to have a fair few injections and blood samples taken and I used to always feel faint at first. Over time I learnt to live with the fact and found ways of re-focusing my mind when having jabs. So earlier this year I went into a new petshop (well an established one but new to me) where the family are just mad on tarantulas. Something inside told me that here was my chance to get over my phobia and the rest they say is history. Even my wife who hated spiders has warmed to my tarantulas and loves to watch them as long as they are in their enclosures. I think that now I could handle keeping a snake but know that my family would not cope and to be honest they do not appeal to me in the same way that tarantulas do.
But never say never who knows what the future holds.

Richard