The ultimate newbie question!

[Cameron Livingstone]

I've been fascinated by arachnids since a young age, but have recently become thrilled by the thought of keeping my own, however i have a few questions that have varying answers depending on where i ask them!

Firstly, I was wondering what a good beginner species is, aside from the pet rock (G Rosea) I was hoping to find an interesting yet easy to keep species. I have plenty of space for an enclosure, however size and everything else required also varies from place to place!

Handling is not a particular interest, as i prefer to watch than interfere! (I was recently offered to hold a chilean rose at my local pet shop, however it just sat on my hand and almost seemed to fall asleep)

I'm extremely interested to hear the suggestions and advice of you veterans, as i don't trust seemingly random care sheets dotted around the internet.

Many thanks for your time

[craig mcinnes]

Acanthoscurria geniculata. Big, nice looking, very greedy and quite often out and about bulldozing their enclosures.
Holothele incei. Small, fast, nice looking and webs loads.

[Cameron Livingstone]

Thanks for the reply Craig! The Acanthoscurria geniculata looks absolutely awesome, do you have any info on what best age/size to start with would be, as well as any enclosure info? I seem to be getting (yet again) conflicting info on the net!

Many thanks

[Craig Toon]

Cameron,

A. Geniculata is a good T to start with but don't try to handle as they may take your finger as food. Like Craig said they do have an amazing appetite. i have one which is sub adult, but for a beginer I would start with a sling around 3cm as you get more from enjoyment from it watching it grow. As for the tank what ever size the Geniculata leg span is x that by 3 for width of the tank and that should be plenty then just increase as your T grows.

I would also look at B Smithi and G Pulchar as beginer TS

Regards

Craig Toon

[NikiJoDolby]

Try this link and have a look around. As well as the above Brachypelmas and Aphonopelmas are good starter terrestrials. Fossorials are great but unless you're up eary in the morning (or the middle of the night) you may find yourself just looking at a hole in the substrate. If you want arborials Avicularia are beautiful but can have high mortality rates in the young. Anyway, good hunting!

http://www.thespidershop.co.uk/insect/index.php

[Cameron Livingstone]

Thank you Craig and Niki for your help! I think I'll probably start with a sling, even though it's slightly daunting! I was thinking of feeding the sling baby crickets, but would small/medium mealworms be suitable to feed a Juvenile? I'd like to avoid crickets as much as possible, mainly for the smell! I'm also thinking about getting some Dubia roaches a bit further down the line, and using the small enclosure that I'll house my Juvenile to house them (i've heard they're pretty hardy and long lasting, as well as pretty good food for larger Ts!)

Any and all advice on this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much everyone

[Arron Hooks]

I read somewhere squat maggots from a fishing bait shop work well for slings. Get non-dyed ones but I could imagine the sales person being puzzled if you ask to buy only a few. Chopped up mealworm/crickets, I believe, is another method that works, a sling will scavenge happily if I remember correctly.

[Kate Arbon]

If as you say you don't care about handling I have to give you my favourite recommendation - Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens aka Greenbottle Blue. A little skittish so not one I like to hold, but fantastic in every other respect. Hardy, colourful, great eaters, heavy webbers, reasonably active (for a T, anyway), rarely hide... I just love 'em. And if you want to get a sling then GBBs are a good choice as they grow pretty fast, look beautiful as slings and go through a wonderful colour change as they grow.

[Kate Arbon]

I read somewhere squat maggots from a fishing bait shop work well for slings. Get non-dyed ones but I could imagine the sales person being puzzled if you ask to buy only a few. Chopped up mealworm/crickets, I believe, is another method that works, a sling will scavenge happily if I remember correctly.

I recently tried maggots on someone's recommendation... won't be trying them again! They were still too big for my slings (all around 1cm at the moment) so I had to chop them up which was just gross. At least when you pre-kill a cricket they are pretty solid, these were... gooey. And only one of the 5 slings I tried them with ate its chunk. I always have a hard time getting slings to eat pre-killed food

I'm now trying bean weevils, which are small enough to feed to slings live. Apparently they are a nightmare if they escape, but I'm hoping I can avoid that! Anyway so far my P. ornata and P. cambridgei slings seem to enjoy them so fingers crossed the fussy eaters will as well.