New to BTS

[Stephen Cooke]

Hi, I'm Stephen I joined BTS this week and I'm waiting for my welcome pack to arrive ,
this is my first post I only have one T at the moment a G.porteri , just wanted to say Hi to all T keepers.

[Nicolas Charrière]

Hi Stephen, and welcome here!

[Angela gridley]

Hi Stephen, I'm new on here this week too, I have 4x t.blondi's and a hatihati purple

[Peter Roach]

Welcome to the hobby and to the BTS

[Stephen Cooke]

Hi,
Thanks for the welcomes, I like the teresterals type of T what would people suggest I get next I must admit I do like the Grammastola "North". any ideas.

[Nicolas Charrière]

There are so much ideas and possibilities, it depends on lots of different criteria! Grammostola are good beginner's Ts (even if some can be quite defensive!). If you do some researches on this forum, you'll find different threads on the "first T" subject. Maybe you could look for something more different looking than your G porteri, even in the Grammostola sp. (for instance, what about a "little" G pulchripes?).

[CedricPicard]

Hi and welcome Stephen and Angela,

I'm relatively new to the hobby and the forum myself. I've 2 terrestrial and 1 arboreal, all slings. The terrestrials are a brachypelma smithi, recently molted and a brazilian black, currently in pre-molt and is scared of her own shadow at the best of times. The arboreal is an avicularia versicolor, molted a few days ago (I've posted 2 post-molt photos in a separate thread).

I'm a big fan of green bottle blues, and plan my next terrestrial to be a GBB. Colours are amazing and a big webber!

I'd also like a Singapore blue in the future, but I'm told they're a handful so will wait a bit for that one!

Best of luck with the porteri!

[Peter Roach]

I'd also like a Singapore blue in the future, but I'm told they're a handful so will wait a bit for that one!

Whoever told you that is talking rubbish. You will be extremely lucky if you even see the tips of its feet.
They really have a bad case of Photophobia and they are rarely seen (I've seen my AF once in 3 years)
If you are really quiet and sneak up on it at night, you might, just might be lucky and see it.
The ONLY time that they can be a bit on the arsey side is if they are disturbed while in their hide.

[Peter Roach]

Hi,
I must admit I do like the Grammastola "North". any ideas.

They are a nice small Grammy that are really easy to keep. They only need feeding once or twice a month and need NO heating.
I had a AF (raised from 1cm sling) outside all of last winter and saw her walking around in temps as low as 6C (42F)

My mature male raised like the female from a 1cm sling

[Stephen Cooke]

Hi,
dose any one know how long it takes for a G. pulchripes to grow from 1cm to adult and is it easy to do.

[Marko Sajovic]

Don't know the exact time, but they grow fast. Specialy compared to other Grammostolas.

[Jennifer Wallace]

Hi,

I got a Brachypelma boehmei as my second T and she is lovely. Feeding well at the moment and shows well too. From my reading, all (or at least most) of the Brachypelma's are good beginner species, although some can be prone to hair flicking - particularly boehmei as I'm led to believe.

I fancy a Lasiodora parahybana next, heard they are OK for beginners.

Hope this info is OK, since I am a beginner too!

[Stephen Cooke]

Thanks for the info it's ery helpful .

[Stephen Cooke]

Hi,
can anyone tell me if raising a sling from 1cm to adulthood is easy and would you get more than 1 of the type of sling you want to raise .

[CedricPicard]

Hi,
can anyone tell me if raising a sling from 1cm to adulthood is easy and would you get more than 1 of the type of sling you want to raise .

Hi Stephen,

I cannot answer the 1st question, but regarding getting 1 or more specimen, I guess it depends on your purpose for getting into the hobby. Female specimen usually have a longer lifespan than male specimen. According to Schultz and Schultz, males have an average lifespan of 8-12 years, and will live between 6-18 months after their last molt. There have been reports of females living more than 30 years in captivity, but the figure I hear most often is 18-25 years (someone with more experience might be able to provide more accurate info).

Females also tend to be more "laid-back", so a little easier to care for. This said, each specimen has its own temperament, so take this with a pinch of salt

If you're interested in breeding, you would probably want a male which hasn't matured yet, in order to get the most out of it after its final molt.

According to the Tarantula Keeper's Guide by Schultz and Schultz, if you purchase 5 specimen of the same breed, you have 95% chances of getting at least one specimen of the sex you desire. Obviously, see with your pet store if you can get a cheaper price per specimen if you buy more than one, etc.

Hope that helps,
C