Introductions!

[lynn mawdesley]

Another newbie

Hi everyone,

Im very new to the hobby been keeping T's for around 6 months now after getting over my long term fear of spiders!

My collection so far are

*Grammostola rosea S/A
*Grammostola chalcothrix juv M
*Avicularia avicularia S/A
*Avicularia versicolor sling
*Brachypelma albopilosum juv
*Eupalaestrus camperstratus sling

And its not going to stop there haha! my husband has kindly offered to build me a big setup in our bedroom for me

Lynn

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Lynn, welcome to the forum, I can see you are already off to a good start, and once you've started there's no stopping, they're utterly addictive, and take hubby up on the set up offer lol and have a nice Christmas.

[lynn mawdesley]

Hi Linda,

Thankyou for the warm welcome! yes indeed i will be taking him up on the offer and it is totally addictive isnt it, im so looking forward to the BTS exhibition in May no doubt i will come back with a few more!

Lynn

[Lisa Baines]

hi lynn

welcome to the forum and indeed, the hobby. I'm personally a scorpion lass but tarantula's are taking me to the dark side hahahaha! I now have 2! Much to the annoyance of my hubby who wanted the tarantula's all to himself! He has about 30.... so far!

Furthermore a BIG WELL DONE for getting over your fear of spiders. Top marks hun I know there are a few people on here who got over their fear... and now have a couple of hundred tarantula's!

And it's good of your hubby to build a display area in your bedroom. Although you may need a full room at some point hahahahaha!

Lisa

[lynn mawdesley]

Hi Lisa,
Thankyou for the welcome, we have 2 baby scorpions our friends had babies and he decided to give us 2 of them im not sure exactley what species they are all i know is that they are black forest scorpions? maybe i could email you a pic and you could give me a better idea haha we actually caught one of them in the shedding process which was pretty cool to see!
I also notice your in west yorks....whereabouts? im in northallerton, north yorks.
Unfortunatley the room of T's will have to wait untill my kids leave home there is four of them hahaha but ill make damn sure i can cram as many into my bedroom as i can hahaha!

Lynn

[James Box]

welcome Lynn! hope you enjoy it here
seems alot of people get over their fears of spiders using tarantulas!
it's great you've got some scorpions too, i love them. are they Asian forest scorpions or African?
if Asian i would bet they are Heterometrus sp. and if they are African they'd be Pandinus sp., possibly imperator, which was my first couple of scorpions and still one of my favourites!

[lynn mawdesley]

Hi James,

Thanks for the welcome ...they are Asian forest scorpions, they make me laugh so much especially when i go to mist the tanks they try and attack the water with their pinchers and stingers!!!! shame they are bigger now because when they were smaller i could handle them but i wouldnt even try now they seem to get more aggressive as they get older!
Wow u have alot of tarantulas!!! on that note do you know anything about the Xenethis intermidius as far as are they aggressive , semi aggressive or docile? i cant seem to find anything on their temperament.
Notice you have millipedes also, its a wicked sensation when they are crawling on you isnt it all them legs haha

Lynn

[Lisa Baines]

me and matthew are in Halifax

As for the scorps they sound like they are some sort of heterometrus species. I think the most common is heterometrus spinifer. It's hard to tell what they will be so young, but by all means send me a picture and I will comapare it with my wee spinifers. I'll pm you addy

[Mark Harrison]

intro

Hello to all members,
um yeah well im totally new to arachnids, have kept other exotic insects before like mantids and stick insects. Really wanted to progress into another aspect of the hobbey, and was told this is the best place to come for info and help.....hopefully very soon will be collecting my first tarantula.

[James Box]

Lisa knows her stuff with scorps, Lynn
Heterometrus is a nice genus...bit confusing cause there are loads, but they get big and have alot of personality for sure.

i've never kept Xenesthis, but my understanding is that they are a more defensive species. no tarantula likes being handled but i think i'd expect lots of hair kicking and threat postures from Xenesthis. but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get one, just let it have its space

Mark, welcome! this is a great place, i've enjoyed since i started posting a good year or so ago now! lots of great people and great info

[lynn mawdesley]

Yea James ive since found out they like to kick hairs...still not stopping me get one though they are stunning! spking of hair kicking was just misting my G. chalcothrix tank quickly turned round to see what my daughter was doin ...at the same time caught him with the mist and his hind leg was going at his abdomen like a dogs would lol poor danny i felt soooo guilty lol!!

[lynn mawdesley]

Hello to all members,
um yeah well im totally new to arachnids, have kept other exotic insects before like mantids and stick insects. Really wanted to progress into another aspect of the hobbey, and was told this is the best place to come for info and help.....hopefully very soon will be collecting my first tarantula.

Hi Mark,

Welcome

Fairly new to the hobby myself! i now have 8 T's and im sure when u get one you will certainly find yourself addicted!!!

Do you have any idea what sp. you are going to get as your first?

I would certainly recommend buying from www.thespidershop.co.uk they list the species for beginners etc .

Lynn

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Mark, welcome to the forum, you have chosen the best site on the net for help and advice, and we look forward to hearing what you first T is going to be.

[Mark Harrison]

thanks

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone, totally not sure what 1st T is going to be lol....had my eye on Aphonopelma seemanni or chromatopelma cyaneopubescens. I dont intent on handling the T's so something that is a little skittish is fine. If anyone has any preferences or advice on the two sp. i mentioned that would be great.

[James Box]

i think alot of people will recommend C cyanopubescens, and it is a gorgeous T!

however, i bought two A seemanni slings just over a year ago, and they have now reached about three inches or so. watching them grow has been an unexpected treat, especially now as they are blue grey (very blue in the right light) with lovely orange on the base of the abdomen including the spinnarets. the striping on the legs is starting to be more visible as well.
of course, you can have browner specimens by keeping them dry, but they are unexpectedly beautiful and fun to watch grow!
there is doubt about the seemanni we have in the pet trade all being precisely the same species, but you may be lucky and get what i've got.
another species i'd recommend is Phormictopus cancerides...slings are midnight blue and they grow into large furry spiders, sometimes with metallic purple on the carapace and femurs, i believe. the growth stages are great to watch with them as well!

at the end of the day, do you want something pretty flashy or something that grows on you more and more? both are great and maybe it won't be long til you have more than one T to your name...in fact, based on my own experience, it's almost impossible to stop at one!