Self pictures - introduce yourself visually

[lynn mawdesley]

Welcome to the forum Alistair. As Jason said, an L. Parahybana adult female is a good sized T, a lot easier to keep as it is not as aggressive or challenging, plus a hell of a lot cheaper. The T. Apophysis actually gets slightly bigger than the Blondi at 13"+ leg span, but are a slightly lighter build, but still very fast and aggressive also the hairs are very irritating and cause some people all sorts of problems, and would not recommend either of the Theraphosas as a first T unless purchased as slings or juves and then caution is still needed.

Hey Linda,
Yes from my research on the net they have the type 3 urticating hairs and some of the people i have spoke to on forums have had nasty experiences from the hairs! and if you are one of these people who are sensitive then it can cause excruticating pain (SPELLING lol ive had a few )
I recently read a thread where one guy ...not on this forum inhaled hairs accidentley and it was not good! i would honestly say learn with a couple of semi's before going on to the T.Blondi & T. apophysis.
Just my opinion

Cheers
Lynn

[Peter Lacey]

Urticating hairs are actually bristles with plenty of barbs in them. They are used by many New World tarantula as first form of defence, some are airborne and some are not. Many species lay down these hairs around their hide along with a thin layer of web. This serves as a natural deterrent against predators - I guess those poor rodents must get the occassional nose full of them in the wild.
We often come across them when doing tank maintenance so its recommended you wash your hands and arms afterwards and preferably wear a long sleeve shirt.
T. blondi and T. apothysis are renowned as having the most irritating hairs of any tarantula, but many of the giants also carry very irritating hairs including L. parahybana. Its one thing getting these in your skin its quite another getting them in the eye or throat where you'll probably require hospital treatment. A hands off approach and some common sense should easily get over this obstacle.
Many species of terrestrial tarantula can be kept quite easily with very similar requirements unless you intend breeding. T. blondi and T. apothysis however require a little more attention to detail including a higher humidity and moisture content. That's easily provided by regular spraying and moisture retaining substrate eg. coir, vermiculite and sphagnum moss, plus a large wide bowl of water. However, I have heard of people keeping them on dry substrate which seems alien to their natural habitats but just goes to prove how adaptable tarantula can be.
I wouldn't say either of these are especially aggressive but they do command respect. Clouds of irritating hairs are one form of defence but 1" fangs are the ultimate. Consider the bite of a cat and you'll probably realise the danger! Again, hands off remedies that situation.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Peter's pretty well summed it all up, but we would add that we've found both the Blondi & the Apophysis fast and aggressive, much more so than the L Parahybana, so it's long tweezers and beware of the hairs!!!

[Robert Martin]

Here's me. Sat on a beach late at night in Sri Lanka. Sadly i didn't find any T's on this holiday...

[rico pampolina]

It's me, playing and feeding a tiger cub. These photo was taken during my internship at Zoobic Safari Olongapo, Philippines.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Great picture Rico, bet you won't be doing that with the tiger when it grows up. lol

[lynn mawdesley]

Lovely pic Rico! ......so cute awww

[rico pampolina]

Mrs Linda and lynn, thanks!

[mary walters]

I want that moggy!!!!

Seriously, a great pic and I would love the chance to get close to a big cat.

Welcome Rico

[Riana Sinclair]

Hi,

My name is Adriana, but I go by Riana.

Pictures of me... oh dear...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1659586&l=7ed75&id=647525142

My Gaming name is HellsBunny - and this picture represents that! lol

My albums are 'open' on facebook, and you are welcome to browse.

We have recently acquired three tarantulas.

2 x Slings
1 x Juvi.

One of my slings 'went missing'. No idea what happened to it. So now I'm getting a new Juvi - I feel rather terrible about the one that 'got away'. It could not have escaped - and I am not sure if maybe one of the visiting kids got hold of it while I turned my back. They are all in terariums now though, and NO CHANCE of anyone going in there without me knowing!!!

That is that really

It is nice to finally make it here.

[KJ Vezino]

About time I finally contributed to this thread.

Here's a picture of me at work.


And here's one of me when I met Stanley Schultz.

[mary walters]

Thats a nice plane KJ, welcome

[Aaron Knoblich]

Hell yeah what a great B2

What are you doing there? Mechanic? Or Weaponguy?
I was a mechanic at the german flying navy for 6 years..
My plane wasn´t as cool as yours, but still nice.. It was the Breguet BR1150 Atlantic. Submarinehunter and Scout on the sea.. (with turbo-prop-engines)

Greetings,

Aaron

[KJ Vezino]

Thanks.

I'm an acquisitions/engineer type. I work Operational Test & Evaluation on some of the weapons it carries.

[Aaron Knoblich]

Ah, so your work is more in an office?
Which rank do you have?
I´ve been at US bases (in europe) a few times. It´s very interesting to see how independet they are.
All you need is there.. Even supermarkets..

Greetings