Tarantulas

[Suki Wingy]

Well, I've alway liked them and I've been thinking more and more about them. I think I'd like one when I go to college in 2 years beacause I think they don't need much space. 10 gal? 20 gal? Has anyone ever had one? What species make the best pets? Where should I go to buy one? A pet store, online, do they have breeders? What do they eat? Meal worms? Crickets? Could I bring one around shopping/etc with me or would it get scared or try to escape?
Just to give you an idea of what my family's like, last night I asked my mom, "What would youi think if I brought home a tarantula?" She said, "No, that's just another animal to remember to buy food for, to clean, to take up space, to smell, and all that." (only Oslo and Terrence smell and only if we forget to clean for a whole week. Tigger never smells and never has.) Sometimes I just love my family for understanding animals. My mom spoke out against BSL to some random person yesterday. :)

[LeahMM]

I had a tarantula that lived for 10 years. Her name was Bernard, well I named her before I knew she was a female. Anyhow, I fed her crickets but I suppose meal worms would work as well. They need live prey because movement stimulates their instinct to eat. I kept Bernie in a 10 gallon tank with a lighted hood and plenty of places for her to shade herself. You can use reptile sand but I just used outdoor carpeting and she didn't mind. For water you take a deep dish and fill it with that cottony stuff they use for fish tank filteration then add water and keep the water to the top at all times. When they drink they hover over the cotton, lower their body and proceed to drink. It's quite interesting to say the least. Bernard only escaped once since I had her but I found her quite quickly. Just make sure there are no openings in the top of the tank. Other than that they are basically mantainance free. If you ever decide to hold it dont drop it. The abnomens are very fragile and will explode on impact. Good luck if you decide to get one. They're cool pets to have.

[Suki Wingy]

thanks so much. What species do you reccomend? I didn't know they were so fragile so I'll remember to be careful. I plan on picking mine up. Also, where did you buy her?

[LeahMM]

My ex husband bought her for me from a pet store. She was just the basic brown color and very beautiful.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I'd like to have a tarantula some day too. I know Cathy used to have one, I don't know if she still does though. I love to watch them.

When you go to college are you going to be living in a dorm? If so most dorms only allow small fish, like betas.

[CathyBogart]

Hey! I no longer have Morrigan :( because they started randomly bug-bombing at my old apartments and I was terrified it was going to come through the air vents and kill her. I still get updates on her though, she's doing very well and was a mother this year!

For a beginner I would reecommend Grammostola Rosea, common name Chilean Rose Hair or a Curly Hair Tarantula(Brachypelma albopilosum) (depending on where you get it you may need the scientific name). They tend to be docile, they are inexpensive, and they are generally easy keepers.

Rosies are pretty easy to handle for the most part but I wouldn't recomment taking one shopping with you because they are fragile. Even a fall of a foot can kill them if they land wrong. The reason is that if they get cracks or punctures in their exokeletons they can bleed to death easily. I have superglued a T's abdomen back together, but it's not easy.

I liked feeding Morrigan a variety of prey. She got either one large bug or two small bugs every other week. I gave her crickets, wax-worms, silkworms, the occasional mealworm, moths, etc. Pretty much anything that wasn't super hard-shelled.

A ten gallon tank with a small heat pad on one side is fine, though I kept Morrigan in a 20 gallon because she got pretty large.

As far as where to get one, I personally am very partial to ordering from breeders or goingot one if you're near one. I've had both good and bad experiences with pet store T's, and while I wouldn't recommend AGAINST it, I would recommend you be very careful, particlarly with pet store employee advice.

I'm going to recommend one of my favorite people in the hobby, Charles Botar. http://botarby8s.com/ He is a very experienced tarantula keeper, as well as a very nice man. In my experience, when I was a newbie to keeping tarantulas he was a very valuble source of advice and extremely helpful with any problems I had, and I hadn't even ordered from him! On the tarantula board I used to frequent there is a section for reviews of breeders, and he has eleven pages of nothing but glowing reviews. A lot of the time the animals he ships out are bigger and more robust then he advertises even. :)

Good luck to you, and feel free to ask if you have any more questions!

[Suki Wingy]

Thank you so much. :) depending on which college I go to, I might be living in a dorm, and most likley the first year no matter what so I guess that's just one more year to wait. I've decided that taking one around with me is not a good idea because I'd be paranoid I'd drop it. I'm going to check out that site you linked to. Looks like I missed them in Wheaton toaday! I didn't even know there was a fair today.

[king2005]

I have a Rosie right now. Shes great & seems happy.

I keep her in a 20g, because thats all I had & I felt the 10g was just to small. I was right about the 10g being too small for her.. Lilly uses her WHOLE tank.

My heat pad covers 1/2 the tank & I have this dirt, bark, mossy stuff for her. It was recommended to be by Spider breeders & collectors from the turtle site i belong too.

I feed her crickets mostly.. I'll treat her with a meal worm (haven't yet, haven't had her that long).. yesterday she got a newborn rat..

I plan to get a cage to keep crickets so I can make sure they are fed & watered properly, as the ones I keep getting look like crap. thats the biggest reason I gave her the rat, wanted to make sure she got a healthy meal, until I could supply her with better crickets.

I bought a low reptile dish & she seems to like that. He will put 3/4 of her body in it & drink... she cannot drown as its only 1cm deep if that.. I water her everyday.

I have a hollow plastic log in the middle of her tank.. 1 side is on the warmer side & the other on the cooler side. I have the bedding uneven, so there are several different temp points.

Everyday I'll see her in a new spot. Right now shes on the cooler side. She hardly uses her log, but when scared, thats where she runs to.


I bought her for $20.00cdn & the bedding for 30.00usd.. I ordered her beddin gonline from the store I was told too.. I'll try to get the site for you.. the bedding is great & looks nice too.

I got her at a reptile store, as they had many different reptiles & no fuzzy critters.. Figured I'd have better luck with a healthier spider.