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!