Small, easy to keep tarantulas..?

[TheMightyOscar]

males die faster, most females can live to 25+ years.


you have to remember that all tarantulas are venomous, and some can kick their hairs which itch and burn for a few days. pink toes can be very fast when they want to and do tend to jump. if you handle any tarantulas, make sure you are close to the ground as a fall can be fatal.

i'd also suggest joining a tarantula forum such as tarantulas.us or arachnoboards.com and try to learn as much as possible before you get a tarantula

 

[Eoibio]

males die faster, most females can live to 25+ years.


you have to remember that all tarantulas are venomous, and some can kick their hairs which itch and burn for a few days. pink toes can be very fast when they want to and do tend to jump. if you handle any tarantulas, make sure you are close to the ground as a fall can be fatal.

i'd also suggest joining a tarantula forum such as tarantulas.us or arachnoboards.com and try to learn as much as possible before you get a tarantula

Ive joined tarantulaslair.com which seems to be very good Hmm the hairs are worrying..The bites i've read arent TOO bad but still are pretty sore and numbness is pretty common in bites..I like the ones that only grow to 1'' - 2'' I don't know why, They're just nice ..I might wait until im older to get one because the hairs..

 

[Eoibio]

Also any way of sexing? Id prefer a female if she would live longer..Do smaller ones tend to be harder to keep? Im talking about the 1'' - 2''ers..?

 

[coura]

Male spider first pair of limbs pedipalps are bigger then females. Also most males tend to be smaller

 

[TheMightyOscar]

eh..tarantulas.us would be a better choice in forums IMO

Ive joined tarantulaslair.com which seems to be very good Hmm the hairs are worrying..The bites i've read arent TOO bad but still are pretty sore and numbness is pretty common in bites..I like the ones that only grow to 1'' - 2'' I don't know why, They're just nice ..I might wait until im older to get one because the hairs..

 

[Eoibio]

I cant join without going through the parents email and all that crap...So ill leave it

Thanks anyway!

 

[Jessica Dring]

Hey dude
To sex a tarantula the easiest way to tell is by the molted skin of a T. Its very easy for beginners to do. Heck I just sexed my Lasiodora Parahybana (Salmon Pink Birdeater) last night and shes a mature female!!!

The 'pedipalp' way really isn't the way to sex Tarantulas...too many exceptions come into play. The best way is ventral sexing (unless of course your spider is mature) but from what you say your after a juvenile. The only 100% way to tell is by a microscope and a molt. Though I sexed my L. parahybana more than easily without the mircoscope lol.

I'm going to go with what everyone else has said. Tarantulas have venom, and fangs and can bite whenever they feel threatened. Depending on the species, it can be a LOT worse than a bee sting. I was bitten by a Haplopelma minax and that was no bee sting lol. 'Draining' the venom definately is not the way to go because a) If you can't handle an animal the way it is sopposed to be you should not be keeping them and b) Tarantulas need their venom to actually DIGEST their prey.

Tarantulas can be very fascinating animals without handling them, but if you want a nice docile spider Grammostola pulchra is the way to go. However these get lots bigger than 2 inches XD

I personally think your gonna be hard pushed to find something that meets all your requirements ie: Docile, Verysmall, easy to care for and colourful. I think you should decide on one or two of these traits and go from there.

Hope this helped and good luck

 

[latshki]

go out and catch a dock spider, their big fast and really cool and free

 

[katschamne]

Congrats on your female Lasiodora Parahybana Jessica. I agree that the Haplopelma minax has a more potent bite. The ones that I suggested don't however. The hair on the ones I posted about aren't bad either, but it all depends on your sensitivity. If you get the hair on your skin if feels like you have fiberglass on you. The only thing is that you should wash your hands in cold water before touching your eyes. You can even get it in your eyes if you touch a molt and then rub your eyes afterward. Hubby has some experience with that one.

It sounds like you are still young, so do lots research before you get the tarantula you want. You can buy sexed females from breeder. It will cost more then an unsexed tarantula but then you are guaranteed to get a female. If you need references on where to buy and from whom we can all help you out.

I'm with Jessica on the Grammostola pulchra-Brazilian Black. They are docile, slow, and good eaters. You can pick up an unsexed 3/4" sling for about $35. It will be between 5"-6" as an adult. A 5"-6" tarantula really isn't as big as it sounds. How you measure a spider is the front leg to the back leg on a diagonal and flattened out. The only time you see it flattened out is if it is on it's back molting.

I agree with Dan that the Tarantula forum or Arachnoboards are a better source of information, also there is more people on them so if you have a question or need help you can get it answered more quickly. Don't count out books either as a reference "The Tarantula Keepers Guide" is a great book that covers just about everything.

 

[reptech]

dude the t forum is the way to go for sure and also agree that any t will bite if scared and as far as hairs go its not a fun thing (im glad dan got my last kicker lol) but me personally like the avics as a first t yes they can be jumpy but they make great display t's and they have good color and tend to jump and poop before biting altho i do agree with jess as far as what she said but you did ask for a smaller t