[RaeRae]

Hey guys,

I was just wondering how many of you on here keep tarantulas?

I have about 14 or 15 at the moment, ranging from little spiderlings to adults.

I keep the following types:

G. rosea RCF & NCF
B. vagans
B. smithi
C. pentalore/D. fasciatum (not certain)
B. albopilosum
A. avicularia
G. pulchra
B. boehmi
C. crawshayi
G. pulchripes

Here are some of my babies.

My pretty RCF G. rosea adult female, being angry.



This was my first spider. A NCF G. rosea adult female.



My C. pentalore/D. fasciatum. So pretty.



My little A. avicularia spiderling. Needs to go on a diet.



And finally, the newest addition. My big girlie, a sub adult C. crawshayi. Aggressive as hell, have to feed her using 25cm tweezers/tongs.



So what do you guys keep if you have Ts?

[lynnx]

A Chilean Rose female same as your first pic, maybe a bit smaller.
and a red rump male whos very aggressive. But i can still feed him worms by hand,he doesnt like handling at all though

[RaeRae]

Originally Posted by lynnx

A Chilean Rose female same as your first pic, maybe a bit smaller.
and a red rump male whos very aggressive. But i can still feed him worms by hand,he doesnt like handling at all though

Yeah, my girl in the first picture is fairly large. The other one has a bit more growing to do.

My red rump (vagans) is my smallest sling but they tend to be a bit more agressive than most brachypelmas. We'll see when it grows up.

Is your male mature yet?

[Run_to_da_hills]

In 1997 I had a Chilean Rose and a Theraphosa blondi (Burgundy) The latter being one of the largest breeds in the world. It was bald vicious.and would hiss I kept it in a 3 ft aquarium.

Both wouldn't eat anything for the two months that I had them and sold them to a guy in Cork, I found them boaring. I would love something intersting like a redback/ widow or funnel web.

[RaeRae]

Originally Posted by Run_to_da_hills

In 1997 I had a Chilean Rose and a Theraphosa blondi (Burgundy) The latter being one of the largest breeds in the world. It was bald vicious.and would hiss I kept it in a 3 ft aquarium.

Both wouldn't eat anything for the two months that I had them and sold them to a guy in Cork, I found them boaring. I would love something intersting like a redback/ widow or funnel web.

I'd love a T. blondi but they're stupidly expensive and hard to get a hold of these days for any halfway decent price.

Ts aren't the most active pets but I love watching them feed or rearrange their tanks, walking about with dirt in their mouth, heh. You'd find that even widows, funnels and trapdoor spiders are pretty boring if you think tarantulas are. Only feeding time would be interesting. If you want a widow, we have a type of false widow you can find in Ireland. They get imported in from other countries by mistake and are living wild around the place.

[Run_to_da_hills]

Originally Posted by RaeRae

I'd love a T. blondi but they're stupidly expensive and hard to get a hold of these days for any halfway decent price.

Ts aren't the most active pets but I love watching them feed or rearrange their tanks, walking about with dirt in their mouth, heh. You'd find that even widows, funnels and trapdoor spiders are pretty boring if you think tarantulas are. Only feeding time would be interesting. If you want a widow, we have a type of false widow you can find in Ireland. They get imported in from other countries by mistake and are living wild around the place.

I paid 100 quid sterling for my one, had it posted from Bristol to Ennis, the breeder would not post anything between October and March. It came in a polystyrene box wrapped up well, I was at Ennis GPO at 6AM waiting for it.

Had an aquarium ready warmed up with heat mats. Jungle to Jungle was the movie that inspired me to go for it, same spider but mine had a vicious streek. It would go wild if you got near it with anything. Had it as an office prop and would place a 20 quid note in its aquarium, I would then bet customers the note if they could remove it with their bare hands.

You are best getting one of these very young, mine was a few years old and full size

[markopantelic]

i did but then she ate my granmother

[RaeRae]

Originally Posted by Run_to_da_hills

I paid 100 quid sterling for my one, had it posted from Bristol to Ennis, the breeder would not post anything between October and March. It came in a polystyrene box wrapped up well, I was at Ennis GPO at 6AM waiting for it.

Had an aquarium ready warmed up with heat mats. Jungle to Jungle was the movie that inspired me to go for it, same spider but mine had a vicious streek. It would go wild if you got near it with anything. Had it as an office prop and would place a 20 quid note in its aquarium, I would then bet customers the note if they could remove it with their bare hands.

You are best getting one of these very young, mine was a few years old and full size

Yeah, I've ordered all but 3 of mine from the UK. Waaaaay cheaper. Prices in Dublin are just not right, damn rip offs.

I'd have that 20 quid out so fast. Bet customers thought it could kill you or something lol.

[LovelyTom]

Where in the UK do you guys get your spiders from? I'm interested in getting a few myself, been keeping reptiles for the past few years. How would you compare keeping spiders and snakes?

[RaeRae]

Originally Posted by LovelyTom

Where in the UK do you guys get your spiders from? I'm interested in getting a few myself, been keeping reptiles for the past few years. How would you compare keeping spiders and snakes?

To be honest I've never kept snakes, so I wouldn't be the best to ask for a comparison. But spiders are not as hands on, I'd imagine. I keep handling mine to a minimum (never anymore really) and the only ones I'd handle would be the more docile, such as the G. rosea's (chile roses). It's just not necessary and they only tolerate it. It's not really fair on them as they obviously can't be tamed and if you were to drop one, you could kill it by rupturing its abdomen. Certain spiders make good display species as they are out in view all the time in their tank, but many burrowing species you will never really see so you pretty much have a pet hole.

As for purchasing them, try:

http://www.thespidershop.co.uk/
http://www.tarantulabarn.co.uk/

or there are some forums with classifieds which are awesome:

http://www.bugnation.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=181
http://arachnophiles.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=17
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/invert-classifieds/

Those forums are awesome if you need to know anything to do with spiders or inverts in general.

[gversey]

I currently keep the following,and list keeps on getting bigger...

4 G. Rosea
1 G. Aureostriata
1 A. Seemani
1 C. Marshalli
1 B. Boehmei
1 S. Rubronitens

[RaeRae]

Originally Posted by gversey

I currently keep the following,and list keeps on getting bigger...

4 G. Rosea
1 G. Aureostriata
1 A. Seemani
1 C. Marshalli
1 B. Boehmei
1 S. Rubronitens

Just to let you know, G. aureostriata are now called G. pulchripes.

Nice collection though. Recieved 3 scorpions in the post yesterday to add to my collection. So pretty.

[69ironcobra]

Originally Posted by RaeRae

Hey guys,

I was just wondering how many of you on here keep tarantulas?

I have about 14 or 15 at the moment, ranging from little spiderlings to adults.

I keep the following types:

G. rosea RCF & NCF
B. vagans
B. smithi
C. pentalore/D. fasciatum (not certain)
B. albopilosum
A. avicularia
G. pulchra
B. boehmi
C. crawshayi
G. pulchripes

Here are some of my babies.

My pretty RCF G. rosea adult female, being angry.



This was my first spider. A NCF G. rosea adult female.



My C. pentalore/D. fasciatum. So pretty.



My little A. avicularia spiderling. Needs to go on a diet.



And finally, the newest addition. My big girlie, a sub adult C. crawshayi. Aggressive as hell, have to feed her using 25cm tweezers/tongs.



So what do you guys keep if you have Ts?

I just got a chilian rose she's beautiful I've kept several different species of lizards for the last 10 years and decided I'd like to try something different and as I love spiders it was a no brainer have fallen in love with T's very cool watching her plod around tank I think i could be after catching the bug was thinking about trying an arborist species have plenty of spare critter keepers was thinking of turning one of the bigger ones on its side and tapeing off the end to prevent water lose placing some type of tall plant in there......do you think that would work?????

[chris139ryan]

very nice spiders you have there I have been keeping reptiles for the past 3 years (beardie and a frilled dragon) and would love to get a spider like a Gooty Ornamental (Poecilotheria mettalica) or a goliath but my girlfriend wont let me as she is terrified of spiders

[boxerly]

OMFG haha Ive never scrolled down a page so fast haha,sorry Im sure they are lovely,I am terrified of big spiders