Good Tarantulas For Beginners?

[Major 78]

Hey everybody! I am looking to buy my first T, and need a species that fits my requirements, hoping y'all could help me

• New World
• Docile, passive
• Slow
• Cool looking
• Good for beginners
• And my biggest requirment: NON-DANGEROUS VENOM!!! by this I mean it isn't dangerous if you get bit, and it hurts minimally. I have a cat and young kids in my house. Im pretty young myself, only 13
• Bite at a very last resort

Please give me a specimen or species that fit these requirements.

Thanks!
-S.F.

 

[Mr. P]

How about an OBT? NOOOOOOO, just kidding.

I would recommend any of the Brachypelma or Grammostola species.

 

[Major 78]

Just wondering, your the second person who has ever done something like "OBT, nah, just joking bro". Whats the deal with that? Also, thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Rs50matt]

Just wondering, your the second person who has ever done something like "OBT, nah, just joking bro". Whats the deal with that? Also, thanks for the recommendation!

All tarantulas are individuals. However OBTs are more commonly known for being aggressive and their bite is not good. It's kind of a running joke. (Y)

recommendations are always tricky because different people like different Ts.

Personally I would say G pulchripes (Chaco golden knee) or Hommeoma sp red (previously Euathlus sp red)

But any brachypelma or Grammostola make great beginner species. (side note, if your getting slings or juvenile tarantulas these genus' are very slow growing ).

 

[Tortoise Tom]

My joke was going to be Theraphosa stirmi, but it just won't be funny now...


Welcome to the forum and to the hobby! Two of my favorites that meet all your criterion are Grammostola pulchra and Grammostola pulchripes. I also like the Brachypelma species, but I find the Grammostola less apt to kick urticating hairs. When it finally came down to it, my daughter and I picked G. pulchripes for her first tarantula. My daughter is almost 12 now and she loves her spider. We just fed the big girl and gave her fresh water tonight.

Let us know what you get, and post pics of your new tarantula!

 

[KezyGLA]

Thrixopelma cyaneolum
Homoeomma orellanai
Homoeomma chilensis

 

[Dave Jay]

OBT = Orange Baboon Tarantula = Orange Bitey Thing in case no one has enlightened you Major. African tarantulas are known as baboon tarantulas. Apparently it was just a couple of genus's originally but now it can mean any African tarantula. Being Old World the venom is more toxic than the New World species more commonly kept and they have a reputation for being defensive and biting readily. Just like my Australian species!
If you have your heart set on a certain species don't let a potent venom put you off, it's not like you HAVE to get bitten, just take precautions, which will be just the same regardless of species anyway. More to the point would be selecting a species that are tolerant of a wide range of conditions and are known to be easy to keep successfully.

 

[PanzoN88]

Bit out of date now, as I need to change some names. But here is a list I compiled a few months ago.

https://www.tarantulaforum.com/threads/list-of-great-species-to-start-with.21517/

 

[Major 78]

Thanks for the reccomendations!

I have found a few begginer species that look cool, wondering if theey truly are for beginners? Are these good choices?

• Grammostola pulchripes (Chaco Golden Knee)
  
  
• Brachypelma albiceps (Golden Red Rump Tarantula)
  
• Brachypelma albopilosum (“Nicaraguan” Curly Hair)
  
• Brachypelma boehmei (Mexican Fireleg Tarantula)
  
• Brachypelma hamorii (smithi) (Mexican Redknee Tarantula)

 

[WolfSpider]

E. campestratus. The pink zebra beauty is often overlooked, but is very pretty, docile, and gets to be 6 inch DLS. Would have been my first, but they were hard to find back then.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

Thanks for the reccomendations!

I have found a few begginer species that look cool, wondering if theey truly are for beginners? Are these good choices?

• Grammostola pulchripes (Chaco Golden Knee)
  
  
• Brachypelma albiceps (Golden Red Rump Tarantula)
• Brachypelma albopilosum (“Nicaraguan” Curly Hair)
• Brachypelma boehmei (Mexican Fireleg Tarantula)
• Brachypelma hamorii (smithi) (Mexican Redknee Tarantula)

I currently have all of the above, except the last one, but I've raised a half dozen of those in years passed. All are great choices for your first tarantula.

 

[Rs50matt]

E. campestratus. The pink zebra beauty is often overlooked, but is very pretty, docile, and gets to be 6 inch DLS. Would have been my first, but they were hard to find back then.

Campestratus is amazing t to have. I didn't want to recommend as it took me a while to get hold of one

 

[Whitelightning777]

The best first T is a small one, namely a juvenile or larger spiderling sized 1.5" to maybe 2.5", 3" at the most.

At that size, they can eat regular crickets and mealworms etc from the pet store and they aren't super delicate. They aren't also super scary either.

The benefits are, less upfront money for the tarantula, the enclosure, time to grow with the tarantula and watch it change colors and behaviors in many cases as it grows.

You also want something that is still not to nasty when it gets bigger, something that has a great feeding response and grows rapidly. This gives lots of positive feedback to a new keeper.

In my opinion, terrestrials are a little bit easier in most cases.

Therefore, I'd start with any Lasiodora species. If you have previous experience with keeping moisture dependent plants or other cold blooded animals that need moisture to thrive, you can try one of the more affordable Pamphobeteous species. These are sexually dimorphic and you won't know the sex of your spiderling. I have one of each of these.

A geniculata and any others in the genus are equally awesome. So is brachyopelma vagans. I don't have these but I've yet to see anyone really say anything bad about them and most people adore them.

Grammostola iheringi is on my bucket list. It's also medium to fast growing and has a great appetite.

These aren't easily handled, but that's ok because you should minimize or avoid handling anyway. Getting a species that lets you get away with it now will set you up for trouble later.

If you insist on an arboreal, look no further then C versicolor, best would be 2 to 3 inches in size for starters. These guys are a dry spider. The only moisture that they need is an elevated water dish.

These are among the most beautiful spiders in the entire world, literally.

NO misting or extra humidity allowed!! The older caresheets with this on them are WRONG.

C versicolor may walk on you, but they are prone to taking the "great leap of faith" on frequent occasions.

The fix for that to put them into a larger then normal cage and drop feeders directly into the web. If the feeders are refrigerated first, they'll wake up slowly and begin to move gradually which gives the tarantula plenty of time to notice them.

Handling is by far way to over emphasized. Tarantulas are like salt water fish, display animals 99.9% of the time.

Pouncy spiders make great feeding videos and will impress you as they get older and blitz their food. These guys are just slightly challenging and they'll teach you a good foundation for the more, let us say, "exciting" species. As slings, they also won't break the bank like decent sized slow growing species can.

Having said that, remember there are dozens of genuses with hundreds of species that are excellent choices.

 

[Major 78]

What about arizona blond?

 

[Arachnoclown]

My joke was going to be Theraphosa stirmi, but it just won't be funny now...


Welcome to the forum and to the hobby! Two of my favorites that meet all your criterion are Grammostola pulchra and Grammostola pulchripes. I also like the Brachypelma species, but I find the Grammostola less apt to kick urticating hairs. When it finally came down to it, my daughter and I picked G. pulchripes for her first tarantula. My daughter is almost 12 now and she loves her spider. We just fed the big girl and gave her fresh water tonight.

Let us know what you get, and post pics of your new tarantula!

My first T was a Theraphosa blondi....

 

[Arachnoclown]

Brachypelma hamorii...hands down. You cant go wrong. Easy to care for, beautiful and will live 20 plus years. Classic showcase tarantula that all people will recognize. A must for all collections.

 

[Major 78]

One problem, see now I have completely over come any faer of arachnids I had. My Mom is almost OK with me keeping them. But my Dad... he is another case. He is terrified of them. I thouroghly explained that there were no new worlds reported for killings, and new world bites only range from a mosquito bite to a wasp sting. He is terrified. How should I convince him? Ive gotten my 2 yr o brother to love them, but my middle aged father is scared as hell!

 

[Dave Jay]

He'll just have to shell out for top of the line lockable enclosures!
In all seriousness, you can buy locks to fit most enclosures, with a small child in the house I think it would be a good idea. If your father sees that the spider(s) can't escape he'll feel much better about having them, if it came down to it he could become "Guardian of the Key!", then he'll feel safe in the knowledge that without his consent the cage cannot be opened. He will then feel safe that he's not going to come home one day and find that the spider has escaped or that you've been bitten while he was out. It will also give him peace of mind that you are caring for the spider properly as you will have to ask him when water needs changing etc, often parents worry that a new pet will suffer from neglect even if they profess not to like the animal. Your job now is to make him feel safe having a tarantula in the house. To be honest, I felt a bit weird for a while even though my lids are all taped down, feeling something crawl on my arm or leg freaked me out a bit wondering if a tarantula had escaped, now it doesn't even cross my mind.
Best of luck convincing him!

 

[Rs50matt]

One problem, see now I have completely over come any faer of arachnids I had. My Mom is almost OK with me keeping them. But my Dad... he is another case. He is terrified of them. I thouroghly explained that there were no new worlds reported for killings, and new world bites only range from a mosquito bite to a wasp sting. He is terrified. How should I convince him? Ive gotten my 2 yr o brother to love them, but my middle aged father is scared as hell!

No tarantula bite has been known to kill anyone as far as I'm aware. Including old worlds.

If your looking at getting something smaller like a sling/juv then when your comfortable yourself get your dad involved. He will very quickly see that he has nothing to worry about. They keep themselves to themselves and aren't going to run out and attack you. A lot of people on here were ex arachnophobics. the unknown is what people are afraid of so learning about them could help.

 

[Rs50matt]

To be honest, I felt a bit weird for a while even though my lids are all taped down, feeling something crawl on my arm or leg freaked me out a bit wondering if a tarantula had escaped, now it doesn't even cross my mind.
Best of luck convincing him!

I was watching tv with the light off not long after feeding some of my Ts and I saw the shadow of a grown on sling sized spider crawling up the wall. My immediate response was something had escaped But it was just a house spider lol