Matt300ZXT
Member
- Messages
- 29
- Location
- Chattanooga, TN
So I just started this collection Tuesday (getting an albino ball python tomorrow so I'm going all out for exotic pets) and wanted to share it with you guys. I've been watching a lot of Tom's Big Spiders videos on Youtube and a couple Dark Den videos to get some info, husbandry guides, and just watch videos on tarantulas I don't even have that just looked cool.
I am using a breeder/dealer in Trenton, GA (about 45 minutes from me) and hope the pictures with his info on the labels isn't breaking any kind of forum rules on advertising or whatever. I'm not going to list any prices that I paid in this thread, but if you're curious what I paid, you can PM me I guess if it matters.
First off, I looked at his list a week or so ago and wanted to get a Tapinauchenius violaceus (purple tree spider) because hey...I love purple. When I convinced myself to finally go get one and drive down there, unfortunately he had already sold all those. I also had a Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens in mind from looking at what he offered (and Googling images like mad) because they are beautiful, and he had some of those. While I was there, I decided I was going to need a second tarantula as well and while I really wanted some of the blue old world varieties, I figured they were going to be too much for me as a beginner because of their speed and willingness to take on all comers, so he helped me pick out a Caribena versicolor instead, as he said those were some of his favorites and care would be similar to the green bottle blue. Then I came home with 2 itty bitty tiny Tliltocatl albopilosum babies as freebies. He gave me a small cup with some red runner roaches and babies in it to feed them, but ended up getting some tiny crickets about the size of a grain of rice at Petco because I didn't want the big roach to run out when I opened the lid while I was building a roach colony. All 4 spiders took a tiny cricket last night (though the Caribena versicolor got a little spooked when he was crawling up on the cricket and it wiggled).
Today, I went back down and ended up picking up two more creepy crawlies. I picked out a roughly 2.25" Monocentropus balfouri and was trying to decide between a couple others and was going to just settle on a 2" Tliltocatl vagans as a cool plain looking tarantula because the full size girl he showed me Tuesday was beautiful with her dark black legs and red booty, but he ended up showing me a couple that weren't on my list of what I went to look at and I picked out a very pretty 3-3.5" Aphonopelma seemanni.
The 2 today are in decent sized containers which he said they should be fine in for a little longer before rehoming them to a bigger container, but I bought a few tubs at Walmart anyways. While I was there, I told him I was working on my red runner colony box and told him I was going to order some. He asked what they were selling them for online and I told him an approximate price. He just said throw $20 more in and I'll give you a bunch. So he just took a plastic tub and knocked a WHOLE bunch into it along with some of the isopods (rolly pollys down here in the South) to help keep the colony clean, along with some egg shell crates to get them started until I get some more. I have a 32 quart/30 liter clear plastic Sterilite tub with a 4 lock lid on it to keep them in and put in 4 mesh screen pieces today to help with ventilation to keep the humidity down. There is a ton of Eco-earth coconut fiber in it that I'm letting dry out before I decide how much I'm going to keep in there for substrate. He recommended low calcium cheap cat food and carrots for the roaches to feed on. I also got 3 12.7 quart/12 liter Sterilite tubs to put the bigger tarantulas in when the time comes, and one to use for a meal worm colony. He told me I ran off and left them the other day but I don't remember him saying he was going to give me some. He recommended just cheap oatmeal for a base/food and some potatoes, maybe apples, etc as food for them.
So, now I just need to get some organic peat moss to go along with the more coconut fiber bricks I bought today to start building proper homes for these guys. I also bought a plastic plant at Petsmart to take pieces off and use as foliage/anchor points for these guys as well as some sphagnum moss, and I need to buy some cork bark pieces and some hidey holes as Petsmart didn't have any of those in stock. Below are the pictures:
Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens
Caribena versicolor
Tliltocatl albopilosum
Monocentropus balfouri
Aphonopelma seemanni
Roach colony tub
3 tubs for spiders (when they need them) and a meal worm colony
I am using a breeder/dealer in Trenton, GA (about 45 minutes from me) and hope the pictures with his info on the labels isn't breaking any kind of forum rules on advertising or whatever. I'm not going to list any prices that I paid in this thread, but if you're curious what I paid, you can PM me I guess if it matters.
First off, I looked at his list a week or so ago and wanted to get a Tapinauchenius violaceus (purple tree spider) because hey...I love purple. When I convinced myself to finally go get one and drive down there, unfortunately he had already sold all those. I also had a Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens in mind from looking at what he offered (and Googling images like mad) because they are beautiful, and he had some of those. While I was there, I decided I was going to need a second tarantula as well and while I really wanted some of the blue old world varieties, I figured they were going to be too much for me as a beginner because of their speed and willingness to take on all comers, so he helped me pick out a Caribena versicolor instead, as he said those were some of his favorites and care would be similar to the green bottle blue. Then I came home with 2 itty bitty tiny Tliltocatl albopilosum babies as freebies. He gave me a small cup with some red runner roaches and babies in it to feed them, but ended up getting some tiny crickets about the size of a grain of rice at Petco because I didn't want the big roach to run out when I opened the lid while I was building a roach colony. All 4 spiders took a tiny cricket last night (though the Caribena versicolor got a little spooked when he was crawling up on the cricket and it wiggled).
Today, I went back down and ended up picking up two more creepy crawlies. I picked out a roughly 2.25" Monocentropus balfouri and was trying to decide between a couple others and was going to just settle on a 2" Tliltocatl vagans as a cool plain looking tarantula because the full size girl he showed me Tuesday was beautiful with her dark black legs and red booty, but he ended up showing me a couple that weren't on my list of what I went to look at and I picked out a very pretty 3-3.5" Aphonopelma seemanni.
The 2 today are in decent sized containers which he said they should be fine in for a little longer before rehoming them to a bigger container, but I bought a few tubs at Walmart anyways. While I was there, I told him I was working on my red runner colony box and told him I was going to order some. He asked what they were selling them for online and I told him an approximate price. He just said throw $20 more in and I'll give you a bunch. So he just took a plastic tub and knocked a WHOLE bunch into it along with some of the isopods (rolly pollys down here in the South) to help keep the colony clean, along with some egg shell crates to get them started until I get some more. I have a 32 quart/30 liter clear plastic Sterilite tub with a 4 lock lid on it to keep them in and put in 4 mesh screen pieces today to help with ventilation to keep the humidity down. There is a ton of Eco-earth coconut fiber in it that I'm letting dry out before I decide how much I'm going to keep in there for substrate. He recommended low calcium cheap cat food and carrots for the roaches to feed on. I also got 3 12.7 quart/12 liter Sterilite tubs to put the bigger tarantulas in when the time comes, and one to use for a meal worm colony. He told me I ran off and left them the other day but I don't remember him saying he was going to give me some. He recommended just cheap oatmeal for a base/food and some potatoes, maybe apples, etc as food for them.
So, now I just need to get some organic peat moss to go along with the more coconut fiber bricks I bought today to start building proper homes for these guys. I also bought a plastic plant at Petsmart to take pieces off and use as foliage/anchor points for these guys as well as some sphagnum moss, and I need to buy some cork bark pieces and some hidey holes as Petsmart didn't have any of those in stock. Below are the pictures:
Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens
Caribena versicolor
Tliltocatl albopilosum
Monocentropus balfouri
Aphonopelma seemanni
Roach colony tub
3 tubs for spiders (when they need them) and a meal worm colony
