- Messages
- 131
- Location
- United States
If it wasn't for the sheer curiosity and awe tarantulas bring, they might not be such a joy to raise. I waited about a year before I got the G. Rosea. It is a huge commitment of about twenty years or more having the spider. I couldn't decide for the first few months if I wanted a sling or if I wanted a larger tarantula that was less of a risk. The Rosea was the first choice because of the life span and the A. Avic. was the second choice because it seemed to be more difficult to keep. It turned out that I went to a pet store and saw the A. Avic in a kritter keeper on a dried out paper towel and right then I decided, that I knew enough about the spider to go ahead and buy and save it from a slow stupor and possible death due to being in a pet store only on a paper towel. So the second choice became the new pet. My first arboreal. The A. Avic immediately grew on me, I was instantly attached once I got her home and into her new habitat. Thankfully I had planned to buy a tarantula before hand and didn't just buy it not knowing it's demands. It took me months after she had settled in as the new family member to even hold her, I would pet her gently with a make up brush and that was enough interaction for me. Yet, not for her, one day she decided to dart onto my hand and started crawling as I tried to coax her into the critter keeper so I could get the substrate cleaned up, she had been half eating earthworms. I was startled and I jumped. She has never bitten me. She lost her footing and landed on the table, on all eights, then to the soft carpeted floor in a bounce. It was only a few feet, but I gasped. My dear friend the pink toe tarantula had just done a nose dive and I was concerned that, she would be injured. Thankfully she wasn't. I coaxed her into her keeper from the floor and then allowed her to crawl a little on me. It took a few more times moving her before I lost all apprehension about the spider. Then, I finally decided a year later, I wanted and could afford a G. Rosea sling. After waiting a year on a decision like that I was surprised at the joy a spiderling can bring once she arrived and got settled in, she became the final new member of the family. There was a lot of anticipation around here for her arrival. So, now we are waiting to see when she molts, how often she eats and trying to get an idea of what to expect. It is a G. Rosea, however, so, we don't really expect a schedule with her. SHe will walk to my hand when she sees it on the outside of her cup, seems friendly to me. The warning she gave the cricket today was astonishing. She darted out of her burrow at an (exaggerated of course) mach speed, threw her spider feet into the air and bared her baby fangs at the bug, warning it, so it hopped at the spiderling and the sling responded again with a threat pose and promptly I removed the cricket. She is too young to handle, but apparently she is fond, as a spider can be I assume, because no threat pose has been displayed at me. Even if she does, it's just spider talk translated as maybe later with her. I have never seen my A. Avic ever give a threat pose, ever. If there was a bug that ever tried to cuddle, that a. avic. would be the one. I just won't handle them unless I have to. Tarantulas are the easiest pets to clean up after, I think, so I rarely have to clean up after them, unless there is spider food that has to come out or glass that has to be wiped off. So easy it's brilliant. How long did you wait before you got a new spider for your collection and do you have a story to share? Thanks.
Oh, and my old G. porteri just molted a few months back and is still going strong. Hopefully, she'll be around for many more years.
