You guys are kidding right!?

Telling someone to get a P.ornata as a first arboreal is NOT a good idea at all. In my experience they are one of the more defensive of the pokies

Nobody has mention an Avic as a first. If you go for an Avic sp you will see the some of the speeds that you would expect from a Psalmopoeus or a Poecilotheria but without the risk of a 'punchy' bite.

MrFerretman: I am of the opinion that there is no "suitable" arboreal to start with. If you are looking for something that is pretty and you don't wont to touch it, then a Poecilotheria species would be suitable. Do however agree with you that P. ornata is definetly not suitable as the one I have escaped his confinement about three times. The thrid time was the worst, he dissapeared for a few hours and then he popped up on a bookshelf.

People are generally biased towards the Trinidad Chevron and the Pinktoe but at the end of the day, it all depends on what the person is looking for. Whatever you do, don't go for a Thrixopelma ockerti right off the bat. They are the spawn of satan, only surpassed by Satan himself, the Stromatopelma calceatum.

The only problem is that one day you will have to re-house your pokie, that is when the problems happen. Admittedly, some of my pokies are quite calm and pose no problem when re-housing. But then you get the few which are plain evil and quick, usually the mature males, usually the ornatas!

OK they look cool and are great to watch, but if you can't cope with the adults then you shouldn't buy the slings, especially when they can go from 2cm to 10cm in under a year.

I would say yes to the P. irminia as your first Arboreal species.

Well my First "arboreal" species was a couple of OBTs that I won in a competition, but I got a P. irminia and P. cambridgei into my first year in the hobby. The main thing is, long tweezers and re house outside on the grass and you will be fine, also you can put the spider into larger tank and the spider can grow up in, less cage changing.

Sum it up, the Psalmopoeus 's, for that matter are a good arboreal species to start with.

At the end of the day, It will come down to your comfort level in "handling" your spiders.

Good thread !!

I also ordered one from Tim, should be getting it Tuesday.......can't wait !!

Poecilotheria are very over rated when it comes to aggression, i find they are quite chilled spiders, i have about 30 Poecilotheria yes every now and then they get agro but then again so does my curly.... People have given them a reputation that they don't deserve, the only time they get really agro is after mating, gravid, with egg sac, and prior to a moult.... not saying you must go and hold them, but they not that bad... A spider that is from hell is my Phormictopus cancerides... it makes pokies look like puppies... I believe that what ever spider tickles your fancy ready up about it, and if you think you can handle it go and buy it.... After i bread my P.fasciata i gave a few slings to friends as there 1st spiders and now they are hooked and they even say they not bad at all and this is from people who have never had a spider before. Each to there own i guess....