Hi,

as I said in my introduction I have written a "book" on Tarantulas. This is aimed solely at the beginner and so all of you will be probably think the info is too basic but I have seen too many rich kids get a tarantula for the ego trip and then let it die because some basics were not mentioned to them by the pet shop owner.

And so to prevent unnecessary deaths, I put together some basics.

I want to know from all of you what YOU think are the best beginner tarantulas to cover in a beginner tarantula guide.

I have researched breeders around the world and some interesting opinions have come out from them as to what tarantulas they consider as begginer tarantulas. For example, some say stay away from Avic's and others say they are good beginner arboreal tarantula. What say you?

If you would like to give your penny's worth, feel free to reply

I know it is against the rules here, but for the purposes of this text I am just going to list the common names of those I have so far in the book:

Chilean Rose
Mexican Blonde
Red Knee
Red Leg
Fire Leg
Curly Hair
Salmon Pink
Avic Avic
Avic Versicolor
White Knee
Choco Gold Knee
I had Brazilian Black but they seem to be quite scarce...so I dont see it becoming a beginner tarantula???

Thanks

.... no input from the forum ???

On the internet and such the Brachypelma and Grammostola genus's are the 'beginner' class winners by far on the terrestrial playing field. For those that would like an Arboreal the Avicularia avicularia is recommended. Though I believe the true 'First' tarantula would be the one that’s the most accessible to you, e.g. easiest to find/buy.

First off scientific names is must ..
I dont use common names I have list of scientfic names and common names


Its people that use common names that are giving our hobby a bad name
cause they maek names willy nilly to sell there Ts ..

So if you give that info in your writing I think that will be a benifit in the long run to our Hobby and to the reader buyer of the Ts

:laugh:

scorpion wrote:

Chilean Rose
Mexican Blonde
Red Knee
Red Leg
Fire Leg
Curly Hair
Salmon Pink
Avic Avic
Avic Versicolor
White Knee
Choco Gold Knee

I would not classify a G rosea as beginner, regardless of it's hardy nature.

I agree that scientific names is a must, to make things easier, where a common name exist, perhaps write Brachypelma smithi(Mexican Red Knee)

Most Brachypelmas would suffice, The Grammostola pulchripes(Chaco Golden Knee) makes a good beginner spider, along with the B albopilosum(Curly Hair) A versicolor I would personally not recommend to the newbies.

TH

In my honest opinion I would never recommend a Gramastolla rosea as a good starter T.. simply because they go on hunger strikes for weeks or months on end - something a newbie has no idea how to handle...

A good starter T is one which grows relatively fast, has a very healthy appetite and requires the minimum specialised care (i.e heat & humidity). If a newbie's first T grows large quickly and they can see their effort's paying off, they're surely hooked and will stay in the hobby.

Therefor, I wouldn't recommend something like B. smithi as they can take up to a year to reach 5cm.

So, I would say the B. albopilosum is probably your best starter T.

They're cheap, easy to find, grow fast and have no problem with eating.