My partner have a pet tarantula named "Chuck" a Chaco golden knee, Grammostola pulchripes. I used to be afraid of spiders especially tarantulas because of their size and notorious reputation. Ever since we had chuck, my outlook on tarantulas changed, i'm beginning to appreciate them, they are really awesome creatures. Now, we have 3 tarantulas, a green bottle blue named "Gbb" and an advicularia versicolor named "Eight". It's really fun taking care of them and watching them molt and grow. Are you an exotic pet enthusiast? What do you think of tarantulas as a pet?
I personally don't like spiders and can't imagine having one as a pet...but I think they are fascinating. Those people who keep them have generally been happy with them as pets. I know my daughter wishes I would let her keep one, I just can't stomach the thought. What kind of effort does it take to keep a pet tarantula? Do they take up a lot of space? Do they escape often?
There are different kinds of tarantulas, some tarantulas are gentle and rarely bite unless they feel threatened, there are also skittish ones, others flick hair as a defense mechanism and there are also hostile ones which are not advisable for beginners. Before choosing make sure you know what breed you are getting and what kind of temperament it has. We use a vivarium for our pets, the size depends on the breed, there are tarantulas who burrow so you need a smaller vivarium with potting soil, there are also tree dwelling tarantulas so you need a taller vivarium for that one. It doesn't take up much space they are like display pets really. we feed them crickets or meal worms, sometimes white mice for the bigger tarantulas.Tarantulas molt, they shed their exoskeleton and it's how they grow. It's not really tedious, we started with almost no idea on how to take care of our pets, what we did is that we searched the internet for helpful information. You'll get the hang of it along the way.
I have a small(about the size of my palm)brown tarantula, he's called "Legs" I've had him for over 6 years. I feed him on large crickets from the pet shop. I also feed him on large moths sometimes when I find them in the house. He has a heat matt under his plastic tub and a small water bowl i top up every day with fresh water. I use paper towel inside the water tub instead of a sponge. It tends to get really slimey if I forget to clean it out, but I usually do often enough. After i had him for 4 years, one day he climed upside down in his tub and fell, I heard a "POP" and when I rushed to look, he was upside down with all of his legs splayed out. I thought he was a dead for sure because of how delicate they are, I thought he'd exploded and that was that. But, as I looked closer he began to move ,and what followed was absolutely amazing to me. I sat and watched him for over 5 hours as he wriggled and came climbing out of his old brown shell. What stood in its place was a near black(with multiple colors like purple and orange on his abdomen when it caught the light,) Brand new version of himself. One of the most amazing spectacles(even though it took so long) I have ever seen from nature. I love watching him lay his web down around his bedding(wood shavings) and jump on his dinner when I drop them in. Here's a picture of him off my phone while he was half way through his change. I tried to record it too on my phone, but the memory was so limited, I could only record a few minutes at a time, so I just took a few pictures instead. Click on image to see larger version!!
Sorry, it's just not my idea of a pet. However, I do have a great story to share. Many years ago, we were looking at the exotic pets section in a large pet store. It was upstairs, so as not to spook the customers. On our way down, there was an employee on the stairs with an empty margarine tub. It turned out that a large red-kneed tarantula had escaped yet again - he was called 'Houdini' because he escaped so often! My seven year old daughter didn't even like household spiders, and she completely freaked out. We had to carry her down the stairs screaming, because she wouldn't walk down, as she couldn't see the spider. Even now, 30 years down the line, she hates spiders. When we lived near to her, she'd call us up at all hours of the day and night to come and remove spiders from the bath, or elsewhere.
I personally wouldn't like a tarantula, or for that matter any spider for a pet. I can see though that you are very fond of Legs and it must have been absolutely amazing to see his transformation! Your post reminded me that it is so sad we live such rushed lives. If only we could stop sometimes and notice nature around us. If we just looked in our own gardens I am sure we would see some really interesting activities among the insects and small creatures.
I don't know if I could handle having a tarantula as a pet. I'm sure if I get over the ugly appearance then it could be possible. I heard that when you scare them they shoot the hairs at you, and it causes irritation in humans. I'm not sure if this is for all tarantulas, but I have seen some of them do this before. I think it would be a cool pet to show your friends, but I don't think I could sleep knowing that was in my house.
I'm not really afraid of spiders, but they are not the first thing that pops into my mind when I hear the word pet. Nope, not for me. I like fish. They are easy to take care of and don't scare the heck out of people.
There are different kinds of tarantulas, with different patterns and colors. There are blue, green, violet and more, there are even pink tarantulas. I really find them amazing. Btw, the shooting of hairs is called flicking, some tarantula breeds do this often, it's their defense mechanism if they feel threatened. One thing I love about having pet tarantulas is knowing that not everyone has the guts to take care of one.
I wasn't too keen on keeping the one I have now, at first. It was my brothers and he lost interest in it, so I started feeding it. The first time I tried picking it up was probably one of the most scared I've ever been. It took me close to an hour to lay my hand flat in the tub and give his back end a little tap so he'd walk onto my hand. I've since been told to rub some of the mulch out of the tub into your hands before attempting to handle them. It feels amazing when they walk on your hand and you can feel every leg moving about. I've had it that long now it actually relaxes me when I'm sat watching him go about his business. That's when he's active, other times you wouldn't be able to beat him in a staring contest he's so still for so long. People say to me "why dont you get rid of it" "Isn't it dead yet, kill it"(that last one is from my cousin who's absolutely petrified of them...lol) I just smile and say "it's amazing".
I am not planning on having a tarantula for a pet, but spiders are amazing creatures. We always have spiders on our deck and also on the bridge by our house that we walk on every night. Figure we live along the river so every light in town has bugs and spiders. Every once in a while I get one on me, but not often compared to how many I am around daily. I like to watch them spin a perfect web to eat, they are amazing how perfect they make their web! I feel bad for them when we walk through their webs after all their effort!! I have been bitten by spiders including poisonous brown recluse but I am not scared of spiders. I just don't personally think I would want a tarantula. They are cool tho and I had a friend who had one tho!
WOW! What an awesome story. You really should write for a living (if you are not already!). You have me sold. After reading your post, I almost went out immediately to get me a tarantula. I love all animals. Your story about him 'shape-shifting' into his new form was really awesome. Nature does produce the most astoundingly beautiful moments...and so many of us miss it. To the original thread...My answer is 'no', I do not have one...but 'yes' I will definitely give it a shot in the very near future!
My daughters hated spiders so I was quite surprised when they wanted a tarantula as a pet. He was a good pet and they loved him. His name was Fluffy! They always let him crawl all over them and they took really good care of him, too. I never did figure out how they could love Fluffy and still hate other spiders. He ate lots of live crickets and it is really surprising how fast he moved to get them. It is quite amazing to have them shed their skin. It is like an exact duplicate tarantula, only clearer.
