Monday, March 19, 2007

Tarantula As Pet

"Ewww..." That's the first reaction when I told my friend how lovely and pretty a tarantula is. Then it'll follow by "Are you nuts? Keeping such a scary spider, you don't scare it bites you?" So, tell me, what creature on this Earth that has teeth or fangs and it doesn't bite when provoked or felt threatened?


Mexican Red Knee (Brachypelma smithi)

Tarantula is just like a dog, different species have different behaviour. They're just like fishes that you keep in the aquarium, just as display pets. You can just admire their beauties, the way they kill their preys. Docile species can be put on your hand and let it roams freely but it's not recommended. You'll never know when it strikes when it felt threatened. A bite from tarantula will lead to swelling and it will lead to death if you are allergic to its venom. The good news is that so far, there is no any death reported due to tarantula's bite.


Green Bottle Blue (Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens)

It is easy to take care of a tarantula. It takes up only a little space, a sling (small tarantula) can be kept in the tofu-fa container. With potting soil as the substrate, you just need to make sure the humidity is high by spraying water inside the enclosure. Food can be mealworm, crickets and even mice! You just need to feed them once every 3-4 days, the quantity differs from the size of the tarantula.


Malaysian Earth Tiger (Cyriopagopus schioedtei)

The price for the tarantula differs from the species, sizes and sexes. The larger the tarantula, the higher the price. Female tarantula has longer life span than male tarantula. It can go as cheap as RM20 for a sling to almost RM1k for rare species. If you're going to get one, do read up the behaviours and the caresheets through internet first. Hopefully this post can attract more people into this hobby.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tarantulas are not poisonous, lol

Anonymous said...

i just got a tarantula as a pet. made her walk upon my hand the first time we met. just gotta be careful, that's all. :)

Anonymous said...

tarantulas are poisonous like every insect on the face of the earth. poisonous means venomous and venom is located in every bug. facts are that a tarantula's venom is as harmful as a bee's venom (very comparable) and death could only occur due to a very severe allergic reaction. luckily no deaths have ever been reported due to tarantula bites all though fever and dizzyness, nausea and severe fatigue are often reported. the tarantula that carries the harshest venom is the usambara orange tarantula. it is also the most aggressive spider i have ever had. but for the spider lover it is one of the most beautiful. my nicest one is a beautiful green bottle blue. long live these adorable creatures;)

Anonymous said...

tarantulas are not insects but arthropods ( meaning eight legged critter) some species are poisonous
the red knee is venomous but it cant kill you....unless you are allergic.

Anonymous said...

all tarantulas are poisonous, just some more than others, g. porteri (formerly, g. rosea) poison is equal to about a bee sting while a h. maculata is more potent

Jesse said...

Okay I feel I must intervene here. poisonous and venomous are two very different things. Tarantula's are NOT poisonous but they're venomous. Most tarantulas venom is completely harmless with exception of old world species who rely on there potent venom as deterrents where as new world species rely on urticating hairs as deterents. New world species still have venom but the levels of toxicity is much lower and has no ill effects on the human body unless you're allergic to the proteins in the venom it's self.

Anonymous said...

I have owned 3 different tarantulas and honestly i cant stand spiders my boyfriend had them but they were just fine if you dont mind holding them then i would recommend having one.

Anonymous said...

I have an Oklahoma Brown, it is female. Her size is 4" so far. She is calm and hunts by night. Hunting behavior includes stalking, and hiding behind object then pouncing with unbelivable speed. There is a lound sound like the rattling of legs,and the strike lands forcefully causing dust and debris to fly.Perhaps also she makes a sound. All this can be heard across the room. Alternately she seems to place her front legs up against the entrance of the borrow and set her hind legs firm against the earth, her fangs are set exposed and firmly on the ready. When prey comes near the speed of her strike is a blur or motion, dust and noise.
I wonder exactly how fast this action is an how it is acomplished?
While she is normaly a calm creature not offering any hostile action, I keep in rememberance the speed she is able to use.