Mar
I'm looking to buy a tarantula from a local breeder, specifically a Brachypelma Smithi spiderling. Is there anyone local that does this or will I have to order one from outside?

bubbley
theres a member tarrantula on the boards pm him he breeds them ask for the the tarantula special sauce :D

Tarrantula

HAHAHA as soon as I read the Thread title.. I was like "I wonder who will get me involved in this" ha ha ha ha

On a side note, I do not breed Tarantula's.

FivE.SeveN
Jesus breeding these 8-eyed demon spawns of pure fucking evil? :eek:

Don't do that, KILL THEM before they develop language skills!


Yeah tarantulas creep me out!

Mar
How could this creep you out? This is beautiful....

in*10*se
i would buy one... just so i could tee it up and fucking have at 'er with my driver.... <shudder>

Mar
Fine. You guys aren't invited to my Christmas party! :)

civic_stylez
I love my chilean rose haired tarantula.... no noise, no smell and low maintenance... i wish i could find a girl like that...

IMO the most interesting creature/pet to have.

Mar

Did you get yours at a pet store? They're the only ones I see sold at per stores as they're very easy to maintain but the Red Knee is pretty much on par with the Rose Hair. Not sure why I don't see them more.
If you used a breeder/dealer, please let me know who you used.

in*10*se

thats lucky for you, your trantula's and my driver... 3 wood and maybe 7 iron...

Trini
*shudder*

Vagabond142
meh... tarantulas are closer to mammals than arachnids, so they don't really bother me that much.

As to the OP... I'm pretty sure that there's a tarantula forum out there somewhere that relates to Calgary, Alberta and/or Canada, and they can point you in the right direction

civic_stylez

I got mine from a guy in lethbridge... i was trying to get a goliath tarantula. leg span of a dinner plate!! i just didnt feel like keeping mice and other feed on hand for them. Id look for a forum in alberta....

Colin_R6
Started a thread for you on TARAS, something should come up.


http://www.albertareptilesociety.or...25461#post25461

edit
PS: Rose hairs are boring... and they can go on hunger strikes for a year or longer (omfg, frustrating). At least you can handle some of them anyway!

6thGen.TUNER
msg mitsu3000 he might know

Mar

Got it: http://www.albertareptilesociety.or...read.php?t=5219
But that was real nice of you anyway! :thumbsup:

I've been all over every forum and even emailed tarantulacanada.com out of Quebec. They can get me one for $35 and $35 express shipping. That's a high pricetag for shipping.

I might have to call off the search though, my roommate is very demanding that I not have a spider in the house. :(

Mitsu3000gt
I bought most of my spiders from Martin at TarantulaCanada. The shipping is expensive because it has to be overnight shipping, and he has to pack it such that the spider won't get injured. His wife was at the Edmonton show last weekend with a bunch of stuff, apparently. $70 is not a bad price for a B.Smithi, especially if you can get a guaranteed female - a lot of pet stores want $250 for a spiderling.

Petland in Shawnessey has quite a few tarantulas, but they are outrageously expensive. Also, the PAWS Pet Food store on Heritage & Elbow drive SW has a whole bunch of tarantulas in the basement where all their aquariums are sold and such.

I've had pet tarantulas for about 10 years now, so let me know if you have any questions. My collection is slowing decreasing, and I haven't been buying any more. My B.smithi died recently, it was 22 years old haha (bought it when it was 13 yrs old). I've only had 2 escape in 10 years haha, and I found them both.

Tarantulas are actually awesome pets, amazingly low maintenance, no sounds, no smells, and very inexpensive all things considered. Lots of people just hate them because they are indeed big, hairy spiders lol.

InLoveWitRSX

Are they dangerous? what happens if you get bitten by it? any spiderman side effects?

Despair*

Geez... that would be very creepy for a non spider lover to have tarrantulas freely roaming the house. Where did you end up finding them hiding?

Mar

I can't tell if you're joking or serious! :) But a bite from one of these spiders is nothing worse than a bee sting which isn't so bad. You have to pick the correct species as a beginner spider (Chilian Rosea, Mexican Red Knee, ...) because their venom is not very potent at all and wouldn't cause more than a rash. Plus they're very docile, you can hold them in your hand and there's little to no chance they'd want to bite you.
On the other hand, there's much more aggressive species that you'd want for display only because they'll bite you any chance they get.

The only Spiderman effects you may notice is if you try to write a non continuous and otherwise mundane movie script while feeling the nausious effects from the bite, it may turn out almost as badly as the third installment of said series.

Mitsu3000gt

There are two types of tarantulas - new world and old world. New world tarantulas have urticating hairs (barbed hairs covered in an irritating pharamone they kick off of their abdomen) and generally weak venom. These hairs can cause issues if they get in your eyes or respiratory system, but will just make your skin itchy. To get them off you just use a damp cloth - its not a big deal unless you're stupid enough to hold the spider by your face. In most cases, the mechanical damage of the bite would be the most painful part as some tarantulas have fangs over 1 inch long.

Old world tarantulas, however, can be much more dangerous (although they still won't kill you). They do not have the urticating hairs and rely soley on their venom as a defense mechanism. This is where, say, if you got bit in the arm it might swell up and turn black/blue and you would experience tightening of the chest and a very fast heart rate. Some people pass out, but I don't believe anyone has ever dired from something like this. Some species are extremely aggressive, but they represent a very small portion of the population.

Unless you are literally retarded in the way you conduct yourself around them, you will NEVER get bit. I don't hold my tarantulas, as neither party benefits from such an activity, so that reduces the risk by about 90% right there. Secondly, I use really long forceps to do any cleaning up of cricket remains in the cage. Lastly, I fill all the water dishes with a turkey baster so my hand is never near them. The closest call I came was when I had to reach in with the foreceps at an angle so my hand was lower, and I accidently touched the soil so the spider though my hand was food and my biggest spider (8" or so) flew at my hand with its 1 inch fangs out lol, but I got away in time. Most spiders aren't aggressive at all.

Haha, I waited a while before I told anyone else - the room I keep them in is ~10-15 degrees warmer than the rest of the house, so, even if I left the door open, they wouldn't leave that room. The first time one escaped, it was a particularily dangerous one that was very fast, and arboreal (lives in trees, excellent climber) - basically the worst possible one to escape lol. To this day I don't know how it got out, and I for sure didn't leave the cage open. I found it 3 days later in my clothes amoir, between the outside of a drawer and the inside of the actual frame of the unit, if you can picture that. Then I just wrangled him into a container and back into his cage lol. The second one that got out was very docile, and I did accidently leave the top of his cage open - i found him the same day in the back of my closet just sitting under some stuff on the ground. I was much more worried about them than me, because a fall of even 6" can kill some tarantulas if they land wrong - they are extremely fragile. Oh, and they can't jump at all - that is a myth.

Vagabond142

Not being the most intelligent about spiders/tarantulas, but isn't this because their entire system of movement is hydraulic? So even a small rupture can cause irreversible damage?

Mitsu3000gt

Yes that is technically why they die - because their "blood" gets pumped through open passages rather than blood vessels like we have, but they rupture extremely easily which is why the fall can easily be deadly for them. The larger, gound-dwelling species are generally very heavy, and are not at all designed for clumbing/falls so sometimes when people leave too much space between the ground and top of the cage, the spider will climb the glass, slip off, and if it hits its water dish or something it can easily die. You can sometimes repair their wounds with super glue, and then next time they molt(shed skin) the glue will be taken away with their old skin. They can also regenerate limbs, fangs, etc. when they molt.

Also they breathe through their book lungs, which are on the bottom of their abdomen facing the ground, so it is easy for them to drown as well (this is why their water dishes should be shallow and wide rather than deep).

Its funny how everyone is terrified of them but they are EXTREMELY vulnerable and in most cases can't do anything more than a bumble bee if it were to bite you.

Mar

Here's a complete thread based on how to care for a jumping spider.
http://www.tarantulas.us/forums/showthread.php?t=16757

Mitsu3000gt

A jumping spider isn't a tarantula :) Two different families (Theraphosidae vs. Salticdae).

Mar

My bad, when you said, "...they..." I thought you meant spiders in general.

Colin_R6
If you can wait for the Red Deer reptile show (usually at the tail end of august) you can pick up some spiders for *real* cheap there.

Disoblige
I just got my B. Smithi through the mail from TarantulaCanada. They also threw in another spiderling called Nhandu coloratovillosus as a Freebie. I looked it up and the coloring on it is beautiful too!!


Red Knee Spiderling


The freebie that it will grow into:

BlackArcher101
This thread can go to hell and burn with fire.

Spiders, ugh. And to think I had a tarantula at one time. A rose haired named "Axle", haha.

Mar

$73 with shipping? That's the quote they gave me.

legendboy
Mitsu3000gt post some pictures of your big spiders :cry:

Disoblige
Yes Mar, that's right. I didn't know they threw in a freebie lol.. Now I got 2 slings.

Mar, do you want my freebie? I'm selling it for $20 or something? They sell it for $10, but shipping is $35 , I don't mind 2 but didn't expect to have 2 lol. Pick-up tonite :)

Mar
Can you put back up the picture you had of them? I want to post that on the other tarantula forum I'm on.

Disoblige

I couldn't take them together in different pill jars.. Hard to focus the 2 lol.. Soo..

Here's the Nhandu coloratovillosus




Actually, you can have it for free. Forgot you were Danny lol. Think of it as helping me install my seats. But you gotta promise you're gonna take care of it, because I really want to see them both grow big haha

InLoveWitRSX

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


Thanks for the info Mar and Mitsu.

Disoblige
Hey Danny, heres a pic of the new housing I put it in. The soil we got, I put it in water to let it soak and ripped a few pieces out. Then i packed it down with decent pressure into the housing and used a blow dryer to make it dryer but still a bit moist in the middle and bottom.