Tried the mating thing for my Rosies...

[garbonzo13]

It was definately different. The male was ready but my female was very eager to give him a bite. Legs high with fangs spread wide. The male went to work taping, but to no good use I would asume. If it only takes seconds then he did his job, if it take a wee bit more, I have to try again. It actually took my female about and hour to put her legs back down in a non defensive stance :shock: . I would definately recommend this species to try to mate for anyone interrested. Thanks to infinity for the info it went pretty smooth for the first of many meetings.

 

[Mike]

How much do these tarantulas go for?

 

[infinity]

adult females - around £20... some can go as cheap as 12-15, others for 30... depends where you get them from but less than 15-20 is rare. Unlike mantids, T's are usually priced according to 3 criteria - rarity, size/beauty or time they take to mature... The chile roses are pretty common, not particularly impressive but take a while to grow up (3 years +) - so they're not as cheap as they could be.

Contrasting that to p.metallica:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/the.tarantula...P.metallica.htm

This T is everything! - REALLY rare, gorgeous, big AND grows reasonably fast. (1cm spiderlings cost around £100 and adults fetch around £750-1000)

 

[Mike]

Wow do you know where to get thoes?

 

[Mike]

Do you play with your tarantula?

 

[infinity]

The only one i hold is the chile rose... rarely the b.vagans... and those p.metallicas can be found at the bts show or occasionally on the bulletin board. But if you're not completely confident with slings then I would strong advise you getting some... wouldn't want 100 quid to go down the drain!

And yeah I know we're all thinking *buy a sling for 100, grow it for 2 years and sell it for 700*... but honestly i'd be petrified of losing one for whatever reason...

 

[Mike]

You advise me to get which one the chili red? whats a sling? lol ive never kept a tarantula before and im planning on getting a 3-4" one? Hmm whats your chances of getting bit? lols=\

 

[infinity]

never been bitten... the chile rose seem pretty docile. I've heard stories but they're slow and sluggish so you should be able to pick them up no problems - males it seems are more docile than females.

And no, i thought you were asking about the p.metallicas - i wouldn't get one! As for the chile roses...the size you mentioned should be costing you around 10-15 quid. They keep well at room temp too on a vermiculite/ peat substrate.

The problem with T's is they're a compromise. You can go for the docile species like the red knees, red-rumps, chile roses etc but they problem with all of them is they're fairly slow growing and don't really do much. So if you're hoping to see lots of prey-grabbing, you'll be somewhat disappointed. On the plus side- they are terrestrial and you'll actually see them.

Other species which are aggressive like any of the haplopelma's or pterinoculus (or however it's spelt) are way more aggressive, will eat anything put infront of them (including you if you get to close) - but these are burrowers and will hide...

The ones that are in between tend to be the arboreal species (tree dwelling) - these like tall containers and are a pain to set up but they're prettier, mediumly aggressive and you'll see them slightly more.

But yeah, as a beginner T... go for a chile rose- they'll get you used to handling them, they're docile and easy to care for

 

[Mike]

How about those hairs that they can flick at you? I was just reading up on them and some sites said the chilean rose hairs are the most BORING species to keep. Out of the beginers T's which one is the most active? The pink toes or whatever? Do they flick hairs?

 

[infinity]

i think most Ts can flick hairs, it's never been a problem for me - but i might just not have caught one in my skin or eyes... And yeah, honestly, you'll be a little bored of a chile rose - it just kinda sits there.

Tough choice...

of the T's I have:

red knee: pretty, but mediumly aggressive - just kinda sits there

pink toe: more of a climber, little more active but mostly black

redrump: fairly active, good appetite, - but again, blackish

salmon pink: BIG - (one of the biggest) - good appetite but boring colour

indian ornamental: good size, nice patterns, decent eater, ok temper

cameroon red: good size, great eater but burrower- kinda pretty

cobalt blue: very aggressive, great eater but burrower

-black form (minax) - same as cobalt blue - kinda act like trapdoor spider

phormictopus - butch, average on all, not as common though

Chaco golden knee - prettier than rosea but still kinda slow

Usambara orange - kinda jittery but cool orange colour

IF you keep your hands out of the cage, I recommend the ornamentals, perhaps a salmon pink or the usumbara.

My personal fave is the redrump but that's just cos it was my first

 

[TheVesper]

never been bitten... the chile rose seem pretty docile. I've heard stories but they're slow and sluggish so you should be able to pick them up no problems - males it seems are more docile than females.And no, i thought you were asking about the p.metallicas - i wouldn't get one! As for the chile roses...the size you mentioned should be costing you around 10-15 quid. They keep well at room temp too on a vermiculite/ peat substrate.

The problem with T's is they're a compromise. You can go for the docile species like the red knees, red-rumps, chile roses etc but they problem with all of them is they're fairly slow growing and don't really do much. So if you're hoping to see lots of prey-grabbing, you'll be somewhat disappointed. On the plus side- they are terrestrial and you'll actually see them.

My red knee is a digger and a burrower, and all the rose hairs i've had were neurotic, kept strange habits, and were never boring