So true about the porteri !

I have a curly hair. She is my first, and is extremely docile. She was skittish at first, but now she just chills and doesn't mind me picking her up. I love her so much.

My Grammostola pulchripes is a great eater! She pounces on a roach as soon as I drop it in (as long as I drop it where she can feel the vibration, if she's on top of her hide and i drop the roach on the substrate or vice versa she wont necessarily pounce right away). They're great eaters in my experience. Mine isn't handlable since her last molt, she turned into a moody teenager that tries to bite everything moving in her enclosure, but she's still a beautiful spider. Personally another tarantula I'd recommend for beginners, as long as they do enough research to understand the proper care, is an Avicularia avicularia. Yes, they're arboreal so they need a different set up and yes they need cross ventilation. But beyond that they're pretty easy to care for. Also they're a fun species because they're docile and sometimes very adventurous. I've never intentionally handled any of mine except for when I got them and rehoused them, but I've had them jump out of their enclosures and walk up my arm when i try to fill their water dishes.

I have an addiction to watching tarantula videos I still have slight arachnophobia but for some reason I’m not scared of tarantulas anymore, I just find them so gorgeous and unique

I'm thinking of a Arizona Blonde for my first T. Just so pretty. :)

Mine would be I do not know how to spell scientific names 1 pink toe tarantula any type 2 Arizona blonde 3 curly hair 4 Rose hairs 5 chilean flame

A. Chalcodes was my first T species. I love her! I don' handle her often, but she is very docile, excellent choices.

Watched your videos and ordered my 1st three! Ordered the pink toe and curly hair, came to picking a freebie one and saw a cute little one, not knowing anything about any of them aside from your videos really so I chose the freebie and it was an h David Bowie huntsman. Enjoying them all, as slings they seem pretty chill. Just ordered 3 more, the GBB, the fire leg, and red rump! Super happy and thank you for the husbandry advice. If you have any experience with the huntsmans or can point me to someone who does I’d appreciate that!

I just bought my first two Ts this week. Whoo-hoo. My choices were the Brachypelma Vagans and a Grammsotola Pulchripies. I can't wait for them to arrive.

I’ve actually purchased a Grammostola Pulchripes from a Repticon convention last Sunday, and I’m actually happy with it, they’re actually calm and very docile, and extremely laid back. That’s another reason because looking at their colors really drew me, and I’m going to take real good care of them. Because I’m the papa and I’m going to raise my child really good.

Oof wow. All of breeders I've talked to at expos and stuff (I've talked to over 20) always debunk the fact that Ap Chalcodes is extremely docile. It's more like a 50/50 chance of getting a more docile one compared to a defensive and skittish one. My Ap Chalcodes is not at all docile and I wouldn't stick my hand anywhere near him unless I intended to get bit. I also can't coax him with a brush or anything else because it makes him mad and yeah. He's still beautiful and I love him to pieces and yes I am able to handle him every once in a long while but holy poop their tempers range so much. Great video!

My first trantula was the pink toe, really easy to take care of

Urticating hairs don't have to be a problem. Long sleeve shirt, gloves, woodworking glasses or goggles, and a paper face mask, reduces any risk of irritation or injury. OR get whatever it is you've got to do done as quickly as possible.

Nice selection! I would also highly recommend a Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens (GBB) sling as a beginner. They have a great feeding response and if you put some arboreal elements in their enclosures, they will usually web it all up which gives you as a keeper a lot to observe. They are pretty hardy and the color change they go through is just stunning :)

That’s a great beginners list. I definitely feel like the A. Chalcodes is probably the top beginning species, just based off of my experience :)

All 5 recommendations are great. Everything you said is spot on, espcially about the G. porteri/rosea fast. That can be really hard for some new keepers to wrap their heads around, especially people who are used to animals that need to eat daily. Also, your one Chalcodes is gorgeous and has a really natural looking burrow going on.

I just got my first T. Its an avicularia metallica. Very pretty species. Its blue with metallic hairs. Shes very dossile. Great begginer T. She can jump and can be fast but over all she is amazing. They dont kick hairs but they can rub their abdomen across your skin and stick hairs jnto you that way. They are less likely to bite when compaired to a rose hair. They have humidity requirements and need cross ventilation. The humidity is easy. Keep a full water dish in the cage and mist the substrate every week or every 4 days if its very dry. I keep a live plant in her enclosure and that helps with humidity. They are tree spiders so if you handle them you need to keep your hand up and elbow down. This way if they get scared , they will climb up your hand instead of up your arm and onto your face. Also if you are going to handle them, do so while sitting on the floor. This way you and your T are close to the ground in case your T falls, jumps, or you drop her. there are probably better species out there for begginers but the avics are my favorite. To me they are the closest thing to a cuddly tarantula you can get. EDIT: They can also shoot poop at you if they feel threatened.

my first was also the B albopilosum and she’s so sweet I loveee her, a true queen

I love your video!

Great video, thanks for all the info! I got my first tarantula about 2 months ago, she’s an ‘Aphonopelma Seemanni’. Very very calm, relax, chill but really doesn’t eat much. She actually only ate one cricket since I got her. I’ve read enough about them however so I’m not worrying about it too much. Her colours recently got a little dull and she seems a bit more lethargic so she might be in pre-molt which would also explain the no eating. Anyways I love her and I’m definitely thinking about a second T eventually. I recently uploaded some videos of her too ;) Take care!

Good choices Kat. I just got a Caribena Versicolor Sling & a Psalmopeous Cambridgei Sling for my first Tarantulas. I'm waiting on a Brachypelma Emilia Juvenile to arrive xx

Still making my way back through your videos to Thumbs Up and save to my Tarantula Kat playlist. Hugs from NC.

Good vid. Thank you for making it.

For my first tarantula I got the Brachypelma Auratum aka the Mexican Flame Knee. I originally wanted to get the highly coveted B. Smithi, but it was not availble, however the B Auratum was. The B. Auratum is literally almost the same as a B Smithi in terms of care and temperament, but the main difference is the color on the legs. The B Smithi is slightly more colorful on the legs, but the B Auratum is almost as beautiful, and just as calm. Mine was a notorious hair kicker when I first got her, but she's settle down more with age, and is overall a VERY good beginner tarantula since she's so easy to care for. She's never tried to attack me or go into threat posture, likes it nice and dry, and enjoys going into her cork bark to burrow. The B Smithi and B Auratum should most definitely be on the beginner species list, and they're 2 of the most popular for collectors, beginners and advanced because their beautiful colors. :)

A great begginer tarantula species is the pink toe tarantula

great video! my young curly hair spends 90% deep in his burrow but is slowly getting braver and staying out in the open when i walk into the room lol

Hi!!! I’m thinking about starting with the curly haired one and I’ve done lots of research but I also want one I can handle more often then others , what’s your opinion?

My first one was a Singapore blue female tarantula. Beautiful spider but loves to bolt and a lot of upkeep and care. Took me almost a hr to catch it last time.

my first one redleg second one featherleg very very fast tarantula definitely not for new people to the hobby but so fun to keep and I did know what to expect with it next gooty sapphire very fast but so pretty and next up scolapendra subspinipes though this centipede is actually more docile than my beginner species as it never bites the tongs or goes into threat posture obviously ive never tried to handle it as that would just be stupid but its amazing how a centipede can be more friendly than the red leg !

I just got my first three slings a month ago :) The Covergirl of the tarantula World: Brachypelma hamorii, the no1. Web-Designer: Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens, and the fluffy rose hair tarantula: Grammostola rosea. Like the porteri, they fast.. so as I expected she ate once and then stopped haha. But since I was aware of that I also decided on the GBB because someone eventually needs to eat all the crickets and they’re literally eating machines! and the Mexican Red knee... what can I say besides BEAUTIFUL!

my very first tarantula was an avicularia versicolor or caribena (whatever they're called now) sling and if you're into arborials i would recommend an adult one.

I'm thinking of a Davus pentaloris as my first, I know it's smaller and much more flighty but it was the first one I saw that I actually wanted

Good list! Been keeping on and off for 26 years but nice to see others views. I own all in your video and there are exceptions to each individual!

Thanks for your beautiful videos love your beautiful spiders

Do you have a reputable breeder here in the USA for a beginner to get his spiders from? There are a lot of places to look and it’s hard to know who is good.

Hi Kat- thanks for the great video, I am trying to decide between a Brachpelma albopilosum and a Grammostola pulchripes. I will have my tarantula in my science classroom where he/she will be a classroom pet, and help my students out with some animal behavior just by being their great specimens.

i looketh on the price and gathered avicularia purpurea and tapinauchenius kolumbien, bought cheap ones and they do good, they need humidity but they do really good, i feed them flies they are spiderlings at the 2nd molt

Kinda funny my Grammostola pulchripes was just absolutely evil!! Awesome list and different from a lot of top lists out there. My first T a few years back now was actually Baptism by fire i went and got myself a cobalt blue and never looked back. As much as i love new world species i just have so much respect for old worlds!

My first is my A. Avic Gwen. She's 3rd molt since I got her and so cute. Getting my next one at Repticon in december. Hopefully an A. Chalcodes or a G.Pulcripes. What's your thoughts on an LP?

Lately I’ve been thinking about getting a tarantula and I’ve been looking at the Aphonopelma Chalcodes a lot

Thanks for the video. =)

Very buetiful

New tranchula keeper. I have a curly hair, Rosie & just picked up a ggb. I want a obt but my girlfriend says hell no. I want a arboreal & fossorial. Any suggestions @tranchula kat

Im not sure if my grammastola is a porteri or a rosea but she doesnt care much for her water either. Shes flicmed hairs at me once when i was trying to rehouse her because the aquarium that was got for her originally wasnt large enough. Other then that she's been pretty chill. Doesn't give me the threat posture and doesnt kick hairs... Granted i haven't bothered her because shes in pre-molt... Shes really chill tho and i love her cx

My B Albo is my best eater ❤️ she’s an eating machine

The Mexican red knee is really cool looking and is easy to care for. They do grow slow and kick their hair so be careful. They are ok for handling but watch out for the hair!

I like this list

have you handle all your spiders you shown in this video before . So amazing love the information learning so much great details 👍🏿

I am a beginner and just started with a: B. Hamorii, B. Albopilosum, A. Chalcodes and an Avicularia Purpurea.

I can't even lie first time I ever purchased tarantulas. I purchased Three . An A.chalcodes , B.albopilosum and a H.maculata sling. Man I wasn't going to get the H.mac but man it was the only Old World tarantula that I ever wanted to purchase.

Great video. .all five r great starter ts ..I subbed ☺

I got my first and it's a pumpkin patch

Great video! Just got my first (inspired by you). I went with a C. versicolor. It’s a tiny thing, barely 1” leg span. Diving right in!!

A dumb question - is there a benefit to leave the molts in the vivarium? I had some tarantulas many years ago and I had a Mexican Red Leg that was possessive of it's molts ( didn't know sex). The rest of them didn't seem to mind if I removed their molts. I wish information like this was as accessable 30 years ago. Thank you for all of your great videos!

Just wanted to say your amazing and because of u I wanna get a T I wanna get a sling female pink zebra beauty. I watch u videos like all the time I love u videos and you T's. Thank you so much for being my inspiration for wanting a spider

I am watching your video and I'm wondering what size of spider would you recommend for a beginner ?

Thx

Omg i love the content young lady

Some people say dont feed tarantulas after mold and wait 2 weeks otherwise it could hurt theyre fangs. Is this true?

I'm getting a tarantula in the new year and I'm excited. Thank you Kat, for this video. Really enjoying the content. So here's a question: Do chain stores like Pet Smart have good selections? I've seen a few tarantulas displayed at the local one and was curious of your opinion.

What do you think about G Pulchras? Also, how often should I feed them?

Hello. I am currently researching which T is going to be my first.. Lots to take it. I've decided not to get a baby baby to start with but a young one will be fine. Early days but very excited. X

My first is a curly hair. She tolerates handling fairly well, but I kinda stopped handling her so idk about now.

Can you do how to a encloser the do's and don'ts.

personally I would've added in the Brachypelma hamorii (Mexican Redknee) for a beginner species

I've been bitten by the tarantula bug and I can't wait to get into the hobby. I'm planning on starting out with a eupalaestrus campestratus followed by a couple staple new world beginner species.

Hmm well I'm deffinenlty not a beginner when it comes to keeping T's, I have had my Gramastola Rosea (Idk know if it's porteri and I realy don't care either, I have always called it a rosea so that is what it is to me) for I believe 7 years maybe 6 but I'm almost positive it's 7 years. Sometimes I forget I even have a tarantula it's so easy to care for, like literaly they can go 2 meals a year and they will still survive, but yeah I have my one Tarantula and I love it. I got her during my what I like to call "Insect Phase", my love for insects started as a kid and really bloomed in middle school, then I had a lot of arachnids such as my first Tarantuala which I got as a birthday present, and up until then I really only liked insects , I loved Praying Mantis and at that point I had like 6 or 7 PM in little critter keepers, pretty cool little buggers but then I got a tarantula (wild caught) and it was an Aphonopelma anax(Texas Tan) and I didn't really know how to take care of it but it lived a good 8 or 9 months if my memory serves me right, could be more or could be less, its been 8 years since but yeah that really sparked an intrest to get into more daring creatures. So after that I started to collect native Scorpions (Texas Bark Scorpions) and from there I moved on to a few Emperor scorpion's , had a Dune Scorpion for a short period of time also and so I was really into Arachnid's so I wanted to try a Tarantula again and so I bought my GRose and I loved it, real simple and at that time I did use to hold it but I started to notice some mood swings so I gave it the respect it derserved and decided to not hold it again and I havn't since. When it came to Scorpions vs Tarantulas I was more of a Scorpion keeper than a T keeper so I never bought any T's outside the beginner's list. I did at one point have an Avic. Avic, I think I had it for a year and I don't really remember how it died but It might have froze when it got cold one winter but it was very different for me as it was a tree climbing T and it was very skitish, it was cool and I wish it had lived but after that I really didn't care for aboreal T's. I also once again had another male Texas tan T (wild caught) and it maybe lived 3 monthsand then died and I'm not really sure why it died but it did and even though I had the proper setup but up until that point my love for insect had taken a BIG dive down, I no longer had anymore scorpions, some froze and some the ant's killed along with some of my Jumping spiders and no T's except the one I still had. The love for insect I once had is gone and still kinda is , although I still very much appreciate them still but like scorpions I probably would never want those again (still cool though) , though I find myself not loving them anymore as I willfully killed 2 at my grandma's house. I have gotten into Turtles the past few years but unfortuently the Turtle I have I have to get rid of it because of some finacial/space problems but it is going to a cool pond, but latley I have been thinking of getting a couple more T's. The drive to collect species as I used to is layed to rest at the moment but considering how easy some T's are to care for I was thinking of getting some. I'm not a beginner but I like beginner species so I think in a couple months after I get a job and make a bit more space in my room I'll buy a couple T's, was thinking a Curly hair and and Arizona Blonde. p.s sorry for the really really long commemt.

Hey Kat ! How big do G pulchra have to be to breed? How do I know if female is ready?

My first was a E. Minus hes so awesome and hes very well behaved for his species

Cool video! I have a female curly hair she does the complete opposite and super calm. I’ve never seen her flick hairs, But I don’t know if it’s just only males that do this

I'm torn between number 2 and number 4, with number 4 being slightly in the lead although number 2 is prettier. I just need to research a bit more about tarantulas to see how they cope with the UK climate before I make a choice. Luckily I have a shop very close to me so I can be sure of the necessary "early days" support of caring for a spider as a pet.

the arizona blonde is a great display species, mine is always visible. the curly hair is a great begginer species, mine is very chill and handleable. i also owned g. rosea and she was also nice and active

How much crickets per feeding?

I just got a pseudhapalopus sp blue sling as my first Tarantula and I'm finding it hard to find much information about how to care for it. I was hoping you could help because I have a ton of questions and very little answers 😔

I always wanted a Arizon/Desert Blonde

If u had to pick one for me, which tarantula would u say for me to get that doesn't require lighting. Because I really want a tarantula

I have a question. Have you ever ordered from Portsmouth tarantulas to the United States

Hi , is it advisable for me to keep exotic animal like T? Coz honestly I have a arachnophobia but I do want to try it

I'm a beginner and I went with a desert blonde and a Brazilian salmon pink bird eater, I should be getting both of them tomorrow.

I'm getting into the hobby soon and was looking at GBB. What I was wondering is would it be a good idea to stick to one or if I can should I grab a few?

Hey guys, Nice Intro vid - glad I saw it. My friend has a bunch of baby Ts (he's a breeder/hobbyist) and has given me a few as gifts. One is a GBB (its no probs) and the other 2 are a king baboon and a P. regalis. I love them all and am currently keeping them in deli cups with potting soil. I appreciate 2 are OW and fast/defensive. I just bought a G. pulchra and a H. maculata online. This was before I did so much research. I'm guessing the G. pulchra is the only one I can handle?? I plan on using catch cups and a tub with vaseline for rehouses. Final question - do OW get slower with age?? Thanks - C.

Is it ok to keep tarantulas in a busy area? Like in the living room near speakers?

My first 5 tarantula were exactly what you have as a top 5

My Chilean rose was all about being handled. Had her for 12 years never flicked hairs or went into threat posture.

What is more hand friendly and easier to hold...a arizona blonde or Mexican red knee?? Please help

Is an Aphonopelma seemanni a good beginner tarantula

What about the Mexican red knee?

I have a curly haired tarantula and mines a female and she is really nice and docile and never flics hairs also I recommend handling a curly haired tarantula also the only bad thing about them is that they can be fast a times

6.39 mins in See thats what im looking for i want a tarantula that is chilled but burrows ... ive been thinking about it alot and for me as a newbie and what i.want out of this and what i love about them is That laying there with their legs hanging out the burrow food comes along and BAM!! 😆 i know it seems silly but i love that about them they POTENTIALLY COULD BE HANDLED TOO!! WHICH IS AWSOME not saying i will but if they can be handled it speaks volumes about their tempermant Yes gbb's are amazing webbers look awsome but for me its not about that Dont have to be a fossorial indefinitely but i prefer the fossorial tendencies to the areoborial tendencies imo I wanna grow into that part of the hobby where their more fossorial in nature develop into electric blues and cobalts

Is your recommended list still the same?

I have always wanted one, my mom is finally opening up to the idea. My biggest fear about this is defiently them getting loose. Tips for beginning tarantulas and how to make sure they don’t escape?

I have 2 A. Seemani one is blueish and the other is brown. What can you tell me about that.

Funny thing is. I’m from AZ and the A. Chalcodes is native here. I wanted to purchase one and NO ONE had them LOL. I rly don’t want to go looking for one in the desert. Oh well.. maybe one day lol

I am a beginner and I went with an Arkansas Brown tarantula. I can’t remember the classification name off hand. I live in Arkansas and got one from the wild and have used local items for its hide. I have made one sin already and went with the wood shaving/ forest floor substrate mix. But will be fixing that as soon as I can. I made a small burrow for it but it doesn’t use it. Is that a cause for concern?

I like Arizona Blondes. Who knows where to get them in Europe? Tryed different shops and nothing. I wanna mature female.Can Anybody in Europe (close to Croatia )help? Thanks

My Arizona blonde was wild caught, however after the first month it didn't eat. So after that I decided to buy a Salmon Pink Birdeater and release the blonde back into the wild. Very good drinker. Wasn't too handleable. The Salmon Pink however is an amazing eater but almost climbed my tongs. Now I know how Exotics Lair feels hahaha

So true about the arizona blond

Anyone knows where to get Aphonopelma chalcodes in Indonesia? (Near West Borneo)

Looking to get a zebra leg but it's a really tiny thing

I have goliath that i do not handle because of her size but she is definitely easy going she eats really well of course she's big she's going to but maybe not for everyone