Planning on starting a small collection

[CWilson13]

Hello everyone!
Like the title says, I am planning on starting a small collection of invertebrates. I am leaning towards either a few Tarantula spiderlings or possibly a scorpion or two.
I have someone locally that has experience with Ts and I have been scouring the internet for as much info as possible.
My biggest issue so far is more for the scorpions. Information on keeping different species is limited to the standard Forest Scorpion or Emperor. While these are still really interesting arachnids, I was hoping for something less common.
Just curious if anybody has experience with scorpions and would be willing to help out?

Thanks for your time and here are the possible Ts I might go with
Poecliotheria Striata

P. Vittata

P. Rufilata

 

[CWilson13]

Well, even though it didn't generate responses, I figured I could update this since my Herps are in brumation and therefore not very entertaining :coverlaugh:
Last Saturday I went to Jabberwock Reptiles in Winchester MA on the primary mission of getting Hornworms, more bug burger for the dubia colony, and an information gathering on Tarantulas or Scorpions. After speaking with one of the younger guys for quite some time, and learning about his collection, I started looking at spiderlings (slings). The man at the counter also answered numerous questions, some of which I'm sure caused an eye roll or two. Finally I decided that I was getting my first sling. A Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens or Green Bottle Blue. It again took me a little while to pick which of the tiny little .5in slings I wanted. I settled on this one here

As I mentioned in the OP, I have a fondness for the Poecilotheria species. Now, I will be the first to admit, they are most definitely an advanced species compared to most others. Very fast moving, defensive, attain relatively large sizes, and they have intense venom. By no means, a spider for those lacking in common sense or caution. Maybe I was given some bad advice by the guys at Jabberwock and by 2 friends who are keepers, time will tell I suppose.
However there was a P. fasciata sling, roughly 2-2.5in that I had looked at many times while there. I couldn't resist and bought that one as well.



For anyone asking "Is he crazy? He just said that one is dangerous and he still bought it!?" The answer is, well yeah, a little. Also, I do have a great support team of people with Poecilotheria species of their own, as well as a very obvious obsession with learning all I possibly can about an animal.
Anyhow, my long windedness has run out for now, just for fun I will continue posting updates here about both new additions. Thanks for taking the time to read, and as always, I love input from anyone!

 

[GingerC]

This thread is a bit old, but why restrict yourself to arachnids? My scorpion and jumping spider are totally awesome, but my mantis, snail, and even my mealworm culture are pretty fun to keep, too.

 

[CWilson13]

This thread is a bit old, but why restrict yourself to arachnids? My scorpion and jumping spider are totally awesome, but my mantis, snail, and even my mealworm culture are pretty fun to keep, too.

Well, space is unfortunately at a premium currently. After all, 2 Leo's, a Brazilian Rainbow Boa, Ball python, now 7 tarantulas, and a recently acquired Gargoyle gecko tend to take up a fair bit of room.
Scorpions would have actually been my first choice, but my wife isn't a fan of them. She got stung on the hand by a Desert Hairy when she was a child. I adore Jumping spiders! I haven't found anyone nearby that keeps them however. The one downside I've heard about them is the same reason I haven't owned a Mantis, short life span. I tend to get very attached to my animals and would be heartbroken if they passed away. :coverlaugh: Maybe that is why I try so hard to keep myself from getting attached to the dubia roach colony. It'd be hard to feed them off if I got attached.

 

[CWilson13]

Like I said above, I now have 7 tarantulas, which means even us mammals are outnumbered in my home now : coverlaugh: I now own the aforementioned 0.0.1 C. cyaneopubescens, 0.0.1 (suspected male) P. fasciata, 0.0.3 Grammastola pulchripes, and 0.0.2 Avicularia geroldi. Even better than just telling you, I have photos to show as well :biggrin:
P. fasciata roughly 4in diagonal leg span (DLS)

C. cyaneopubescens 1.5in DLS

G. pulchripes #1 1.5-1.75in DLS

G. pulchripes 2 and 3 are typical of their species and tend to burrow so I don't have clear photos of them.
A. geroldi (just posting one of how they look now and one of what they might turn out like) both are maybe 1in DLS



I honestly was surprised at how simple care for these little ones has been. Also at how tidy they all are, except for the fasciata who likes to use her walls as a bathroom. Each of them always dispose of the remains of their meals in the same areas each time and any molted exoskeletons are moved away from the chosen place in their homes. I really do recommend tarantulas as pets, but just like reptiles, know what you are getting into before you make the leap. Some of them are NOT for the faint of heart or people who don't do research before owning an animal.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

/\ Oh my goodness, Cory! What size habitats do they need?

I can't even imagine keeping those furry legged arachnids!

Does company still visit? :yikes:

 

[CWilson13]

/\ Oh my goodness, Cory! What size habitats do they need?

I can't even imagine keeping those furry legged arachnids!

Does company still visit? :yikes:

:coverlaugh: We keep the tarantulas upstairs with the reptiles. Not many people go in that room, unless they are brave or curious. Luckily most of our friends are at least intrigued by the reptiles.
As for enclosure sizes, the P. fasciata and A. geroldi "twins" will be fine in something like the 18*18*24 tall Exo Terra once they are mature, the other 4 will be in their own 10 gallon aquariums when they reach full size.
Similar to reptiles, tarantulas are really interesting animals. They need almost zero help from me, yet I continuously find myself checking in on them. The Green Bottle Blue makes amazing web "carpets" that are beautiful. I do admit the Poecilotheria is a bit intimidating speed wise. I have a 7 second video of feeding him/her and it is crazy how quick that cricket is attacked. Yet that is the one I can't stop taking photos of. Once the others are more matured they will be gorgeous too though.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

How about sharing the feeding video of your Poecilotheria?

 

[CWilson13]

Well, the video isn't the best quality, and the audio is atrocious but here it is. Oh, and like the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) said; "Don't blink" :coverlaugh:

 

[CWilson13]

How about sharing the feeding video of your Poecilotheria?

Not sure if you saw it, but I did post that video. It isn't the greatest quality, YouTube and I do not get along very well :?

 

[Cymmie]

See I have never been hugely interested in T's or Scorps as far as keeping, but know them well enough and could easily find care requirements. I am more interested in millipedes, predatory beetles, scarabs, phasmids, roaches of various types, cave crickets, lubbers( maybe), I would eventually like to looking into getting some pill millipedes several years down the road if possible (though they will be hard to get shipped to me) only because I am pretty sure I have a way to raise giant species in captivity because people haven't tried it yet, stag beetles of course, mantids... god knows what else XD

 

[CWilson13]

See I have never been hugely interested in T's or Scorps as far as keeping, but know them well enough and could easily find care requirements. I am more interested in millipedes, predatory beetles, scarabs, phasmids, roaches of various types, cave crickets, lubbers( maybe), I would eventually like to looking into getting some pill millipedes several years down the road if possible (though they will be hard to get shipped to me) only because I am pretty sure I have a way to raise giant species in captivity because people haven't tried it yet, stag beetles of course, mantids... god knows what else XD

All of those sound very interesting too. Especially the predatory beetles. Have you ever watched "The Spiderman" on YouTube? I'm subscribed to him because he has such a diverse invertebrate collection. He has some really cool assassin bugs and mantids.
Arachnids caught my eye partially because of the negative stereotypes surrounding them. That, new things to learn, and their predatory nature.

 

[Cymmie]

Carabids (predatory beetles that I am most interested in) can be found locally almost everywhere, they are the umbrella family and then smaller species branch off from it. I have not watched him. I don't watch a lot of things on youtube, except unless I need some help deciding a basic set up and then tweak it to how it fits me best. I would never keep assassin bugs for sure, most species easily become dangerous pests. If you can keep them out in the garden that's great, but with all my insect colonies I have enough issues with them and they will feed on pets and humans as well.

 

[CWilson13]

Carabids (predatory beetles that I am most interested in) can be found locally almost everywhere, they are the umbrella family and then smaller species branch off from it. I have not watched him. I don't watch a lot of things on youtube, except unless I need some help deciding a basic set up and then tweak it to how it fits me best. I would never keep assassin bugs for sure, most species easily become dangerous pests. If you can keep them out in the garden that's great, but with all my insect colonies I have enough issues with them and they will feed on pets and humans as well.

You definitely know entomology better than I do. For someone like me, who is still very new to it, watching the various inverts on YouTube and reading about them is educational. I admit, arachnids and insects have always been interesting but I never considered keeping anything beyond Mantids, Scorpions, or Tarantulas. In fact, if it were not for my Leopard geckos, I wouldn't have ever considered keeping roaches of any kind. Now I have a thriving colony of dubia.
I didn't know how easily Assassin bugs could become pests. I mean, obviously, they are not something I'd want loose in my home. Thanks for giving me more to read up on :idea:

 

[CWilson13]

So much for a small collection :rofl: I now have 9 tarantulas and 8 scorpions.
Hadrurus arizonensis

Hottentota buchariensis

Hottentota franzwerneri (x2)

Hottentota salei (x3)

Brachypelma boehmei "Vickie"

Pterinopelma sazimai

Avicularia geroldi "Miss Right" this one is actually unsexed currently because of the size. However there once were 2 of the species and were named for their location on the shelf. The one named Left got stuck in a molt and didn't survive :sad:

Poecilotheria fasciata

Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens

Grammastola pulchripes 2.1 only one photo since the all look very similar aside from minor size differences.