should I or shouldn't I???

[djc3674]

well..my adorable 5 year old son tells me and his mother that he wants a pet tarantula! Now mind you I have 3 snakes but really do not care for spiders. I have held a tarantula before..but briefly..i made my friend take him off me quickly. His mother doesnt seem to be against getting one, but I do not really want one...cause I will be the one having to care and clean up after it.

What I would like to know is..how much maintenance goes into a Tarantula? Do you have to clean there enclosures often?...I have read of a view species that make better beginner pets..but what is outcome of a Tarantula bite? Do you have to go to the Hospital if bitten?? Do people handle these things on a normal basis..do they bite often?? Jeez, any info would be great.. I am really confused over this...I am really don't know if I should get one for him or not...I am leaning more towards no..but maybe if I have one I will wind up liking it.

[BoidKeeper]

The keepers I know that have them don't handle them because they say it is stressfull for them and they scrape off these little hairs from their belly which can cause you to itch. That is about the extent of my knowledge.
This link should help.

Melissa Kaplan's Web Page (http://www.anapsid.org/maininverts.html)

Cheers,
Trevor

[dank7oo]

i say no
spiders are gross

[drewlowe]

Spiders are not gross, spiders are very intersting animals to WATCH...

i have only 1 tarantula because i do have a fear of spiders i'm trying to overcome. for a 5 year old i'm not quite sure a tarantula is right for him. Thats an awfull young age to have one. my experince with mine is almost like she isn't there half the time. I have a rose hair that stays hidden in her coconut bowl pretty much all the time. Once a week i through 2 crickets in her cage. everyother day clean her water dish and give her fresh water. I have her in a 10 gallon aquarium which is tons of room for her. i've had her right around a year and have never fully cleaned her cage. Ive done some spot cleaning cleaning out dead crickets and whatnot. ive heard you can feed pinkies, but my girl wont even go near them.

Hope this helps somewhat i only know about my taratula other speices i wouldn't know anything about. You may want to post a question in the invertabrea forum.

[drewlowe]

oh yeah i've only held her 2 times cause she likes to flick hairs on me and it itches like crazy. feels like fiberglass to me. But i have a friend that holds her when ever she comes out and he's over. and she doesn't bother him one bit. (i think she likes him cause usually when he comes over thats when she comes out the most.)

[ngubitz]

Stripe-Knees and Rose-Hairs are usually VERY docile.... even if they DO bite you (which is VERY rare), they are about as poisonous as a bee sting!.... You CAN handle them with regularity, and they usually LOVE crawling around you....
Their care is really easy.... every once in a while, you can get in there and take out their old web-home (they will build a new one immediately), and clean the enclosure maybe twice a month or so.... two crickets a week and a little bowl of water with a sponge in it.... that's basically all they need.... most spiders like to live alone.... but, if you get the Pink-Toes, they are very gregarious and like living with others of their own species....
Tarantulas are NOT bad pets (if that's what you like).... give it a shot??.... Your child will love it!

....Neil

[LadyHawke]

All spiders can flick the hairs from their abdomen, care has to be taken that it doesn't get in the eyes, so if it does, don't rub your eyes....i had a stripe knee that did it. I love my rose hair, she loves to be handled and never flicks hair, she goes to my shows. Any care given or handling should never be done without the presence of an adult, but so should any animal. Some people have been known to react to spiders bites the same as if the were allergic to bee stings. Spiders are the ultimate couch potatoes and don't require a huge enclosure either. Mine is in a 2 gallon plastic container with some mulch, shallow water dish and some moss kept slighly damp to add in shedding and a few decorations for hiding or climbing. Spiders are also very delicate, care should be taken they do not fall from any height as this will cause them to break open. Most spiders have to live alone because they will kill each other. well thats about what i can think of since i haven't had coffee yet.......

[Pixie]

Caring for a tarantula is probably the lowest maintenance exotic pet available! One of the biggest selling point in my eyes! lol

I have a Mexican red knee and a cobalt blue, both species I wouldn't recommend as a choice for your 5 year old. The cobalt is extremely aggressive and unhandlable and the red knee is prone to flicking a lot of urticating hairs. Others will be able to recommend a suitable species for you to start with.

As for maintenance, I have both my tarantulas set up in 10 gal. tanks with coconut fibers as substrate (the expandable brick), I use "foamarium" inserts for decoration and burrows and both have a 3" water dish (both of my T's are adult size). Feeding is very simple, I throw in a couple of crickets a week to my cobalt and a pinky mouse about once a month for my red knee.

I do a little clean up about once a month: their poo is very minimal and chalky white, very easily cleaned up. Other than that, I keep their water bowls full and clean them once a week.

As for whole tank cleanups, I do these once a year. If the terrarium is well upkept there is almost no need to do a whole cleanup.

Neil: I would just like to correct a tidbit in your post on this thread. I have participated in many tarantula forums and gotten wonderful advice from advanced keepers. Keeping a sponge in the water dish is not a good idea (probably for any type of animal for that matter), as it harbors tons of bacteria and is virtually impossible to keep clean.

If a tarantula is still small, a small water dish (such as a bottle cap) or lots of misting on the sides of the tank will do fine and they will get the water they need.

I think tarantulas are great pets if you know what to expect! I love mine and am looking forward to getting more in the future :) I personally don't handle mine but I enjoy them just as much as if I did.

Pixie

[Colonel SB]

Okay first off I would like to clear up two things pinktoes do not like to live together they will co-habitat if they have too, in the wild they only share a comunal hide during certain times of the year when shelter is hard to come by. Second NOT all tarantulas have urticating hairs(the itchy hairs) only new world species have them, that is why old world species are more agressive they only have one deffense to bite or run away. I got my first T at 6 so 5 should be fine but at his age it's hands off! even it the spider doesn't bite him he could drop it and kill the T. They are indeed very low maintanance pets spot cleaning is all you really have to do, on average you should feed once a week of an appropriate sized cricket...houseing dependson the species. Feel free to ask anymore questions if you decide to go futher with it.

One last thing Tarantula venom is similar to Hyminoptera(Bees, Wasps, Ants) venom so if your son is alergic to bees the chances are he will also be alergic to T's.

[theroom101]

T's are very cool pets imho. However, make sure your 5 year old understand how fragile they can be so that he doesn't accidentally hurt it. I don't have kids, so I don't know how mature a child of that age is. I belong to a very supportive Theraphosidae forum (Tarantulas) and I'm sure you can find lots of good help/info there... http://pub161.ezboard.com/btheraphosidae

[djc3674]

Thanks for all of your opinions and insights. Let me just explain real quick that my son will not be handling it if I do get one. He just wants us to have one so he can look at it. He is pretty careful with the snakes, so at some point...maybe i would let him. I would need to feel comfortable myself with just having the thing in the house..lol

I'm glad to hear that they can be pretty docile and that maintenance is pretty low. I wouldnt be handling it very much at all anyway..just something to observe.

[marisa]

That's how we treat our two beasts!!! hehehe.

We really aren't totally comfortable around spiders, and I am quite afriad of house spiders myself. But tarantulas are different. Once you realize how generally laid back they are in their enclosures, you'll find yourself getting more and more used to it.

We don't handle ours at all. The cage does need to be cleaned often, so I either spot clean a side they aren't on when I see the need (I aint touching them! LOL) and once in a blue moon we catch them gently with a small criiter carrier. We haven't had any mishaps yet, OR any handling sessions! :D (had both for about year and a half)

They are great pets.

Marisa

[Tim and Julie B]

Get one you will love it! I used to wonder why people would keep T's and scorps as pets. Then I got one (Nov.)! And I now have 13 T's and 18 scorpions. They are great and interesting to watch! Other then that I think Colonel SB sumed it up!