DONT Make These Common MISTAKES Keeping Tarantulas!

[@tarantulacollective]

I have been getting a lot of messages and seeing many comments from subscribers saying they are NOT getting notifications from KZbin when NEW videos are uploaded. I have a solution! You can head over to my website and sign up for the mailing list! I will start sending out an email every time I upload a NEW video, so you don't miss out. (There will also be sneak peeks, bonus content, and giveaways just for those on the mailing list) www.thetarantulacollective.com/email-notification

[@marcoreyna7343]

Do you have any care and husbandry on the Peruvian Purple pinktoe sling

[@tarantulacollective]

@@marcoreyna7343 no, but I have videos on the Caribena versicolor and Avicularia avicularia (both pink toe ts) and the care would be essentially the same.

[@gigistarantulas4800]

I check all my enclosures numerous times a day there room is right next to mine

[@santiagoe.navarroortega6044]

Once a P. Regalis escaped at night, and the next day when I searched for it, I couldn't found it but in the night she was walking on my leg xD

[@notyourboy663]

I love regalis!.... would NOT love this happening. Lol

[@kv2315]

oh wow!!! 🤣 how did everything turn out?

[@technoraptor7778]

O_o wooooooo!!

[@jared7897]

That reminds me of the time my rat got out and hide in my moms pillow case in the middle of the night. She got scared because she thought it was my P.regalis and when she put the rat back in her cage, she saw my T resting on the glass with all her legs spread out ( she was as big as my hand at the time). Love the yellow markings and I miss watching her jump from one log to the next to pounce on a cricket.

[@keithbroadwater4304]

I have a harpactira pulcripes on the loose. A sling. Hes been missing for 3 months and its been very warm so hes probably thriving . Last week a cellar spider crawled across my face while I was asleep. Totally thought it was my missing baboon

[@Katiethewizard]

Oh god the cat one hit SO HARD... I have a cat who is going through his clumsy teen boy phase and he tripped on a shelf and knocked the enclosure of my FAVORITE tarantula right into the ground😩 It totally busted and dirt went everywhere but thankfully she was still fairly small and burrowed deep so the dirt broke her fall. After a minute I saw her waddle out of the dirt, confused but completely unharmed. Biggest scare of my life😭

[@technoraptor7778]

Yet another of many reasons I would never get a cat.

[@chocolatepumpkincurlygirl8340]

I would have freaked out.Thank Goodness your baby was okay!

[@Katiethewizard]

@@chocolatepumpkincurlygirl8340 Oh trust me I was in shock for a solid minute before i could even react😭 But she is totally safe and is still the sweetest T i own!!❤

[@Katiethewizard]

@@technoraptor7778 my cats are the light of my life but sometimes they are Very Dumb

[@stephanies9689]

@@Katiethewizard Have you tried museum wax or putty to "glue down" the enclosure? My cat is much happier taunting my cichlid than tormenting tarantulas, so she's left them alone, but always better safe than sorry

[@bobbiscrittercave2348]

Just a note - my friend, who is an Optometrist, has treated patients for urticating hairs in the eyes, and it can lead to PERMANENT damage or blindness...

[@Vercus100]

I love how at 9:07, when Richard mentions getting a divorce, the picture is a threat pose. Seems appropriate. It's that dry wit that keeps me coming back.

[@tommiebenjamin]

My biggest mistake I made when I first got into the hobby was assuming every tarantula would eat every week. When I got my very first one , 20 years ago, the pet store owner told me to feed it every other day. For years i thought it was near death because it was a adult and would only eat maybe once a month. I only learned years later that they just wanted to keep me buying lots of crickets and she was perfectly healthy.

[@critterlovermaria506]

I am glad you mentioned the growing the collection too fast one. I feel like I have made jokes about it because tarantulas take so little daily upkeep vs. other pets, but I always know my limit on how many pets I can care for and have space to house. Responsible keepers know their limits too, but sometimes I think we forget that there are some people (new or not) who do grow their collection too fast and get legitimately overwhelmed.

[@LemonScentedSharpie]

I've been watching your videos for a while to desensitize myself to spiders. I'd probably never own one but now I'm much more appreciative of spiders in general. I still wouldn't want to keep one but I can understand why people would.

[@jared7897]

This also ties in with being patient. Don't ignore your tarantulas disposition. Even if your tarantula is a species that can be handled once in a while but it's showing signs of agitation, leave it alone. I almost got bit (tagged as it's referred to in the hobby because bites from certain species can be quite nasty). These are pets to be enjoyed through observation.

[@fuzzy_mates.christopher.8129]

The hell is going on at 8:45 😆🤣😂😹... is that a cricket making it's great escape whilst the hornworm takes a doo-ing ? 🤣

[@fuzzy_mates.christopher.8129]

Looks like the Tarantula booted it out the enclosure 🤣😂

[@mrsp4650]

I definitely agree with the one about not expanding a collection too quickly and not having emergency situations covered. In my case it was with snakes. I think I had around 20 snakes at one point in my home. From corn snakes to boa constrictors, if I could get what I wanted I would get it. This was fine, until I became ill and simply didn't have the ability to care for them all properly anymore. Thankfully I knew a few people who I could rehome them with. I bought Steve my Mexican Red Rump about six months ago and I knew I'd want more almost immediately. It's a bit like getting a tattoo and saying it's going to be the only one. For now, I'm happy to give Steve all of my attention. Sound advice there.

[@abowen4951]

This man speaks with knowledge and experience and a true love of the hobby wise words that's going to help alot of people out including myself thanks Richard 👍

[@tarantulacollective]

Rock on! Thanks for watching and taking the time to leave a comment!

[@alexpayne1364]

urticating hairs : they are a defense mechanism and its been on a tarantula for thousands of years because they work

[@kirksealls1912]

I’m inclined to think that urticating hairs/bristles have been around for millions of years! Not knowing for sure, I submitted a query to my local natural history museum’s arachnology department - the Burke Museum in Seattle, Washington - to see if they know what the earliest fossilized evidence of urticating bristles in tarantulas is, or else what the earliest evidence they’re aware of is. More to follow...

[@alexpayne1364]

@@kirksealls1912 you know your stuff

[@kirksealls1912]

Here’s the response I got: “I can't give you a very full or detailed answer, because I don't work with either tarantulas or spider paleontology. “However, since urticating hairs exist only in New World tarantulas (evolved up to 3 times here according to the attached paper), they must have originated since the separation of Africa from South America, believed to have happened about 140 million years ago. “Spider fossils are few and far between, and it's quite possible that nothing exists to establish the answer to your question from fossils. Molecular determination of gene ages is likely the way such questions will be answered.” The attachment referred to discussed four hypotheses for urticating bristle evolution: “(a) The ancestral state reconstruction of different urticating setae types among our “bombardier” clade, and the shared ancestry of “proximally-facing” setae types I, III and IV. (b) Prevailing hypothesis whereby urticating setae evolved three separate times independently in Theraphosinae, Aviculariinae and Ephebopus (Psalmopoeinae). (c) Hypothesis of a single origin for urticating setae with one origin leading to types I, II, III and IV in Theraphosinae and Aviculariinae, then subsequently being lost in both Schismatothelinae and then Psalmopoeinae (after the divergence of Ephebopus). (d) Hypothesis of two potential independent origins for urticating setae, with one origin again, then subsequently being lost when the common ancestor for Schismatothelinae and Psalmopoeinae diverged from Aviculariinae, before re-emerging in Psalmopoeinae via Ephebopus as type V setae.” (“Tarantula phylogenomics: A robust phylogeny of deep theraphosid clades inferred from transcriptome data sheds light on the prickly issue of urticating setae evolution” - Saoirse Foley, Tim Lüddecke, Dong-Qiang Cheng, Henrik Krehenwinkel, Sven Künzel, Stuart J. Longhorn, Ingo Wendt, Volker von Wirth, Rene Tänzler, Miguel Vences, William H. Piel). So, no hard answer, but I think it’s definitely safe to say they evolved millions of years ago, given that they appear to have evolved three unique times, and are a nearly universal feature of New World tarantulas.

[@rebelbaron7003]

@@alexpayne1364 Oh man dude,I was with you until the "Go Habs Go" 🐂💩 "Go Flyers" Hell,we even have 2....count 'em 2.... official Philadelphia Flyers tarantulas. Yesirree. Psalmopeus irminia,the Venezuelan SunTiger and the Pumpkinius Patchii the Pumpkin Patch tarantula. What have "Les Habitantes" got? 😂🤣😅😆😁😄😃 😳 No red n blue tarantulas out there Frenchie.

[@alexpayne1364]

@@rebelbaron7003 habs for life

[@IrieRogue]

I learned pretty quickly from my mistakes. My biggest blunders were escapees- I had too large of air holes for my L. parahybana, and the poor dear escaped. During my move, my MBK escaped when her circulation vent screen was compromised. I'm still praying to find her, it was 4-5 months ago. Losing a baby is the absolute worst. Now I obsessively check enclosures, lids, and air holes!

[@kristiealexis1084]

#7 had me walking around my house making sure everything was shut tight

[@screeaveDestination]

#6 made me spraying more water in the enclosure of my smallest tarantula :D

[@meagandx]

The hairs!!!! The friggin hairs, it’s all true! 🥲 both hands are currently haired, and let me assure you the more it happens the worse it gets!!

[@ryanhasz8928]

Sometimes it angers me to see when people buy a T and post a picture and ask what is the husbandry and that they haven't even heard of it, but bought ot anyway. At the same time lots of care sheets on the internet contradict eachother and can mislead people.

[@motmiguelcustodio8476]

This is why I've watch his P. Metallica husbandry multiple times before buying it.

[@M7ofATC]

Sometimes they get it from a pet store on a whim and don’t get the best advice from the shop

[@ravenparsons304]

Agree! I kept jumpers for a year before deciding to move up to T's. Once I got my list down to around 10 that I really wanted I put in another year of studying their care and requirments. But I've worked in animal rescue my whole life so maybe that's why I put in a ton of research first.

[@brianlindsay9097]

"Dogs are clumsy, but cats are insidious" I have both, and truer words were never spoken. Counterpoint: When something >does< escape, my cat is unparalleled at finding it again.

[@_unknown_1519]

Just bought my first T the other day! Super excited to join the hobby and hopefully get more in the future 😊

[@kv2315]

like mentioned in the video dont get too many too fast! i started 1.5 years ago and i have 80+ and they are too many for my place sadly. i wish i had a bigger appartment so i could put all of them in one single room. this way would be the best since there are a lot of ppl who dont want to see them

[@_unknown_1519]

I’ll keep that in mind, I have to wait until I move out of my parents house anyhow

[@_unknown_1519]

What’s your favorite species?

[@kv2315]

@@_unknown_1519 i dont have a favourite genus but the first two have a special place in my heart. a female P. irminia and a P. regalis male. sadly he is in premolt and i guess he is adult afterwards

[@ChaoticInverts]

Over spraying my H Gigas enclosure killed him because it went to molt and couldn’t because of a layer of water on bottom I’m still devastated by my mistake tbh

[@LukaTisus]

I always check and if they're burrowed and the lower level of the sub is still moist, while the top level is damp, I don't bother spraying it down and just make sure their water dish is full

[@arieltoner4582]

I've made this mistake. Thanks for sharing

[@SilverlonewolfX]

Dogs are clumsy and bump into things. To a Tarantula; GODZILLAAAAAAAHHH!!!

[@lucnadeau2821]

Being impatient is definitely high up there. In my mind, the biggest possible mistake is something that will spark a great of controversy. Handling. It's totally possible to enjoy the hobby without handling your spiders, even the most docile ones. Many hobbyists are under the impression that they enjoy walking on their hands and interacting with their keepers. Not true at all. Tarantulas do NOT bond with us. They prefer to be left alone. Every time you take the spider out of its enclosure (unless during a rehouse or a carefully monitored photo shoot), you are putting the Tarantula and yourself at risk. Three things can happen. Say you let it crawl on you and it decides to release some urticating hairs, as mentioned here, they cause irritation and can be downright nasty if they get into your eyes or nostrils. Second, at any moment, without warning, it can decided to just sink its fangs into your skin and you're more than likely to react by flinging it off you, causing great harm or death to it. Last, it's walking on your arm and it gets spooked, bolts off your arm and drops to the ground, with a high chance of a ruptured abdomen. I've read about a new keeper that just lost his first T that way. Not pretty and you end up feeling really guilty. For the safety of the tarantula, practice a healthy and strict Hands-Off approach. Use paintbrushes and a catch cup if you need to take them out, either for a rehouse or an enclosure remodel. I realize I might catch a lot of flak, but this NEEDS to be put out there. No matter how docile a spider may be, they are wild animals and UNPREDICTABLE ! They're best treated as fish or venomous snakes. I've always used this line of thought and never had issues in 12 years.

[@bigjay1970]

AMEN!😶😉😇

[@LukaTisus]

I don't handle unless absolutely necessary (Terrestrial T bolts out of its enclosure and might end up taking a fall if I do n't try and head it off.) That said, I avoid bothering the OWs. The only T in my entire collection I've held more than once is my Grammastola pulchripes but only because she insists on tromping out of her enclosure anytime the lid is open and I usually have to wrangle her back in with my hand. She's incredibly chill though and isn't that skittish. For the patience bit, I must just have too much? I've got an A.seemani that hasn't eaten in over a year (That I've seen) and I'm just sitting here like "Well, she'll either molt or eat whenever she's ready..." My E.campestratus is almost 3 years old and it's barely over 1" legspan, goes on long fasts and just otherwise is taking forever to grow. If anything this hobby's taught me patience rather than made me impatient.

[@ThanatosReaper]

I love it when people ask: "What do you DO with them?" - Nothing, you watch them and admire them from a distance. It is not a dog that needs petting and walking outside the house ffs.

[@sammiejane5566]

SAY IT AGAIN FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK! Leave your tarantulas ALONE.

[@Sakura0754]

100% accurate. The only time I do is my 7 yr old Rosie and that's usually to educate people on them not being monsters, maybe every year or two. She is fairly used to handling as she's a part of Criss Angels tour in Canada. Even then when she's handled it's on the floor, short and sweet. Other than that it's only to rehouse.

[@XxHybridFreakxX]

I think the worst mistake we've made so far was underestimating the size of a vent hole. We had a T. Sp Panama (Lava Spider) sling (about the size of a nickel) squeeze out of one of it's vent holes the first night we had it. Thankfully we noticed the next day and tore apart the room looking for it and my wife managed to find it in one of my socks in my hamper that sits right next to our tarantula shelves. We named that one Jailbreak. He's still going strong and actually molted a week or two after that. lol

[@RoseKazable]

Yep, I've made the mistake of not labelling the enclosure. As a result I now have three slings, and while I know what they are from my account on the website I bought them from, I have no idea which is which. And in Australia, all our tarantulas look alike. I'll have to wait until they're older.

[@bulletproofiwishiwas]

Thank you for telling me about the feeding part!! My costa rican stripe knee hasn't eaten in a few months and I was getting really worried so I will now take her food out of her enclosure and wait a bit longer.

[@Kageoni187]

I am getting ready to pick and get set up to order my 1st T. I am grateful to have videos like this to help me through this process. Also having my sons watch your videos with me are helping them to not develop a fear but a respect for these amazing creatures. It is too cute when they get excited to see your Ts, lol. Thanks for the amazing work.

[@Billbeaux]

Top notch quality video as usual, Richard! What kind of wood do you use in your enclosures besides cork bark? I noticed what appeared to be spider wood or something like of the sort at 11:29. I was curious if it molds when it gets wet or anything that.

[@tarantulacollective]

Mainly I use cork bark, but sometimes in the more arid enclosures I use spiderwood or mopani wood. I have a lot of the stuff I use listed in my Amazon store front. You can find a link to that in the description of my videos. I have not had any issues with those woods or other drift wood molding, but again they are in arid enclosures. I have tried bamboo before, but it almost always to seem to mold with the slightest bit of moisture so I stopped using it.

[@Billbeaux]

@@tarantulacollective ohh ok that makes sense. I feel like I could definitely step up my game in my more arid enclosures as far as decor/achorpoints go, especially for my GBB. Thank you for the information and another high quality video. I look forward to every new drop!

[@jeremyrodamaker6599]

My collection is tiny with only 4 but it's nice being able to keep all their schedules straight, but pretty soon I will have an open 40 gallon and my collection will grow by atleast 3, going with an m balfouri or p regalis communal still need to do more research but I absolutely love the feeding response my adult female regalis has they are definitely one of the most stunning there is

[@arielholmes8700]

Im glad you mentioned the patience. I just got my first two tarantulas and one of them wont eat right now, and even though i did so much research and know that that isnt something i should be worried about, i couldnt help but worry anyways. im glad you said not to try feeding them too frequently if they are not interested, because i only waited 4 days after the first attempt and would have tried again in a few days and might have accidentally stressed her out more. also im curious, you said that urticating hairs cause a histamine reaction so logically i would think that taking an anti-histamine would help alleviate the itching. has anybody tried this? i havent really looked into the treatment of getting haired so im not sure what people say has helped

[@calliew311]

That was my question too. I mean I know it won't help with the pain but benedryl would seem to help with the itching.

[@rkhnd51]

Very nice, Richard. Thank you. I'm so paranoid my new D. Diamantinesis sling will bolt and disappear when I remove the lid to feed it. Heard stories about that. It just molted displaying it's beautiful metallic blue legs.

[@AdsArachnids]

Love the honesty here Richard. I'm a really impulsive person with a good amount of disposable income (pandemic = bars closed = me with money 🤣) so it's super hard to reign myself in sometimes. Luckily I'm a little more careful when it comes to my animals, so I always give myself a talking to before ordering anything new.

[@dankauffman8568]

Not researching ... Bit me in the ass once . Got lucky once . Now till forever I'm gonna do my homework .

[@laurendobelbower2713]

OMG, right!? It's so difficult when they are all so beautiful, slings are cheap and take up little space, and there's an ever-growing wish list when you see so many awesome T's on KZbin and IG. I already decided to set a cap for myself of no more than 1-2 purchases per year lol Otherwise, I think I would be buying one every other month!

[@LukaTisus]

I've got three coming soon that will put me to 50 Ts and I think that's where I'm gonna have to stop. Only 8 out of all of them are adults (3 out of those are MM so they're probably going to pass away in a few months). The newbies I'm receiving in the next week or so is an X.intermedia, Phormictopus sp Dominican-Purple and a N. sp Panama. I guess my saving grace is that I absolutely do love the dwarf tarantulas so quite a few in my current collection are gonna stay pretty small lol

[@laurendobelbower2713]

@@LukaTisus Perfect!!! I'm super interested in Phormictopus and Xenesthis genus, but recently settled on a Pamphobeteus sp. Santo Domingo Goliath instead... Guess I'll have to wait until Christmas for the other two so I don't overdo it! lol Good luck with the newbies😊

[@kennedylongley368]

Yes I’m definitely lucky I don’t have a ton of money to spend or else I’d have an abundance of tarantulas, their pretty colors get the best of me.

[@earlknit5372]

I've definitely impulse brought a couple of mine. At the very least I knew roughly what to expect. Know general stufd about Brachypelmas but not B smithi specifically. I usually take advantage of some sellers asking what day you'd like it delivered, push back the delivery date a bit and research in that time. Still wasn't prepared for the speed of my P irminia slings when initially housing them. The internet doesn't properly get across the experience of having one bolt right in front of you

[@loispadgett6306]

I always learn from your videos. So glad I found your channel. I think I will stick to just the 3 tarantulas I have and they are doing well and growing. I have cards I keep on them that tells date I got them and everytime they molt and the species they are so I don't have to remember all of that.🕷🕸💖 GOD BLESS

[@LordEternal31]

Yeah I had a problem with not closing my Spiderlings enclosure, and to my discovery I accidentally left my spiderling’s enclosure opened and I didn’t close it all the way, and my baby (Grammostola Pulchripes sling) escaped and it’s roaming inside my home to which I have no idea where it could have gone. I looked everywhere for it. And now I can’t even find my baby.

[@tarantulacollective]

I am sorry to hear that, I know how frustrating that can be.

[@LordEternal31]

@@tarantulacollective thank you for that. & yes it can be extremely frustrating to not know where your Sling has gone to, and it just molted last month as well. But til this day I’m still wishing that my baby, is safe, n sound and alive somewhere.

[@highjinx6519]

@@LordEternal31 ever find him?

[@LordEternal31]

@@highjinx6519 I didn’t. Find my baby at all. & I was so devastated to lose em

[@highjinx6519]

@@LordEternal31 I’m sorry man I was hoping for a happy ending 😔

[@krazysnakelady1492]

Perfect timing for this video!! Thanks alot! My new T.vagan has stressed me out not eating. She's eaten twice now but has stopped again. But I will be more patient now.

[@goldiemum3991]

One of my curly hairs had his ultimate molt in December and his behavior totally switched from being hungry all the time to barely touching food every 10 days. He looks so skinny but I've seen other males in breeding clips and they always look "half-starved" so I guess his behavior is normal. It's still making me a little anxious now and then. As wonderful as it is to own a few Ts, the mature males (I have two, an A. geniculata and a T. albopilosus) are really stressing me out a little from time to time, lol. Anyhow, offer your T. vagans food once a week and if it won't pounce and tackle it at once, take the food out right away again. A Tarantula with a nicely shaped abdomen won't starve over skipping her feeding schedule now and then. Especially when they look a bit plump. They eat regularly until they're full and then it takes up to three weeks until they're getting at least a bit hungry again. Offering it smaller feeders might be a good idea . ^^ I do that with my T's when their feeding response weakens noticeably; with me keeping the schedule but offering only much smaller crickets/roaches.

[@justinthomas2703]

Man i want to become a Patreon. But i don't know how it works? I have no social media other than snapchat. I love the content bro! I take in as MUCH as i possibly can from you and others in the hobby just so I can have a wide range of knowledge going into this! I'm glad people have y'all so they can learn what NOT to do and what they SHOULD be doing based off of experience.

[@bigjay1970]

Richard's one of the only few KZbinrs that when I watch a video and occasionally forget to hit the like button I'll specifically go back to the video to hit the like button!🙄😉😇 Like just now!😜

[@tarantulacollective]

You rock! Thank you!

[@starnaito]

Yes to the hairs! I had a reaction just from cleaning out a B. albiceps enclosure. I was careful with the tarantula, but forgot there might be hairs in the substrate/decor. I ended up with an itchy rash on my hand for weeks. I had to use a spray designed for poison ivy just to get some relief. Now I always use gloves when cleaning. Those hairs are no joke!

[@kolethall2716]

I love your respect for these beautiful creatures. You give them the proper respect they deserve. You care, and want others who are in this Hobbie to care as well. It's amazing. Thank you.

[@wearethealaskanroaches9678]

I love your channel. I just got my first tarantula a couple weeks ago and watching your videos has given me piece of mind and the information I needed to enjoy and keep it properly! Thank you

[@georgecardiff1946]

Great video Richard and very good advice for the experienced and not so experienced tarantula keepers.!.

[@BillieBangs666]

Just this week my bf didn't close his ball pythons terrarium, letting her get out. I found her climbing on top of my tarantula rack. Luckily absolutely nothing was disturbed. Not even my tiny slings.

[@ChimeraReviews2023]

My A. seemanni and B. auratum slings have both been burrow bound for about 3 weeks, not sweating it yet. I’ll just keep tending their dirt for a while. Biggest mistake I’ve made so far I think is gluing cork bark to the back of some enclosures. I’m not looking forward to the headache it will cause, come rehousing time for my A. avic.

[@MichealConnacht]

I haven't seen my mature female A. Chalcodes outside her burrow in almost a year. I only know she's still alive because there is a little window in the substrate to look into the burrow.

[@kevinandrade7007]

My Kevin Andrade just started last year I have already five tarantulas and I’m pretty excited watching them grow I just witnessed my Mexican knee shed and her colors are even brighter! Me and wife are going to the Expo in San Jose which will be my first I watch all your videos and tips and my tarantulas are doing good thank you brother I appreciate everything!!!!

[@youcantseemeebro3454]

Can you please do a care video on the Brazilian Red Head (Bumba cabocla)? I've tried finding other videos and information but im worried they're outdated/lacking information. I've recently ordered two slings and I received the BRH as a surprise for free (first time newbie tarantula owner) and would love to learn how to take better care of it through your video formatting as I've found your channel is the easiest for me to learn from, and stay focused on watching (ADHD is a rough sometimes) Thanks! And if you end up seeing this; I appreciate all the informative videos you put out. Binge watching your videos/playlists helped me learn a lot more than I would have if I was only reading web articles and care guides on the internet. They also helped me gain more confidence in being a new tarantula owner, so thank you and please keep doing what you're doing!

[@zulemazahir666]

Thanks for these types of videos and for the playlists. These always seem to have great reminders. We had some earthquakes here last summer and I worry about that so much that I plan to keep towels or something shoved in the door crack once I step up to more old worlds.

[@brianacarey8617]

Patience is definitely one thing I’m learning with keeping spiders. I’ve always had dogs and cats so having critters that don’t need constant attention is something I’ve had to get used to. When my first spider hid for a month I was super worried. I also live in a super dry area so the part about water is good to know!

[@ianperry8557]

I love videos like this as usually helps me find one thing or even if I knew a thing broadly help me get different view points to make my care even better so I appreciate the content and the incredible work you put into each video thank you so much!

[@Cliffhanger_MFC]

Your videos are awesome. No matter how many times I see your room it is just as incredible as the 1st time I saw it.

[@tarantulacollective]

Thanks

[@ekaterinab6064]

i love this list, wasnt bored watching this vid at all and took a few things away from it, thank you :) xx

[@therioncave7631]

How about putting a terrestrial spider in an enclosure without enough substrate. I did that with my aphonopelma. She climbed, fell and split her abdomen. She's still alive and close to a molt. I'm hoping she will pull through.

[@tarantulacollective]

I covered that mistake in the first video" kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJmXaKGZr65-f7c

[@rkhnd51]

:- (

[@toomanycooks7836]

Hey! Did she ever make it?

[@vinceapostol6732]

Wow! I just started a few months in this hobby. It did help a lot! Thank you!!

[@thesteelbutterfly]

Its amazing seeing that cat one so often. I kept trying to figure out what other species can be hosted communally but only seen the H. balfouri and P. metallica so far??? My mistake is getting my tarantulas and wanting more now. I can't win lol.

[@TuberoseKisser]

11:57, I don't see an issue with trying imho, as you said, there's been varying success and failures, it's how we learned that some species can be kept communal. I think the line should be drawn at species that 100% can not be kept due to their chaotic evil nature A mistake I see people doing is anthropomorphizing them, Yeah Tarantulas has clearly displayed different personalities/temperament/behavior, but that should never equate to higher intelligence, People in the hobby jokingly anthropomorphize them, it becomes an issue when it's taken seriously and you genuinely believe that the Inverts can feel anything outside of instinct.

[@amicaaranearum]

We just had a house fire, and I was not looking forward to having to quickly move 32 tarantulas to another location. Fortunately, our unit was not seriously affected, and the power was turned back on a few hours later.

[@AdamsWorlds]

Big one I see and have been guilty of is having an enclosure to large. I see it most days online someone buys a sling and puts it in a 20l fish tank. Makes it harder to find them and for them to find food. Other thing is rocks that can fall on them as they dig, or heat mats under the tanks or used when not needed boiling the tarantulas. Even seen some folk keep then on the side in direct sunlight as they go to work when suns rising and curtains are open sun shines in onto tanks, they come home from work and suns setting and are none the wiser what’s happened while they were out. Easily done.

[@heatherjones6490]

This is the mistake I am currently guilty of! I’m a new keeper and have a half inch T.Vagans and Brachyapelma Auratum in enclosures that measure 11x9x7cm. They were both out for two days and then burrowed. Would it be more stressful to rehouse them into something smaller or to leave them where they are?

[@AdamsWorlds]

@@heatherjones6490 If they have dug down and covered the entrance leave them until they pop up again. (could be in molt/pre-molt.) If they do come out to eat or whatever just pop them into a new enclosure. Do it nice and gentle and all will be fine :). Sometimes they will dig to get away from light or to get to/from heat. If in doubt if that's what's happening can always pop them in a darker corner of room, or higher/lower up to see if they pop out more. Slings do like to dig though even the arboreal ones seem to like to dig as slings. Faster growing as slings and more vulnerable so more likely to be underground allot where it feels safer :D Good luck!

[@heatherjones6490]

@@AdamsWorlds Thanks! I’ll follow that advice. I just want to right by these little guys.

[@tarantulamum4322]

very new to the hobbie, thanks for the heads up about the hairs, mine has grade 3 urticating hairs

[@caitlinmorton2083]

Back to rewatch today cause I walked away from the computer last night to go moisten the substrate in all my sling's enclosures when I heard that one. 😅

[@iliasverbiest5132]

I know from experience that the best way to learn to be pacient is to get more tarantulas I have so many that I lost count(really) and noticed that i would let them do there thing + every week I have a mold now so there is always something exitening going on ore some beautiful tarantulas outside. But I am pretty shure that whit slings I have more than 100 species of tarantula and these animals are amazing to work whit and to observe most of the time. Also bro I LOVE your channel keep doing the best you can and nice to see one of your old videos from time to time. Greats

[@V-skeptic]

yeah, finally able to restart owning T's after 10 year break, I found it really hard to stop at 15 slings. Luckily this time money was no problem so I managed to get T's I couldn't afford back in the day. Good videos man. I needed a refresher. Cheers!

[@arieltoner4582]

Love your topics as always Richard! A mistake I have made I'd like to share is buying a size of a T that requires prey that isn't easily available in your area. I unfortunately lost a tiny tiny sling because I didnt make sure I could get ahold of proper prey beforehand.

[@dara_g8711]

What a legend

[@tarantulas_pt]

Loved the video. Really helpful 🤜🏼🤛🏼

[@monakel1]

Great advice.I have made a lot of these mistakes. Getting better with the patients but I’m still struggling with that one. Also going to look into those gloves as my tarantulas are maturing and I have had a couple of my smaller tarantulas kick hairs.

[@abejeffcruz7555]

Hi Richard, Good Day. Are you able to create a video on how you create your lids for your Aquarium Enclosures? Esp. for the Ts Enclosure. Just curious about the top ventilation only since it's hard to drill off the glass of an aquarium. Thanks a lot!!!

[@beritblackie3168]

Thank you SO much for this list of advice, and in particular, your honesty. Bless you. 🌸

[@andreateckenburg3443]

Thanks for sharing. It’s really important to know these things

[@glenntanato1411]

I always loved that intro, ha ha ha ha.

[@phillelliot1094]

I am thinking of getting a tarantula as my first, what i like to know is how do you take care of their food? you just keep buying or do you have husbandry tips on food stocks for your T's? crickets, roaches, gummy worms, whats good to feed them and how to keep them instead of buy continuosly? just something i havent seen so much talked about. if roaches or crickest how you manage their population if you do keep them, what the best way to keep them, i know sorry it might be boring, i was just wondering, i see a lot just keep roaches in enclosures with cardboard but thats it. Maybe i am over thinking it but is it good to have a variety of enclosures of different variety food for your T's? sorry i am a noob and i am just reading and learnig about keeping T's.

[@michaeltaylor2449]

Great video Richard great info

[@nekromantiko4985]

Today I bought my first sling, it is a brachypelma vagans, it measures 4cm, I would like to know more or less of what size its enclosure should be

[@EarthsGeomancer]

What any of his Brachypelma care videos.

[@tarantulacollective]

Yeah, I show you exactly the type of enclosure I use for Brachypelma spiderlings in all my Species specific care videos.

[@C.S.M.Hageroth]

I have to say I disagree with mistake/tip 8, I never put labels on and as a result I know every single scientific name of everyone of my 40 Ts. :D But good list Richard. Nice content as always. *cheers

[@dougsmonsters4866]

Awesome stuff. Watching this second vid on keeping. I've on order 4 old world baboon slings so I'm learning. I've only ever bought a Mexican adult years ago. She lives 3 years. So it's time to learn. Thanks ✊🏻💯🕸️

[@MOONOVERMIAMI]

Hello great video information Richard

[@Moneymenowww]

I have I’ve been looking into getting some sort of arachnid for the last year I can honestly say coming from the dark den the amount of effort and time you put into your videos is unbelievable you definitely deserve more subs than what you have

[@chadtucker3229]

What is the shiny exoskeleton spider at mistake 4?

[@glycinemax7753]

One of our first tarantulas was an C. versicolor sling. He was so small and we thought he could never crawl through the really small ventilation holes. One day we woke up, checked how our animals are doing and he was sitting on another (empty) enclosure. He didn’t seemed to be happy to be outside tbh. As soon as my bfs hand was in the slings reach, he crawled onto it and was quite happy to be back in his enclosure. :D Definitely learned from it.

[@VizardKusa]

Is there any way you can cover DIY acrylic enclosures? There is little on the how to's on building and on safety measures included for both the tarantula and the enclosure. I know Im not the only one who wants to make those nice DIYs that fit perfect in our shelving units but are scared to hurt a T or mess them up and lose a T.

[@raebookworm4013]

This helped me a lot. I have two cats, one of which loves to knock everything off of anywhere possible. It's not really possible to close off one room in the house to prevent the cats getting in, so owning any tarantulas or exotic pets is going to have to wait until we don't have cats anymore. I just can't gamble with having a T get hurt because my cat decided to play physicist and engineer with the contents of my shelves.

[@chocolatepumpkincurlygirl8340]

Thank You so much! I’ve learned so much from you. 👍🏽

[@rbalara31]

Quick question: What lights do you use for the enclosures?

[@tarantulacollective]

I have a 10 minute answer to your quick question...lol: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iICYmoxtrppmnNE

[@rbalara31]

@@tarantulacollective Just ordered some pucks from your Amazon store. Thanks man!

[@Sakura0754]

100% right on. Especially number 1. But I'll add this, not only do they not research the species, when they do they get a sling but have researched how to keep adults. Sling care and adult care are often very different.

[@dananewsom5483]

Thanks for the info, my friend. I actually just requested to join your fb page for one of these very questions. I have an acanthroscuria geninculata that needs to be rehoused and I'm kinda scared of her lol. I've had this species before and that first one, I was completely cool with her but this individual - yeah I don't fuck with her any more than necessary 😱

[@destroymysilence]

I'm very very green to tarantulas. I thought i did my research but I'm realizing there's SO much I didn't know. Thankfully my Ts are juveniles so they're not quite as delicate. I've had them less than a week and realized that their containers don't have enough cross flow. I didn't fully understand. So tomorrow they'll have to go in little cups for a few minutes while i drill extra vent holes. Thanks so much for these videos. I've been watching everything I can. Hopefully I've gotten all my mistakes out of the way so they can thrive.

[@jonathancovarrubias5411]

I believe there can be a plan to do once a tarantula escapes from their enclosure and what to do to get it because I had a Therephosa Stirmi escape and ran under by bed and I had to try to take out the tarantula with a broom stick in order to make the tarantula to crawl out but I got the tarantula out and into the enclosure unharmed

[@maxxxieee]

Great video and great things to know! Thank you! 😀👍🕷💕❤️

[@mcdazzio73]

These videos are really helpful

[@canadianwolf2895]

Love your advice as much as I love my new first T. Charlotte is a newly matured Davus Pentaloris and will be my only T. Trying to soak in all I can learn to keep her healthy and happy. I’m worried about rehoming her from the small enclosure she came in. I bought a Tarantula enclosure bu it has a screen top and no cross ventilation but it’s all I could find in my area that is for Ts. I plan tomorrow to try and find plexiglass to replace screen because of your advice, before rehoming her to it. Still worried no cross vent and terrarium is glass. Im worried about the substrate as I thought I wanted top soil and coco husk, was going to add cork bark and shredded cork. Going to add aquarium silk plants and maybe a small tree branch from my forest…..will sterilize in microwave. Maybe I should sterilize top soil too? If you have time can you let me know your thoughts on my plan and maybe on lack of cross vent? Understand if you don’t have time. Thanks for your vids….I am learning so much

[@rebelbaron7003]

Another great video Richard. I'm going to be joining the "Tarantula brotherhood"shortly. I'm scouting out the breeders you recommend now. Been on the sidelines for a year now listening to yourself,Tom,Petko,and Kat. I'll be listening to this one over and over. On another note.....how bad do we all miss Ronnie James Dio,Ritchie Blackmore,and Cozy Powell? If Rainbow wasn't the best hard rock band,who was better? Ritchies "Stargazer" and "Light in the Dark" have to be among the best guitar solos ever....no? I gather Ritchie was difficult at best to work with, but all three singers RJD,JLT,and Lou Graham we're great.

[@maiamaia4823]

I love this freaking channel so much. Im a newbie with a pink toe and curly hair and im always like 👁️👄👁️ when i see one of your videos i havent seen. AMAZING.

[@Multichampion1000]

So I have a question about the Chilobrachys sp....are Kaeng Krachan moisture dependent throughout their lifecycle?

[@marklouizeilagan2044]

can you do tarantula feeding?

[@gunnerlloyd6468]

I've actually been exposed to urticating hairs a ton and im not sensitive I have Nhandu tripepii that's yet to grow out of sling stage so I bet 0thatll teach me and bohmei thays a Juvinile but the rosea and bohmei have got me but never had any effects besides itching

[@leahcoon2040]

...number 5...yeah. Forgot about them when i was scooping substrate out of my Brazilian Black's container to clean it. Tweezers were my friend that day.

[@phoenixrising4573]

I've had some really really bad luck lately wiht spiderlings/slings. I've done everything I can think of, and have still lost some that.... hurt

[@alamatt3690]

Hi richard can you make a video next time about how to properly setup a tarantula enclosure? Like how to avoid molts and everything, What and when to use live plants etc. and many more. Thank you so much

[@Saphira3441]

Arachnaphobic here. Iam glad KZbin has channels like yours to help me try and get over my fear of spider, learning more about them is helping to lessen my fear, just wish it could vanish Already. iam tired of being scared of this little fasnating guys.

[@leish444]

I’m a new keeper, these lists are awesome!! Wicked channel Richard!

[@tarantulacollective]

Thanks a lot. Glad you enjoyed the video. I have a lot more lists I'm working on right now that I will be uploading on Fridays, so keep an eye out!

[@dara_g8711]

Richard should I get a GBB as my 2nd t. I have aphonapelma seemani which I know isnt great for beginners but she's perfect. Need ur opinion

[@IrieRogue]

Since it's his favorite T, I'm gonna guess he will approve ;)

[@kaidengathings3096]

If you truly want one, why not? Do your research and get one, plenty of people like that species. I do not have one, so I cannot comment personally about the care, but they're suggested a lot for beginners.

[@tarantulacollective]

Yes, I would say go for it...theyre the BEST species!

[@dara_g8711]

@@tarantulacollective yes my mom is considering it. Ur the best!!!!!!. I'm only 14 so she has to conform or deny it but she looked u up and she believes u

[@connienowak298]

Cool vid! I'm not a beginner, but not an advanced keeper, either. It's always fun to sre vids about Ts.