Tom's Big Spiders - Tarantulas And Inverts

Many folks new to the hobby seek out "best beginner species" lists and the like in order to help them select a good "starter" tarantula. These are species commonly believed to have the easy care and laid back temperaments that make them good first tarantulas for new hobbyists. However, there are some that loath these types of lists and videos, and consider them to be misleading and useless. In this episode, we'll be discussing beginners lists, as well as evaluating their importance to the hobby. 

After receiving several emails from folks looking to drop slings in adult enclosures, I decided to chime in on the debate. What follows is a discussion of some points to consider when choosing what size enclosure to use for your tarantula.

In this episode, we tackle three hobby-specific topics: - Should children be involved in the tarantula hobby?-What do people mean by "room temperature?"-What are good substrates for tarantulas?

So, I had covered this topic in a blog article years ago, but I really thought that it would be fun to revisit it. For those just getting into the hobby, maybe talking about these trouble spots can help you to avoid some grief. As for the veterans, I think many of us forget how confusing aspects of the hobby could be when we first got into it. Perhaps talking about some of the pitfalls will help us to be more reasonable the next time we have to answer a newbie's question.

The topic of whether or not keeping snakes (or other exotics) can help you transition into keeping tarantulas comes up quite a bit. Although I've heard many folks say that the other hobbies in no way prepare you for spiders, I would have to disagree. Also, should you feel guilty with pet store rescues?

Just in case the first episode didn't convince folks to follow, here is a bonus episode to kick things off! In this installment, I answer questions posed on my Facebook page about various tarantula topics. Questions include: What is your oldest tarantula? How do you spot premolt in Old World species? If you could see any tarantula in it's natural habitat, which would you choose and why? What are nematodes? What are they, how do Tarantulas get them, and what can we do for them if they do? Do you intend to do another communal? If so which species and why?Also, an interesting article on nematodes: http://www.thegreenscorpion.com.au/documents/Nematode%20Worms%20and%20Tarantulas.pdf

For this "pilot" edition of Tom's Big Spiders, the Podcast, I'll be responding to questions and comments posed by hobbyists. Topics include: "Is it bad to feed tarantulas dead prey?"; "Why you should you ignore care sheet humidity requirements", and "The need for patience when shipping in the winter."NOTE: This is only a pilot to try out the format and software.