It's been 16 months (November 03, 2011) since I started taking care of tarantulas.
I was thinking of venturing to these kinds of pets long before but I got hooked with sulcatas and breeding dogs.
Then a friend of mine whose brother has an extensive collection of tarantulas started tagging me since I said I wanted tarantulas.
She then gave me my first set of Ts.
It was my advantage to start with because taking care of them is nothing compared to taking care of a dog or a cat:
you don't have to sweep their poos, feed them everyday, enroll them into a behavior training class and most of all, cuddle them to make them like you too. So this will serve as my blog to update my status.
So I started (like everyone else) with a 1k package of Brachypelma albopilosum, Brachypelma boehmei, and Brachypelma smithi (which turned out a B.albopilosum). So just imagine how tedious feeding and taking care of 2cm Ts for a starter was. But it was all worth it as everytime they molt, the gradually change until they were juveniles.
One of my Brachypelma albopilosum
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]And the misID B.smithi turned out B.albopilosum (was changed thereafter)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]My female Brachypelma boehmei (turned out female but has long died, summer of 2012)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]1 month after (December 2011), I added two new Brachypelma species in my starter collection: B.klaasi (2cm) and B.albiceps (1cm)
My Brachypelma klaasi (started as 2cm spiderling turned out female but I have to let go of her and have to be traded with Avicularia sp. blue velvet and Cyriocosmus perezmilesi (turned out female)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]My Brachypelma albiceps (started with 1cm of her. It was so hard to feed this tarantula but she is now a 3-inch beautiful lady named Hanzel (from the color resemblance of my favorite biscuit and her carapace.)) And among those I have shown you, she is the only one left because I dearly love her attitude and her appearance.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]2012 arrived.
Avicularia species were introduced to me by the same friend. She had stocks of A.velutina, A.azuraklaasi, A.huriana, A.versicolor and another Avicularia (of species I no longer remember). I chose A.velutina as my first arboreal. Bought her for 1.2k on February 2012
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]However, it turned out a "she" but I turned her over to a good friend who is really interested in avics and I know my friend could really taking care of her. I think she is in a breeding loan now.
In february 2012, I met a Grammostola sp. "Formosa" turned out female and now currently a 4.5-5inches and almost ready to breed. I have a male for her and is currently 4in.
Here she is when she was 3in baby.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]This Haplopelma minax was only in my care for some time.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]April 2012: as my birthday gift, I bought a female Monocentropus balfouri and Avicularia metallica. Sweet! With free 2 Brachypelma albopilosum.
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