Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

I keep some tarantulas as part of my exotic hobby exodus over the past few years. Had to eventually downsize some due to space and time constraints, but nonetheless the interest is still there. :smile: So I just like to find out if there are any petpitcher members here who incidentally has a hobby like I do, who can share their rearing experience here, TIA. FYI I have at the moment, two king baboon tarantulas, a horned baboon tarantula, a Malaysian Earth Tiger, a Vietnamese Earth Tiger, a lazy blue tongue skink named Zach, a tortoise named Herman and a living fossil, the lungfish.

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

That's a lot of unusual and weird pets. I only have 2 tortoises, lots of hamsters and 2 birds once. Killed the birds, freed the tortoise after 5-6 years of keeping them, got rid of the hamsters(they gave birth to 2-3 albino once but was stolen)

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

what is the difference between exotic pets and normal pets? thanks:confused:

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

Exotic pets are animals which are not conventionally kept as companions for human beings.. unlike your average dog or cat..

funkychips, you sure have a unique collection. Care to post some pics..? :) BTW, how much does an 'average' tarantula cost..? Those I've seen in pet shops command rather frightening prices (RM300-800)!! Imagine how many Nep rajahs one can buy with that instead of a single, big, hairy spider.. What's the average lifespan of a tarantula and can they be bred locally.? TIA..

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

Thanks for pointing it out paphioboy :smile:. Exotic pets may require extensive knowledge on its care like feeding, housing, and treating of illness depending on the species.

Yes, tarantulas can command a high market value for some species, especially adult female specimens. Normally these are sought after by avid collectors, and breeders, as the females have a longer lifespan than the males by years (males about 3-6 months, females up to 10-20 years). They are primitive spiders, meaning they are the precursors in evolution of the modern tiny jumping spiders and orb weavers that you have kept before. Keeping a collection up and going is both a dream and a nightmare for a collector as there are currently about 900 species (and counting) of tarantula species in the world, ranging from the Texas deserts to the rainforests of Brazil, from India to South East Asia and the Far East. Market prices may vary within a wide range so there is no average price for one given species. So as a rule of thumb, choose your favourite species wisely and limit your collections to those you really like, or moving along species to species by selling and buying as you progress. So far only a handful are bred locally, while the rest are imported from other countries, normally from the UK. Anyway, here are some of my tarantulas, paphioboy. The rest can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/corvinu...7611208942114/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/...e27ff49a7d.jpg
This is an Usambara Golden Baboon Tarantula species from Africa, Pterinochilus murinus. It is an opportunistic species meaning it can inhabit both trees and on the ground.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/...35c3740f3b.jpg
This species is the African Horned Baboon Tarantula, Ceratogyrus bechuanicus. This one is a rare treasure as it is famous for its 'horn'. Reason why some African species are called 'baboon spiders' is their legs when spread out at the entrance of their 'burrow' will appear like baboon fingers :laugh:.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3067/...97b8ce384f.jpg
This is our local jewel, the Malaysian Earth Tiger, Cyriopagopus schioedtei. Famed for its aggressive nature when cornered, this species inhabits holes in trees as well as crevices in the ground.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/...2d3a3cb205.jpg
The previous species before this pic are Old World Tarantulas, because they come from Asia, Africa and other countries of the Far East. Now this one comes from the New World (the Americas), in this case Brazil, known as the Salmon Pink Birdeater Tarantula, Lasiodora parahybana. This is the third largest species in the world, able to attain legspan sizes of up to 8-9 inches. It can take down prey twice its size.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3224/...e4f3cc899b.jpg
This is a Poecilotheria regalis, known by its common name of Indian Ornamental Tarantula. This species is highly prized by Western collectors due to its striking patterning and yellow underside of the legs. However, their venom may be medically significant although not life-threatening unless you happen to be allergic to it.

These are just a few species to give you a rough picture of how and where the tarantula family stands. Info on their care can be found in tarantula forums on the web. And yes, I stopped as I ran out of space and money for them, hence plants are better candidates for my wallet from now on.. :D

I will post pics of my other pets when I find them, stashed away somewhere inside my storage box. :tongue: Happy viewing!!

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

WOW funky nice collection,................Sad for the males all they are born for are just urhmm...

Ken

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

Thanks Ken. I've only got a few specimens left with me, the rest have been sold or in another person's custody for the time-being :P. And Yes. Male spiders are so designed for the sole purpose they hardly even want to eat. Some species are more extreme. Once after their last molt they will keep walking and wandering around most of their life until they find a female.

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

But Alvin,those spiders of yours are all female right?Since male hardly last for a year.

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

Yes, they are either juveniles or subadult/adult females, Ali. I raised the juveniles from spiderling stage but I have at least two of each so that there is a chance that both or either one is a probable female when it matures.

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

When you say male have shorter life span,means,they mature faster right?So how long have you been having them?

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

It must have cost a lot of money for all this.

Cheers

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

Alvin, those are super cool... :D I really love big hairy spiders.. Its a pity they don't live for long... Do you feed them with crickets and mealworms..? I've seen the Mexican Red-Kneed tarantula sold in pet shops before, although its supposed to be endangered.. Do you have the Goliath bird-eating spider (largest spider in the world)..? :p

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

Wow!!You're so lucky to have spiders!!I want a snake my mum going get me a says no so she says she's going to get me a ferret.Is those spiders expensive?You're rearing them in your room?I also have to hamsters both female.Mum says not to breed them.....I also have two terraphins.Freed them in the local lake.I going to post the picture of them when I go back M'sia.

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

edward: This hobby did cause some injuries to my wallet, but now I've sold half of my collection off leaving some of my favourite species. Tarantula keeping poisons like CPs but the effects are far worse I tell you :bored:

paphioboy: I don't have the goliath birdeater as being the largest in the world it also holds the record of being one of, if not the most, toxic species to my wallet. :tongue:. Slings of 2cm size will cost about rm300 or more depending on the supplier, I can tell you this...

marvin: Looking forward to your pets pics marvin :laugh:. I think it's sooo much better that you keep a ferret because it's not that I don't like keeping animals with fur it's because my mum is allergic to fur so dogs, cats and basically anything with fur :bored:. And snakes, they can be fun to keep but the food they eat is a potential setback. When you keep a snake people will mislabel you as 'cruel', 'weird' and stupid stuff like that. Tarantulas are cheaper when they're small, you can easily get them from hobbyists for as low as rm20-30 at 1-2cm spiderling size. But even though they are a different league from the plant market, I should say plants have more pros than cons compared to keeping tarantulas :smile:.

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

What about beetles?They're cool!And you don't get allergies from beetles and they eat pieces of fruits.

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

Beetles are disgusting to me. I hate insects.

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I only hate butterflies!!I don't know why I'm scared of them.Don't laugh at me okay?yesterday,my cousin was driving me and my brother home,something flew in.I swear I saw something at least 15cm flew in.It scared the poop out of me and I was hugging myself all the way home.I'm to scared to put my feet down.After we reached my aunt's house, my cousin found only a leaf 2cm across and 6cm long.I swear I saw something 15cm big!

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

So plantlover,you only like CP's 'cause they eat beetles?

Re: Keeping exotic pets and tarantulas
 

No, I like CPs because I love plants, they are unique, weird and exotic and yah, they eat insects.