Hey there, I've noticed recently that these forums (much like an older forum I was on) are home to a lot of new and novice tarantula keepers asking for help, guidance and advice.

The first thing I should say to these folks (besides "Welcome to the Hobby!") is that you should take everything your pet store tells you about Ts with a pinch of salt. I'm generalising here, some stores are excellent in regards to tarantulas, but very few have much idea.

As an example of things I have seen:

• Tarantulas kept on cedar chips (which are toxic to them)
• Tarantulas being offered water in a sponge (hard to drink from, major breeding ground for bacteria, cricket eggs etc... What's so difficult about a water dish??)
• Tarantulas being kept under reptile heat lamps (they hate bright light)
• And many more.

As an example of some of the "advice" given (I like to play dumb to see what they really know when I first enter a pet store):

• Apparently, the C.crawshayi (King Baboon) I was looking at was handlable.
• I've been suggested that to pick up a T, you should pinch its abdomen (1) Bristles? 2) Poor spider! Do not do this!)
• For bedding, I've been recommended aspen. (Really, no.)
• I've had one guy try to sell me aqua crystals for water, despite the fact that a tarantula cannot drink them and they supply no moisture to the environment.

In answer to this situation, I began to write caresheets (which I get peer reviewed by numerous experts and tweaked well) which I have supplied to local pet stores to give out when they sell the tarantulas.

Currently, only sheets for G.rosea and A.avicularia are available, numerous others are currently under review and will be made available shortly. Thus I will keep them stored online and link to them here.

Feel free to always PM me with questions about tarantulas or for requests for caresheets, I'd like to keep this topic clean for comments on the caresheets and requests for others. If I know the species well enough, I'll write one.


The Caresheets:

• Aphonopelma abberans (Casablanca Chestnut Tarantula) - Under Peer Review
• Aphonopelma seemani (Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula) - Under Peer Review
• Avicularia avicularia (Pink-Toe Tarantula) - Available
  
• Brachypelma auratum (Mexican Flame-knee Tarantula) - Under Peer Review
• Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Red-knee Tarantula) - Under Peer Review
• Grammostola rosea (Chilean Rose Tarantula) - Available
  
• Haplopelma albostriatum (Thai Zebra Tararnula) - Under Peer Review
• Heteroscodra maculata (Togo Starburst / Ornamental Baboon) - Under Peer Review
• Pterinochilus chordatus (Kilimanjaro Mustard Baboon Spider) - Under Peer Review
• Pterinochilus murinus (Mombassa Starburst Baboon Spider / OBT) - Under Peer Review

(Status:
In Writing - Currently being researched and written.
Under Peer Review - Being reviewed by a series of experts.
Available - ...)


EDIT: Oh, and since others just asked as soon as they've posted, would a moderator kindly consider this post for a stickie? I think it could be useful

__________________
arachnoph0bia on YouTube

A.geniculata (MM,S), A.abberans (SA), A.chalcodes (SA), A.seemanni (AF), A.avicularia (AF,J), A.purpurea (S), B.auratum (AF), B.emilia (S), B.smithi (SA), C.andersoni (J), C.cyaneopubescens (S), G.pulcheripes (S), G.rosea (AF,AF,MM), H.albostriatum (SA), H.lividum (SA), H.maculata (AF), L.parahybana (S), N.chromatus (S), P.parvula (J), P.regalis (S), P.rufilata (S), P.cambridgei (S), P.irminia (S), P.chordatus (AF,MM), P.lugardi (S.x5), P.murinus (MM), S.dichromata (SA), S.sp."Ebony" (SA), S.plumipes (S), T.ockerti (SA)

As I can't edit the original post, the list will update here.

The Caresheets:

• Aphonopelma abberans (Casablanca Chestnut Tarantula) - Available
• Aphonopelma seemani (Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula) - Under Peer Review

• Avicularia avicularia (Pink-Toe Tarantula) - Available

• Brachypelma auratum (Mexican Flame-knee Tarantula) - Available
• Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Red-knee Tarantula) - Available

• Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens (Greenbottle Blue Tarantula) - In writing

• Grammostola rosea (Chilean Rose Tarantula) - Available

• Haplopelma albostriatum (Thai Zebra Tararnula) - Under Peer Review

• Heteroscodra maculata (Togo Starburst / Ornamental Baboon) - Under Peer Review

• Pterinochilus chordatus (Kilimanjaro Mustard Baboon Spider) - Under Peer Review
• Pterinochilus murinus (Mombassa Starburst Baboon Spider / OBT) - Under Peer Review

(Status:
In Writing - Currently being researched and written.
Under Peer Review - Being reviewed by a series of experts.
Available - ...)


The title bar of each caresheet is colour-coded by suitability:
A GREEN title bar is a spider that is not difficult to care for, is relatively docile and calm.
A BLUE title bar is a spider that is slightly more tricky to care for, or is maybe more aggressive than other species.
A RED title bar is a spider that is difficult to care for, is aggressive and has medically significant venom. Great care should be taken with these.



EDIT: Some of the caresheets are very similar to each other, but it saves confusion having them as seperate sheets rather than merely saying "See the B.smithi sheet" for example.

__________________
arachnoph0bia on YouTube

A.geniculata (MM,S), A.abberans (SA), A.chalcodes (SA), A.seemanni (AF), A.avicularia (AF,J), A.purpurea (S), B.auratum (AF), B.emilia (S), B.smithi (SA), C.andersoni (J), C.cyaneopubescens (S), G.pulcheripes (S), G.rosea (AF,AF,MM), H.albostriatum (SA), H.lividum (SA), H.maculata (AF), L.parahybana (S), N.chromatus (S), P.parvula (J), P.regalis (S), P.rufilata (S), P.cambridgei (S), P.irminia (S), P.chordatus (AF,MM), P.lugardi (S.x5), P.murinus (MM), S.dichromata (SA), S.sp."Ebony" (SA), S.plumipes (S), T.ockerti (SA)

I say I say this needs to be stuck down with something sticky! My GBB can supply the thread for this thread to be stuck, but someone who knows how to stick must sticky it ASAP!

__________________

xD

At some point I should write a sheet for the GBB as it seems to be very popular. Just getting the results of the others I listed up there back... some may require editting, else I'll pdf-'em up and post.

__________________
arachnoph0bia on YouTube

A.geniculata (MM,S), A.abberans (SA), A.chalcodes (SA), A.seemanni (AF), A.avicularia (AF,J), A.purpurea (S), B.auratum (AF), B.emilia (S), B.smithi (SA), C.andersoni (J), C.cyaneopubescens (S), G.pulcheripes (S), G.rosea (AF,AF,MM), H.albostriatum (SA), H.lividum (SA), H.maculata (AF), L.parahybana (S), N.chromatus (S), P.parvula (J), P.regalis (S), P.rufilata (S), P.cambridgei (S), P.irminia (S), P.chordatus (AF,MM), P.lugardi (S.x5), P.murinus (MM), S.dichromata (SA), S.sp."Ebony" (SA), S.plumipes (S), T.ockerti (SA)

Would be cool if you, and maybe others too, could add to this thread now(obviously you would add to it by editing your two above posts but I mean they could help write care sheets) and basically make a caresheet for every T in the pet trade. I know for many it's very similiar but still copy and paste if need be, as long as you can click on the name of any T and get to a caresheet it would save a lot of questions.

__________________

Well, over 800 species of T, that's 5 down, 795+ to go...

I'll also only write caresheets if I'm comfortable with the information contained. For example, for most caresheets it'd be a case of researching where the T is from, but then there's the additional bits like burrowing and that B.smithi etc like to bask...

It's a good project, but for me to do it personally, I'd have to own all 800 species.

It's like tarantula Poke'mon... catch 'em all to write an encyclopaedia of care...

__________________
arachnoph0bia on YouTube

A.geniculata (MM,S), A.abberans (SA), A.chalcodes (SA), A.seemanni (AF), A.avicularia (AF,J), A.purpurea (S), B.auratum (AF), B.emilia (S), B.smithi (SA), C.andersoni (J), C.cyaneopubescens (S), G.pulcheripes (S), G.rosea (AF,AF,MM), H.albostriatum (SA), H.lividum (SA), H.maculata (AF), L.parahybana (S), N.chromatus (S), P.parvula (J), P.regalis (S), P.rufilata (S), P.cambridgei (S), P.irminia (S), P.chordatus (AF,MM), P.lugardi (S.x5), P.murinus (MM), S.dichromata (SA), S.sp."Ebony" (SA), S.plumipes (S), T.ockerti (SA)

UPDATE: Annoyingly, the top posts keep becoming uneditable... why is this?! Means I have to repost it all every time I edit. I've added a link so people can see the kind of setups described in the caresheets for A.abberans, A.seemani, B.auratum, B.smithi, G.rosea, H.albostriatum, P.chordatus, and P.murinus.



The Caresheets:

• Aphonopelma abberans (Casablanca Chestnut Tarantula) - Available
• Aphonopelma seemani (Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula) - Under Peer Review

• Avicularia avicularia (Pink-Toe Tarantula) - Available

• Brachypelma auratum (Mexican Flame-knee Tarantula) - Available
• Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Red-knee Tarantula) - Available

• Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens (Greenbottle Blue Tarantula) - In writing

• Grammostola rosea (Chilean Rose Tarantula) - Available

• Haplopelma albostriatum (Thai Zebra Tararnula) - Under Peer Review

• Heteroscodra maculata (Togo Starburst / Ornamental Baboon) - Under Peer Review

• Pterinochilus chordatus (Kilimanjaro Mustard Baboon Spider) - Under Peer Review
• Pterinochilus murinus (Mombassa Starburst Baboon Spider / OBT) - Under Peer Review

(Status:
In Writing - Currently being researched and written.
Under Peer Review - Being reviewed by a series of experts.
Available - ...)


The title bar of each caresheet is colour-coded by suitability:
A GREEN title bar is a spider that is not difficult to care for, is relatively docile and calm.
A BLUE title bar is a spider that is slightly more tricky to care for, or is maybe more aggressive than other species.
A RED title bar is a spider that is difficult to care for, is aggressive and has medically significant venom. Great care should be taken with these.


For examples of some enclosures for some of the above-listed species, click here.

Some of the caresheets are very similar to each other, but it saves confusion having them as seperate sheets rather than merely saying "See the B.smithi sheet" for example.

__________________
arachnoph0bia on YouTube

A.geniculata (MM,S), A.abberans (SA), A.chalcodes (SA), A.seemanni (AF), A.avicularia (AF,J), A.purpurea (S), B.auratum (AF), B.emilia (S), B.smithi (SA), C.andersoni (J), C.cyaneopubescens (S), G.pulcheripes (S), G.rosea (AF,AF,MM), H.albostriatum (SA), H.lividum (SA), H.maculata (AF), L.parahybana (S), N.chromatus (S), P.parvula (J), P.regalis (S), P.rufilata (S), P.cambridgei (S), P.irminia (S), P.chordatus (AF,MM), P.lugardi (S.x5), P.murinus (MM), S.dichromata (SA), S.sp."Ebony" (SA), S.plumipes (S), T.ockerti (SA)

This is great! Thanks for taking the time to do it!

It's just my little bit for the Tarantula hobby. If it stops people keeping tarantulas under simply horrid conditions, my payment is there.

I'll keep updating as we go, currently waiting on the "Yay or nay" on some of the caresheets above whilst editting some ready for pdf-ing then uploading. Watch this space, I aim to have these lot done by tomorrow night.

__________________
arachnoph0bia on YouTube

A.geniculata (MM,S), A.abberans (SA), A.chalcodes (SA), A.seemanni (AF), A.avicularia (AF,J), A.purpurea (S), B.auratum (AF), B.emilia (S), B.smithi (SA), C.andersoni (J), C.cyaneopubescens (S), G.pulcheripes (S), G.rosea (AF,AF,MM), H.albostriatum (SA), H.lividum (SA), H.maculata (AF), L.parahybana (S), N.chromatus (S), P.parvula (J), P.regalis (S), P.rufilata (S), P.cambridgei (S), P.irminia (S), P.chordatus (AF,MM), P.lugardi (S.x5), P.murinus (MM), S.dichromata (SA), S.sp."Ebony" (SA), S.plumipes (S), T.ockerti (SA)

well done babey!!! awesome caresheets xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
love you xxxxxxxxxxxxx your really helping alota people out.

__________________
M.F.U - My Babies ^_^
1.1.0 Chinese Water Dragons (Zig, Zag); 1.0.0 Juvenile Chinese Water Dragon (Ysera) 0.1.0 Anerythristic Cornsnakes (Cassie); 1.0.0 Amelistic Striped Cornsnake (Sid); 1.0.0 Amazon Tree Boa (Sasuke); 0.1.0 Togo Starburst Baboon Spider (Amithyst); 0.0.1 Kilimanjaro Mustard Tarantula (Kasumi); 0.0.1 Pink-Toed Tarantula (Nyu); 0.1.0 Chile Rose Tarantula (Yuffie); 0.1.0 Green Tree Python (no name yet);