I currently keep two species of tarantulas. I never hated spiders, but my tarantulas sparked a new level of appreciation for them. There are so many beautiful species of spiders. I’d love to, someday, keep a few species other than the two I keep currently.
Mexican Redknee Tarantulas (Brachypelma hamorii):
Back when I got my first Mexican redkees they were still classified as Brachypelma smithi. They have since been reclassified as Brachypelma hamorii. I currently have 4 of these guys – two adults and two slings. The adults have names, but I’ve been holding off on naming the slings.
Tito:
Gotcha Day: July 26th, 2018
Tito is my adult male Mexican redknee. He molted out as a male in late 2023. I have to admit, he’s probably my favorite of my current tarantulas and I was a bit sad when he completed his final molt and became a mature male. For anyone who doesn’t know, male tarantulas don’t typically live as long as the females. Once they complete their final molt and become fully mature, they are generally living on borrowed time. Although he looks quite skinny now, Tito has been periodically accepting food. That gives me a bit of hope that he has some time left before moving on to the great spider web in the sky. Tito has some mature ‘tude! That’s probably why he’s my favorite. If you haven’t caught on to this yet, I’m a sucker for punishment and for some reason seem to love the most unlovable animals all the more.
Scarlet:
Gotcha Day: April 3rd, 2019
Scarlet is an adult female Mexican redknee. She was an adult already when I got her, so I’m not sure how old she actually is. Scarlet is a very pretty spider (at least I think so) and is quite calm when compared to Tito. In 2024 I decided to breed Scarlet and Tito. It seemed successful, but we haven’t gotten any babies yet. I’ll update if we do, especially since you know I’ll be keeping at least a few of them!
B.hamorii Sling #1:
Gotcha Day: May 19th, 2021
In 2021 I got two teeny tiny B.hamorii slings. A sling is a baby tarantula, in case you didn’t know! This species matures quite slowly. I’ve been watching my slings grow for 3 years now and they are still pretty small comparatively.
B.Hamorii Sling #2:
Gotcha Day: May 19th, 2021
I haven’t named the two slings yet, so I typically just refer to them as “Sling 1” and “Sling 2”. I don’t know if they are males or females yet. I’ll most likely give them actual names once I can tell what sexes they are.
Trinidad Dwarf tarantula (Cyriocosmus elegans):
I currently have two Trinidad dwarf, sometimes referred to as “heart butt” tarantulas. I love these little ones, but I have found them to be somewhat of a challenge to work with because they are so small. Not to care for necessarily, but I was originally planning on breeding them and, since I still can’t even tell whether the ones I have are males or females, I decided to just keep them as pets instead. I assume I must have all females, since males of this species don’t typically live very long and I’ve had mine for over 5 years now.
Sorry the photos of these little ones are not great. They made some pretty impressive webs/burrows and it’s hard to get good, clear photos of them spending time topside.
Uno:
Gotcha Day: July 2nd, 2019
Uno bolted and escaped for a short time when I first got them. They ran onto our board game shelf and sat on a deck of Uno cards. Thus Uno was named!
Paris:
Gotcha Day: July 2nd, 2019
I wanted to name one of my heart butts a more feminine name, even though I still to this day have no idea whether they are boys or girls (I suspect they are female). So I went with Paris for one of them because, you know, Paris is for lovers.