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 3 of these guys – an adult and two slings. The adult has a name, but I’ve been holding off on naming the slings.
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.