Anyone here keep these?

I adore my T's so much. I think out of all the pets you can own, they are by far the easiest, I'd say even easier and simpler than frogs, obviously all pets have pros and cons and don't love my whites tree frog any less <3

Pros of keeping T's:

1. Noiseless - you don't hear a peep from T's so if you keep them in your room. Won't wake you up.

2. Don't smell - yes T's do not smell, their poop is so small and fine, doesn't cause odor and only need their enclosure cleaned maybe every 8 months to once a year.

3. Don't eat much - T's having a VERY slow metabolism only eat once a week or even once every 2 weeks. If given a large meal, can be fed once a month.

4. Don't need heat or additional lighting - if you are warm and comfortable in the room they are kept in, then your T's will be. T's do NOT need a heat mat unless its abnormally cold in your home. Many pet stores will sell you heat mats to make a extra buck. T's hate bright light so additional lighting is not appreciated so no worries about electricity bills.

5. Many species available - If you are a new keeper or a advanced keeper, there IS a species to suit everyone.

6. Don't need massive enclosure like some reptiles. If you want a pet that needs less space, a T is for you, many will buy massive enclosures but this is not appreciated by a Tarantula, in fact can cause stress. Because one, they have bad eye sight, almost blind so harder to find food and two, they prefer to feel enclosed and spend most of their time hiding so loads of floor space is wasted.

7. Missing a feeding will not kill them - Tarantulas can go a very long time without food, going 18 months without food is normal for a Tarantula. (not including slings in this) So if you forget to feed them for 3-4 weeks, that time period is nothing to them.

Cons of keeping T's:

1. Don't like handling - This usually gets a mixed answer, you CAN handle T's but they generally do not like it. They are a look at but do not touch pet.

2. Price range - This can sometimes be a issue... if you are a T collector, you can pay as cheap as £2.50 for a sling (baby) of more common species, up to £100+ for rarer species such as the Goliath Bird Eater.

3. WC (wild caught species) - This is something I am HIGHLY against, some species that are available are WC and sometimes can arrive to you dead or have parasites and risk of infecting your collection.

4. Venomous - All Tarantulas are venomous to some degree, some worse than others such as the King Baboon's bite which is very painful. In some cases if you happen to be allergic to their venom, you can go into shock and die but that's 1 in more than 10 million for that to happen and not very common.

5. Molting - When a Tarantula is in pre molt (there new exo skeleton is growing underneath) some T's such as slow growing species can be pre molt for days, weeks or even months and when in pre-molt, will not eat and hide until it molts. Some have been in pre molt for 18 months or even longer. A T will molt when its ready.

6. Hair kicking - New world T's such as the mexican red knee can kick hairs off their abdomen if they feel in danger or provoked and if this gets on your skin can cause a rash and irritation but does not cause any lasting damage also a reason to not handle them

Currently I have.

Curly haired Tarantula.
Mexican Red Knee Tarantula.
White Striped Bird Eater.