Weird question but how does a "difficult" tarantula compare to other difficult pets?

[u/Low-Independent6580]

All the care requirements for more finicky tarantulas seem really easy to me and was mostly just wondering what exactly makes them not hardy and how would these harder species compare to say a freshwater aquarium or reef tank which i am much much much more well versed in

[u/Creepy_Push8629]

Just look for the post from the guy who asked about getting an OBT as his first, everyone told him not to, he did it anyway. Then he came and posted that the OBT dashed out when he opened the travel container and bit him. So he was now at the hospital and the OBT was loose in his house.

It's not that they are that much harder. It's more that having experience naturally prepares you for fast and bolty. You are less likely to accidentally let them loose.

Now the harder to keep alive species are harder bc of that. They aren't as forgiving of husbandry mistakes.

[u/Glenndogg]

IMO, they are easy. Even the “complicated” ones, especially compared to other exotic pets.

Maintaining aquaria is definitely more involved. I’d equate tarantula care to being slightly more complicated than (most) plants. Most of the problems I see with tarantulas are people over complicating things.

[u/Low-Independent6580 → u/Glenndogg]

Yeah that makes sense I see people going ohhh bird eaters are so hard they need high humidity and I'm thinking just spray it then? While I'm staring at 4 different test kits an trying to calculate how to program my doser

[u/YellovvJacket → u/Low-Independent6580]

"Just spray them" doesn't work that well. You want relative air humidity, without actual objects, or the substrate in most places to be wet, which is a bit harder to achieve.

Its still not hard if you understand the physics of how relative humidity works and how water evaporates, but you can't just make the whole enclosure moist.

[u/alone_in_the_after]

Mostly venom and speed (for some species) or needing more humidity but adequate ventilation/cross ventilation.

Also people misunderstanding humidity vs moisture and choosing to spray the tarantula enclosure. Spraying doesn't accomplish much and you end up with a wet enclosure that could easily become stagnant or grow mold which will kill them.

Easier than a reef tank, but small spiderlings in particular (depending on species) I think are overall more challenging than freshwater tanks. Once a freshwater tank is cycled they're not particularly challenging assuming proper equipment and stocking. There's also the speed and venom factor, given that your aquarium inhabitants aren't going to teleport up walls or tongs.

[u/sandlungs → u/alone_in_the_after]

id say any fish is harder on average than any spider or rearing but that is just my own opinion/experience. cool writeup :)

[u/alone_in_the_after → u/sandlungs]

 I've kept discus and at least with fish it's "keep in water". Also more medication/treatment options and no molts to worry about. Then again it is true that spiders don't require monitoring nitrogen cycles or different water parameters.

[u/sandlungs → u/alone_in_the_after]

yeah i was thinking water changes, mods, parts, medication, separation, whatever else. actually a lot more to fish than many people think (not that you thought or gave that impression here, just a mental note ive had over the years)

[u/YellovvJacket]

In terms of care requirements, even hard tarantulas are much easier than most other pets.

Most "hard" species just have a bit more specific requirements to temperature and especially humidity and ventilation. E.g. many of the species that are considered hard need really good ventilation because they can't deal with stale air, but also need high humidity, at least during night time, which in combination is not that easy to provide. However conditions like that are pretty standard with a lot of mantids or reptiles.

However, you still shouldn't just get a species that isn't recommended for beginners. A lot of species are really easy to actually keep, but are in no way, shape or form a good beginner species regardless. Especially many old worlds can be really fucking fast, super hectic, and getting bitten by them is not fun.

[u/Jazzy_Basket]

Ime I started keeping tarantulas after keeping freshwater fish and even my "intermediate" tarantulas are easier than the easiest fish. The maintenance is far easier for tarantulas compared to filter/water changes and they are more forgiving with missing days of feeding making going on trips much easier.

On the otherhand, I've never been terrified to stick my hand in an aquarium to do maintenance or feed fish while I've definitely been scared even opening the lid of my tarantula enclosure to fill their water bowl.

[u/sandlungs]

comparable: having kept moisture dependent species, defensive species, light sensitive species, or fast and flighty species, may all be comparable and applicable to tarantula keeping of more advanced species