Most Filipinos are pet lovers. In almost every household, you would find a dog or a cat. Some would invest in aquarium fishes or love birds. Lately, having exotic pets have become a big fad like iguanas. In certain places where people live in small, adjacent units as apartments and condominiums, usually your neighbors would prohibit keeping pets. Well, for one they make annoying noise or emit foul odor. If you were a pet enthusiast in that kind of a situation, what kind of animal would be a perfect pet?
Many consider a particular animal as good "apartment pets" being quiet animals, requiring surprisingly little maintenance or cleaning, since they do not emit foul odor. Are you interested? Well, they are tarantulas.
According to Wikipedia, the most common species some people keep as pets because of their docile behavior are the Chilean rose tarantula (Grammostola rosea), and the Mexican redknee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi). These two species are also some of the easier to care for and are usually easy to handle, while other species (Including most Asian species, such as the cobalt blue tarantula ) are more aggressive and shouldn't be handled. Some of the more docile types seem to have a habit of relaxing in people's hands, perhaps attracted by the warmth. Tarantulas make quite inexpensive pets. Most species can be purchased as juveniles for $20-$50 USD. Adults can be quite expensive as they approach breeding age, and adults of many species can easily reach the several hundred US dollar range. Housing for most species can cost another 40 USD.
A terrarium with an inch or two of damp ground coconut fiber, or a mixture of soil and sphagnum moss (but not with cedar shavings as they are toxic to many spiders) on bottom provides an ideal habitat. (Burrowing tarantulas will require a much deeper layer.) Ambient temperature and humidity vary by species, with most thriving between 75 degrees and 80°F (24 to 27°C) and between 40% and 80% humidity.
Information courtesy of http://www.wikipedia.com/
Picture courtesy of http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/newsletter/images/EmringerTarantula2000-12.jpg
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