This is "Bela", a common Chilean rose tarantula (G. rosea). A gift from my son's mother, more than making up for a well-earned rep as a notoriously bad gift-giver. Not sure how old she was when she came to live with us in 1994; my best guess is one year or more, based on her size. For twenty years, she was the quietest, gentlest, most maintenance-free pet I've ever had the pleasure of keeping. I raised a Mexican redknee (B. smithi, "Karloff" ) and a greenbottle blue (C. cyaneopubescens, "Hitchcock" ) from spiderlings; Bela outlived them both by a decade or more.
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2 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.i like the fluffy appearance. do they usually live solo?
walklightly
Level 8
Mar 10, 2018
0
Great photo. While tarantulas are fascinating and beautiful to me. I worry about urticating(sp) hairs in my eye?
Another lifetime ago I knew a couple who took me along once to hunt them at night in Texas, picking them up bare handed, which amazed me.
Qualia
Level 8
Mar 10, 2018
2
Never got any in the eye, but she kicked 'em onto my hand a couple of times while trying to pick her up for habitat maintenance. Fascinating defense to watch, but itchy as hell 
.
@batscradle 
Yikes. I'll continue to admire them from afar LOL
Yeah, not a great idea to handle unless necessary. Stresses them out, and abdomens are fragile and will burst if dropped from even table height.
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