What is a Keeper Card?
Keeper Cards are Trading cards lovingly created for Arachnothusiasts and self proclaimed mothers of eight legged fuzzy creatures. We give you a new approach to accessing information about that particular species. See our "Key" Card below to see what information to expect.
The names of Tarantulas do change sometimes..... however we always include the accurate, as of printing, scientific name and the common name on each card. It is normal practise to learn the names of the species of Tarantula by their scientifically given name, but those big words can be hard to pronounce, and often mean nothing to your friends when you are telling them about your spiders, so people came up with sensible common names too. Some make sense, i.e. The Mexican Red Knee - for it has red.... yeah you guessed it, knees!
We included who discovered the species and when. As research on each Tarantula progresses and further recognised developments are made, additional accreditation's are added to a species "record", we have tried to keep the original discoverers as often as possible, even if at the time they named it something different.
We also include other fun information such as how big they can grow up to - size is dependant on the gender of the species in many cases, but we use the adult females legspan diagonally from the tip of the first leg to the tip of the back on the opposite side to get our size stat. Some hobbyists measure in body size too so it can be worth learning both.
It is useful to know what type of Tarantula you are keeping, it could be arboreal, or maybe terrestrial, perhaps a classic pet hole fossorial, with this simple piece of information you will determine the type of enclosure you need to use, as well as how to provide the correct environment for your pet.
It bodes well to know if the spider you keep is from the new world (The Americas) or the old world (Everywhere else), as both have the own needs as well as defenses. Some kick hairs, some have much more potent venom and therefore a much nastier bite if that unfortunate circumstance was to arise.
Whilst the data on the type of venom each species is still very limited, we have provided you with a more detailed urticating hair stat as enough research has been done by incredible entomologists around the world to be able to provide that information. There are six different types of urticating hairs and we tell you which species has which types.
We did our best to create a level system that keepers can reference when remembering the temperament and the risks involved when dealing with that species. Some Tarantulas have notoriously bad attitudes, some are super relaxed and known to be chilled out. Not all Tarantulas have the same behaviours however, so use your experience, common sense and take our keeper level as a guide but always stay vigilant, Tarantulas are near impossible to actually read and can bolt and threaten with little to no provocation at all.
With the guidance of Tom Moran we have created a moisture level that should replace the need for obsessive humidity chasers. See below for our moisture level card.
Keep the room you keep you Tarantulas in at room temperature. The rule of thumb is if you feel like you need to put on a jumper, than it is too cold for your Tarantulas too. If you feel like you are too warm and need to take off a layer to cool down, than it is probably too hot in the room. Moisture creates humidity - so we give youa guide about how moist to keep your enclosures, Keep them ventilated too!
We hope this have given you a bit of an insight into what a Keeper Card is. We have taken a lot of time to make sure we are giving the best advice for you and your animals.
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