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Chilean rose tarantula
The classic first tarantula, and still the one to beat. This spider from the desert scrub of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia is famously calm, needs only a dry tank with a water dish and a few insects a week, and asks very little of its keeper. A female can live up to 20 years in captivity, so this is a long-term roommate; males live far shorter lives.
It is not a cuddly toy. When annoyed it flicks irritating hairs off its abdomen, which itch on skin and are worse in eyes, so treat handling as rare and optional and let the spider be the show.
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Brachypelma hamorii
Sold as the Mexican red-knee
The tarantula everyone pictures: black with orange-red knee bands, about 5.5 inches across the legs as an adult, and known for a calm, docile manner that suits a first-time keeper. It wants a wide, low tank rather than a tall one, with part of the substrate kept slightly damp.
Commit before you buy, because females can live 25 to 30 years and males around 10. The species is CITES-protected, and collecting for the pet trade has badly reduced its wild population, so buy a captive-bred spiderling from a breeder. Like the Chilean rose, it kicks irritating hairs when bothered.
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Tliltocatl albopilosus
Sold as the curly hair tarantula
The fluffiest tarantula a beginner can buy, covered in long, wiry, curly hairs that give it a teddy-bear look. This rainforest spider from Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica is hardy and docile as an adult, often sits out on display, and reaches about 6.5 inches across the legs. Fill its enclosure about half full of substrate so it can burrow, keep the lower layers moist and the top dry, and ordinary room temperatures of 68 to 76 degrees Fahrenheit suit it.
Females can live up to 25 years and males around 5. It breeds prolifically in captivity, so captive-bred spiderlings are easy to find, and like the other tarantulas here it flicks irritating hairs when stressed.
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Phidippus regius
Sold as the regal jumping spider
The spider for people who think they don't like spiders. It is tiny, about half an inch in the body, with big forward-facing eyes and a curious streak that makes it far more interactive than a tarantula. Shy at first, many will tolerate being held with patience and gentle handling; do it over something soft.
It needs an enclosure taller than it is wide, at least 4 by 4 by 7 inches, with plenty of vertical climbing surfaces, plus live insects smaller than its body. The trade-off is time: expect about one to two years. Native to North America and the Caribbean, it is sold captive-bred by specialist breeders.
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Carausius morosus
Sold as the Indian stick insect
The classroom favorite for good reason: it eats privet, bramble or ivy you can cut from a pesticide-free hedge, and it reproduces without mating; males are rare. One female lays several hundred eggs in her life, and they hatch in about 10 to 12 weeks at room temperature, so a single purchase can keep you in stick insects for years.
Expect each insect to live about a year. The catch is legal. In the United States tropical stick insects like this one count as plant pests and need a USDA permit to import, and escapes and discarded eggs have already established it outdoors in California, so never release eggs or nymphs.
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Extatosoma tiaratum
Sold as the giant prickly stick insect
The stick insect with attitude. These spiny insects reach 5 to 6 inches, and when threatened they curl the abdomen over the back to mimic a scorpion. It is pure bluff: they generally tolerate handling better than most stick insects, though any stick insect is easy to injure, so go gently.
Keep it at 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit with 60 to 80 percent humidity and fresh blackberry, oak, rose, hawthorn or eucalyptus leaves; never use leaves from florists or garden centers, which are often sprayed. A lone female can still produce young. Males have full wings and the females do not. Plan on about a year of company.
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Sphodromantis lineola
Sold as the African mantis
The best praying mantis for a first try: a 3 to 4 inch hunter from west and central Africa that is active by day and widely rated a beginner-level species. Watching it stalk and snatch a fly is the best five seconds of insect keeping.
House one per tank, because African mantises are prone to cannibalism, and make the tank tall, since a mantis needs vertical space to molt. The downside is a short life of about 6 to 9 months, with females outlasting males, so treat it as a season-long project rather than a lifelong pet.
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Madagascar hissing cockroach
The party trick of the list. This wingless, 2 to 3 inch cockroach hisses by forcing air through tiny breathing openings on its body, using the sound as a warning, in disputes between males and in courtship. It is a docile, easy-to-keep plant-eater, nothing like a kitchen pest, and a good animal for anyone who wants to get over a fear of bugs.
Care is a simple enclosure, fresh vegetables and somewhere to hide. Females give birth to live young, as many as 60 at a time, so a mixed group soon becomes a colony. Expect up to 5 years in human care.
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Asbolus verrucosus
Sold as the blue death feigning beetle
The surprise long-hauler. This beetle of nearly an inch, from the deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, can live eight years or more, far longer than most insects. When startled it lies on its back with legs in the air and plays dead, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for hours.
The powder-blue color is a wax coating that keeps it from drying out, and too much humidity strips it, leaving the beetle looking black, so keep the tank dry, warm and well ventilated. In the wild it eats fruit, plant matter, other insects and carrion, and in captivity it is content with simple beetle foods and a few companions, since it lives in groups.
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Archispirostreptus gigas
Sold as the giant African millipede
A gentle giant from east Africa that reaches 10 to 14 inches, and one of the most impressive animals a beginner can hold. It is nocturnal, so the show happens in the evening. Give it at least 3 inches of loose substrate topped with oak leaf litter, which is also most of its diet, and keep the humidity at 70 to 80 percent.
With good care it lives 7 to 10 years. It does not enjoy being petted, and when alarmed it releases a foul-smelling liquid that can stain and may cause an allergic reaction, so wash your hands after handling and keep sessions short.
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Porcellio laevis
Sold as the dairy cow isopod
The pet that works for its keep. This is a black-and-white color morph of a common woodlouse, rated easy and one of the most widely kept isopods in the hobby. A colony lives on leaf litter, decaying wood and vegetables, with fish flakes for protein and a steady calcium source, and it reproduces rapidly, so a starter group soon becomes a busy little world.
It is also a working animal: a few in a beetle, millipede or snail tank help clean up waste. Keep part of the substrate damp, at 65 to 85 percent humidity, so they can molt properly. Individuals are small and best watched rather than handled.
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Lissachatina fulica
Sold as the giant African land snail
The gentlest animal here and, where it is legal, one of the easiest. It grows up to about 8 inches long and lives for several years on vegetables plus a cuttlefish bone for calcium. Keep the tank at 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit and clean it with hot water only. Wash and disinfect your hands after handling, since snails can carry Salmonella.
A single snail can lay eggs without mating, so check for clutches. Because it is so invasive, several countries ban it, including the United States and Australia. Every snail in the US is there illegally, the USDA has never issued an import permit, and Indiana bans it by quarantine. In the UK owning one is legal, but releasing snails or eggs is not.
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Caribbean hermit crab
Also sold as the purple pincher
The honest exception on this list. It is stocked by big pet chains, yet it is close to impossible to breed in captivity, so the pet trade depends entirely on wild-caught crabs. Buy one only if you will give it the care that justifies that.
Done properly, it is a sociable, busy pet that can live 15 to 20 years. Keep at least two together, since it is a social species, and give each crab at least five spare shells to move into as it grows. Its gills need constant humidity, ideally 80 to 90 percent, and it needs both fresh and salt water dishes. Leave a molting crab alone: it is soft, fragile and dries out fast.
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