I quite often come across people asking "What specie should I get?" The answers vary quite significantly due to people's personal preferences. So I wondered "why not a review for Tarantula?" I think that will help both newbies and experienced owners. I am by no mean an expert so I bet some Tarantula experts will find my reviews laughable. However, my conviction is that new and some old enthusiasts will find some uses for this.

I will try to be as objective as possible but sometimes, things just can't be 100% objective. Due to space constraint, I will break my review into 4 parts, reviewing the same species. And to help newbies, I also include common names. Please understand that there are many common names for the same specie so it's still best to look at scientific names. There is also a disclaimer, just as you don't want to write a dog review and receive a complain from someone getting bitten by the dog.

This will grow as time goes on. So check back frequently.
Updated: 12/26/2008

1. General characteristics
Types: Where the Tarantula usually hang out. Spiderlings are usually burrower regardless of specie.

• T: Terrestrial (need more floor space)
• OB: Opportunistic Burrower (will burrow if given enough substrate but has no problem adopting an artificial hide)
• B: Obligate Burrower (need deep substrate to burrow, without which can lead to stress and even death)
• A: Arboreal (need more climbing space)
• /:Hybrids (some species exhibit different behaviors based on the husbandry conditions. E.g. a Pterinochilus murinus is supposed to be an obligate burrower but has no problem climbing, webbing and ending up above ground)

Humidity: Specific humidity is hard to achieve and can do more harm than good. Here I break into 4 groups based on how much you CARE for the T, not how much humidity you measure. Note that you need to also be flexible based on the ambient humidity of the room and availability of an open water dish - I think my room is about 50% and all my T's above 2" get a water dish. Breeding may require different conditions. Spiderlings usually require medium/high humidity regardless of specie.

• Insane (you'd better mist the enclosure daily to keep the substrate moist or face problems e.g. Theraphosa blondi NEEDS high humidity to molt properly)
• High (maybe mist twice a week misting will suffice - letting the substrate partially dry out between misting is ok)
• Medium (mist once a week - substrate can completley dry out between misting)
• Low (maybe once a month or none at all)

Speed: Darting speed as compared to normal walking speed and a normal human reaction time. Most Tarantulas walk very slowly but some can dart at alarming speed. Spiderlings tend to be faster than adults of the same specie. This assessment is quite subjective.

• Slow (difficult to differentiate walking and darting)
• Medium (darting obviously faster than walking but slower than a normal person reaction)
• Fast (darting obviously faster than walking but require some good reaction speed)
• Teleport (you pretty much can't tell whether it is running or teleporting)

Appetite: How well the specie reacts to prey items.

• Voracious (usually chase after and crush or tear the prey apart)
• Good (catch the prey quickly and never says no to food unless molting)
• Ok (sometimes act afraid of food but generally eat well once a week)
• Chicken (has serious eating problem - haven't found any specie fitting this label yet)

MS: Maximum legspan size in inches. 1 inch = 2.54 cm. Some species are bulkier so can appear bigger at smaller legspan (e.g. a 7" Lasiodora difficilis can look smaller than a 7" Acanthoscurria geniculata)

Name		Characteristics
Scientific name	Common name	Type	Humidity	Speed	Appetite	MS
Acanthoscurria geniculata	Giant White Knee	T	High	Slow	Voracious	9
Aphonopelma sp.flagstaff	Flagstaff Orange	OB	Medium	Slow	Ok	6
Avicularia avicularia	Common Pinktoe	A	High	Fast	Good	6
Avicularia versicolor	Antilles Pinktoe	A	High	Fast	Good	6
Ceratogyrus darlingi	African Horned Baboon	OB	Medium	Fast	Voracious	5
Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens	Greenbottle Blue	T/A	Low	Medium	Voracious	6
Grammostola rosea	Chilean Rose	T	Low	Slow	Ok	6
Holothele incei	Peruvian Olive	B/A	Medium	Fast	Good	4
Hysterocrates gigas	Cameroon Red Baboon	B	High	Fast	Voracious	7
Lasiodora difficilis	Brazilian Fire Red	T	Medium	Slow	Voracious	10
Lasiodora parahybana	Brazilian Salmon Pink	T	Medium	Medium	Voracious	11
Nhandu chromatus	White Striped Bird Eater	OB	Medium	Fast	Voracious	7
Poecilotheria regalis	Indian Ornamental	A	High	Teleport	Good	7
Pterinochilus murinus	Orange Baboon	T/A/B	Normal	Fast	Good	5

2. "Red" factor
Attitude: How the specie reacts to disturbance. Note that each Tarantula has a different personality ("Tarantuality") so a generally docile specie can produce some very aggressive specimens. Tarantulas usually do not show defensive behaviors unless cornered and cannot run away.

• Docile (will take a lot of disturbance to induce a defensive behavior)
  
• Skitish (prefer to run away from disturbance and is not quick to show defensive behaviors)
  
• Defensive (Hair) (usually flick urticating hairs at disturbance - with or without showing a threat pose; Old World species have no urticating hair so this is not applicable)
  
• Defensive (Bite) (prefers biting to defend itself - usually but not always throw a threat pose prior to biting)
  
• Aggressive (actively go after the disturbance even as the disturbance is running away)
  

Itchiness: How itchy the urticating hair is to the hand skin - subjective. Urticating hair can cause allergic reactions to some individuals. See your doctor immediately if the urticating hair gets into your eyes - it can cause blindness.

• NA (the specie does not possess urticating hair)
  
• Low (no noticeable effect)
  
• Medium (itchy but nothing unbearable)
  
• High (very itchy and cause immediate rashes and may need intervention)
  

Venom: Strength of venom. Some people think Tarantula venom cannot cause severe allergic reactions but I beg to differ. ALL Tarantulas have and can inject venom in a bite though no verified death has been recorded. Effects of a bite can range from mere local pain to rapid heart rate, from short term (1-2 hours) to long term (months!). So you should exercise caution. Never underestimate a Tarantula and find things out the hard way.

• Normal (pretty much just like any other Tarantula)
  
• Strong (a lot of pain and may last up to a month)
  
• Dangerous (strong possibility of a long term negative effect)
  

Name		"Red" factors
Scientific name	Common name	Attitude	Itchiness	Venom
Acanthoscurria geniculata	Giant White Knee	Defensive (Hair)	High	Normal
Aphonopelma sp.flagstaff	Flagstaff Orange	Skittish	Low	Normal
Avicularia avicularia	Common Pinktoe	Skittish	NA	Normal
Avicularia versicolor	Antilles Pinktoe	Skittish	Low	Normal
Ceratogyrus darlingi	African Horned Baboon	Defensive (Bite)	NA	Strong
Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens	Greenbottle Blue	Skittish	High	Normal
Grammostola rosea	Chilean Rose	Docile	Medium	Normal
Holothele incei	Peruvian Olive	Skittish	NA	Normal
Hysterocrates gigas	Cameroon Red Baboon	Defensive (Bite)	NA	Strong
Lasiodora difficilis	Brazilian Fire Red	Defensive (Hair)	Medium	Normal
Lasiodora parahybana	Brazilian Salmon Pink	Docile	Medium	Normal
Nhandu chromatus	White Striped Bird Eater	Defensive (Bite)	High	Normal
Poecilotheria regalis	Indian Ornamental	Defensive (Bite)	NA	Dangerous
Pterinochilus murinus	Orange Baboon	Defensive (Bite)	NA	Dangerous

3. Review scores
V: Visibility (how often do you expect to see your Tarantula from 10 (pretty much all the time) to 0 (can't differentiate from a tank of dirt). Note that tank design can significantly affect visibility.)

B: Beauty (How beautiful the Tarantula is from 10 (can spend whole day staring at it) to 0 (what the crap is this ugly thing?!?!). Note that this is very subjective and based on what I can see on normal lighting e.g. a Avicularia versicolor is beautiful under flash but pretty much black under normal lighting)

S: Size (Max size minus 2). Add 25% for bulky body.

SC: Special characteristic factor (normally 1; add 0.5 for every additional special characteristic e.g. has a horn, can swim or communal)

EC: Ease of care factor (normally 1; <1>1 means very hardy and adaptable with high tolerant for an owner's mistake)

Score: (V*2+B+S)*SC*EC

Name		Review scores
Scientific name	Common name	V	B	S	SC	EC	Score
Acanthoscurria geniculata	Giant White Knee	10	7	8.75	1	1	35.75
Aphonopelma sp.flagstaff	Flagstaff Orange	7	7	4	1	1	25
Avicularia avicularia	Common Pinktoe	6	1	4	1	0.5	8.5
Avicularia versicolor	Antilles Pinktoe	5	5	4	1	0.5	9.5
Ceratogyrus darlingi	African Horned Baboon	1	8	3	1.5	1	19.5
Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens	Greenbottle Blue	8	10	4	1	1	30
Grammostola rosea	Chilean Rose	8	6	4	1	1	26
Holothele incei	Peruvian Olive	2	6	2	1.5	0.9	16.2
Hysterocrates gigas	Cameroon Red Baboon	3	3	5	2	0.8	22.4
Lasiodora difficilis	Brazilian Fire Red	8	5	8	1	1	29
Lasiodora parahybana	Brazilian Salmon Pink	10	5	9	1	1	34
Nhandu chromatus	White Striped Bird Eater	3	8	5	1	1	19
Poecilotheria regalis	Indian Ornamental	9	9	5	1	0.9	28.8
Pterinochilus murinus	Orange Baboon	3	8	3	1	1.5	25.5

4. Note
Some extra notes for owners.

Name		Note
Scientific name	Common name
Acanthoscurria geniculata	Giant White Knee
Aphonopelma sp.flagstaff	Flagstaff Orange
Avicularia avicularia	Common Pinktoe	Need good cross ventilation
Avicularia versicolor	Antilles Pinktoe	Need good cross ventilation
Ceratogyrus darlingi	African Horned Baboon
Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens	Greenbottle Blue
Grammostola rosea	Chilean Rose
Holothele incei	Peruvian Olive	Communal
Hysterocrates gigas	Cameroon Red Baboon	Communal and can swim
Lasiodora difficilis	Brazilian Fire Red	Throw threat poses at any disturbance
Lasiodora parahybana	Brazilian Salmon Pink
Nhandu chromatus	White Striped Bird Eater
Poecilotheria regalis	Indian Ornamental
Pterinochilus murinus	Orange Baboon	Very hardy and adaptable

Disclaimer: All information is based on my personal experience and there is no guarantee yours will be the same. Exercise caution! I shall not be held responsible for any harm and/or negative consequences (to anyone and/or anything) resulting directly and/or indirectly from my article. Tarantulas are venomous and keeping them involve some risks. Tarantulas also have personalities ("tarantualities") so a generally docile specie can have some aggressive specimens.