DWA, The Dangerous Wild Animals Act came into law in the late late 70’s making it illegal to keep venomous snakes unless you were licensed. The herpetologist I knew was DWA licensed & often worked with Police, RSPCA etc when illegal reptiles were found. Being interested in snakes. I helped him care for his own, plus rescued snakes etc & that is how I came to handle such snakes.
At the time I became a keen invertebrate keeper, having tarantulas, true spiders & scorpions. They are much easier to keep & just as interesting. My largest at the time had a 9 inch leg span. Toe to diagonal toe.
I kept several different Tarantulas. My largest was a female Lasiodora parahybana. She was just over 9 inches. I brought her as an adult & kept her for at least 15 years, maybe more. Females can live for 25 years plus. Depending upon the species. Males for maybe 5 years. I had a few Brachypelmas, so maybe an auratum. But some of the species names have been changed & not everything sold in the hobby is always what they claim it to be.
The GBB, if I remember correctly. Has a lovely party piece. They jump.
I also had a Theraphosa blondi & her party piece was the make a hissing type noise, not unlike a snake. It is a similar action to what a cricket does with it’s rear legs. But some tarantula species can do it using front legs. And an Australian species is called the barking or whistling spider, due to their noise making ability.
Words of wisdom in the invert and reptile world , ESPECIALLY online buying .
Inverts are what some call an acquired taste , I am looking at Rhino beetles for a terrarium ( not sure what type yet ) which as you know remain popular in the UK , perhaps more then the States .
I had no idea so looked up what you kept and one was a Goliath Bird eater , big the females most certainly are .
He lived at the serpentarium and provided a lot of the venom in those days as you know he believed he had some immunity as bitten several times but some say if anything it was the opposite as it weakened his system .
