These are some of the biggest tarantulas around and, because of their incredible fecundity, are some of the cheapest. They grow fast, don't tend to burrow, and aren't especially aggressive.
Alecto
My largest birdeater, purchased from the Spider Patch. According to the enclosed birth certificate, she was born April 12, 1999 and I got her about May 2000. She's relatively docile, although thier reputation for skittishness makes me reluctant to test hier.
Molts:
August, 2000: 2"
December, 2000: 3.5"
February, 2001: 4.5"
April, 2001: 5"
August, 2001: 5 3/4"
October, 2001: 6 1/4"
June, 2002: 6 3/4"
June, 2003: 7 1/4"
Here's Alecto eating a freshly molted Madagascar Hissing Cockroach.
Alecto has picked up a rather peculiar habit. It tends to pick at the vents of its terrarium with its fangs. Here are some photos of it doing exactly that. If you look closely, you can see its fangs poking through the vents.
Tisiphone
Another purchase from the Spider Patch and from the same clutch as Alecto, according to the birth certificate. He molted into a mature male September, 2001 and died one year later. I had him for two years from spiderling to adult, but that's the way the cookie crumbles for male tarantulas. I expect to have Alecto a lot longer.
Molts:
October, 2000: 1.5"
December, 2000: 2"
January, 2001: 3"
April, 2001: 4"
May, 2001: 4.5"
July, 2001: 5"
September, 2001: 6 1/2" - Molted as a mature male.
September, 2002: Died
And here's Tisiphone. Memories...