Holding 10" T. blondiw/ A. versicolor

"Webbed"

BTS '99

(Last updated: April 24, 2008)

Todd Gearheart is a professional, exotic animal breeder specializing in tarantula spiders, other invertebrates and select reptiles. Within that trade, he is an importer/exporter, breeder and dealer. He is also a writer and lecturer in the exotic animal hobby. He is considered an expert on tarantula spiders and other invertebrates with their care, breeding and behavior with over 26 years in the hobby and business. Todd often has made his mark on the hobby for being the first to acquire and/or breed a new and rare species thereby earning him the business slogan "The Cutting Edge in Arachnoculture". His web site, www.tarantulaspiders.com, is one of the oldest educational and commercial invertebrate web sites in existence. It is a heavy favorite for many invertebrate keepers to refer to. Todd worked for the large reptile company of the 1990s, Glades Herp., Inc. and many hobbyists are familiar with him in Florida as a vendor at major trade shows and educational presentations and lectures.

Todd was born in Roanoke, Virginia in 1966 and grew up there until he joined the U.S. Navy at age 17. For the next 11 years, he traveled the world (over 22 countries and 43 U.S. states) and lived for several years in the Philippine Islands. He was an Air Intercept Controller and Operations Specialist and spend much of his time in combat duty in the Persian Gulf. Todd was one of the fastest Operation Specialists to achieve the rank of Chief Petty Officer at the young age of 24 and served honorable in both the active Navy and reserves being rewarded many medals, citations and awards for this duty, skills, conduct and service. In 1993, Todd was selected as on of the top 100 college students in the nation by USA Today newspaper and he graduated from Radford University with a four year degree in Journalism with a concentration in Public Relations. In the mid 1990s, he worked in several Public Relations and Journalism jobs and even worked for American Airlines for nine years. His resume is filled with incredible accomplishments in a variety of jobs and ventures.

Interesting sites with information about Todd Gearheart in the Invertebrate hobby:

• Top Invert Sites: http://topinvertsites.itopsites.com/index.php?a=stats&id=30930
• Arachnoboard's Dealer Review for Todd Gearheart: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=25096&highlight=todd+ge...
• The Venom List dealer review for Todd Gearheart: http://venomlist.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t15003.html
• Webbings Magazine: http://www.petbugs.com/webbings/
• THE TARANTULA KEEPER'S GUIDE, Second Edition (1998) , ADDENDA and ERRATA "We offer our thanks to Todd Gearheart of Glades Herps and Craig Zammiello for the information presented here. And especially, we would like to thank Todd for correcting an earlier erroneous report given in these Addenda and Errata." http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/errata2.html

Past educational presentations/lectures/chats:

• 5/16/07 Todd Gearheart "Florida's Fabulous Spiders and other invertebrates" (Speaker) for the Suncoast Herp. Society, Clearwater, Florida: http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/errata2.html
• 3/9/05 Todd Gearheart "Introduction to the Tarantula-keeping hobby" (Speaker) for the Suncoast Herp. Society, Clearwater, Florida
• 05/03/01 Todd Gearheart "Introduction to the Arachnid-Keeping Hobby" (Speaker) for the Calusa Herp. Society, Ft. Myers, Florida
• 9/17/99 Chat on petbugs.com with Todd Gearheart "TARANTULA HUSBANDRY & BREEDING SECRETS REVEALED! " : http://www.petbugs.com/chatroom/9-7-99_chat.html
• 05/07/98 Todd Gearheart "Arachnophobic No More" (Speaker) for the Calusa Herp. Society, Ft. Myers, Florida : http://www.petbugs.com/chatroom/9-7-99_chat.html

"The Cutting Edge of Arachoculture" - Significant contributions to promoting and developing the invertebrate-keeping hobby:

• 1998: Coordinated the frst import of Hysterocrates scepticus "Sao Tome Giant Baboon", H. apostolicus "Cricket-legged Baboon" and Phoneyusa manicata "Princepe Island Baboon" from Sao Tome and Princepe Islands.
• 2000: Successfully bred Lasiodora difficilis "Brazilian Fire Red" making these the first captive-born spiderlings of this species for the U.S. hobby
• 2001: Co-partnered with Mark Hart to make available the first U.S. captive-born Nhandu chromatus "Brazilian Red & White" spidelrings (Mark Hart's female and my mature male)
• 2005: Made available the first Selencosmia peerboomi "Negros Island Earth Tiger" to the U.S. hobby.
• May 27, 2007: Introduced the first "Youtube.com" promotional video for a tarantula species ("Santo Domingo Goliath" Pamphobeteus sp.): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcGCjrGYdNs
• June 1, 2007: Launched the newest version of this site "Tarantulaspiders Online" with ecommerce options, data base-orientated system and visually appealing design with the assistance of Technospider Services.

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