After molt behavior

[EulersK]

View attachment 280775 How about this for now?

While that isn't great for humid species because of the ventilation, it'll work perfectly for what you have How is the spider doing this morning?

 

[Brooke795]

Well looks like I’m going shopping today. Not broken hearted about that. I love shopping. Just not gonna take the 8 year old son. He’s been on my case about a fish tank

Should I get another small wooden log for hiding? Or do they not really need that until they get older?

 

[EulersK]

Should I get another small wooden log for hiding? Or do they not really need that until they get older?

Yeah, you always want to provide a hide. You could also pick up a glass water dish to make it easier to clean. Many of us use disposable condiment cups, but given that you only have two critters, washing a dish isn't a huge chore

Oh, and if you haven't seen yet, pet stores give absolutely horrendous tarantula care advice. Better to not even mention you have a spider. Don't follow a single word of their advice.

 

[Brooke795]

Yeah, you always want to provide a hide. You could also pick up a glass water dish to make it easier to clean. Many of us use disposable condiment cups, but given that you only have two critters, washing a dish isn't a huge chore

Oh, and if you haven't seen yet, pet stores give absolutely horrendous tarantula care advice. Better to not even mention you have a spider. Don't follow a single word of their advice.

Noted! I go to a specialty reptile store for a lot of stuff. Petco for certain commercial items. I prefer the smaller specialty store though. They have some knowledge staff. Depends who you get. But for now I’m really gonna stick to asking everyone here.

I prefer using glass in general I even wash fuzzy’s dish with filtered water. Lol

Update: Fuzzy is alive and well! I followed everyone’s advice to the best of my ability (thanks guys!) and I rehoused fuzzy in something smaller. I went to target and got a small glass water dish (always filled with reverse osmosis water) and I lightly misted the substrate. When I went to retrieve fuzzy out of the large tank, fuzzy literally was faster than me! And sure went up the sides of the glass! Anyway all is good! Still keeping a watchful eye but I think we made it guys!

Pic of the new setup included. Also started gut-loading the crickets with Apple and carrot today too. I read conflicting time frames on which to feed after a molt (even here has conflicting information) so when would you guys suggest? Thanks again everyone for being my moral support!

 

[firedept10]

Hello Everyone,

This is Brooke795's fiancé. I would like to thank everyone for the awesome advice offered to us. Because of your help Fuzzy is still with us. Thank you, then you, thank you!!!

 

[dangerforceidle]

View attachment 280813 I read conflicting time frames on which to feed after a molt (even here has conflicting information) so when would
you guys suggest? Thanks again everyone for being my moral support!

I'm glad to see that your friend has made big strides in recovery!

For feeding, you need to wait until the fangs are fully black. They will go through stages as they harden after a moult. They'll be white, then become a red colour, then a darker red, then finally black. The time it takes after a moult varies -- by individual spider, by size, etc.. There's no exact time frame, so there are general guidelines.

For a juvenile such as yours 7-10 days is probably a safe time period. The good news, is that Fuzzy can go much longer than that without eating, so if you want to be really cautious and give them a few extra days, it will be perfectly fine. Just make sure there is access to water.

 

[tewebag]

Also started gut-loading the crickets with Apple and carrot today too. I read conflicting time frames on which to feed after a molt

Black fangs is what you want, it can be anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks depending on the size of the T. For Fuzzy I would guess about 7 or 8 days.
For gut loading, crickets process food fairly quick so they only need to be gut loaded within 24 hours before the feeding. Otherwise just feed them to keep them alive.

Pic of the new setup included

Much better, save Fuzzy's old home for an arboreal. I would (if able) add a little bit more substrate, you want 1.5 times the length of the T from top to the ground. I would also bury one end of the log just to make a little cave, it normally makes the t feel safer to have a small dark place to hide in if needed.

 

[lostbrane]

Yes. Save that enclosure. To this day I am pissed at myself for giving up the first two enclosures I got when I first got into the hobby. They could have been so useful...well so much more so than they were anyways.

 

[Brooke795]

I'm glad to see that your friend has made big strides in recovery!

For feeding, you need to wait until the fangs are fully black. They will go through stages as they harden after a moult. They'll be white, then become a red colour, then a darker red, then finally black. The time it takes after a moult varies -- by individual spider, by size, etc.. There's no exact time frame, so there are general guidelines.

For a juvenile such as yours 7-10 days is probably a safe time period. The good news, is that Fuzzy can go much longer than that without eating, so if you want to be really cautious and give them a few extra days, it will be perfectly fine. Just make sure there is access to water.

I took this picture of fuzzy tonight. Fangs look dark to me..

 

[tewebag]

View attachment 280843
I took this picture of fuzzy tonight. Fangs look dark to me..

Half still look red to me but I am on mobile right now so I could be wrong. Regardless a couple extra days without feeding will not hurt just to be safe. Patience is worth not losing a fang or two.

 

[Brooke795]

Half still look red to me but I am on mobile right now so I could be wrong. Regardless a couple extra days without feeding will not hurt just to be safe. Patience is worth not losing a fang or two.

No joke! If they lose that.. idk what I would do.

I stayed up most of the night with fuzzy last night dropping water on the fangs. I’m already so attached to fuzzy! Even though it’s been two weeks

 

[EulersK]

No joke! If they lose that.. idk what I would do.

I stayed up most of the night with fuzzy last night dropping water on the fangs. I’m already so attached to fuzzy! Even though it’s been two weeks

Those fangs are definitely still a bit red.

Here's the fun part about tarantulas - generally speaking, you can walk away from them for weeks at a time and they would hardly notice. You just had a bad experience, so I understand why you'd be protective, but trust me when I say that these animals are quite durable as pets. I'm a bit excessive when it comes to feeding after a molt, but I typically wait about 3-4 weeks after a molt on that size before feeding again. To be honest, 2 weeks is generally enough, but I err on the side of caution. Broken fangs are no joke, and making cricket soup is both time consuming and not exactly fool-proof.

Shameless self-plugging here, but I've got some (old) videos on tarantula husbandry. It's not everything you need to know, but it's nothing but beginner information. The link is in my description with the lovely @Chris LXXIX's quote. I'd suggest giving them a watch, and coming back with questions.

 

[Brooke795]

Ok will do! So far so good. I’m just making sure fuzzy has plenty of fresh water for now. I’ll check on the fangs next week to see where we’re at

 

[firedept10]

Is Fuzzy a male or female? I only ask so I know whether to call it a him or her. I could not care whether we have a male or female. We have no preference. Thank you.

 

[AnObeseHippo]

Is Fuzzy a male or female? I only ask so I know whether to call it a him or her. I could not care whether we have a male or female. We have no preference. Thank you.

It looks like a she to me but taking a look at molts is a better way to sex

 

[firedept10]

It looks like a she to me but taking a look at molts is a better way to sex

Thanks. We have a molt so how would would we tell? I'm a real novice to this hobby.

 

[Nightstalker47]

Thanks. We have a molt so how would would we tell? I'm a real novice to this hobby.

Open up the abdomen area of the exuviae and look for spermathecae.

There are plenty of good tutorials you can look up, or just share a clear pic and we'll sex it for you.

 

[firedept10]

Open up the abdomen area of the exuviae and look for spermathecae.

There are plenty of good tutorials you can look up, or just share a clear pic and we'll sex it for you.

Not sure if there is enough molt here to tell. I will still thank you even if it can't be determined.

 

[tewebag]

The area you need to look at is between the first two white dots (book lungs) so you need to normally open up the molt a little.

 

[Thekla]

There're several videos on youtube showing how to do this.