Body language question?

tincan1999

Arachnopeon
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Aug 11, 2018
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I apologize for asking so many questions but being so new to the hobby comes with so many questions and concerns... my tarantula has been doing this for the past 5-10 minutes or so with a few breaks in between and I don’t know what it means. Sorry for the poor video quality.

Also, how long should i try to wait before offering it food (and what would be best for a tarantula of this size?)?
 

Greasylake

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Jul 23, 2017
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I apologize for asking so many questions but being so new to the hobby comes with so many questions and concerns... my tarantula has been doing this for the past 5-10 minutes or so with a few breaks in between and I don’t know what it means. Sorry for the poor video quality.

Also, how long should i try to wait before offering it food (and what would be best for a tarantula of this size?)?
Where's the video?
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
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Aug 31, 2012
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I apologize for asking so many questions but being so new to the hobby comes with so many questions and concerns... my tarantula has been doing this for the past 5-10 minutes or so with a few breaks in between and I don’t know what it means. Sorry for the poor video quality.

Also, how long should i try to wait before offering it food (and what would be best for a tarantula of this size?)?
No video posted..
 

tincan1999

Arachnopeon
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Aug 11, 2018
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The video wouldn’t upload and I had edited the original text so I explained what she was doing instead, but that didn’t go through either I guess. She was continuously moving her first legs and palps up and down, and sometimes would lift her second legs as well. Still asking out of curiosity, but I was definitely more concerned than I had to be, as this is my first tarantula and I assume the worst sometimes because I am nervous
 

Ellenantula

Arachnoking
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Sep 14, 2014
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Is this the juvie B smith? Wondering if it might have just been grooming. (Had it just moulted I might have assumed it was stretching/doing yoga). :)
You could offer food every other day or so, and remove prey if not taken within 24 hours.
 

tincan1999

Arachnopeon
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Aug 11, 2018
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Almost sounds like a mature male tapping.
Interesting since from leg to leg she’s probably only two inches? Also, not sure if the vendor i bought her from had sexed her yet, but he called her “she”, I assume for good luck, so I do too

Is this the juvie B smith? Wondering if it might have just been grooming. (Had it just moulted I might have assumed it was stretching/doing yoga). :)
You could offer food every other day or so, and remove prey if not taken within 24 hours.
I am actually about to reach out to the man who sold her to me just to ask when she last was fed & last molted and all that. I’m pretty sure now that she was just grooming because last night I saw her doing it again and also sort of scratching the sides & underside of her butt :,).
What do you think would be best to offer to a T a little less than 2 inches leg to leg?
 
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Ellenantula

Arachnoking
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I've never fed pre-killed prey, so I am probably not the person to ask. I've raise B lats roaches and mealies from the start (Plus I used to breed banded crickets also), so I always had a good selection of live pin heads and juvie-sized prey to offer my younger slings. I don't have any slings or juvies anymore. They all grew up. :(

That said (afterthought) that size T should be able to take down a cricket.... Mine could at that size.
 

tincan1999

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Aug 11, 2018
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I've never fed pre-killed prey, so I am probably not the person to ask. I've raise B lats roaches and mealies from the start (Plus I used to breed banded crickets also), so I always had a good selection of live pin heads and juvie-sized prey to offer my younger slings. I don't have any slings or juvies anymore. They all grew up. :(

That said (afterthought) that size T should be able to take down a cricket.... Mine could at that size.
Aw :( yeah i definitely wasn’t planning on buying a juvenile or at least one this small, i was ready to spend whatever it would cost me to get an adult/something full-grown so there was slightly less guesswork. I know it isn’t the very best place to go, but I was going to go to my local pet store to get some live crickets. Should I try to get smaller ones or would anything be fine?
 

Greasylake

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Jul 23, 2017
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but I was going to go to my local pet store to get some live crickets. Should I try to get smaller ones or would anything be fine?
Pet stores are a fine place to get crickets, and seeing as you have a fairly small T, the smaller to medium size crickets would probably work, adult crickets might be a little too big.
 

Ellenantula

Arachnoking
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I've always heard not to offer anything larger than their body size; but mine, as long as their legs could 'hug' the prey -- could easily overpower and devour. But yeah, smaller crickets sound like a safe bet if you're concerned. I certainly wouldn't offer anything obviously huge.
 

tincan1999

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Aug 11, 2018
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Pet stores are a fine place to get crickets, and seeing as you have a fairly small T, the smaller to medium size crickets would probably work, adult crickets might be a little too big.
Okay. Should I kill it before offering it to her, or would it be better to give her one live and if she doesn’t go for it, take it out? What would be best?
 

Greasylake

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Okay. Should I kill it before offering it to her, or would it be better to give her one live and if she doesn’t go for it, take it out? What would be best?
You can pre kill since it's still fairly small, but it might also take live prey, every individual is different. You can try live first and if it doesn't take it you can always go to prekilled.
 

tincan1999

Arachnopeon
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Aug 11, 2018
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You can pre kill since it's still fairly small, but it might also take live prey, every individual is different. You can try live first and if it doesn't take it you can always go to prekilled.
Thanks a ton!! I’ll start off with prekilled and leave it in for a day or so. Starting off prekilled will definitely be easier for me haha.
 
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