First-time owner, any tips?

[Serendipity]

Hi! I'm expecting a pair of singapore blues slings soon(~1inch) and I'm just looking for any tips as a first-time owner. I've kept jumping spiders before when i was a kid but nothing like an actual tarantula. I've got some questions but it would be awesome if I could get any tips on anything

So, things I've got settled(i think):
Temp+Humidity: I live in the sling's native country so i guess these won't be an issue? I've got a spray bottle just in case

Food??: Following my seller's advice i've bought some mealworms. But I've heard this spider is very fast growing so when do i move them on to other foods(and what other foods?), or can they eat mealworms forever? Also, do i need to remove the leftovers after they have eaten?

Enclosure: I've got 17cm x 15cm x 15cm containers, when would they be required to be rehoused though?

Thank you very much!

 

[cold blood]

This is one of the more advanced ts in the hobby...best advice would be to start with a better species...theres no way i could reccomend this species to a new keeper.

 

[Phases]

Aw man. One of my dream spiders. Large arboreals are tricky though, if I were you I would feed them slower rather than faster so you can get your experience in while you can.

You'll need to keep the humidity a bit higher - either use acrylic / plastic enclosures with holes drilled, or if you move onto exoterra or whatever with screen tops, get some flat plastic cutting mats or whatever they are from doller store and hot glue to the screen, leaving only a strip a couple inches wide for humidity to escape. Keep water dish full and control humidity with wetting of substrate. Depending on your setup, you may not even need to put much care into it. Water wicking out is a thing for a couple of my setups so the substate is always moist.

Mealworms will be fine while babies. My arboreals are not huge mealworm or dubia fans - but it'll work. ALL my tarantulas prefer crickets over everything else.

i use only 4 or sizes of arboreal tanks as they age. Sometimes I only use 3 it depends. With that species I would use a small 2in x 2in x 3in while they are slings, move to one of my mid size .. like 5 x 9 or 6 x 10 or something inch when they need to move up, then finally to their last which - with that one? Heh. Most mine are in 12 x 12 x 18 but I might get something bigger for that guy.

I'm not one of those 'you need experience start small/easy' guys, I almost never get on board with how big a deal that truly is. I've found most all tarantulas I have (60 or so) very easy. As long as you can keep your cool and use your brain you should be fine but - with THAT particular species........

It is going to be very big. Very fast. And it's venom very potent. Don't mess around. Something like that could really really wreck someone's day.

 

[viper69]

A very fast growing species. I've owned a few. They are sexual dimorphic when the male gets a bit older, right around 4", the next molt they are olive green. Easily can get 2" larger in molt at that size.

Definitely one of the WORST Ts you could pick for a first time T. Can't figure out how you determined this would be a good species to own. Clearly didn't do your research, or didn't care.

 

[Serendipity]

This is one of the more advanced ts in the hobby...best advice would be to start with a better species...theres no way i could reccomend this species to a new keeper.

Aw man. One of my dream spiders. Large arboreals are tricky though, if I were you I would feed them slower rather than faster so you can get your experience in while you can.

You'll need to keep the humidity a bit higher - either use acrylic / plastic enclosures with holes drilled, or if you move onto exoterra or whatever with screen tops, get some flat plastic cutting mats or whatever they are from doller store and hot glue to the screen, leaving only a strip a couple inches wide for humidity to escape. Keep water dish full and control humidity with wetting of substrate. Depending on your setup, you may not even need to put much care into it. Water wicking out is a thing for a couple of my setups so the substate is always moist.

Mealworms will be fine while babies. My arboreals are not huge mealworm or dubia fans - but it'll work. ALL my tarantulas prefer crickets over everything else.

i use only 4 or sizes of arboreal tanks as they age. Sometimes I only use 3 it depends. With that species I would use a small 2in x 2in x 3in while they are slings, move to one of my mid size .. like 5 x 9 or 6 x 10 or something inch when they need to move up, then finally to their last which - with that one? Heh. Most mine are in 12 x 12 x 18 but I might get something bigger for that guy.

I'm not one of those 'you need experience start small/easy' guys, I almost never get on board with how big a deal that truly is. I've found most all tarantulas I have (60 or so) very easy. As long as you can keep your cool and use your brain you should be fine but - with THAT particular species........

It is going to be very big. Very fast. And it's venom very potent. Don't mess around. Something like that could really really wreck someone's day.

A very fast growing species. I've owned a few. They are sexual dimorphic when the male gets a bit older, right around 4", the next molt they are olive green. Easily can get 2" larger in molt at that size.

Definitely one of the WORST Ts you could pick for a first time T. Can't figure out how you determined this would be a good species to own. Clearly didn't do your research, or didn't care.

Thank you so much for your advices! Yep I'm aware that it is a very fast growing species but i just not really sure how fast. And yea i probably haven't done enough research. I'm not gonna do any handling unless absolutely neccessary so i guess it's slightly better?haha... Anyways i got the SG blue as they are like my absolutely favourite sp and I've loved spiders since i was a kid, so it's kinda dream come true for me to have the opportunity to get one so I kinda just jumped right in. Yea... After getting it i was worried about my inexperience, that's why I'm here to hopefully leech some valuable knowledge off all the the super-experienced(at least compared to me) keepers here. Once again, thank you so much for the replies and please keep the advice coming!

 

[ghostly]

I'm not gonna do any handling unless absolutely neccessary so i guess it's slightly better?haha...

With this species, please don't do any handling, under any circumstances, ever. None whatsoever. Even as slings, not only because of the venom but also because they can be so fast.

I don't think there's a reason for everyone to be so hard on you tbh. This is definitely not a great species to start with, but at least you're getting tiny slings (not, like, an adult female), so this will give you the opportunity to grow with the spiders and learn from their behavior when they're still at a managable size. I also started with slings when I got my first old worlds, and it was the right choice for me, since their speed and general attitude really differs from the new worlds I'd kept before. Any new spider is a learning experience, no matter how many you've had before. So I'd say this is a risky choice, but as someone who has made some impulsive choices when getting into OWs, I would say it can work out if you're really careful and determined to make it work. ("Good luck" is what comes to mind, tbh.)

As for the food - Mealworms will work well for small slings. You might want to crush their heads/prekill them if you're not sure your slings will take them right away (losing a burying mealworm in a sling enclosure is a pain in the......) or even cut them up if they're a bit too big.
Mealworms probably won't work forever, as stated before, adults will likely prefer crickets. Also, to actually satisfy a hungry adult of this species you would need A LOT of mealworms. So my advise would be to experiment with different feeders once they're a bit larger.

 

[Serendipity]

With this species, please don't do any handling, under any circumstances, ever. None whatsoever. Even as slings, not only because of the venom but also because they can be so fast.

I don't think there's a reason for everyone to be so hard on you tbh. This is definitely not a great species to start with, but at least you're getting tiny slings (not, like, an adult female), so this will give you the opportunity to grow with the spiders and learn from their behavior when they're still at a managable size. I also started with slings when I got my first old worlds, and it was the right choice for me, since their speed and general attitude really differs from the new worlds I'd kept before. Any new spider is a learning experience, no matter how many you've had before. So I'd say this is a risky choice, but as someone who has made some impulsive choices when getting into OWs, I would say it can work out if you're really careful and determined to make it work. ("Good luck" is what comes to mind, tbh.)

As for the food - Mealworms will work well for small slings. You might want to crush their heads/prekill them if you're not sure your slings will take them right away (losing a burying mealworm in a sling enclosure is a pain in the......) or even cut them up if they're a bit too big.
Mealworms probably won't work forever, as stated before, adults will likely prefer crickets. Also, to actually satisfy a hungry adult of this species you would need A LOT of mealworms. So my advise would be to experiment with different feeders once they're a bit larger.

Thank you, yea i won't touch them at all. What i meant by absolutely neccessary would be for rehousing etc. Not gonna go near them without a long pair of tweezers in between haha... Oh right, if my sling takes the food and eats it, is that the end of it?or do i have to take the leftovers out? Previously for my jumping spiders i took them out but yea theyre much less of a threat compared to a much larger spider like this one.

 

[Vanisher]

They should not be handled! If they are to be moved, they should be moved with catch cups! To bad that you did not ordered something less fast and defenssive if you are a first time owner! But now that you have orderd them its too late! I wish you good luck!

 

[Andrew Clayton]

you have all the advise you need here, please listen when everyone is saying dont handle at all this isn't just for you're sake but the T too handling is just so unpredictable

 

[bulbophyllum]

There is absolutely no reason for people on this list to give you are hard time. Yeah that may not be the easiest tarantula to start off with but, if that is what you want why not get it and learn how to work with it? You will be fine. Just watch a lot of transfer videos, stay calm, and be careful.

 

[cold blood]

I don't think there's a reason for everyone to be so hard on you tbh.

There is absolutely no reason for people on this list to give you are hard time

Are you guys reading a different thread???


OP was not given a hard time here by ANYONE.

 

[Vanisher]

No he was not! , he was just told not to handle it and that he should got a more beginnerfriendly tarantula instead!

 

[Serendipity]

Okay noted on the most important advice: NO HANDLING. So yup anyone has any answer for my question of the leftovers?

 

[ghostly]

If there are visible leftovers (a bolus) in the enclosure after feeding, then yes, you should take that out. Best case, it dries up and looks nasty. Worst case, it smells and attracts ants or something...

 

[BennyBTamachi]

I live in the sling's native country

I though it is illegal to keep Tarantulas in Singapore, is it ? (Really interested by this cause there is a chance that I move to Singapore in the coming months and I though I would have to give up keeping Ts)

 

[NukaMedia Exotics]

Thank you, yea i won't touch them at all. What i meant by absolutely neccessary would be for rehousing etc. Not gonna go near them without a long pair of tweezers in between haha... Oh right, if my sling takes the food and eats it, is that the end of it?or do i have to take the leftovers out? Previously for my jumping spiders i took them out but yea theyre much less of a threat compared to a much larger spider like this one.

Not a good beginner species but do a lot of research on "L. violaceopes enclosures" and be careful about opening the enclosure lids because they can bolt on you, and with no other experience keeping tarantulas you won't really have a feel for how to handle the situations for a while... Remove the food leftovers.

 

[viper69]

There is absolutely no reason

You are just delusion in your thinking on this.

 

[bulbophyllum]

You are just delusion in your thinking on this.

just try to be more polite.

 

[Hoxter]

At least you're not getting juvenile or adults. That might give you a bit of room to get used to them. Just remember, they are highly venomous, very fast and very unpredictable. It's your choice in the end, now that you've ordered them, best thing would use search function on this forums to find out as much as possible. Also watch tarantula guide videos, for example from The Dark Den or Tom Moran so you don't mess up.

 

[Serendipity]

I though it is illegal to keep Tarantulas in Singapore, is it ? (Really interested by this cause there is a chance that I move to Singapore in the coming months and I though I would have to give up keeping Ts)

I think it is illegal to keep spiders in Singapore. Well SG blues are also native to Malaysia!

Not a good beginner species but do a lot of research on "L. violaceopes enclosures" and be careful about opening the enclosure lids because they can bolt on you, and with no other experience keeping tarantulas you won't really have a feel for how to handle the situations for a while... Remove the food leftovers.

At least you're not getting juvenile or adults. That might give you a bit of room to get used to them. Just remember, they are highly venomous, very fast and very unpredictable. It's your choice in the end, now that you've ordered them, best thing would use search function on this forums to find out as much as possible. Also watch tarantula guide videos, for example from The Dark Den or Tom Moran so you don't mess up.

Thanks so much for your advice guys!