Getting my first T's today

[kman]

I'm getting my first T's today and I'm very excited. I ordered a 1" G. aureostriata and a 1" P. pulcher. Can someone tell me how moist to keep their enclosures and how long to wait until I try to feed them? Any other advice would be great as well.

Thanks!

Edit: I've done lots of research already but the more times you hear the same advice the more valid it is. Sometimes you also get some new information as well.

 

[Tarantula_man94]

Keep the substrate moist but not too moist if you know what I mean. I would put crickets in their cage right after you house them because they had a long trip without food and need 2 eat.

 

[5thPhantom]

Congratulations on your imminent arrivals! I hope you enjoy them!

 

[Moltar]

P pulcher will like it moister than G aureo. Once the aureo has surpassed about 2" you can back off the moisture and keep it more like a typical Grammy or Brachy: dry substrate with a water dish. I'll occasionally overflow the dish into the surrounding substrate but not that often.

The pulcher will always want moister soil. Also, even though they're arboreal, they want to burrow just as much as climb when young so give it at least 1 inch of substrate. More substrate also helps keep humidity up.

 

[reverendsterlin]

the Grammostola aureostriata as a sling will take a little moisture, a small water dish is fine, as it gets larger it will prefer dry substrate just like a rosie. The Psalmopoeus pulcher as a sling may like to burrow a bit, and definitely wants more moisture/humidity than the chaco. You could also offer some climbing material, it will use it more and more as it grows larger but slings just seem to have a thing for burrows. Congratz on your new T's
Rev

 

[PSYS]

Congrats on the new additions!!

 

[xhexdx]

Keep the substrate moist but not too moist if you know what I mean. I would put crickets in their cage right after you house them because they had a long trip without food and need 2 eat.

Moist but not too moist? Hmm...

Grammastola species don't like moisture like that at all. I wouldn't keep their substrate moist but keep a water dish in there at all times.

P. pulcher is hardly a starter species, but it's a nice species so grats on that. They are arboreals so they would prefer a taller cage rather than a wide one. Also, fake plants and a good hide are recommended.

And lastly, I would NOT offer food right away. Give them at least 24 hours to adjust to their new home before offering food. Every spider and every species is different, but unless they look like they've been starved, they won't die if you wait a couple days before offering food. You'd rather wait than add more stress to the spider after all it's already been through.

Grats on the new spiders and welcome to the addiction, as they say.

--Joe

 

[kman]

Well they are in their new enclosures now and are happy it seems. The P. pulcher took a spin around the block but it's happy in it's new home now. They both ate crickets already also. I spritz the enclosure for the P. pulcher and I saw it drinking water drops off the wall and it ate the cricket right out of my tweesers. It was way cool. Should I just put a pop bottle cap with water in the G. aureo enclosure? It's a bit bigger and it's fat also. 1.5" or so. The P. pulcher is an inch or so.

Thanks again.

Edit: Added some pics

Grammostola aureostriata

Psalmopoeus pulcher

 

[Kel_420]

Well they are in their new enclosures now and are happy it seems. The P. pulcher took a spin around the block but it's happy in it's new home now. They both ate crickets already also. I spritz the enclosure for the P. pulcher and I saw it drinking water drops off the wall and it ate the cricket right out of my tweesers. It was way cool. Should I just put a pop bottle cap with water in the G. aureo enclosure? It's a bit bigger and it's fat also. 1.5" or so. The P. pulcher is an inch or so.

Thanks again.

Are you using peat moss or what?

 

[apidaeman]

Are you using peat moss or what?

Looks like coco fiber to me. Good stuff.

 

[kman]

Yes it's Eco earth coco fiber.

 

[Grako]

Just my two cents but if you're feeding a cricket that size to the p. pulcher (it looks like the same size as the T) make sure you injure it like mashing it's head so that it can't bite the T. It would be horrible to injure or lose a T from a feeder bite.

 

[ShellsandScales]

cocofiber, peat both similar both very good. Looks like you're doing very well. And I Commend you. seems like you've done your research and gone even farther to ask for others opinions. Plus you chose outside the typical box for beginners and got a couple of great species!!