New to the hobby and have questions about my Avic. A

[xander threet]

So, I this is my first T and I worry about a lot of stuff that probably doesn’t matter. But I just got a new enclosure for my Avic. A it is 2.5-3 inches and I’m pretty sure it’s male. It has never molted with me and didn’t eat for the first month and a half (I’ve had it for 2-3 months) so to my main point and question it has been in the new much larger enclosure for 2 days and I just saw him start to walk all around it for about 10-15 minutes so I thought he was in a good mood so I was gonna get him out but every time I open it he goes out but this time he was going pretty wild he bolts sometime and jumps of course but he went to the edge of the top of the enclosure and I knew what he was thinking so I put my hand in front of him and he moved them made a pretty large jump but onto a soft surface but then he was running like crazy and he is always really sweet but i put my finger around his back feet like always to get him to go where I need but this time (and he has never done this) he turned instantly and went toward my hand pretty quickly I don’t think he wanted to strike no defensive position was ever taken but he was acting funny and I don’t know what to think I don’t want anything wrong with my baby I don’t know if he is just hungry, angry, stressed or normal and I’m overreacting please help sorry for such a long post

 

[Dylan Bruce]

Regarding the enclosure pictures are always much better, most people would recommend against handling especially with arboreal tarantulas like Avicularia. they have a tendency to jump without any real idea where they're going to land so there is a big risk of them getting injured. even if you are going to handle them its probably best to give it more than 2 days to settle in to a completely new enclosure before you try encourage it to come out. if you are new to tarantula keeping i would have a look at some of the Avicularia care sheets on here and post plenty of pictures so we can give you pointers on husbandry.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-care.291340/
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-husbandry.282549/#post-2461396

Two care sheets there from very experienced keepers I would certainly have a look and make sure your husbandry is on point since its your first tarantula, most care sheets elsewhere will call for a wet enclosure that is not properly ventilated which will lead to a dead Avic. in not time.

 

[Thekla]

i put my finger around his back feet like always to get him to go where I need but this time (and he has never done this) he turned instantly and went toward my hand pretty quickly I don’t think he wanted to strike no defensive position was ever taken but he was acting funny and I don’t know what to think I don’t want anything wrong with my baby I don’t know if he is just hungry, angry, stressed or normal and I’m overreacting please help sorry for such a long post

Even if I wanted to test the mood of my T to handle it (which I absolutely don't want to), I would never ever do it with my bare hands!

Seriously, even the most docile T could confuse your fingers with food... so why, oh why would you want to risk your T's life and your own health by doing such a - sorry - stupid thing?

Please post some pics of the enclosure and your T, and leave her alone for the moment. Trying to adjust to a new home is stressful enough without having you trying to coax her out as well... something she most certainly despises.

 

[boina]

@xander threet Questions:

1. What does your enclosure look like? Pics?

2. What makes you think it's a male?

3. Why do you think a tarantula is "in a good mood" when it starts to explore a new environment? Now you've interrupted the exploration and scared it.

4. After rehousing a tarantula is most certainly stressed so why do you want to handle it NOW of all times?

5. Why do you want to handle it anyway?