New to the hobby. Loving every day

[lostbrane]

Isnt the c. Versicolour really hard to keep? Ive heard ppl say its tedious work and they like to reject food to?

Im warming up to the idea of an arboreal but i dont know what to expect, if someone would like to explain a little on how they are ill certainly look into it.

Heres the thing OW scare me. They throw gang signs and are really strong n i dont want to get bit. Lol

C. versicolors are not hard to keep. Slings are a bit more fragile, but with proper husbandry, they will most likely be fine. In the past, people kept them incorrectly which led to many a death. Those misconceptions still persist to this day.

Here are two very helpful threads, and while it is for Avicularia, the care applies to C. versicolor as well.
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-care.291340/
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-husbandry.282549/#post-2461396

Sure, they can be picky eaters, but that's not too much of a hassle really.

Since OW tarantulas scare you, then definitely do not get them. Sure, we all have a panicked moment from time to time, but if you have a fear, that will only hinder your care and potentially cause yourself harm to yourself as well as the tarantula. If you want, you can get different NW species of varying "difficulty" to get used to different behaviors. Work your way up so that you are comfortable, should you wish to keep an OW someday.

 

[Andrea82]

Welcome to the hobby and the boards
You'll be the proud owner of six (?) spiders, which, imo could be enough to get the care down for a while. No need to add and add and add right from the start. If you rush through it, you'll be missing out on the most rewarding part of this hobby: raising and getting to know your spider's behaviour.

As to OW, please don't let anyone rush you into these. Get completely comfortable with your new worlds, maybe adding some feisty and fast NW later on before making the jump to OW.
Keeping Theraphosidae isn't a race, it's a hobby.

Ps. Better keep your fingers nowhere near your spiders. A food response occurs very often, and you definitely don't want the A.geniculata mistaking your hands for food. Not sure what the size of yours is, but my smallest one of around 6 cm DLS already has one cm fangs. No fun getting pierced like that

 

[Bree24]

How 'bout pet holes and pet webs?

One of my jars of dirt evolved into a pet hole yesterday. No joke, I did my own little happy dance when she finally took food for the first time in over a month. You’re right, pet holes are AWESOME!!

 

[weibkreux]

One of my jars of dirt evolved into a pet hole yesterday. No joke, I did my own little happy dance when she finally took food for the first time in over a month. You’re right, pet holes are AWESOME!!

Is a junodi counted as a pet hole? I got a sling yesterday, price was cheap so I can't say no to the seller. Says the guy who said to myself that I will stop buying more Ts. (with also a GBB incoming next month)

 

[PrimalxTyrantula]

Congrats on the gbb. I really love mine shes super docile, havent seen her bolt once. She escaped yesterday but she literally went for a stroll down the dresser, used a paintbrush and she went back to her enclosure. Walked the whole way. Was awesome to experience.

My a genic is already about 3 inches sexed female she has pretty large fangs but i dont get to see them much. Shes the best eater by far. But still likes to fight for the water dish. Shes premolt for sure so expecting sometime soon.

New babies arrive at the end of this month so hopefully someone can help me figure out what the surprise sling is so i can tell my breeder and not ask him. Lol.

Thank you for the insights on more specimens. I really enjoy reading.

 

[MintyWood826]

Pet rocks are overrated. Jars of dirt are way more exciting!

You just described a pet hole!
At least a pet rock T can be seen! Any T you actually see is more exciting than...dirt. I'd rather pay for a T I actually see than one I don't. JMO

 

[Bree24]

You just described a pet hole!
At least a pet rock T can be seen! Any T you actually see is more exciting than...dirt. I'd rather pay for a T I actually see than one I don't. JMO

Lmao it was a joke. Haven’t you ever seen pirates of the Caribbean?? You never know what’s in a jar of dirt. And when something happens, it’s like HOLY COW!!

But I agree. One of my pet rocks recently molted, and she’s so much fun to look at that she’s taken up residence on my bedside table.

 

[MintyWood826]

Oh okay a joke

Haven’t you ever seen pirates of the Caribbean??

No... would that add to my understanding of what you said? ^

 

[Bree24]

Oh okay a joke



No... would that add to my understanding of what you said? ^

It’s been 10 years since I last saw this video. It still haunts my working hours.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Isnt the c. Versicolour really hard to keep? Ive heard ppl say its tedious work and they like to reject food to?

Im warming up to the idea of an arboreal but i dont know what to expect, if someone would like to explain a little on how they are ill certainly look into it.

Heres the thing OW scare me. They throw gang signs and are really strong n i dont want to get bit. Lol

The main thing I've noticed with OWs is that they are really really likely to move fast. Mine tend to not be quite as visible but that changes as they get bigger. Any tarantula can teleport but these guys love it. Not all OWs are evil face huggers or aggressive. Not all NWs are pussy cats either. For example, my T stirmi can throw hissy fits and has attitude. She is probably over 7 inches long, is wild caught & rescued from a pet shop.

I've never heard of Harpactira pulchripes or any other one from that genus ever biting anyone, same with M balfouri which was why it was my first OW. Basically it's much better to research the genus specific species you want to get and judge it from that instead of painting with a real broad brush and saying all NWs... all OWs... all arboreals.... etc. I'm not saying that there aren't bite reports from them, just that I was unable to find any prior to purchasing a sling each of these 2 species. Do be vigilant about mold, especially with baboon tarantulas.

I'm a skeptic of the whole ladder thing. A NW terrestrial has much more in common with an OW terrestrial then any type of arboreal.

Should you be confronted by Satan and forced at the price of your very soul to choose between a full sized T stirmi (or even a Lasiodora) & 3 nice little 1.5" M balfouri slings in a nice high visibility enclosure, go with the slings. The only other threat display I've gotten has been from my L klugi & that was because she was too chubby to get back into her hide after molting which made her panic a bit.

In any event, always always always have a hide in your enclosure that your tarantula can safely go into when it is having a bad day. I'm sure you'll be fine. Of course, on the whole NWs are slightly more colorful and hang out in the open more often, but again that is highly species dependent.

 

[PrimalxTyrantula]

So... i have a question about jenny. (A.genic). Shes been rejecting food the last 2 attempts, if the cricket isnt gone within 30 seconds i remove it quickly if she backs away. But here we go ill try my best to explain...

Shes recently been making lots of webs and folds them up after shes done and leaves them ontop of her hide. Also her abdomen is getting bald which worries me cause she never kicks hair.
Ive noticed the web on the log is super fine. Are we getting close to her molt?

Things to know.
I fill her water dish when empty or full of substrate. Usually every 3 or 4 days.
Ive switched to house crickets that are fed fresh vegtables daily. (The place where i got crickets before would die so quickly.) Both the gbb and jenny get a superworm every sunday.

The gbb hasnt eaten in about 2 weeks but shes still plump and sits around alot.

Am i doing things ok?

 

[lostbrane]

I would say from the looks of it that your A. geniculata is in premolt. In addition, only times mine ever refused food was before it was about to molt. You may not have have seen her kick, or, with some species (of which I'm pretty such A. geniculata is one) will lay setae down with their web as a defense mechanism (usually when it comes time for a molt from what I've read).

I have no idea what the second picture is trying to illustrate.

You got the GBB recently, no? If you have any idea as to what the previous owner's feeding schedule was/how much it ate before you got it, might give you a better inclination. It may just be full/be in premolt/who knows? but so long as it seems fine, and you keep offering food to see if it will eat, then all would seemingly be well.

 

[MintyWood826]

It’s been 10 years since I last saw this video. It still haunts my working hours.

Um...ok then!

 

[PrimalxTyrantula]

I would say from the looks of it that your A. geniculata is in premolt. In addition, only times mine ever refused food was before it was about to molt. You may not have have seen her kick, or, with some species (of which I'm pretty such A. geniculata is one) will lay setae down with their web as a defense mechanism (usually when it comes time for a molt from what I've read).

I have no idea what the second picture is trying to illustrate.

You got the GBB recently, no? If you have any idea as to what the previous owner's feeding schedule was/how much it ate before you got it, might give you a better inclination. It may just be full/be in premolt/who knows? but so long as it seems fine, and you keep offering food to see if it will eat, then all would seemingly be well.

The second picture with the circles the red one is what she carries ontop of her hide. The yellow one is just showing her backside at a further angle .

 

[PrimalxTyrantula]

Oh as to their feeding routine everything is the same. There both juvenile. Both around a year.

 

[lostbrane]

Ah, alright. Well, sounds like tarantulas being tarantulas.

 

[PrimalxTyrantula]

Ah, alright. Well, sounds like tarantulas being tarantulas.

Should i remove those leftover webs from up there or should i leave them?

 

[lostbrane]

No need to remove them. It's just remodeling.

 

[Bree24]

Just a heads up, sometimes tarantulas will kick hairs in their enclosure, kind of like a home security system. Just because they don’t kick at you, or you don’t see them doing it, doesn’t mean they aren’t. They do it a lot in premolt.

 

[Whitelightning777]

If you suspect premolt, be sure to remove any feeders such as crickets or mealworms!!

Moving a T in premolt to purge it's cage of hostiles does far less harm then a cricket knawing away on the vitals.