Hi all!
My name is Paul and as my profile says I'm located in Central Texas. Because I knew that I wanted to try my hand for a second time at Tarantulas and there were no good sources of feeders around, I started a Dubia colony about 2 months ago with 35 females and 10 or so males. I've upgraded the colony tub twice since I've started and learned a lot. Since the last upgrade (2) weeks ago I've noticed an massive boom in not only activity, but also appetite in the Dubia tub. Because I had more nymphs than I can count I did not feel bad about my purchase this weekend.
At the Conroe Reptile Show I found one person that had a Grammastola Pulchripes for sale. I was told that this was a great species to start with and had been looking for one of these throughout the whole show and only found one.
My female friend has named it Charlie for now, but I am hoping that it's more for a Charlotte. He is between the size of a US Dime and US Quarter for size comparison. The box I had purchased with him in mind is a 7.5" x 7.5" x 4.5" acrylic box with small drilled vents in the side and a metal screen circle in the top. I made a mixture of Organic Potting Soil and Paving Sand for the substrate and filled it with about 2" of this mixture packed down slightly.
I have the lid off of a 1 gallon water jug as his water dish in one corner, and the substrate was moist, so I've not worried about humidity. I'm going to go tonight and get the smallest clay pot I can and bury it in one corner and add some silk plants for aesthetic reasons. He sits nest to my Terrarium that has a computer controlled light cycle so he gets a 24 hour lighting cycle with sunrise, sunset, and moon/starlight.
He jumped straight on the Dubia Nymph he was offered! This made me happy. My questions are few but as follows:
1) What is the idea set of tongs to have for interacting with a Tarantula. Offering food or removing things from the enclosure?
2) Is there anything that I need to avoid feeding my roaches that may affect my Tarantula poorly?
I may have more dumb I don't see right off and fail on the search, but this place is awesome so far!
Best and thanks!
Paul
My name is Paul and as my profile says I'm located in Central Texas. Because I knew that I wanted to try my hand for a second time at Tarantulas and there were no good sources of feeders around, I started a Dubia colony about 2 months ago with 35 females and 10 or so males. I've upgraded the colony tub twice since I've started and learned a lot. Since the last upgrade (2) weeks ago I've noticed an massive boom in not only activity, but also appetite in the Dubia tub. Because I had more nymphs than I can count I did not feel bad about my purchase this weekend.
At the Conroe Reptile Show I found one person that had a Grammastola Pulchripes for sale. I was told that this was a great species to start with and had been looking for one of these throughout the whole show and only found one.
My female friend has named it Charlie for now, but I am hoping that it's more for a Charlotte. He is between the size of a US Dime and US Quarter for size comparison. The box I had purchased with him in mind is a 7.5" x 7.5" x 4.5" acrylic box with small drilled vents in the side and a metal screen circle in the top. I made a mixture of Organic Potting Soil and Paving Sand for the substrate and filled it with about 2" of this mixture packed down slightly.
I have the lid off of a 1 gallon water jug as his water dish in one corner, and the substrate was moist, so I've not worried about humidity. I'm going to go tonight and get the smallest clay pot I can and bury it in one corner and add some silk plants for aesthetic reasons. He sits nest to my Terrarium that has a computer controlled light cycle so he gets a 24 hour lighting cycle with sunrise, sunset, and moon/starlight.
He jumped straight on the Dubia Nymph he was offered! This made me happy. My questions are few but as follows:
1) What is the idea set of tongs to have for interacting with a Tarantula. Offering food or removing things from the enclosure?
2) Is there anything that I need to avoid feeding my roaches that may affect my Tarantula poorly?
I may have more dumb I don't see right off and fail on the search, but this place is awesome so far!
Best and thanks!
Paul