Sp. Red Care

laylangel

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 13, 2018
Messages
1
Hi everyone, I’m new to keeping tarantulas and after a lot of research, I decided on a dwarf Chilean flame for their relative hardiness and docile nature. I don’t trust online care advice so I thought I’d come here. What is a basic cage setup including substrate and a hide? Pictures are welcome. Also, I have the opportunity to buy a 1/3” baby. Are they harder to care for than adults and should their enclosure be small to start with? Thanks!
 

PanzoN88

Arachnodemon
Joined
Sep 15, 2014
Messages
713
- Coco fiber substrate

- for slings that are really small, a few drops of water to the substrate will suffice.

- I keep my small E. Sp. Yellow slings in pill vials.

When larger, they only require deep, dry substrate with a water dish. I overflow the water dishes periodically for my mature pair.

- Slings are not hard to feed. Cricket parts or cut up mealworms are perfect for small slings.

- I find that larger specimens prefer superworms over any other feeder.
 

Zaire

Arachnolurker
Joined
May 4, 2016
Messages
10
Slings are a bit more delicate than adults. Consensus on here seems to be that beginners are better off with a juvenile of 2" or larger.

That said, I have been looking for a juvenile E sp. Red for months and haven't found them. The same site that has the slings sells dram vials. These are slow growers so would be able to stay in the vials for quite some time. Ventilate well with a hot needle.
 

spookyvibes

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 28, 2017
Messages
366
What is a basic cage setup including substrate and a hide?
Substrate, hide, water dish. Make sure the enclosure has no more than 1.5x the diagonal leg span of the tarantula. I will say though, for slings 1.5" and under, I usually don't provide either of those. Instead I use a 2oz condiment cup that gets adapted as its burrow and dampen part of the sub.

Are they harder to care for than adults and should their enclosure be small to start with?
Yes and yes. Slings are more delicate than adults. If you start a sling out in a larger enclosure, they tend to not eat as well and hide more often, which causes slower growth rates. Since this species is very slow growing as it is, I doubt you'd want to wait even longer for it to attain a decent size.
 

cold blood

Moderator
Staff member
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Jan 19, 2014
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13,223
Keep in mind that slings of this species can grow brutally slow...slings arent hard to care for, but know they could be slings for years.

If its your first, i would suggest a faster growing sling, like G. pulchripes or B. albopilosum.
 
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viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
Hi everyone, I’m new to keeping tarantulas and after a lot of research, I decided on a dwarf Chilean flame for their relative hardiness and docile nature. I don’t trust online care advice so I thought I’d come here. What is a basic cage setup including substrate and a hide? Pictures are welcome. Also, I have the opportunity to buy a 1/3” baby. Are they harder to care for than adults and should their enclosure be small to start with? Thanks!
I've raised them from slings and adults too. Not harder to care for, they are the same their entire life cycle. Slow growers generally.

Just make sure they have access to fresh water esp when small.

I kept my AF in a ExoTerra Breeder Box, small, nothing larger needed.
 

nicodimus22

Arachnomancer
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
715
Their growth is glacial. If it's your only tarantula, that's not going to be very much fun for you. I'd get something else in addition to it to help keep you interested.

B. albopilosum and B. vagans are surprisingly fast growers considering that they're Brachypelma. They're also cheap, hardy, and pretty (to me, anyway.) And, unlike the sp red, they're almost always hungry.
 
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Goopyguy56

Arachnoangel
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
Messages
830
You probably had some other spiders in mind when u picked up the sp red. Go ahead and pick up a few of them. Your probably gonna end up going to the pet store where they sell crickets a dozen at a time. You will end up having more crickets than you need to feed the lone t. Might as well get a few t's to eat the extra crickets

Now I want an sp red. Not sure if the wife would be receptive to me getting more t's atm.
 
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Thekla

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 13, 2017
Messages
1,878
If you have the chance to get an E. sp. red/H. sp. fire/whatever it is or will be called :p, get it! Even if you'd start with another species you will want to have one in the future, so you could also get it right now anyway. It won't take up any space beside the other species you should also get (e.g. B. albopilosum or vagans like others suggested). ;)
 

FrDoc

Gen. 1:24-25
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Jul 18, 2017
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832
I just want to find one for which to care.
 
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