A. Avicularia (pink toe tarantula HELP ME!!.

[LusiferzHaze]

Hello my name is Cody and I just bought a beautiful pink toe tarantula from a not so local pet store a few towns over... looked to be in great condition and looks still great... but my issue here is that I've had her for about a week and a bit and she hasn't made much Web in the tank
...
I have her in a 20cm by 18in exo Terra glass door tank with eco earth as substrate... I spray her substrate once every day or so once it drys so humidity stays higher... the Temps are usually around 78f to 80f is this good?? Also have a water dish in there just in case.... I will post pictures I'm just scared I don't want to lose her because she hasn't made a Web so she can eat.... sorry I'm new here aswel please help me...

 

[Spidermolt]

I wouldn't worry tarantulas don't use webs to eat unlike a lot of true spiders do. If you throw food in there and she's hungry you should see her hunt it down once the prey gets close enough. they mainly build webs to make homes to feel safe or to molt. Also in my experience if a A. avic for example has a lot of hiding places and/or a smaller tank with little disturbances then it'll feel safe and secure so they may not even build webs for months unless they're near a molt.

 

[lalberts9310]

Could you post a picture of the enclosure so we can see how it's set up? Generally I'm not fond of exo-terras for avicularia enclosures, as exo-terras has a mesh top = too much top ventilation, and what is key in avicularia husbandry is cross-ventilation (vents on the side) and not top. There's way better and cheaper alternative enclosures that works well for avics than exo terras. I would personally give it a enclosure with cross-vents and not top vents. Another thing about mesh top vents is it prevents any micro-climate from forming, Ts can get their tarsal claws and fangs stuck in it and there has been instances where Ts chew through mesh vents. You can however, cover up part of the top of the enclosure (not completely) with a peace of plexi to keep humidity in. They should generally be kept on the dry side, moist stuffy cages can kill avics easily. So hold off with the misting. Misting for humidity is useless anyway as it has short-lived effects. You can occasionally (once a week or so) dribble water straight into the substrate. Provide a large waterbowl, a large waterbowl will provide it not only with a drinking source, but with the humidity it needs. You can lightly sprits water onto its webbing for drinking once a week or so. Provide a slab of cork or a cork tube, with lots of fake plants at the top of the enclosure for anchoring points. And give it time to settle in, some Ts take long to settle, yours is probably just acclimating still.

 

[mistertim]

Wouldn't worry about the webbing too much. It took my A. versicolor a while to start webbing; they probably need to get comfortable and acclimate to their new home before they start building a web and, as Spidermolt said above, they don't use webs to catch food...mostly for housing and security as well as molting.

Don't stress too much about temps and humidity levels. If you want to keep them at a higher temp, that's fine (and they'll tend to eat more and grow faster), but as a general rule if you're comfortable with the temperature, the T will be too. Trying to get to a specific humidity number is going to do nothing but make you pull your hair out; specific humidity requirements are overrated and most care sheets you find online are bunk. With Avics you generally want to err on the side of caution and make sure it ISN'T too humid, as lots of humidity and lack of ventilation can kill them.

Ventilation is more important than humidity, especially cross ventilation.

 

[bryverine]

Jeez! You made it sound like she lost all her legs and was on the verge of dying in the title...
Or maybe you were just being demanding?.tsk, tsk..manners go a long way...

Anyways, it's not that big of a deal if the whole enclosure isn't covered in web...

What size is the tarantula?

Three things:
1. I agree about the top of the exo-terra enclosure especially with an arboreal tarantula.
2. Be easy on the missing, you don't want to flood the enclosure: swamp=dead Avic.
3. Give it some more time to get used to its environment.

You can throw in a feeder and if it's hungry, it'll eat; if not, take it out and give it a week and try again. They don't starve if they don't eat daily (mine hasn't eaten in a month).

 

[bryverine]

I have her in a 20cm by 18in exo Terra glass door tank with eco earth as substrate...

What enclosure is this exactly? I can't find any exo-terra that are 8in x 20in on their website nor could I find a 18cm x 20cm. I couldn't match any enclosure on their website (even if units were jumbled around) it's not a small, mini, or nano...

I'm not trying to be insulting, but she is in an arboreal enclosure, right?

 

[LusiferzHaze]

It is a mini I might have the langth wrong... and this is how it's set up I cover half the top with an old shirt just half tho
...

 

[lunarae]

One thing you can do about the screen mesh is replace it with plexiglas or acrylic with holes drilled in, you'll be able to keep a little more humidity in and avoid that worry with the screen mesh deal. Also perhaps get some cork and hot glue it to one of the sides or something, something at an angle that provides something sturdy in the air for them to make their home might help.

There's an example of what I'm talking about, I took two pieces of bark from outside. (Boiled them for 10 min then baked for an hour at 250). I hot glued them together at an angle, with some terrarium moss and then I glued that to the enclosure. I also just taped a piece of cardboard on the side where the hide was placed so that it was much darker and more inviting. She put her home up there and got comfortable then I removed the cardboard, now I can see her easily while she's hidden away.

If you want to be able to remove it down the road and have trouble just pulling it off, after you've taken the T out of the enclosure, use a blow dryer on the side of the glass for a while, the heat will soften the glue and it'll come right off pretty easily.

 

[bryverine]

It is a mini I might have the langth wrong... and this is how it's set up I cover half the top with an old shirt just half tho
... View attachment 206681 View attachment 206682 View attachment 206683

That actually looks pretty sweet. NICE!

I agree with @lunara on the cork bark idea.

Keep in mind though, you may glue and setup a 'perfect place' for them to settle and they might ignore it completely.

I'd say just put in some cork bark in a corner instead of spending a whole bunch of time making the 'perfect tarantula spot'... I'm speaking from experience here - tarantulas have a mind of their own when it comes to making a home.

 

[mistertim]

That actually looks pretty sweet. NICE!

I agree with @lunara on the cork bark idea.

Keep in mind though, you may glue and setup a 'perfect place' for them to settle and they might ignore it completely.

I'd say just put in some cork bark in a corner instead of spending a whole bunch of time making the 'perfect tarantula spot'... I'm speaking from experience here - tarantulas have a mind of their own when it comes to making a home.

Exact same thing happened to me with my A. versicolor. Created a nice little niche with a platform for her in the upper corner of the enclosure...perfect spot...and she was like "F that" and decided to make a vertical tunnel web on the other side closer down to the substrate. They definitely have a mind of their own and do things that we'll never really understand the reason for.

 

[Bemottled]

Avics are strange I've still got a lot to learn about mine! I've had him for a month and a half and he just now is beginning to make little baby webs.

Also, some only web when they need to molt, so keep that in mind as well!

 

[bryverine]

If it helps, mine took a good while to build any kind of web and even then, she kept taking it down.
She didn't really make a good web until she molted and once she was done, tore half of it down again.

 

[cold blood]

Sooo, all I gathered was that it was an avic, what is the species?

 

[louise f]

Sooo, all I gathered was that it was an avic, what is the species?

Hey CB. I dont know if this helps anyway but in DK an pink toe is a Avicularia versicolor <3 I dont know if that counts in the US ?

pink toe tarantula

 

[louise f]

but then again, if you look at google it is a avic avic. very confusing

 

[cold blood]

Hey CB. I dont know if this helps anyway but in DK an pink toe is a Avicularia versicolor <3 I dont know if that counts in the US ?

Here pink toe just refers to the genus Avicularia, which contains (I believe ATM) some 38 species that are commonly referred to as pink toes.

 

[louise f]

Here pink toe just refers to the genus Avicularia, which contains (I believe ATM) some 38 species that are commonly referred to as pink toes.

Learned something new today. ok then dont mind me

 

[LusiferzHaze]

Alright thanks guys I really just worry about her due to being my first beautiful spider I've had other then spiders from my backyard lmfao so really the hunt there pray not Web?

 

[lunarae]

I believe that there are some T's that hunt their prey, other T's wait for the prey to come across their web's entrance. Just depends on the species. I believe the Avics wait for them to come to their funnel. That's what mine seems to do, then again I always just put it there and she goes for it, I don't know for sure what they do in the wild.

 

[Toxoderidae]

In the wild, almost all Ts are ambush predators, waiting in burrows or logs for prey. Some Ts, like Poecilotheria will hunt if hungry, but for the most part they wait. But no, they do not build webs and wait for them to walk on. Please disregard true spider care, as it is next to nothing like a T.