A couple of new owner questions

[lilyfire]

Hello everyone, after a lot of reading I recently purchased my first tarantula- a juvenile B.emilia who I have named Leota. I think I’ve set everything up correctly, I used reptisoil because I heard the peat content is good for burrowing. Well, she has made herself at home and settled brilliantly! She’s been digging up a storm and has made an incredible burrow that stretches from her hide entrance to the lower back of the tank! It’s amazing to watch her come out of her burrow carrying piles of dirt in her pedipalps and go and dump it in her water dish! Now for my questions: I tried her with a cricket a few days ago after giving her a week to settle in, it crawled right past her and she was not interested so I took it out. Should I leave them in longer? Now she has built this insane burrow- what do I do if I try again and lose the cricket in the burrow? I know that experienced keepers can tell by looking at their T if it needs feeding, how would you best describe the ‘look’ to a newcomer? And because of her habit of filling her dish with dirt literally minutes after I clean it (I cleaned it twice today) is there a reason I should be going into her tank daily or can I leave it a day to minimise disturbance (I’ve seen a range of answers when I’ve searched.) And is she safe in that burrow? I’m so nervous about it collapsing and just need some reassurance!

And second thing: a couple of days ago while I was buying a couple of crickets to try with Leota I saw a curly hair for sale sat right at the top of an enclosure meant for an arboreal and I felt so nervous for it… so I decided to bring him home too! His name is Guillermo* He’s slightly bigger than Leota and definitely taking longer to settle. He has been in the corner of his new home since I got him and has only moved to change orientation and groom his fangs. Is he ok? Can I do more to help him feel at home? Should I wait until he’s more at home to try him with food?
* I have no idea what sex they are yet but named them anyway!
Here are photos of both Ts and their set-ups. I’ve included one of Leota coming out of the cup I purchased her in for scale as I’ve not been able to get a good leg measurement from either. I’m planning on getting some Perspex cut this weekend and putting holes in it so I don’t have to worry about fang/leg injuries on the mesh- a good idea??
Thanks for any tips, I’m very eager to learn and make sure these two have the best lives possible.

 

[Hardus nameous]

I love watching spiders dig, it never gets old. Your spider should be just fine in its burrow.
As for feeding you can leave the cricket in for a day and remove it if not eaten, but be aware the cricket could easily hide under those plants and moss. If I want to feed but I'm not sure if the spider will eat and there's a possibility the cricket can hide, I usually feed waxworms as they're harmless. Crickets do usually get the best feeding response though.
Mealworms and dubia roaches (both with crushed heads) can also be left in the enclosure for a day as long as you crush their heads.
From those pictures the spider may just not be hungry, or it could still be getting acclimated.

 

[darkness975]

Hello everyone, after a lot of reading I recently purchased my first tarantula- a juvenile B.emilia who I have named Leota. I think I’ve set everything up correctly, I used reptisoil because I heard the peat content is good for burrowing. Well, she has made herself at home and settled brilliantly! She’s been digging up a storm and has made an incredible burrow that stretches from her hide entrance to the lower back of the tank! It’s amazing to watch her come out of her burrow carrying piles of dirt in her pedipalps and go and dump it in her water dish! Now for my questions: I tried her with a cricket a few days ago after giving her a week to settle in, it crawled right past her and she was not interested so I took it out. Should I leave them in longer? Now she has built this insane burrow- what do I do if I try again and lose the cricket in the burrow? I know that experienced keepers can tell by looking at their T if it needs feeding, how would you best describe the ‘look’ to a newcomer? And because of her habit of filling her dish with dirt literally minutes after I clean it (I cleaned it twice today) is there a reason I should be going into her tank daily or can I leave it a day to minimise disturbance (I’ve seen a range of answers when I’ve searched.) And is she safe in that burrow? I’m so nervous about it collapsing and just need some reassurance!

And second thing: a couple of days ago while I was buying a couple of crickets to try with Leota I saw a curly hair for sale sat right at the top of an enclosure meant for an arboreal and I felt so nervous for it… so I decided to bring him home too! His name is Guillermo* He’s slightly bigger than Leota and definitely taking longer to settle. He has been in the corner of his new home since I got him and has only moved to change orientation and groom his fangs. Is he ok? Can I do more to help him feel at home? Should I wait until he’s more at home to try him with food?
* I have no idea what sex they are yet but named them anyway!
Here are photos of both Ts and their set-ups. I’ve included one of Leota coming out of the cup I purchased her in for scale as I’ve not been able to get a good leg measurement from either. I’m planning on getting some Perspex cut this weekend and putting holes in it so I don’t have to worry about fang/leg injuries on the mesh- a good idea??
Thanks for any tips, I’m very eager to learn and make sure these two have the best lives possible.

It may take quite some time to settle in.

When they are hungry you will often see them in a hunting posture. This is when they lay, often at the entrance to their burrow, with legs outstretched waiting to pounce on prey.

Nice setups, but you'll want to replace those metal mesh lids with acrylic ones that have air holes drilled in.

 

[Smotzer]

It’s amazing to watch her come out of her burrow carrying piles of dirt in her pedipalps and go and dump it in her water dish!

Glad to see you have found the fascination in them, as we have! It really is amazing!!

Should I leave them in longer? Now she has built this insane burrow- what do I do if I try again and lose the cricket in the burrow?

No need to leave them in longer, the most we recommend is not leaving prey in for more than 24hrs and not leaving prey in when a molt is suspected. But if it was not interested, there’s no reason for me to ever leave it in that long.

know that experienced keepers can tell by looking at their T if it needs feeding, how would you best describe the ‘look’ to a newcomer?

Tarantulas behavior can be observed that shows if they are actively “hunting” but the way the abdomen looks is a tell tale sign if the tarantula even needs food or not. And overly plump tarantula with an abdomen 2x the size of the carapace does not need food for example. Yours both look healthy and pretty sufficient in that area, not looking skinny. Tarantulas have very low actual requirements for food, lower than most people allow.

And because of her habit of filling her dish with dirt literally minutes after I clean it (I cleaned it twice today) is there a reason I should be going into her tank daily or can I leave it a day to minimise disturbance (I’ve seen a range of answers when I’ve searched.) And is she safe in that burrow? I’m so nervous about it collapsing and just need some reassurance!

First off yes she is safe in that burrow, Species often reinforce their burrows with webbing, and I have never actually seen a burrow collapse, that’s a untrue myth in my eyes.

and no you don’t need to constantly be recleaning the dish twice a day. For ones that do that, you can add a second dish to keep clean water full away from that one, or clean it every couple days. Not that providing clean water isn’t necessary but disturbing it twice a day or even daily can lead to a tarantula that exhibits more defensive behavior like kicking setae. It’s establishing its burrow settling in still, it likely will stop filling the dish as often down the line.

 

[viper69]

fang/leg injuries on the mesh- a good idea??

No it’s a horrible idea to make a Ts home more safe for it, in fact you’re crazy