A few newb questions about pink toes

[superfunTtime]

Hey folks,

I bought my first tarantula yesterday and have been reading a ton about them. The one I got is a somewhat young pink toe and I am just looking for some confirmation about a few things in terms of housing and behavior and what not. I did do a lot of research, but it is hard to ask questions to an article. Also, different articles are sometimes conflicting. Anyway, here goes.

Right now I have the temp in the low 70s and the humidity at about 60%. The store I bought the spider from had the temp at 90 and humidity at about 20%. I think my habitat is better than what the store had, but I don't know if it is ideal.

So far the spider seems scared out of its wits. It barely moves. I didn't want to pester it so I just opened the little dish it came in and set it in the cage. After letting it sit in the dish for an hour I (actually my wife) gently coaxed it out of the dish and onto a hanging plant. It hasn't moved from that plant since then (about 18 hours or so). I poked it today and it just kinda shifted around on the plant and sat there. Is it just stressed? How long is it going to sit there like that? I gave it a cricket just in case, but will probably take that out tomorrow since it doesn't seem interested so far.

Any information is welcome. I fully acknowledge my newbness and won't be upset to be schooled.

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

Tarantulas aren't like cats or dogs. They're not gonna run around the enclosure and play with things. 95% of the time, your tarantula is going to sit, sit, and sit some more. There's nothing wrong with a tarantula just because it doesn't move. Post some pics of your setup.

Welcome aboard.

 

[Newflvr]

Newbie

To put it as simple as possible " LEAVE IT ALONE ". Poking, prodding and general bugging it will cause stress. This includes offering food, wait 4-5 days or so to settle in a little bit. From what you describe your temp and humidity sound fine, get a clean spray bottle and lightly mist once a week. If you can post a pic of the new cage, you might get a little feed back on ways to improve it. Best of luck Kevin

 

[Slimdean]

I agree with all the response above. If your looking for a active and alert pet, T's and scorps are not for you. it's best to leave them to their maintained environment, and let them be. also, provide a hidey hole for him and keep the lighting low. Once the lil guy gets used to their environment, who knows he might come out from time to time.

 

[Spidershane1]

To sum up all the other responses: he's just chillin

 

[smallara98]

lol.. just chillin.. Anyways.. If you could, pics would be great. I keep my room at about 70 - 75, and my avic's at about 70% humidity. I have a kritter keeper, so I have to spray much more than most people, but hey, its worth it

I put in a log (not hollow, as they web their own holes.) and substrate. I do do plants, but they dont NEED plants if they just chill in their web hole all day.

 

[superfunTtime]

I uploaded 3 pictures into a gallery that all looked fine on my camera and on my computer, but look black when displayed in the gallery. I'll try again in a little bit.

Second try worked. Just needed to edit the pictures down to an acceptable size. Can't seem to figure out how to delete the 3 black ones.

Here's a link to one of them if it helps:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/gallery/showimage.php?i=20011&catid=newimages

 

[dannyboypede]

One thing, the spider will never hide in that cave. Humidity could be a little higher than the 60% that you mentioned earlier. Other than that, it looks good to me. It will probably love that cannabis

--Dan

 

[Spidershane1]

lol, yeah he doesn't want to move cuz he's hella high

 

[mOtOjUnKiE]

That's a good looking little house you've got for him! But Dan is right, an arboreal tarantula most likely won't ever go inside the little hut...they prefer to make their own web huts themselves, or they hang out on cork bark, or branches or whatnot toward the top of the enclosure.

 

[superfunTtime]

So another newb question for you folks - How can I tell when my spider is ready to eat?

It has still only been a couple days since I brought it home, so I figure it may be several more before it wants to eat, but will it exhibit any behaviors I can look for?

I assume it won't clang a triangle or setup a picnic table when it is ready....

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

I don't wait to feed mine, people say they aren't ready to eat, but they eat every time I feed them. So mine are fed after bringing them home, if they hadn't just been fed.

 

[mOtOjUnKiE]

I throw a roach in there & if the spider wants to eat...it'll eat...if not, the roach will live in there for a while until the spider finally decides to catch his meal. It's kinda cool watching some spiders "hunt" for their food too.

 

[superfunTtime]

Well I threw 2 crickets in the day after bringing my spider home. I found one hiding in the den meant for ground spiders, so I just took that feature out, along with the cricket. Then I lost the cricket. I also found what I believe is spider poop on the front of the enclosure, so I added 2 more crickets. Perhaps the white streak down the glass is the missing cricket from the first pair?

 

[Arachnethegreek]

Well I threw 2 crickets in the day after bringing my spider home. I found one hiding in the den meant for ground spiders, so I just took that feature out, along with the cricket. Then I lost the cricket. I also found what I believe is spider poop on the front of the enclosure, so I added 2 more crickets. Perhaps the white streak down the glass is the missing cricket from the first pair?

Avics are notorious for shoot poop, and that could be the missing cricket, or a cricket from before shipping. Who knows, but as far as eating, you'll probably just notice that if you throw a cricket in, say 10 at night, it'll chirp for a bit then the chirping will ominously stop. Babababum. Cricket souffle.

 

[superfunTtime]

Here's a few more things I have been wondering lately as I approach the end of week 1 with my first ever tarantula.

So I have a water dish with a foam pad in it for it to drink from. However, I have read (and so far confirmed with my limited experience) that pink toes rarely spend time down on the substrate since they are arboreal. Should I expect it to come down from the top of the habitat and drink from the dish ever or is it just another source of humidity basically?

Also, is there any "meaning" to the tarantula's different stances? Sometimes it is all crunched up with its legs close to its body and other times it has all legs fanned out as far as they can go. I've wondered if this indicates anything like mood, hunting, hunger, etc.

I'm also a little disconcerted with feeding my T crickets. I never get to see the "action" of watching my pet feed and I never find any carcasses of dead crickets to confirm my T is eating. I bought some superworms today along with another bag of small crickets to see what happens.

Any feedback is always appreciated.


**Ugh! I put a superworm in the enclosure and it just burrowed into the substrate. Not sure these will be a viable food option.

 

[Midknight xrs]

Number 1, remove any form of foam or cotton from the dish. It's an avic enclosure, so you are increasing the risk of mold and bacteria. They can come and drink, but unless you are going to spend hours watching, probably will never witness it often.
Number 2, T's have different "personalities" and the stances can mean anything from ready to eat, resting, grooming or anything.
Number 3, as far as feeding goes, you should try with roaches. Buy a small colony of roaches, dubia or latteralis, this saves you trips to the pet store, keeps some smelly ones out of your house and is like raising another family lol.

IME, the spider will find it's food, so don't worry about it too much, they can dig for their prey.

 

[jake9134]

Is the screen covered with something? If not, placing some saran wrap over a portion of it will help increase the humidity if it seems too dry.

 

[superfunTtime]

The humidity hasn't been an issue. I've been able to keep it at 70% pretty easily. I didn't think a T would dig. Interesting.

If I take out the foam in the waterdish, isn't there a risk of drowning?

 

[Falk]

What kind of "pinktoe" is it?