Absolute Newbie: Found tarantula PICS. Keep it?

[Got Chow]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post here. In fact, this may be the first time that I've ever thought about keeping tarantulas as pets. I've seen them at some pet stores and they always freaked me out. But today, right before I was about to wash my car, I found something crawling under the headlight. Low and behold, it was a little tarantula, about 1/2" (body), and about 1" total length including legs. Here are some not-so-good pictures:

What I couldn't get a picture of, was his fangs, or right beside them... the tarantula has a very nice blue color to it on it's face (sorry, I don't know the anatomy about these guys yet).

Right now I've got the little guy/gal in a little fishbowl with a scrunched up paper towel as a substrate. It's only been in there for a few hours. I've read around and vermiculite is a good substrate for them, which I have since I use that to incubate gecko eggs. But I don't know if this is a burrowing or tree dwelling tarantula, and I really have no clue about the care requirements either.

Can anybody ID this thing? I am in Davis, California... around the Sacramento area. The spider was on my car, which was parked close to some bushes. I know the pictures don't show much detail, but I will try and get better pictures and post a reply on here. I'm pretty iffy on handling tarantulas, and really wouldn't like to touch this guy, nor do I know how serious the venom from a bite / hairs might be. So I'm restricted to pictures within the little fishbowl. I can move it to a glass aquarium or something, but I don't know if it will stress the tarantula even moreso than it may be already.

Would it be possible for me to keep this guy? I don't know anything about it, if it's a hard species to keep, if it has very picky diet requirements etc. My experience with pets ranges from full blown salt water coral reefs, to weird things like mantis shrimps, and I also have leopard geckos, and used to have a hamster... which died of old age not long ago.

Please let me know if I should release it back into my front yard, or if I can keep it alive and healthy in my house. If it is a species that is hard to keep and not for the beginner, I will definitely consider giving it up to somebody with experience that can give him/her a good home.

Thanks for reading all the way down here!

 

[Inuleki]

actually from everything I can see.... that's a jumping spider. not sure which one exactly, but someone else here will.

 

[Inuleki]

but also, as to you thinking about keeping tarantulas, I say go for it, it can be extremely rewarding, and endlessly fascinating.

 

[Got Chow]

OK now that's scaring me. LOL. Not a big fan of any jumping insects in the first place. But if this is in the wrong forum, please move as needed admin.

Not sure if this helps, but the spider / tarantula has 4 eyes arranged in 1 row. If that helps too.

I'm not sure about keeping yet ANOTHER tank. I already have a 125 gallon reef tank, a 10 gallon mantis shrimp tank, a 50 gallon freshwater, a 20 gallon leopard gecko tank, a new 10 gallon baby leopard gecko tank, a little 2 quart mantis shrimp tank. And now, a tarantula tank?!!? LOL. We'll see... I'm doing more research right now so I can find out if this is for me or not.

Thanks for the quick reply though Inuleki.

 

[TheWidowsPeak]

so you got any pictures of the mantis shrimp tank? I always thought they could break glass.

 

[Got Chow]

Yup. I have a peacock mantis, and while they aren't the absolute strongest ones, it'll definitely break your fingers. And I have him in an acrylic tank as it is about 17 times stronger than glass, and they would have a real hard time breaking it. But here are some pics of him:

About to hit a chopstick:

Hanging outside his burrow:

Closeup with his appendages shown (his left one is hanging down, right is tucked in). You can see the "hammer" on the end of his left appendage, it's where he strikes objects / prey:

His tailend, showing where they get the common name "Peacock mantis" from:

 

[Longbord1]

hes a beauty i wish i could get one where did u get him and for how much? the spider by the way is a jumping spider
mike:}

 

[TheWidowsPeak]

wow those are awsome! yeah I get my fish and stuff wholesale. and the matis shrimp are really cheap. but I never got one because I was afraid I would end up with a floor full of water. I like shrimp right now all I have is a coral banded shrimp and I'm in the market for a few cleaner shrimp but they are a little hard to find right now. do you know of any other good inverts for a tank? I mean something that is good color and stays in the open a lot.

 

[TheWidowsPeak]

and how big is that xenia?

 

[Got Chow]

Longbord,
Thanks for clarifying... Maybe I should post my question in the "spider" forum and see if anybody has any answers. They aren't THAT easy to come by, but you can sometimes find them at specialty aquarium stores. www.tpaquarium.com sometimes has them in.

Johnny,
I work at a fishstore, so I know how cheap these guys can get. Its nice to be in the hobby and work at a place dedicated to that hobby sometimes. I've saved tons of money that way. hee hee.

Cleaner shrimp are pretty colorful already, it shouldn't be too hard getting a hold of them. But then again I'm on the West Coast and all the shipments usually come through here so it seems easier for us to get stuff than some inland wholesalers. If you want your inverts like cleaner shrimp, or fire shrimp to come out more often, just get more of them. I have 3 of each in my tank and when in groups, they feel more confident, and are out a lot more. Urchins are pretty cool inverts that stay out in the open for the most part. Tuxedos "dress" themselves with debris they find in the tank so you get shells, rocks, corals etc. on an urchin. Most other inverts like emerald / sally light foot crabs don't have great colors and don't come out until night time. Harlequin shrimp are just about as cool as community inverts get, but they only eat starfishes, live ones, and nothing else. I would recommend just getting more cleaner shrimp and if you have a reef with community fishes, the coral banded may eat them at night while they sleep.

As for the xenia, it's pretty big now. It covers about 1/2 of my 10 gallon mantis tank, which I double has a refugium. The other 1/2 is taken up by macro alga, and the mantis shrimp just bothers everything when he hovers in and out of everything. lol.

 

[Deliverme314]

My kind of guy!

Im a fish first tarantulas sexond man myself. I have a 90 gallon planted freshwater that houses lots of oddballs, Snake fish, Elephant nose, african butterflys and then my rams and gourami's... discus go in after christmas.

Also have a 12 gal eclipse which will be converted into a mini reef to get my "feet wet" with saltwater... next major project after I have a little experience will be at least a 55 gal reef.... or my fresh water leopoldi stingray tank...

 

[Deliverme314]

oh yeah... and you should deffinitley take the plunge into tarantulas. I am quite teh newb... only been doing it for two months or so... all ready up to 11 of them. I was a HUGE arachnophobe up until a few months before I began collecting and now I am obsessed... seriously, you should consider it.

 

[Got Chow]

Thanks for the move admins.

I'll look into the whole tarantula thing. My family members and girlfriend definitely won't be happy. LOL. They didn't even like the geckos, and now a FREAKIN' SPIDER?!?!

BTW, out of curiosity, anybody here keep praying mantii? Those are some cool insects that really sparked my curiosity but I've never looked into too much. I've seen some very cool pictures though.

And my offer still stands... if anybody wants it and can give this jumping spider a good home, let me know by PMs or e-mail. If not, I may end up introducing it back into the yard or keep the little guy for myself.

 

[TheWidowsPeak]

yeah I love xenias. actually its one of the few corals I like. just something about the way t pulses I guess. and I have an emerald crab that I se once in a while. and my coral banded doesn't mess with anything but my fish think hes a cleaner shrimp and hover in front of him untill he has had enough and he pinches them and they run away and come right back. so I need to gets some cleaners in there.

 

[bodisky]

Where do you live? Search Phidippus regius and see if that pic and distribution fits. Thats what it looks like to me.
Kerry

 

[Got Chow]

That's it Kerry. Thanks a bunch!

Although I live in California, not Florida... Strange. My friend did come from Florida not long ago and she was over here a while ago. Who knows...

 

[Palespider]

Looks just like my little girl.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/temp/calendar/palespider/pa2.jpg

It's definitely a Phidippus sp. audax or californicus maybe.

You should definitely keep it. They are amongst the most interesting of all spiders. They have been proven to be very intelligent and have great eyesight. They can jump, but it's usually only a few of inches at the most. They jump on their prey when hunting which is a sight to see.

It's cool to see them look around by moving their cephalothorax up and around getting a better view of things.

Very active creatures.

Jim B.

 

[Ardra]

Your Jumping Spider

Hello, I am in Davis CA also. We found a spider just like the one you have.
Its scientific name is Phidippus audax. It is a jumping spider. Ours is a
female. We put it in a small fish tank and feed it crickets. We were going
to release her but now she has made an egg sac in the corner. Does anyone
know how long it will take for the eggs to hatch??
Sorry I dont have any pictures as wonderful as yours to post.
THanks! Ardra