Aphonopelma anax care/feeding

[Iamconstantlyhappy]

I just received my first sub-adult A. anax. I have a few questions.

1) After hydrating the the coco fiber and squeezing the water out and setting up her enclosure, I have noticed that there is quite a bit of humidity in the enclosure (the space between the substrate and the acrylic walls is moist). Is this a problem? I am not misting or anything. Should I just wait until it dries out naturally or should replace the substrate with new dryer coco- fiber?

2) I waited 3 days after arrival before feeding. I fed her one large silent cricket last night. She "held on to it" for at last 10 hours before I found her this morning standing next to a a piece of it. I am unfamiliar with the feeding behaviors of tarantulas as I keep reptiles and ants. Can I assume that she was sucking the "juices" out this whole time and then released it when finished?

3)She is uninterested in the hid that I have provided, is this normal? I have posted a picture of her setup.

Thanks for your help in the matter

 

[Hoxter]

1. Substrate seems to be too moist IMO, I'd keep it mostly dry with another part being slightly moist.

2. If your tarantula seems no longer interested in prey item, just remove it from the enclosure. They usually suck everything out of their preys and what's left is what we call a bolus. You can for sure take them out.

3. There might be few answers to this one. First one substrate being too moist. Your T could be trying to get away from that moist sub by going higher. Another thing could be time being in enclosure too short. Tarantulas usually need few days to few weeks to get used to their enclosures.

I'm sure we have some threads about keeping A. anax. Please use search function to check them out. If not, my guess would be care is pretty similar to most other Aphonopelma sp.

 

[Iamconstantlyhappy]

As for my second question, should I remove her and replace the substrate with dryer coco fiber, or wait until it dries out naturally? She is hanging out at the top.

 

[Hoxter]

I would replace it. It might take some time for that much to dry.

 

[Iamconstantlyhappy]

Should I be concerned with doing this now, as she has been here for less than a week.....too much stress, or better just get her into a cup now and get it over with.

*Edit: I changed the substrate out with some dryer stuff and and I didn't pack it down as much, we'll see how it goes. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Jesse607]

Your T will be absolutely and perfectly fine on that moist substrate, just let it dry a bit between waterings. Where this species comes from can get a lot of rain, so this species is perfectly adapted to wet periods. It is perfectly normal for large specimens of this species to not dig or use a hide in captivity. The tarantula will masticate the prey into a bolus and suck up all the juices leaving the dry bolus left in which it disgards.

Don't stress about the substrate! A lot of people that more recently got into the hobby believe tarantulas suffer on moist substrate, which simply is not true as long as you have ventilation.

 

[Iamconstantlyhappy]

Thanks for your advice. I wound up changing the substrate out in the end. Looking forward to learning about this one.......I already want another one.