Brachypelma Emilia From Petco Not Settling in

[Kittiekat9]

Okay, so on August 28, my husband and I went to Petco and bought this Brachypelma Emilia. We brought him home and set him up in a critter keeper and after posting in some tarantula groups on Facebook, we decided to move him to a larger home since he was deemed too large for the critter keeper. His new home is shown in the photos it's a pretty large sterilite bin with plenty of ventilation and substrate depth in case he wants to burrow.

The piece of cork bark in the corner is where he has stayed since we put him in there. We've tried feeding a few times and he's refused and slapped the cricket away. We even called Petco (not for advice) to find out what sort of schedule they have their tarantulas on and was told they feed them 2-3 medium to large crickets 2 to 3 times a week and when my husband mentioned ours was being stubborn, the guy proceeded to inform us that our "heat was too high" in the enclosure. My husband immediately said we don't use heat and then the guy told us that we needed more heat or the spider will protest until he dies.

I am pretty confident in our husbandry as we also have a G pulchripes sling we've had for about 6 months now that is a little ball of sunshine. This Brachypelma is our first juvenile, but I am constantly researching.

Is this normal behavior for the Brachypelma emilia? I know they can apparently go on hunger strikes but he's my first juvenile and I want to make sure there isn't something I'm not doing.

 

[vicareux]

That advice you got from Petco was pure nonsense.
B.emilias are quite pet rocks. They will not do much but just sit in one spot all day. Theyre also not great eaters. I own 3 of them,and they will eat only if prey gets very near their front legs.They will never go around and chase after anything that moves like a A.geniculata for example, would do.
I'd personally keep this one in a smaller enclosure,much easier to manage and improves prey interaction,and not to mention a fall risk injury this enclosure has.
I'd feed this tarantula once a week until abdomen is plump,then slow down to once every 2-3 weeks. Anything from 20-30C will be perfect for this T regarding temperatures.

 

[viper69]

Okay, so on August 28, my husband and I went to Petco and bought this Brachypelma Emilia. We brought him home and set him up in a critter keeper and after posting in some tarantula groups on Facebook, we decided to move him to a larger home since he was deemed too large for the critter keeper. His new home is shown in the photos it's a pretty large sterilite bin with plenty of ventilation and substrate depth in case he wants to burrow.

The piece of cork bark in the corner is where he has stayed since we put him in there. We've tried feeding a few times and he's refused and slapped the cricket away. We even called Petco (not for advice) to find out what sort of schedule they have their tarantulas on and was told they feed them 2-3 medium to large crickets 2 to 3 times a week and when my husband mentioned ours was being stubborn, the guy proceeded to inform us that our "heat was too high" in the enclosure. My husband immediately said we don't use heat and then the guy told us that we needed more heat or the spider will protest until he dies.

I am pretty confident in our husbandry as we also have a G pulchripes sling we've had for about 6 months now that is a little ball of sunshine. This Brachypelma is our first juvenile, but I am constantly researching.

Is this normal behavior for the Brachypelma emilia? I know they can apparently go on hunger strikes but he's my first juvenile and I want to make sure there isn't something I'm not doing.

Moss isn’t needed. That T can FALL AND DIE in that death trap you have it in. Might as well name it SPLAT

FB is full crap at times, why you asked there is beyond me.
Petco- that employee is DAMN STUPID, like STUPID.

I never feed on a schedule, it's pointless.
Hunger strikes is a MISUSED term. I really don't like it. You don't eat 24/7 are YOU on a hunger strike???!!!!!!

 

[Craig73]

I’d downsize the enclosure personally and make sure the substrate to top of enclosure is no more than 1.5x diagonal leg span.

Petco is something else. Literally in the parking lot after buying some hydra balls and they had a 4” male on .25” of substrate and it fell 1/4 of the total the enclosure height to the sub while I was standing there. B. emilia is on my next T list and if it wasn‘t $100 for a male I probably would have taken it. I wish I didn’t even look, sad.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

If everyone stops giving money to Petco for anything, this will stop.

Sounds harsh, but caring about the welfare of captive animals precludes buying animals there, and the supplies can be gotten somewhere else locally or online.

 

[Jonathan6303]

View attachment 399250 View attachment 399251

Okay, so on August 28, my husband and I went to Petco and bought this Brachypelma Emilia. We brought him home and set him up in a critter keeper and after posting in some tarantula groups on Facebook, we decided to move him to a larger home since he was deemed too large for the critter keeper. His new home is shown in the photos it's a pretty large sterilite bin with plenty of ventilation and substrate depth in case he wants to burrow.

The piece of cork bark in the corner is where he has stayed since we put him in there. We've tried feeding a few times and he's refused and slapped the cricket away. We even called Petco (not for advice) to find out what sort of schedule they have their tarantulas on and was told they feed them 2-3 medium to large crickets 2 to 3 times a week and when my husband mentioned ours was being stubborn, the guy proceeded to inform us that our "heat was too high" in the enclosure. My husband immediately said we don't use heat and then the guy told us that we needed more heat or the spider will protest until he dies.

I am pretty confident in our husbandry as we also have a G pulchripes sling we've had for about 6 months now that is a little ball of sunshine. This Brachypelma is our first juvenile, but I am constantly researching.

Is this normal behavior for the Brachypelma emilia? I know they can apparently go on hunger strikes but he's my first juvenile and I want to make sure there isn't something I'm not doing.

I think a smaller enclosure would be better. You should probably get rid of the plastic and use real cork bark. Beautiful girl. Wish you well.

 

[cold blood]

And i will add, temps can range from 60f-95f....huge range....heat, too much or not enough, is not the issue.

Ts take time to acclimate....sometimes a day, sometimes it can take months.

Make sure the sub is tamped down tightly.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

We brought him home and set him up in a critter keeper and after posting in some tarantula groups on Facebook, we decided to move him to a larger home since he was deemed too large for the critter keeper.

Your tarantula would most probably be fine in something half the size of its current enclosure tbh. If you insist on sticking with the current enclosure then you need to add more substrate to reduce the amount of height between the top of the substrate and the top of the enclosure (there shouldn't be more than 1.5x leg span's worth of vertical space to reduce the risk of fall injuries), you can ditch that vertical piece of cork bark and the moss too.

The vast majority of people in FB tarantula groups tend to know very little about tarantulas and just parrot nonsense they got from care sheets or any of the number of less reputable YouTubers. Tarantulas don't require much space, oversized enclosures can be hazardous and have a negative impact on feeding/behaviour.

We even called Petco (not for advice) to find out what sort of schedule they have their tarantulas on and was told they feed them 2-3 medium to large crickets 2 to 3 times a week

It only needs to eat 1 cricket around the size of its abdomen every 2-3 weeks at that size (once it passes 4" it only needs to eat once every 4-6 weeks), if it was being fed 2-3 crickets 2-3 times a week prior to you getting it then it's no wonder that it's refusing to eat, that's like 4-6 weeks' worth of food in a single sitting (or 2-3 months' worth of food in the space of a week).

when my husband mentioned ours was being stubborn, the guy proceeded to inform us that our "heat was too high" in the enclosure. My husband immediately said we don't use heat and then the guy told us that we needed more heat or the spider will protest until he dies.

Petco talking nonsense again, as long as your room temps are between 64°F and 92°F then it's fine, tarantulas are built to deal with a pretty large range of temperatures.