Brand new T hobbyist! Introduction/Seeking advice

[cold blood]

Oh ok! Thanks for the input, I only assumed it was young because the pet shop keeper informed it was less than a year old.

Oh, that was just a lie...or an expression of ignorance. Too many pet store employees are jusy afraid to say "i dont know" so they make things up.

Neither is very young, in fact the avic posted above is what a young avic avic looks like (notice its sling colors versus the adult colors on your specimem)....and that one is almost 7 months old (I bred it, which is the only way to know age)...so your avic is no where close to a year, probably 3..ive had males of that species mature at that size or a little bigger, so i hope its a female or its probably penultimate.

That rosea now, thats probably at least a decade old and at that size, mature if its female....again, if its male, likely penultimate....which is why buying larger ts from pet stores requires an eye for ventral sexing or a lot of luck. This species along with glacially slow growth, has ridicolously low food requirements
...as a result, theyre almost always very much over fed, which leads to long amd random fasting, so dont freak if it doesnt eat for a month or 12. Id suggest one cricket every 10-14 days....even then, it may eventually fast.

Lol ok, you've helped me out quite a bit and i know i'm probably being intrusive lol! So last question.... is there a such thing as TOO MUCH ventilation? Of course I dont mean like, making the entire enclosure look like swiss cheese. But is there a chance of mistakenly over doing it if im deliberately placing ventilation holes?

Yes, you certainly can have too much ventilation, which can be just as detrimental and this delicate balance is just one of the reasons why many of us regularly discourage new keepers from starting with avics...its crazy how many die in the hands of new keepers convinced they will be the exception. Your ventilation looks perfect to me....venting on the top should be minimal. Too much venting will prevent a micro climate from forming, and cause everything to dry unnaturally fast, which can be just as bad as a stuffy enclosure without enough ventilation.


Your set up looks nice, i would bury the water halfway so it is stable and doesnt just tip when the t goes to get a drink...also, like said, more plants up top wouldnt hurt either...but overall you did a commendable job setting up both enclosures.

 

[Cassiusstein]

Oh, that was just a lie...or an expression of ignorance. Too many pet store employees are jusy afraid to say "i dont know" so they make things up.

Neither is very young, in fact the avic posted above is what a young avic avic looks like (notice its sling colors versus the adult colors on your specimem)....and that one is almost 7 months old (I bred it, which is the only way to know age)...so your avic is no where close to a year, probably 3..ive had males of that species mature at that size or a little bigger, so i hope its a female or its probably penultimate.

That rosea now, thats probably at least a decade old and at that size, mature if its female....again, if its male, likely penultimate....which is why buying larger ts from pet stores requires an eye for ventral sexing or a lot of luck. This species along with glacially slow growth, has ridicolously low food requirements
...as a result, theyre almost always very much over fed, which leads to long amd random fasting, so dont freak if it doesnt eat for a month or 12. Id suggest one cricket every 10-14 days....even then, it may eventually fast.



Yes, you certainly can have too much ventilation, which can be just as detrimental and this delicate balance is just one of the reasons why many of us regularly discourage new keepers from starting with avics...its crazy how many die in the hands of new keepers convinced they will be the exception. Your ventilation looks perfect to me....venting on the top should be minimal. Too much venting will prevent a micro climate from forming, and cause everything to dry unnaturally fast, which can be just as bad as a stuffy enclosure without enough ventilation.


Your set up looks nice, i would bury the water halfway so it is stable and doesnt just tip when the t goes to get a drink...also, like said, more plants up top wouldnt hurt either...but overall you did a commendable job setting up both enclosures.

Like I said, I'm pretty new. Which is why I tagged cold blood. The master has spoken lol

 

[Crone Returns]

nice pic !!! hes a beaut

so i added some vent holes to the door, which i know will interfere with the viewing of my avic, all good though. it was the easiest way to add ventilation ASAP without disturbing the poor thing...

I'll post pics after they get comfortable and start to web! which hopefully will be soon? lol

Here's a potato pic of my diy setup. The filmy white is his web, not condensation. He's my cute, fuzzy little boy who lives in his "tree."

 

[Crone Returns]

It will take awhile for him to settle. It took Phred a month before he started a token web, then he went webbing crazy.
Like cold blood, I hope yours is female.

 

[viper69]

They don't have a thorax and two book lungs like true spiders

I know Poec didn't teach you the above. Wait till I tell him his lessons were wasted

Both true spiders and tarantulas have the same body segment anatomy, ie both don't have a thorax. It is part of the identifying characteristics that separate them from insects.

 

[viper69]

Hello Everyone!!!

I am a brand new T hobbyist and proud owner of two species of tarantula. Yesterday I picked up both a Grammostola rosea, and a Avicularia Avicularia!

Both of which were bought from a non-big-chain-petshop, that buys their T's from a breeder. Both are very young, the rosea is about 4-4.5 inches in leg span, and the Avic is about 3-3.5 inches leg span. Both very docile and friendly . I'm housing them both in their own seperate enclosures, using sterilite containers, with drilled holes for ventilation. For substrate, I am using Reptisoil by Zoo Med. I've purchased small-medium crickets as they are fairly young and are no where near being mature.

The rosea has a half-log hide, and a deli-cup(rocks in the deli cup) in its enclosure. The height of the enclosure is 7 inches, at its lowest point, the substrate is about 3 inches high from the top of the enclosure.

The avic I have a vertical 11" inches in height and 8" in length and width, has a delicup(also with rocks),some faux leaves hanging down, and log in the middle.

I haven't attempted to feed them yet. I will give them a week before I try and offer them food. The pet shop keeper fed them on Saturday and he said they took the food.

The Rosea has been in its hide for the past 24 hours, which i think is normal? Not sure.

The Avic has been climbing up and down its enclosure.

Still no webbing from either!

I was wondering if these living conditions will be ok. Me being a beginner I have no confidence in what I've produced for these specimens lol. So if you have any advice what so ever, please feel free to leave me a comment!!! Thank you!!

Attached are some photos of the enclosures, and a photo of my Rosea since it's currently in it's hide

I've raised a lot of different species of Avics from sling to adult. Your setup for the Avic needs to be adjusted. It is currently geared for a terrestrial T more than an arboreal T to be honest. There needs to be more cage furniture near the top, not a single stump and a few stalks pushing up from the ground. As it stands now you only have one main point for the T to reside. Invest in some cork bark tubes or slabs. Order in bulk to save money, plus cork bark is the most widely used mold resistant natural item people use in the exotic hobbies generally speaking. Avics will readily use cork.

If you aren't concerned about crickets drowning, then remove the stones, more water is better than less. Ts won't drown even TINY slings from drinking from a dish.

Regarding ventilation I find it very useful to put limited amounts of air holes on the top for Avics as they often form a canopy and/or tube. When they form a canopy that is where they will molt. When they molt they rarely come down to drink from a dish. You will have an near impossible time adding water to the canopy w/out holes from above without disturbing your T.

Some Avics won't drink from a dish at all, or worse, some IME stop using their dish, or only use it sporadically (while still needing water though).

With a T that size you will have to keep it hydrated with water, and not by food alone.

Get yourself a syringe with a blunt tip needle.

Rose sounds like it's acting normal. I've raised those from sling to adult as well.

 

[Crone Returns]

Both true spiders and tarantulas have the same body segment anatomy, ie both don't have a thorax. It is part of the identifying characteristics that separate them from insects.

I swear I read that somewhere. But I have a cold and my brain's mush.
I'll grill you about it much later.

 

[viper69]

So what are some signs that I do not have adequate ventilation?

Regular condensation on the walls and sub
Mold more often than not- no need to grow the cure for cancer in there

With Avics the most important factor is mass air exchange. If you look through the forums you'll see the Europeans achieve this via a different method than the Amercians generally. Neither is the only way, they both work equally as well by all accounts.

Moist stuffy cages kill Avics sooner not latter. Don't read caresheets, they kill Ts.

 

[viper69]

I swear I read that somewhere. But I have a cold and my brain's mush.
I'll grill you about it much later.

There's nothing to grill.

You may have read it, but your source was flat out wrong. They do not have a thorax.

 

[Andrea82]

Hello Everyone!!!

I am a brand new T hobbyist and proud owner of two species of tarantula. Yesterday I picked up both a Grammostola rosea, and a Avicularia Avicularia!

Both of which were bought from a non-big-chain-petshop, that buys their T's from a breeder. Both are very young, the rosea is about 4-4.5 inches in leg span, and the Avic is about 3-3.5 inches leg span. Both very docile and friendly . I'm housing them both in their own seperate enclosures, using sterilite containers, with drilled holes for ventilation. For substrate, I am using Reptisoil by Zoo Med. I've purchased small-medium crickets as they are fairly young and are no where near being mature.

The rosea has a half-log hide, and a deli-cup(rocks in the deli cup) in its enclosure. The height of the enclosure is 7 inches, at its lowest point, the substrate is about 3 inches high from the top of the enclosure.

The avic I have a vertical 11" inches in height and 8" in length and width, has a delicup(also with rocks),some faux leaves hanging down, and log in the middle.

I haven't attempted to feed them yet. I will give them a week before I try and offer them food. The pet shop keeper fed them on Saturday and he said they took the food.

The Rosea has been in its hide for the past 24 hours, which i think is normal? Not sure.

The Avic has been climbing up and down its enclosure.

Still no webbing from either!

I was wondering if these living conditions will be ok. Me being a beginner I have no confidence in what I've produced for these specimens lol. So if you have any advice what so ever, please feel free to leave me a comment!!! Thank you!!

Attached are some photos of the enclosures, and a photo of my Rosea since it's currently in it's hide

Not bad at all for a first two enclosures! I've seen worse first T tanks. You are on the right track, it only needs a little fine tuning. Your spiders are much older than a year,but if both are female, that doesn't matter much.

Careful with handling. If a T startles and runs (or jumps, in the case of Avicularia), you will end up with a dead spider. The G.rosea is also notorious for its moods swings, it can turn from sweet and slow to fast and threatposing in a split second.
The thread below contains pretty much everything you need to know about keeping Avicularia.
Welcome to the hobby, and the boards
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-husbandry.282549/#post-2461399

 

[Andrea82]

Your Avic will die.

Wow. Are you okay? Never seen you reply this snarky...?
Op has started up quite allright imo, no need for this heavy sarcasm, i think....

 

[Andrea82]

Regular condensation on the walls and sub
Mold more often than not- no need to grow the cure for cancer in there

With Avics the most important factor is mass air exchange. If you look through the forums you'll see the Europeans achieve this via a different method than the Amercians generally. Neither is the only way, they both work equally as well by all accounts.

Moist stuffy cages kill Avics sooner not latter. Don't read caresheets, they kill Ts.

I hope you don't mind me shamelessly throwing your thread around. It seems there are a lot of new Avicularia owners lately, and it is easier to refer them to that info than typing the whole thing over and over...

 

[viper69]

I hope you don't mind me shamelessly throwing your thread around. It seems there are a lot of new Avicularia owners lately, and it is easier to refer them to that info than typing the whole thing over and over...

I'm glad you do because this board is for the dissemination of useful information. What good is it doing if no one reads it or can find it I bookmark several threads for the exact reason you do


The big question will be how many of these new Avic owners will become new Dead Avic owners I hope none.

 

[Andrea82]

I'm glad you do because this board is for the dissemination of useful information. What good is it doing if no one reads it or can find it I bookmark several threads for the exact reason you do


The big question will be how many of these new Avic owners will become new Dead Avic owners I hope none.

If they follow the advice in the thread, casualties should be minimal.
I know I know, glass being half empty or half full...pessimistic/optimistic...

 

[viper69]

If they follow the advice in the thread, casualties should be minimal.
I know I know, glass being half empty or half full...pessimistic/optimistic...

I tend to be a realist, the glass is both half empty AND half full

 

[Cassiusstein]

The glass is completely full, half water half air

 

[Andrea82]

The glass is completely full, half water half air

Smart**s

 

[Cassiusstein]

Smart**s

What are you? My mom?! My dad? Now that I think about it almost everyone I know called me a smart**s at least once...

 

[Andrea82]

What are you? My mom?! My dad? Now that I think about it almost everyone I know called me a smart**s at least once...

What....?
What does my joke have to do with me being your parents?
I'm older than you, that's true, but not old enough to be your parent!

 

[Paiige]

Rose sounds like it's acting normal. I've raised those from sling to adult as well.

I applaud your patience