Caribena Versicolor Care

[Tomoran]

This is generally a good video, finally. However he mentioned slings struggle to settle down into large enclosures. So, how do they settle down on planet EARTH in the wild. He is missing the crucial information that they require good cover
Oh well, another video attempt that again provides MISINFORMATION.

Generally good? I'll take that! I mentioned the larger enclosures part as I get a lot of folks who send me pics of tiny slings set up in huge enclosures as large as Exo Terra Nano talls. As for the "missing" information, you'll find it at 5:40 in the video. In case you missed it, here is the text:

"I also supply a piece of cork bark and fake plant leaves for cover and to supply anchor points to encourage webbing. This species will essentially construct its own home from webbing, so you need to provide it with anchor points to web to. Spiders that are not supplied with hiding spots and foliage tend to take residence up in the corner of their enclosures. This can be far from ideal with top opening setups." Just wanted to clarify that. I'll make sure that's more clear in the article. Thanks!

 

[viper69]

Generally good? I'll take that! I mentioned the larger enclosures part as I get a lot of folks who send me pics of tiny slings set up in huge enclosures as large as Exo Terra Nano talls. As for the "missing" information, you'll find it at 5:40 in the video. In case you missed it, here is the text:

"I also supply a piece of cork bark and fake plant leaves for cover and to supply anchor points to encourage webbing. This species will essentially construct its own home from webbing, so you need to provide it with anchor points to web to. Spiders that are not supplied with hiding spots and foliage tend to take residence up in the corner of their enclosures. This can be far from ideal with top opening setups." Just wanted to clarify that. I'll make sure that's more clear in the article. Thanks!

I didn't miss it at all, and I recall the time stamp. In short the information you provided was inconsistent. Later on you had the right message, early on the part I remarked on was not the best message.

Most people w/that sling/large container questions etc erroneously think a sling cannot handle a large setup because the T is tiny- why size has anything to do it from a human perspective is odd to me, and not logical, but based in assumptions somewhere.

There's a paper which looked at the slings hatching from a sac and examined how far they move from the sac over time. I don't recall the authors. I can assure everyone the slings ultimately lived in an area larger than a deli cup.

The biggest husbandry issue with slings in large containers is simply it reduces prey/predator interactions. This is particularly important with an ambush predator (these aren't jumping spiders obviously hah). You combine that with all the advice of feeding a T once a week etc, and new owner ends up with a dead T.

 

[Tomoran]

I didn't miss it at all, and I recall the time stamp. In short the information you provided was inconsistent. Later on you had the right message, early on the part I remarked on was not the best message.

Your original comment said that I provided MISINFORMATION because I was “missing the crucial information that they require good cover.” You even put “misinformation” all in all caps. That’s simply not true...you conveniently left out that I certainly DID mention cover. It was NOT missing. You MISREPRESENTED what I said. Either you're lying about having seen that part of the video, or you lied about me not including it; take your pick. Now you’re backtracking and admitting that it was in there, but not where you would have liked to see it. Which leads me to my next point...

Most people w/that sling/large container questions etc erroneously think a sling cannot handle a large setup because the T is tiny- why size has anything to do it from a human perspective is odd to me, and not logical, but based in assumptions somewhere.

I would also like to point out that in your very own Avicularia care article on this board (which was written in 2016 when Caribena versicolor was Avicularia versicolor), you say: “You are best off setting up a tall container for your arboreal Ts, such as a 16 oz deli cup if they are quite small. If they are a larger slings, say an inch or a bit more go with a 32 oz deli cup.” Here you differentiate that smaller slings may need a smaller set ups. Why, is this okay in yours, but not in mine? You give no explanation as to WHY a smaller sling might need a smaller setup despite criticizing me for not including the same info. You also don't mention anything about them needing cover until five paragraphs later (much like I mentioned the need for cover only ONE paragraph later in my original article and few sentences later in the video). So, it sounds like maybe you have some revising to do on your article as well, as by the rules you've laid out here, yours also does not give the "best message."

There's a paper which looked at the slings hatching from a sac and examined how far they move from the sac over time. I don't recall the authors. I can assure everyone the slings ultimately lived in an area larger than a deli cup.

The biggest husbandry issue with slings in large containers is simply it reduces prey/predator interactions. This is particularly important with an ambush predator (these aren't jumping spiders obviously hah). You combine that with all the advice of feeding a T once a week etc, and new owner ends up with a dead T.

That's not at all surprising. Does the paper also address the mortality rates of slings that are predated upon, killed by the elements, or that starve to death? All of those slings survived? Does this mean we should start encouraging more folks, especially ones that may be keeping slings for the first time, to put their spiders in adult enclosures? Keep them uncaged in a corner of our living rooms, perhaps? That’s a dangerous message there, especially for those just beginning in the hobby. And, again...I want to point out that you went so far in your article to mention the possible need to give smaller slings smaller enclosures. Will you be changing your care guide to include this info and to encourage folks to keep slings in larger enclosures? Is there a point to this, or are you just trying to be a contrarian?

Bottom line, you misrepresented what was said in my video, tried to backtrack, and then basically criticized me for the SAME THINGS you said and did in your very own husbandry article. What's the point? I've not only raised my own and bred them, but I've helped folks who bought my slings raise healthy spiders with videos, articles, and personal advice. For whatever reason, you just had to put your $0.02 into the mix and spew nonsense.

I'm going to take my leave from this foolishness, as I honestly have much better ways to spend my time. You can go back to being the disgruntled, bitter and blindly critical curmudgeon of this wonderful board, and I'll go back to actually trying to do something positive to help people in the hobby.

 

[Vanisher]

For goodness sake!, Avicularia tiny slings shoukd have moist sub snd lits if ventilation

 

[Ungoliant]

Well, I've always read about people saying they die, so they must have some kind of complexity their keeping.

I don't think their care is particularly complex. The reasons the death rate is high are:

• Brand new keepers often get their first tarantula from a pet store, most of which only carry Grammostola rosea/porteri or Avicularia avicularia. (In other words, new keepers are likely to end up with an Avic.)
• These are often impulse purchases with no research done in advance.
• When a brand new keeper comes home with an Avic, he's probably gotten care advice from the pet store or an Internet care sheet, both of which are usually bad. (I've yet to see an Avic properly set up in a pet store.)
• Many care sheets emphasize trying to keep humidity within an arbitrary range. This misleads new keepers into restricting ventilation in order to raise humidity. Moist, stuffy enclosures kill Avics. (In contrast, the new keeper who chose one of the recommended NW terrestrials as his starter tarantula is unlikely to encounter care sheets that would mislead him into creating a moist, stuffy death trap, and these species are more tolerant of other kinds of newbie mistakes.)
• By the time the keeper realizes something is wrong, it's often too late to correct the situation in time to save the spider.

In short, it's basically a perfect storm of newbies ending up with Avics and relying on bad advice.

If you read the threads we recommend and solicit feedback on your enclosure (I also like the video by Tomoran), you have a good chance of successfully keeping Avicularia or Caribena even as a beginner.

 

[Thekla]

For goodness sake!, Avicularia tiny slings shoukd have moist sub snd lits if ventilation

And I don't think that's true. I have 4 Avicularias (or relatives) and I raised/I'm raising them all on bone dry substrate.

For example, my C. versicolor I got as a tiny sling in April last year...

thirsty blue ball of fluff

• Thekla
• May 5, 2018
• 10
• antilles pinktoe tarantula avicularia versicolor caribena caribena versicolor drinking female martinique pinktoe tarantula sling versicolor

Caught my 3/4" C. versicolor sling drinking for the first time. So cute!

... just moulted for the 7th time for me and is bordering adulthood now.



But I spritz water onto their webbing or on the sides of the enclosures for drinking purposes.

 

[Ungoliant]

And I don't think that's true. I have 4 Avicularias (or relatives) and I raised/I'm raising them all on bone dry substrate.

I've also been raising my Avic slings with dry substrate. Initially, I included a water dish on the ground, but they never go down there, so I just make a little pool of water on their webbing every few days so they can drink.

 

[Vanisher]

I have never raised them on bone dry sub. Always raised them on moist sub. Anf i have raised lits of them. Dry sub seems to work though apparently, if people raise them that way, but i have not. Only when juvenile i kept them drier!

 

[viper69]

Your original comment said that I provided MISINFORMATION because I was “missing the crucial information that they require good cover.” You even put “misinformation” all in all caps. That’s simply not true...you conveniently left out that I certainly DID mention cover. It was NOT missing. You MISREPRESENTED what I said. Either you're lying about having seen that part of the video, or you lied about me not including it; take your pick. Now you’re backtracking and admitting that it was in there, but not where you would have liked to see it. Which leads me to my next point...



I would also like to point out that in your very own Avicularia care article on this board (which was written in 2016 when Caribena versicolor was Avicularia versicolor), you say: “You are best off setting up a tall container for your arboreal Ts, such as a 16 oz deli cup if they are quite small. If they are a larger slings, say an inch or a bit more go with a 32 oz deli cup.” Here you differentiate that smaller slings may need a smaller set ups. Why, is this okay in yours, but not in mine? You give no explanation as to WHY a smaller sling might need a smaller setup despite criticizing me for not including the same info. You also don't mention anything about them needing cover until five paragraphs later (much like I mentioned the need for cover only ONE paragraph later in my original article and few sentences later in the video). So, it sounds like maybe you have some revising to do on your article as well, as by the rules you've laid out here, yours also does not give the "best message."



That's not at all surprising. Does the paper also address the mortality rates of slings that are predated upon, killed by the elements, or that starve to death? All of those slings survived? Does this mean we should start encouraging more folks, especially ones that may be keeping slings for the first time, to put their spiders in adult enclosures? Keep them uncaged in a corner of our living rooms, perhaps? That’s a dangerous message there, especially for those just beginning in the hobby. And, again...I want to point out that you went so far in your article to mention the possible need to give smaller slings smaller enclosures. Will you be changing your care guide to include this info and to encourage folks to keep slings in larger enclosures? Is there a point to this, or are you just trying to be a contrarian?

Bottom line, you misrepresented what was said in my video, tried to backtrack, and then basically criticized me for the SAME THINGS you said and did in your very own husbandry article. What's the point? I've not only raised my own and bred them, but I've helped folks who bought my slings raise healthy spiders with videos, articles, and personal advice. For whatever reason, you just had to put your $0.02 into the mix and spew nonsense.

I'm going to take my leave from this foolishness, as I honestly have much better ways to spend my time. You can go back to being the disgruntled, bitter and blindly critical curmudgeon of this wonderful board, and I'll go back to actually trying to do something positive to help people in the hobby.

A nice tome to read above.

Before I address your comments, I suggest you don't promote tong feeding.

I can't for the life of me figure out why you would show tong feeding of that pretty P. sazimai.

Perhaps you are unaware of issues this may cause, such as one's T dying of starvation. I'm quite surprised to be honest, oh well. It would be great if you would edit that portion out, unlike me, you can edit your post.



1. I watched your entire video because the first few minutes were engaging. Your information was not consistent on 1 aspect, that's all. Nothing more, nothing less.

Could I have put in my original post that you did mention the information elsewhere in your video..YES!!!!..did I..NO!!!! You have an uncanny ability to decipher the obvious, it's quite remarkable.

2. The reason I didn't give an explanation on cage size for small Ts may have been I simply forgot. We cannot edit posts here unless one is a mod, perhaps you are not aware of this.

3. Just because I may have done something inconsistent, wrong, not perfect etc, doesn't mean I expect the next person to do the same. I expect the next person to be better, I know that's a crazy, absolutely crazy idea Hopefully your next video will be consistent in its messaging.

4. All the questions you wrote I cannot say if they were addressed. You'll have to find it on your own if you are curious.

5. Regarding size of container: one may do whatever they want. There are reasons why a smaller container size is better than a larger one. However, if one floods a large container with prey ensuring the sling eats that's all that matters (assumption is the container is designed appropriately). After all that is exactly what is happening on planet Earth, a.k.a. the wild.

I don't advise people keep slings in large containers because they will end up dead, but not because it's a large container per se. The T doesn't think "oh no, a 40 gallon breeder" and poof some biology death switch is turned on hahahahah

 

[Venomgland]

Lots of air holes on the sides for cross ventilation. More the better. I tried to make a spider on both side with all my air holes. I'm not an artist so it looks terrible, but my versicolor doesn't care.

 

[Vanisher]

They can apparently be kept on dry substrate, but i gave reard some hundreds of Avicularia slings duringbthe years on moist substrate, without any problems at all. The key is GOOD ventilation! I had an eggsack on Avicularia avicularia, and i have had lots of other Avicularia slings i kept moist. It is moist conditions WITHOUT proper ventilation that could kill them! I write in a previous pist why slings of Theraphosids should in my ooiniin be jept moist. Its because slings have not develoued a waxlayer that helps them prevent dry out. If you have a bone dry enclosurebthey dry out more easily. You can compare ut to a putting a wet sock in a dry room. Put the same wet sock in a room with high humidety and you will find that in this room, the sock doesnt dry out! But i have heard oeople raise even tiny slings in dry containers, so i guess this is fine! I will guess they are much more dependent on drinking in those enclosures. But keeping them on moist sub will not kill them i promise! Keeping them moist WITHOUT proper ventilations on the other hand will! But that is anither story!

 

[Venomgland]

They can apparently be kept on dry substrate, but i gave reard some hundreds of Avicularia slings duringbthe years on moist substrate, without any problems at all. The key is GOOD ventilation! I had an eggsack on Avicularia avicularia, and i have had lots of other Avicularia slings i kept moist. It is moist conditions WITHOUT proper ventilation that could kill them! I write in a previous pist why slings of Theraphosids should in my ooiniin be jept moist. Its because slings have not develoued a waxlayer that helps them prevent dry out. If you have a bone dry enclosurebthey dry out more easily. You can compare ut to a putting a wet sock in a dry room. Put the same wet sock in a room with high humidety and you will find that in this room, the sock doesnt dry out! But i have heard oeople raise even tiny slings in dry containers, so i guess this is fine! I will guess they are much more dependent on drinking in those enclosures. But keeping them on moist sub will not kill them i promise! Keeping them moist WITHOUT proper ventilations on the other hand will! But that is anither story!

Mines kept on dry, but I over flow the water dish every week.

 

[Hawksley]

When can I move my new spider to a bigger home? It is still in the plastic take out container that I bought her in. Picture for scale...

 

[Ungoliant]

When can I move my new spider to a bigger home? It is still in the plastic take out container that I bought her in. Picture for scale...

You can upgrade her now if you want -- or definitely after her next molt.

 

[Venomgland]

Mine just molted and she/he did not want to give it up. Kept attacking the tongs so I left the molt in there.

 

[Kitara]

Mine just molted and she/he did not want to give it up. Kept attacking the tongs so I left the molt in there.

Same. Mine molted at least a month ago and it's still in there. At first it was tacked up on the side of the wall like artwork. Recently she took it down so I thought she was going to let me take it, but nope. She's keeping it as a souvenir. I have to wait until her rehouse (new enclosure on the way!) in order to get it out.

 

[Venomgland]

Same. Mine molted at least a month ago and it's still in there. At first it was tacked up on the side of the wall like artwork. Recently she took it down so I thought she was going to let me take it, but nope. She's keeping it as a souvenir. I have to wait until her rehouse (new enclosure on the way!) in order to get it out.

My little ADD spider