Caring for a bunch of T's

monitormonster

Arachnoknight
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Mar 12, 2007
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Does anyone have advice on how to care for a big collection? I had 3 T's to begin with, and last weekend me and my roomates bought out someones collection. So, we went from 3 to 20 T's overnight~~~

It just seems kinda difficult to keep track of feeding/moulting/etc. for that many little buggers. Any input on good ways to keep organized would be appreciated.

Oh, and I gotta give a shoutout to Ronj (member on here), who sold me his awesome collection. All of the critters are in great shape!
 

Hedorah99

Arachnoprince
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Does anyone have advice on how to care for a big collection? I had 3 T's to begin with, and last weekend me and my roomates bought out someones collection. So, we went from 3 to 20 T's overnight~~~

It just seems kinda difficult to keep track of feeding/moulting/etc. for that many little buggers. Any input on good ways to keep organized would be appreciated.

Oh, and I gotta give a shoutout to Ronj (member on here), who sold me his awesome collection. All of the critters are in great shape!
A pad of paper is your best friend. Just write what you did each week. Who ate, who molted, who refused food. I had little spread sheets made up on MS Excel. Right now I have about 60 but have done away with the records. I just feed each week and check on them every day. I can generally remember from week to week who is refusing food and what not. I did put labels on all the tanks to help me keep tract of who's who.
 

monitormonster

Arachnoknight
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Yeah, I did buy a labelmaker yesterday and made sure that all of the latin and common names were on each cage so nobody would be confused.

I would say about half of the T's are South American terrestrial spp. and the other ones are mostly Avicularia spp.....

So, my next question is: Can most T's be kept at the same room temperature, as long as it is reasonably warm in there?
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
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I have 25 arachnids at the moment and I don't bother with any writing. If I'm in doubt if a T want's food I use a syringe to drop water next to it. If it pounces, it's hungry. It's that simple.

If the abdomen is 2-2½ times as big as the carpace I don't even think of feeding, however long the T hasn't had food. My boehmei sling for example hasn't received food for 3 months now, only water and it's going as strong as ever. So no point in stressing about the feeding.

Moulting happens whenever slings legs go dark, adults and juvies abdomens go dark or whenever they don't pounce water. That covers it all and it's very simple. It lets the T tell you what it wants.
 

ballpython2

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Does anyone have advice on how to care for a big collection? I had 3 T's to begin with, and last weekend me and my roomates bought out someones collection. So, we went from 3 to 20 T's overnight~~~

It just seems kinda difficult to keep track of feeding/moulting/etc. for that many little buggers. Any input on good ways to keep organized would be appreciated.

Oh, and I gotta give a shoutout to Ronj (member on here), who sold me his awesome collection. All of the critters are in great shape!
what you can do is feed them all the time until they stop taking food...you can't overfeed a tarantula because it will eat only up until its full ( asked a professional breeder/ seller).

You will know when your T's are full because if you put a cricket in their cage (when you feed them only put one cricket inside the cage wait for that cricket to be eaten first then put another one in) and then come back the same time the next day and its still alive this means either your T is not hungry or its going in molt soon.

Some T's will stop eating a month or two or sometimes a week before they are about to molt.

(Note: This doesn't apply to Old world T's because they do not possess the uricating bristles and normally dont develope a bald patch) One way of knowing a molt is coming is when you see a bare patch on the tarantulas abdomen turn a black or purple this is the new bristles coming in and the new exoskeleton is completely done forming inside the T. but they will come in with the new molt which is how you know your T will be molting in the coming days, weeks, etc.
 

Diva Satanica

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what you can do is feed them all the time until they stop taking food...you can't overfeed a tarantula because it will eat only up until its full ( asked a professional breeder/ seller).
From what I have read here, that is not necessarily the case. There is another thread in here when people are recommending that if your T is "fat" in the abdomen, withhold food until the abdomen is only slightly bigger than the carapace.
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing........but I look forward to the other responses this statement brings.
 

Cirith Ungol

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what you can do is feed them all the time until they stop taking food...you can't overfeed a tarantula because it will eat only up until its full ( asked a professional breeder/ seller).
Not a good idea. The bigger the abdomen the higher the rist of abdomen rupture in case of a fall. It only needs one fall and you'll be sorry for a long time. It's not that they starve when the abdomen is only a little larger than the carpace.
 

tarangela2

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Not a good idea.

i second that! :clap:

a T in the wild will eat at any opportunity because it doesn't know when the next meal will happen to pass by. a captive T doesn't know the difference.

stick to the one or two crix a week rule and remove anything that isn't eaten in 24 hours.
 

P. Novak

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It's actually not that hard to take care of alot of Ts. Just space consuming. I use Microsoft excel to moniter all my Ts(like molts, feedings, sizes, matings, etc). THen I label their enclosures and give them each their own file name for my computer.
Heres an example:

Brachypelma smithi 0.1 - in my data 0.1 would mean female and #1 of its SPECIES. Like say if I had a B.smithi 2.0, which would be its a male and #2 of its species. B.smithi 0.0.3 means its unsexed and #3 of its species.

For the file name Brachypelma smithi 0.1 is
010Brasmi01

010 = sex and # of its species
Brasmi = first 3 letters of its genus and species name
01 = picture number

Confusing at first, but it definately works!
 
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ballpython2

Arachnoprince
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It's actually not that hard to take care of alot of Ts. Just space consuming. I use Microsoft excel to moniter all my Ts(like molts, feedings, sizes, matings, etc). THen I label their enclosures and give them each their own file name for my computer.
actually i forgot that one part of this whole thing of its a terresterial you may want to limit its food intake because it may have a bad fall but if you have stuff like fake spaghnum moss (not peatmoss thats dirt) and you pile it up around the tank a good amount of it will support any fall..if all you have for the substrate is peat moss and its pact down a fall for from a certain height could rupture the abdomen but if you have stuff like sphagnum moss (sold at pet stores) it really make for a safe landing....

In the wild if a T isnt hungry its not going to eat until it explodes...its going to eat until its full and since they have a slow metabolism... a certain amount of food will fill them up and last them a while in the wild and in captivity ..so yes they will stop eating when they feel full.
 

cacoseraph

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i have something like 200-400 individually cages predators. i break them into groups of 20-30 (right now i have something like 20 groups). and track wheni feed and water groups.

now i only track mature(ish) females' molting and (pre)penultimate males for tarantulas. i used to track EVERYTHING but it got to be too time consuming.

i used to keep track of feeding and what not mentally till i got way past 100 individuals

edit:

oh yeah, i *try* to group things together according to care needs. centipedes tend to need to eat more than tarantulas, so if i pair slow growing tarantulas with the centipedes either the tarantula is going to get more care than it needs or the cents are going to get not enough.
 

cheetah13mo

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I have almost 50 T's and I do not keep up documentation on molts or feeding. I feed each T based on the size of it's abdomen and how it's acting. If it is reclusive and not visible, I do not feed it. If it wants food, it'll be at the opening of the hide waiting or on a walk about. That's when it gets food. The deep burrowers are a different story. I just keep putting crickets in their cage once a week untill the food is not taken within 24 hours. At that point, when all the lights in the room have been out for a while, I'll use a red flashlight and look for feet at the opening. If there are feet, I feed, if not, I don't. I don't feed any of them if the abdomen is much larger aroung than the cephlothorax. Basically it's just knowing what to look for.
 

Mina

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I keep track of what I feed to who and when. My husband designed a computer program for us to use. We have scientific name, common name, given name, sex, who we got the T from, and when we got them. We keep track of moults, with measurements on size before and after, and feedings.
Before the program I kept track of it all on paper.
We keep detailed track of all T's, adults, slings and juvies. We have 46 T's.
 

stonemantis

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I know alot about feeding and caring for large numbers of tarantulas . I now have over 500 and I seperate them into feeding groups based on prey item size and label all the container's on the lid with a magic marker that doesn't rub off when it's touched (Easier said than done).

I also keep a record of when each group has been fed. I seperate all that are in premolt and post molt and feed the rest once a week. Since I have a large number of animals I usually am feeding 1-2 groups a day. I also work a 60+ hour a week job that I only have time off when I'm doing a show and on Christmas and Thanksgiving. Sometimes it overlaps but, it's very manageable for me.

Organization is key to keeping large numbers of animals.

Brian
 

Stylopidae

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I refill water dishes once per week on Monday nights. On Friday nights after my daughter goes to bed, I usually feed as an excuse to stay up and make sure she doesn't need anything. Saturday mornings, I take uneaten food out and flush it (not risking contaminating the feeder colonies). Then, I give the roaches their friut. After this, I get my daughter and I breakfast and go to work. This works out pretty well, even if I do have to get up around 6 or so.
 

Dilbrain

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Excellent thread !
I only have 12 T's but find it easier than feeding 2 or 3, there is less wastage and it's simple enough to find a system that suits you and your particular lifestyle. That said, it seems that 7 of mine are in pre-moult and I have an excess of Locusts.......hmmm perhaps I'll be upscaling this weekend....:D {D
 

Dom

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I only have 2 t's and a bunch of scorps and I don't document anything except which instar my scorps are at or date of birth.
When I used to keep herps I placed a strip of masking tape on the contianer and marked when I fed them or they shed. Used to use paper but found tape on their cage or container was easier. When it's full it can be taped over or removed and placed in a records book if you want to keep the info.
 

monitormonster

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Thanx for the replies!

I have gotten some good ideers from you guys, I think I will use notecards and stick em under each cage....that'll keep track of eating, molting, etc.

Now the only problem is sexing all of the critters! I think only 3 are confirmed
 

monitormonster

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Oooh, lets see....To start with, I had a A. Versicolor, and A. Avicularia, and an A. Geniculata....

My roomates and I threw down on 17 T's....we got:

~2 4" B. Smithis
~2 5" G. Roseas (one F)
~4" B. Vagans
~2 3" A. Avicularias
~3" A. Versicolor
~8" L. Parahybrana (F)
~3" P. Murinus
~4" C. Cyanopubescens
~4" H. Lividum
~4" B. Albopilosum (F)
~5" G. Aureostriata
~2" P. Scrofa
~3" Brachys. spp. Burmesis (sp?)
~3" N. Chromatus

Needless to say, the T collection went from okay to AWESOME....and we got such a damn good deal on the whole lot, plus cages, roach colony, T books, etc.
 
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