considering keeping an aboreal type, any pointers?

[ahkiu]

hello

i'm a relative newbie in the hobby and have generally felt a little shy of keeping an aboreal tarantula. Mainly because most websites/articles tend to decribe them as been very fast moving spiders and it makes them seem a little more difficult to manage for a beginner.

However, i have seen some A. versicolour slings for sale in the UK and i'm a suck for how beautiful they are

so is aboreal speices more difficult to maintain than their ground dwelling cousins?

I'm planning to house the sling in a pet pal turned on it's side, would this be suitable?

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by ahkiu
so is aboreal speices more difficult to maintain than their ground dwelling cousins?

Not a bit in my opinion, particularly an Avicularia. They are no more prone to going on runabouts than any other species, they can just be a bit more fun to catch if they do. Avics happily make their tube webs and only come out to hunt and drink.

I'm planning to house the sling in a pet pal turned on it's side, would this be suitable?

Depending on how small the sling is when you first get it, this might be a little too large of an enclosure. I started my versicolor off in an 8 oz jar that was well ventilated by cutting a hole in the lid and replacing it with plastic mesh. Once its big enough, though, the inverted petpal makes a great arboreal enclosure.

 

[ahkiu]

i was thinking about a 19cmL x 12cmW x 14cm H petpal. (so on it's side i suppose it would be 19cm tall on a 12x14cm rectangle)

do you think that's excessively large? I haven't got a reply yet from the breeder on the accurate size yet though having said that so i'll have to make a decision when he emails me back.

a jar would be easy though, thx for the suggestion

 

[SpiderTwin]

Avicularias

Hi Ahkiu,

I have many of the Avicularia's and they are my favorite. I don't consider them hard to take care of at all. You won't need to big of a container for them to live in if you get a spiderling, if you get too big of a container, they might have a hard time finding their food. If you get a larger spider, get a cage that is somewhat tall since they spend all of their time off the ground. I keep the substrate moist in their cages and I mist the cage 2 or so times a week. I have a piece of cork bark in each cage too so they can build their tube webs. As for them being fast, they can be, but they usually don't run far. As long as you don't startle them they usually walk their way around. They are great climbers also. The Avicularias are also known for being pretty docile.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[Lopez]

Hello hsp

If it's the stock I think it is they should be about 15mm across, and are apparently eating everything in sight.

Avics are beautiful, gentle spiders. I'm going to keep my baby versicolor in a cricket tub for a while with some cork bark for it to web off - when it gets larger then I will transfer it to a tank the same as the ones I keep my baboons in, but with just an inch or so of substrate so the spider has increased height. Failing that, a petpal on it's side is ideal, but it makes them awkward to stack IMO.

 

[vulpina]

Most arboreals are not at all that difficult to keep. Avicularias are not as speedy and difficult as say an Iridopelma/Psalmopoeus/Heteroscodra/Stromatopelma species. But most if not all of these,once they settle in they build their webs and stay inside except to eat and drink.

Andy

 

[ahkiu]

ok, you guys have convinced me then

lopez, you decided to get the versicolour after all then? was it from "anthony"?

 

[Valael]

Mine never actually made that tube web...well, it did and it didn't.



I had fake leaves in there and it just kinda closed up one side, so it was almost burrow like..



But now he hangs outside of it constantly. Just sitting there below it.



Guess he's a freak.