It will be my first t (but i currently have been caring for a small house spider in a critter keeper lol)I know that avicularia aren't as easy to care for as some of the other starter species. From what i gather most people have issues because the enclosures are kept too wet, am i best to allow the substrate to almost completely dry before misting again?
Do all a.versicolor have purple colouration?
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Yes/no. Avics die quite easily due to moist/stuffy cages. Even slightly damp sub with little ventilation will result in a dead Avic.
What's most important is mass air flow.
I keep mine w/a dry sub, a water dish and vent holes to provide enough air flow so it doesn't smell inside. I never mist. They aren't plants, and they don't like having water on themselves. Also the prob w/misting is the water won't last long enough for the T to drink from it, it will evaporate before it gets enough often times. So the only way to mist is to soak the container, which leads to Avics dying. That's why misting isn't the best approach IME.
Now, there are Avics that will not drink from a bowl, OR sometimes they don't after molting OR for unknown reasons they will stop drinking from their dish. In those types of cases you will need to add water with a syringe/blunt tipped needle. SO it's important to have strategically placed holes to allow for this, especially after molting.
If you don't pay strict attention to the size of your Ts abdomen, it's going to die.
It would be wise if you did more research before you bought your Avic, or it may end up dead most likely. Keep asking questions here, don't read caresheets!!! They kills Ts, esp Avics.
A. huriana drinking
Yes/no. Avics die quite easily due to moist/stuffy cages. Even slightly damp sub with little ventilation will result in a dead Avic.
What's most important is mass air flow.
I keep mine w/a dry sub, a water dish and vent holes to provide enough air flow so it doesn't smell inside. I never mist. They aren't plants, and they don't like having water on themselves. Also the prob w/misting is the water won't last long enough for the T to drink from it, it will evaporate before it gets enough often times. So the only way to mist is to soak the container, which leads to Avics dying. That's why misting isn't the best approach IME.
Now, there are Avics that will not drink from a bowl, OR sometimes they don't after molting OR for unknown reasons they will stop drinking from their dish. In those types of cases you will need to add water with a syringe/blunt tipped needle. SO it's important to have strategically placed holes to allow for this, especially after molting.
If you don't pay strict attention to the size of your Ts abdomen, it's going to die.
It would be wise if you did more research before you bought your Avic, or it may end up dead most likely. Keep asking questions here, don't read caresheets!!! They kills Ts, esp Avics.
A. huriana drinking
I am aware about ventilation so i will be putting lots and lots of air holes, and by misting i only meant wetting the substrate a little i like the idea of the syringe tho. I understand not to panic when it is in premolt/molt, just leave it be. I know never to leave uneaten live prey in the enclosure and always remove the remains of a kill, also keep a close look out for mold growth ect. ect. Ive done nothing but research for the last month or so, but experience always trumps research so if you have any other tips or tricks for me I'm all ears. I won't be ordering my sling for another couple of weeks so pleanty more time for reading and preparation.
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Make sure you provide it a water dish. I don't believe a water dish is a substitute for a syringe, nor vice versa either, both tools are necessary when owning an Avic. Also, I'm sure you came across handling your Ts. Not a wise idea to do so, esp with Avics. It's a genus that is a known jumper, and will leap off anything and fall well over 5 feet. Not handling your T helps ensure its survival. They derive no benefit from it.
Here's something I wrote, Q's on it, ask back here http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-husbandry.282549/#post-2461399
I forget if included, but 32 oz deli cups make excellent containers for Avics up to 2" in DLS.
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Theres no need to mist the substrate. That can stay dry. If you choose to use a misting approach, its the webbing and/or a wall that you would mist, not the sub. This spraying substrate will kill your avic under the right, or wrong conditions.
It will go like this, you will spray it now and never have an issue with a furnace running all winter....then one day it will be warm and rain....now that additional moisture, which was gone in a day in winter, lingers on for a week or more, add another spritz in this critical time and its the avic going critical.
Now you are confused because it did so well and you changed nothing and the avic seemingly went downhill for no reason.
This plays out over and over again with new keepers all the time. Having experience in knowing the whats and whens to keep things proper is invaluable, and why many experienced keepers discourage avics as a first.
With a little expereince, avics arent difficult to keep.
It will go like this, you will spray it now and never have an issue with a furnace running all winter....then one day it will be warm and rain....now that additional moisture, which was gone in a day in winter, lingers on for a week or more, add another spritz in this critical time and its the avic going critical.
Now you are confused because it did so well and you changed nothing and the avic seemingly went downhill for no reason.
This plays out over and over again with new keepers all the time. Having experience in knowing the whats and whens to keep things proper is invaluable, and why many experienced keepers discourage avics as a first.
With a little expereince, avics arent difficult to keep.
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Ok fair enough just asking, i know some people use them.
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When I wrote to add a water dish in earlier, it wasn't a suggestion.
Yeah i know definitely will be putting in a water dish.When I wrote to add a water dish in earlier, it wasn't a suggestion.
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Couldn't agree more.
It's the only genus where we read chronic deaths/issues of all for the same reason, more than any other.
Abyss
Arachnoknight
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^^^Accurate^^^Versi may change, but theyre never dull looking
Versi's will always hold a place in my top 5 for sure
Jeff23
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Mine is just over 2 inches and looks just like your picture. But it hasn't molted yet during the six months I've owned it. I am figuring the next molt will be a color change.
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You should see the first color change on the abdomen, it's a gradual progression too, not the entire abdomen. Should see bright lime green/yellow iridescence at a few angles.
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That's nuts. I just looked through records of not only the 2 I currently keep, but the 5 I have had before. At approx. 2" my average molt times have always been 50 and 85 days...longest was 94 days...so you're currently looking at a versi growing epically slow, so slow that not including the time before you got it, its already at twice (errr, half) the normal rate of growth.
Yours is right at that size where color changes begin to occur.
Do you keep it at 61 and feed once a month whether it needs it or not?
lol, I am sure its kept normally and feed normally, I was joking, of course....is it a bad eater? I've never had a versi that was a bad eater before.
Jeff23
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Maybe it molted while I was out of town and ate its molt? None of my other Avic's ever eat theirs though so .....That's nuts. I just looked through records of not only the 2 I currently keep, but the 5 I have had before. At approx. 2" my average molt times have always been 50 and 85 days...longest was 94 days...so you're currently looking at a versi growing epically slow, so slow that not including the time before you got it, its already at twice (errr, half) the normal rate of growth.
Yours is right at that size where color changes begin to occur.
Do you keep it at 61 and feed once a month whether it needs it or not?
lol, I am sure its kept normally and feed normally, I was joking, of course....is it a bad eater? I've never had a versi that was a bad eater before.
This T use to be in an AMAC. I got it from Jamie as a sexed 1-1/2" female. It went through over a two month period of refusing to eat after it had been doing fine for the first couple months when I got it. I thought it was in premolt but continued to test it with live crickets. Then one night it got caught in a string of spaghum moss that was glued to the side of the container and seemed to not know how to free itself after several hours. I freaked out and broke open the container so I could cut it free. I then upgraded it to a large enclosure. Soon after that it was back eating. But even now it won't eat more than one cricket a week. I constantly have to take crickets back out of the enclosure. Sorry for my terrible camera picture but I can't get a shot from the other side (too much web and plants). Hopefully it is healthy.
