Does anyone know of any locations to wild collect A. Chalcodes near Yuma Az?

[BuckBuckGoose]

Im here in good ol’ Yuma and want to try and wild collect a Female any suggestions?

 

[EulersK]

Many wild collectors vehemently keep their collection spots under wraps for two reasons. First, responsible hobbyists do not want the wild population to be demolished. Secondly, irresponsible collectors who don't necessarily care about wild populations don't want to share.

You'll want to try and find an area with lush green vegetation. You won't find a female out and about, they'll be deep in their burrows. If you find a tarantula out in the open, then it is almost certainly a mature male. To get them out of their burrows, you can flood them out (downside is that you're lugging around gallons of water through the desert) or dig them out (downside is that you've destroyed their burrow if you end up giving up, which may very well indirectly kill them as a result).

Regardless of what you do, be careful reaching down strange holes out in the desert

 

[KezyGLA]

Tickle them out with a piece of long grass or light twig. Exploit their prey drive. This is the easiest way to coax a T from its burrow.

 

[BuckBuckGoose]

Many wild collectors vehemently keep their collection spots under wraps for two reasons. First, responsible hobbyists do not want the wild population to be demolished. Secondly, irresponsible collectors who don't necessarily care about wild populations don't want to share.

You'll want to try and find an area with lush green vegetation. You won't find a female out and about, they'll be deep in their burrows. If you find a tarantula out in the open, then it is almost certainly a mature male. To get them out of their burrows, you can flood them out (downside is that you're lugging around gallons of water through the desert) or dig them out (downside is that you've destroyed their burrow if you end up giving up, which may very well indirectly kill them as a result).

Regardless of what you do, be careful reaching down strange holes out in the desert

How do you know it’s a T’s hole and not some random hole lol

 

[EulersK]

How do you know it’s a T’s hole and not some random hole lol

A. chalcodes aren't prolific webbers at all, but they still do lay down some web around the enterance as trip wires for prey. Look for very light webbing on the ground directly outside of their burrow. If they've closed off the burrow entirely with web, then do not disturb! It is likely molting or sitting on a sac - either way, you don't want to disturb her. Spotting the webbing that I mentioned before is rough, you'll have to look closely. And you'll also run into 20+ wolf spider dens for every single tarantula den, so you'll need to have some patience.

EDIT: To avoid digging up a wolf spider rather than a tarantula, look at their webbing closely. As most hobbyists could tell you, tarantula silk looks quite different from any other spdier silk. True/wolf spider silk is very "wire-y" and quite strong. You'll be able to easily see individual strands with this silk. Tarantula silk is much more fluffy, and you'd need great vision to see individual strands. They usually lay it down in long clumps, for lack of a better word. The area outside the burrow will almost glisten with the web, sort of like there is frost or white dust on the ground.

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

Here is an example A. Chalcodes burrow. I have noticed also that the wolf spider burrows are almost always a perfect circle shape where as the tarantula burrow will be a little less symmetrical.

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

Here is another thread where I posted some different pictures as well http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ap...row-outside-of-tucson-az.293025/#post-2612660

 

[EmmaJ]

She looks worse this morning. Not in death curl but hunched up. She was walking around her enclosure a bit last night so I thought she was feeling a bit better. I have moved the enclosure to my room where its quieter. I am at a loss as to how to keep helping her.