First week with spiderlings

kooky

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 4, 2016
Messages
91
Hello, i just joined this forum and recently joined the hobby.
I have 4 spiderlings;
2x Euathlus sp. "Red."
1x B.albopilosum
1x B.smithi

IM just going to use this to track the progress of my spiderlings on a week by week basis. And ill upload pictures as well if anyone is interested :) so this week i made a novice error of assuming spiderlings behave the same way adults do, well as i have learned they dont.

As a result i have 1x sp.red that is somewhat stressed and trying to readjust his life. The other one is i would assume 1 molt larger, and has eaten 1 micro crickets since getting him. The other one hasn't.
My b.smithi is tiny and scared of its own shadow if it moves. Hasn't eaten dead or alive crickets as of yet.
My b.albop, is one hungry beast. he refuses to eat dead crickets, and will eat anything i put in his pot, the second i do. He is absolutely tiny but eat crickets the size of him. he has eaten two since i got him, one on Wednesday and one today.
Im not too fussed about the other two having not eaten, i know b.smithi and sp.red grow veeerrrrry slowly. Ill post pics of the lil darlings below so people can see them gradually get bigger. (*and i mean gradually)

20160805_184212.jpg Euathlus sp.red, the larger of the 2 that has eaten one cricket.
20160805_184222.jpg Euathlus sp. Red, the one who will probably hate me for life and hasn't eaten yet.
20160805_184240.jpg my b.albop who eats everything in sight. My friend believes her two adults are the 'true' curly hairs, she bought them last year i think, so im hoping this young hungry fellow will be as beautiful as they are.
20160805_184311.jpg and finally this is my little b.smithi that is scared of everything. Also hasnt eaten as of yet.

Sorry about picture quality. These are my 4 beautiful babies, any advice would be greatly appreciated as they are the tarantulas I have had the pleasure of owning.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
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Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
@kooky

There's a few things to know

1. Your E sp Red (larger one) is in a jail cell, put it in something that has a larger diameter, vial is TOO small.

Also, feel free to post a week by week progress report or whatever, but they don't change all that much even on a monthly basis. So if you have nothing better to do but report "nothing has changed" or "abdomen is fatter after feeding" feel free to do so, otherwise you are wasting your time in doing so. You'd be better off watching paint dry at that rate hahaah.
 

rasulsimakshah

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Joined
Mar 26, 2012
Messages
117
Looks like your B. albo and B. smithi are a little bit hungry, their abdomen aren't particularly plump. Thanks for sharing, hope they make you want even more slings!
 

kooky

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 4, 2016
Messages
91
Looks like your B. albo and B. smithi are a little bit hungry, their abdomen aren't particularly plump. Thanks for sharing, hope they make you want even more slings!
Yeah they were quite skinny when i got them, i'm hoping the b.smithi will eat soon, the albo has a big enough appetite he should plump out, 'fingers crossed'
@kooky

1. Your E sp Red (larger one) is in a jail cell, put it in something that has a larger diameter, vial is TOO small.

Also, feel free to post a week by week progress report or whatever, but they don't change all that much even on a monthly basis. So if you have nothing better to do but report "nothing has changed" or "abdomen is fatter after feeding" feel free to do so, otherwise you are wasting your time in doing so. You'd be better off watching paint dry at that rate hahaah.
yh maybe ill just post if anything changes/they molt, just be nice to have something to record their progress. Ill upgrade the large sp.red to a bigger container, he spent so long buried he didn't look so big until he had a cricket today xD
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
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Dec 8, 2006
Messages
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Yeah they were quite skinny when i got them, i'm hoping the b.smithi will eat soon, the albo has a big enough appetite he should plump out, 'fingers crossed'


yh maybe ill just post if anything changes/they molt, just be nice to have something to record their progress. Ill upgrade the large sp.red to a bigger container, he spent so long buried he didn't look so big until he had a cricket today xD
The best way to keep a record is to keep a notebook and write down the information. Relying on electronic means is just asking to have your data get lost should a man-made component break down, and they always do.
 

EulersK

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Staff member
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Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
The best way to keep a record is to keep a notebook and write down the information. Relying on electronic means is just asking to have your data get lost should a man-made component break down, and they always do.
We're gonna fight again, aren't we?

I'll go get the spears. :shifty:
 

Trenor

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Joined
Jan 28, 2016
Messages
1,896
The best way to keep a record is to keep a notebook and write down the information. Relying on electronic means is just asking to have your data get lost should a man-made component break down, and they always do.
We're gonna fight again, aren't we?
I'll go get the spears. :shifty:
I'm going to declare shenanigans on the direction of this whole discussion is taking. Everyone grab a broom.
 

kooky

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Aug 4, 2016
Messages
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I'm not sure if there is a shenanigans rule in England so you're probably ok. :D
everyone here is so polite, we don't reach the shenanigan stage very often. The country shuts down at the slightest inconvenience ;o.
 

kooky

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Aug 4, 2016
Messages
91
So quick update.

My small eua sp.red has now buried himself into a little cave. Only time will tell if he will eat the cricket i have given him.
My b.smithi has still not eaten, has created a den with web and again i will check later to see if it has eaten its cricket. I would like him to eat soon, his abdomen is quite skinny when compared to the two eu sp.red.
My b.albop has just eaten his 3rd cricket this week. His abdomen was also quite skinny so he is probably quite hungry, he pounces on those crickets like nobody's business. He just walking around webbing the place up with it in his mouth. Quite cute actually.
My larger Eua sp.red has been upgraded to a bigger container, though i feel this one might be slightly too big, he has eaten 2 crickets so far this week and i will check later to see if he has eaten another.
At this point in time, i'm just going to feed them as much as they will eat. If my b.smithi and smaller eua sp.red haven't eaten today ill leave it a few days before trying again, or ill stick to trying with dead crickets. Considering my friend complained about how picky her b.albop are at eating, mine has the biggest appetite so far, and refuses dead crickets, he wrangles ones the same size as him lol.

I might take some more pics later, ill see how it goes.
 

Vanessa

Grammostola Groupie
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Mar 12, 2016
Messages
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Yes, the feeding habits of a B. albopilosum will often spoil you. They will rarely turn down a meal and mine have always acted as if they are starving when their abdomens show that they clearly aren't.
They are especially helpful if you have a small amount of tarantulas and have species who tend to fast for long periods - just get into the habit of feeding the B. albo last and give them what the others won't eat. Bless their little hearts... I love them so much.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
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Dec 8, 2006
Messages
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So quick update.

My small eua sp.red has now buried himself into a little cave. Only time will tell if he will eat the cricket i have given him.
My b.smithi has still not eaten, has created a den with web and again i will check later to see if it has eaten its cricket. I would like him to eat soon, his abdomen is quite skinny when compared to the two eu sp.red.
My b.albop has just eaten his 3rd cricket this week. His abdomen was also quite skinny so he is probably quite hungry, he pounces on those crickets like nobody's business. He just walking around webbing the place up with it in his mouth. Quite cute actually.
My larger Eua sp.red has been upgraded to a bigger container, though i feel this one might be slightly too big, he has eaten 2 crickets so far this week and i will check later to see if he has eaten another.
At this point in time, i'm just going to feed them as much as they will eat. If my b.smithi and smaller eua sp.red haven't eaten today ill leave it a few days before trying again, or ill stick to trying with dead crickets. Considering my friend complained about how picky her b.albop are at eating, mine has the biggest appetite so far, and refuses dead crickets, he wrangles ones the same size as him lol.

I might take some more pics later, ill see how it goes.
Feed slings as much as they will eat, none of this once a week stuff people do so frequently

E sp Red even at 1/4" will eat live food, they are predators. They will scavenge feed too. One thing about this locality, they do tend to prefer smaller prey despite their size. That is another equally sized T would take a larger crix, they typically won't. They are also methodical hunters, more so than most species I have owned. They are extremely patient.
 

kooky

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Aug 4, 2016
Messages
91
So the good news! all 4 ate yesterday, meaning my b.smithi has finally eaten! hopefully that lil abdomen will start filling out again.
My larger eua sp/red turned down a cricket and almost cowered from it today, so im not sure if that means it is going into premoult or if its just not hungry. Time will tell.
b/albop had its 4th cricket in a row. My other eua sp.red has excavated almost the entire bottom of the tube. he also turned down a cricket, but the one from yesterday has disapeared so i can only assume he ate it. You are definitely right viper about them being patient. My b.albop jumps the cricket the second it touches the ground, he is ready and waiting to pounce as soon as i take the lid off, whereas my two eua ep.red seem to almost ignore it, then jump it later on when it crosses them. So nice too see the different behaviours. My b.smithi sits in her little webbed hole and catches the cricket when it crosses her web.
Also i have noticed more condensation appearing on the walls on my tubs, even though i haven't sprayed since putting them in, its just kind of gradually built up, in 3 of the 4 containers. any advice on how to reduce this, i really don't want stagnant air/mould coming to the party.
20160807_100423.jpg this is my larger eua sp.red enclosure, and you can see the condensation.
20160807_100412.jpg just a cute pic of my smaller eua.sp red in his tunnel. A lot of work for such a little guy :) his is the only enclosure that doesnt have condensation, im not sure why.

I used coco fibre brick as substrate and it wasn't dripping wet or anything when i used it, the condensation has just kind of built up, i have specifically not sprayed them because of it.
 
Last edited:

Trenor

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Jan 28, 2016
Messages
1,896
So the good news! all 4 ate yesterday, meaning my b.smithi has finally eaten! hopefully that lil abdomen will start filling out again.
My larger eua sp/red turned down a cricket and almost cowered from it today, so im not sure if that means it is going into premoult or if its just not hungry. Time will tell.
b/albop had its 4th cricket in a row. My other eua sp.red has excavated almost the entire bottom of the tube. he also turned down a cricket, but the one from yesterday has disapeared so i can only assume he ate it. You are definitely right viper about them being patient. My b.albop jumps the cricket the second it touches the ground, he is ready and waiting to pounce as soon as i take the lid off, whereas my two eua ep.red seem to almost ignore it, then jump it later on when it crosses them. So nice too see the different behaviours. My b.smithi sits in her little webbed hole and catches the cricket when it crosses her web.
Also i have noticed more condensation appearing on the walls on my tubs, even though i haven't sprayed since putting them in, its just kind of gradually built up, in 3 of the 4 containers. any advice on how to reduce this, i really don't want stagnant air/mould coming to the party.
View attachment 217297 this is my larger eua sp.red enclosure, and you can see the condensation.
View attachment 217298 just a cute pic of my smaller eua.sp red in his tunnel. A lot of work for such a little guy :) his is the only enclosure that doesnt have condensation, im not sure why.

I used coco fiber brick as substrate and it wasn't dripping wet or anything when i used it, the condensation has just kind of built up, i have specifically not sprayed them because of it.
Yeah, I've had some of mine do this too with temp changes. Coco fiber even when it doesn't seem really wet can have a lot of moisture in it. I'd enlargen the holes you have using something like the pointy end of a bamboo skewer. You show be able to do this with the T still in there if your careful. This should help with the extra condensation.

Glad to hear it is going well.
 

Vanessa

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Joined
Mar 12, 2016
Messages
2,423
I recently had the same issue with my Euathlus spiderling containers and I put a few additional holes in at, and below, the substrate line with a thumb tack. I was careful and did it with the spider still in the container - they were always on the opposite side. If they didn't move out of the way, I put it down and waited until they had.
Just make sure that your spider is clear on the other side of the container and that you can see them at all times.
 

kooky

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 4, 2016
Messages
91
i added more holes to the lids of the small tubes and enlarged the holes in my euathlus container, Hopefully that will help a bit more now. Its been very hot the last few days so im pretty sure thats whats suddenly caused it. Ill be keeping an eye on the substrate, its just annoying the micro crickets i have are black, so they can be annoying little buggers to remove afterwards.
 

kooky

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Aug 4, 2016
Messages
91
20160808_085257[1].jpg i'm starting to think he may be going into premolt. His abdomen looks like its getting darker, i didn't feed him today, but i might try a dead cricket to be on the safe side. the light doesn't show it very well, but i definitely looks darker than yesterday, at least to me.
 
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