Got my first Tarantula yesterday

[MikeofBorg]

I gave my Avic live plants, different bark and branches as anchor points and it anchored its web to the front door from a piece of bark. SOP for Avics I hear.

 

[MikeofBorg]

Had a feel of them and they don’t seem hot, however I’ve moved them about 40cm away and is still providing a good night time cycle of light

The new LED lightbulbs are pretty much full spectrum and generate almost no heat. The little heat they do generate is at the base of the bulb and in most lamps it will be vented out the top through holes. You can grab a lit LED lightbulb by the warmest part barehanded and not be uncomfortable holding it. They are that cool. Most of the heat will come from photons being absorbed by the decore//plants; which at only 13 watts power output will be negligible.

I use those and the LED light strips to light my display enclosures; which all have live plants in them. Both the plants and Ts have been thriving under the standard LED lightbulbs that fit the standard bulb sockets in most lamps and LED light strips. The LED strips though stay away from the $9 Walmart ones, they are only 5 volts and generate almost no light. 12 volt LED strips are pretty decent. I ran two side by side for the enclosures on my shelves. Again Ts and live plants have been doing great.

 

[PhilMcWonder]

Also, I did get told that they won’t normally eat for the first 4 days, would this be correct? I did try feed her but she wasn’t interested. One more thing since it’s a rather large enclosure will it take her a while until she starts webbing?

Your call. SOME people feed them right away. OTHERS wait up to a week.
Here is MY opinion. Give them a day or two to explore. You don't need to wait for a web to be made. Just wait until they are a little familiar with their home. When you put them in there they don't know if it is safe or not so they might be a little stressed out. Once they have explored their new home a little I feed them. That way they know their new home is safe AND there is prey to hunt.
This is just the way I see it. It all depends on the Tarantula. If it is stressed out (curled up or hiding in a corner... usually both) I would wait until they relax and explore bit.

 

[MikeofBorg]

Your call. SOME people feed them right away. OTHERS wait up to a week.
Here is MY opinion. Give them a day or two to explore. You don't need to wait for a web to be made. Just wait until they are a little familiar with their home. When you put them in there they don't know if it is safe or not so they might be a little stressed out. Once they have explored their new home a little I feed them. That way they know their new home is safe AND there is prey to hunt.
This is just the way I see it. It all depends on the Tarantula. If it is stressed out (curled up or hiding in a corner... usually both) I would wait until they relax and explore bit.

I waited about 8 hours before feeding the slings that arrived today. Both of them readily took crickets, a pinhead for the little A. geniculata sling and a small cricket for the P. rufilata. It really is your call though, spiders are instinctual creatures so they don't need too much time to adapt. They readily go back to being unstressed spiders rather quickly after getting in a roomy enclosure.

 

[BenB619]

Your call. SOME people feed them right away. OTHERS wait up to a week.
Here is MY opinion. Give them a day or two to explore. You don't need to wait for a web to be made. Just wait until they are a little familiar with their home. When you put them in there they don't know if it is safe or not so they might be a little stressed out. Once they have explored their new home a little I feed them. That way they know their new home is safe AND there is prey to hunt.
This is just the way I see it. It all depends on the Tarantula. If it is stressed out (curled up or hiding in a corner... usually both) I would wait until they relax and explore bit.

I mean I don’t think she is stressed because today well actually at the time of typing the she’s in the glass legs all spread out, did try feed her but she wasn’t having any of it, she’s quite active at night so I’ll feed her when the lights are off

 

[PhilMcWonder]

Ts won't eat unless they want to. I feed mine twice a week and so far she always takes it. It doesn't need to be active to eat, it just has to be in the mood for food.

 

[BenB619]

Ts won't eat unless they want to. I feed mine twice a week and so far she always takes it. It doesn't need to be active to eat, it just has to be in the mood for food.

I don’t think my T likes eating when the cricket is in the tweezers/tongs, I left one cricket in and she got it in no time whilst having a walk, how many crickets should I feed her a week? So far it’s been 2 but got her Wednesday

 

[PhilMcWonder]

It goes by size. Small Tarantulas such as juvis might only eat once a week. Mine is an adult and I feed it twice a week. once monday or tuesday, and once friday or saturday.
Your Tarantula wont over eat. If it doesn't want food it will ignore it, bat it away, walk away from it, or even throw up a threat pose at it. I got mine last week and she eats everything I put in front of her.
Some Tarantulas can eat 6 times a week but that is typically the bigger ones.

Remember this. If the tarantula doesn't eat, remove the prey from the cage. Let them find the prey on their own if they dont want to take it from your tongs OOOOORRRRR Drop the cricket near by and usher the cricket to the tarantula. (DON'T USE SUPER WORMS LIKE I DID BECAUSE THEY BURROW AND YOU WILL NEED TO DUMP THE TANK OUT)

 

[PhilMcWonder]

You can also put a cricket in the cage and come back later to see if your Tarantula took it. Either way as long as you don't leave prey in the cage you are solid.

See how much your Tarantula likes to eat and when/what it doesn't want to eat. How big is your tarantula exactly?

 

[BenB619]

You can also put a cricket in the cage and come back later to see if your Tarantula took it. Either way as long as you don't leave prey in the cage you are solid.

See how much your Tarantula likes to eat and when/what it doesn't want to eat. How big is your tarantula exactly?

So far she has eaten 3 crickets (gutloaded), she’s a sub adult Avicularia Kwitara, so I wouldn’t be too sure on size

 

[PhilMcWonder]

3 crickets a week? That sounds like plenty.

 

[BenB619]

I

3 crickets a week? That sounds like plenty.

You would be correct, did read that some sub adults would take 3-4 crickets a week, she’s had two today in one sitting , as I’m writing this she’s doing the happy dance, but I’ll get into the schedule of feeding her Monday/Tuesday and Friday/Saturday

 

[PhilMcWonder]

Sounds like a good plan. Just don't leave prey if its obvious she isn't interested and clean up and remains you find. ALSO be careful about tong feeding because there is a risk your tarantula can break a fang if it bites down on the tong. Although, it doesn't sound like your T even wants to eat anything from the tongs.

 

[Thekla]

It goes by size. Small Tarantulas such as juvis might only eat once a week. Mine is an adult and I feed it twice a week. once monday or tuesday, and once friday or saturday.

Yes, feeding does go by size, but it's usually the other way around.
I feed my slings 2-3 times a week, juvies get one feeder a week, and adults (depending on abdomen size) get a feeder every 1-3 weeks. For example, I feed my juvie/sub-adult A. merianae about once a week or every 10 days depending on the feeder size.

You have to remember that slings and smaller juveniles put all they eat into growth. (Sub-)adults, on the other hand, don't moult that often anymore, so they can get really fat, if they really eat every time you offer something, which presents a whole other set of problems. Or they will have much longer fasting periods before even entering the premoult stage.

Your Tarantula wont over eat. If it doesn't want food it will ignore it, bat it away, walk away from it, or even throw up a threat pose at it. I got mine last week and she eats everything I put in front of her.
Some Tarantulas can eat 6 times a week but that is typically the bigger ones.

They may be able to eat 6 times a week, but that doesn't mean they should (at least not in the hobby, where food supply is never a question). See reasons above. And I'm pretty sure there're people here who can explain this a lot better than me.

(DON'T USE SUPER WORMS LIKE I DID BECAUSE THEY BURROW AND YOU WILL NEED TO DUMP THE TANK OUT)

Of course you can feed mealworms and superworms, just crush their heads before you give them to your spider, so they can't burrow anymore.

I'm surprised no one has recommended reading these threads before:

Avicularia care by @Venom1080
Avicularia husbandry by @viper69

 

[viper69]

I see a lot of information in here....some true, some false.

@BenB619 When you have a chance, I'd love to see your Avic. sp Kwitara from the dorsal side, a nice clear shot in FOCUS. Your Avic is not fully described by science yet, thus no species name, hence sp. Kwitara, If this T is of Kwitara River region it's a slow grower by all accounts I've come across, but who knows. I had 2, slowest growing Ts I ever owned.

The mesh lid has got to go, change to a acrylic lid with holes.

they won’t normally eat for the first 4 days, would this be correct?

No. One can never predict when a T will eat upon arrival after opening up the box etc.

Also, humidity KILLS TARANTULAS.

This is SCIENTIFICALLY false. I didn't know the jungles of S. America were so dry Your follow up post afterwards was the correct one. Your misinformation causes someone to ask a secondary question which of course you knew the answer to.

stray cricket that escaped my tweezers

Why should a cricket escape tongs? Specifically why does anyone tong feed a T?? It's not necessary, and only puts your T at risk of dying.

It goes by size. Small Tarantulas such as juvis might only eat once a week. Mine is an adult and I feed it twice a week.

It doesn't, you either don't know what you are talking about, OR you mistyped. Slings eat way more frequently than adults.

Let them find the prey on their own if they dont want to take it from your tongs

No need for tongs.

3 crickets a week? That sounds like plenty.

I feed my Ts as much as they will eat. Appetite varies by so many things, including species. I have a species that is ravenous, she will eat 10 crickets in two days quite often.

People that place arbitrary numbers of how many crickets a T should etc are usually doing this out of convenience, and likely routine for their lives, not just the Ts

did read that some sub adults would take 3-4 crickets a week

Ben, 3-4 is not a lot for a sub adult for many, many species.

 

[BenB619]

@viper69

Managed to snap a photo of the Avicularia Kwitara and it appears to be in focus and is clear, hope this helps. At the time of taking the photo she is in the middle of finishing up her food.

 

[viper69]

Thanks for this. Hard to tell what it is, but this is based off of one image, and it’s digital.

I’ve seen sp Kwitara River images that are very different than this. But who knows where this T came from really. Or was it CB?

 

[BenB619]

Thanks for this. Hard to tell what it is, but this is based off of one image, and it’s digital.

I’ve seen sp Kwitara River images that are very different than this. But who knows where this T came from really. Or was it CB?

That’s quite alright, and the common name for this T is “giant green pink toe”, I bought this T from TheSpiderShop.co.uk, I did a google search of this T and all the images look identical to my T, by CB did you mean Captive Breed? If so honesty I have no idea

 

[viper69]

That’s quite alright, and the common name for this T is “giant green pink toe”, I bought this T from TheSpiderShop.co.uk, I did a google search of this T and all the images look identical to my T, by CB did you mean Captive Breed? If so honesty I have no idea

Yes. It may not be CB, was curious.

Mine were CB.

Google searches can get you in trouble esp with Avics. However doesn’t mean one should’t look.

Enjoy! Don’t see these too often, every few years or more in the USA.

Yeah heard that common name.

Some people think this and sp metallica are color morphs.

No one knows this, would be cool.

 

[BenB619]

So I’ve changed up the enclosure bigger piece of cork bark tube, fake plant near the stop, fake plant canopy, however my Avic still has made no attempt at webbing only a few tiny bits here and then (must take a lot of time) she also seems very inactive during the day and even at night I see her move for 20mins then stays still for hours on end (I assume she moves about when’s I go to sleep)