help with newly captured tarantula

Tank Buster

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Messages
4
Yesterday, I caught a Tarantula that was wandering up my street. When I was carrying him home I accidentally dropped him from about 4 feet high. I picked him right up and put it in a 10 gallon container with dirt and some branches. I also added in a moistened sponge for humidity.

He seems to be alright from the fall. All of his legs seem to be working fine as he has been wandering around trying to climb up the tank.

He has been pretty active since last night but this morning he's been sitting in the same position for a few hours without moving. His legs are not curled beneath his abdomen so I don't think he's dying but I tried touching his leg and he barley moves.

Is this normal behavior for a Tarantula? Can it be the stress that is affecting him? I am a little worried that he is not moving. How can I make him more comfortable?
 
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BrettG

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
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Aug 19, 2009
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1,315
Get rid of the sponge and give it a waterbowl first off. I bet you found a mature male,as this is the time of year that they start to stroll around looking for females.
 

PrimalTaunt

Arachnobaron
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Jul 28, 2009
Messages
467
Get rid of the sponge and give it a waterbowl first off. I bet you found a mature male,as this is the time of year that they start to stroll around looking for females.
+1. And to add that if that is the case you may as well let the guy go to do his business and pass away.
 

joshuai

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
821
Geez, nice job. Catch something wild and then endanger its life by dropping it.
<Leaves topic annoyed.
Dont let the door hit you on the way out!! I would let him go too and yes every one makes mistakes!
 

Tank Buster

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Messages
4
Geez, nice job. Catch something wild and then endanger its life by dropping it.
<Leaves topic annoyed.
It was an accident, I'm sure many people here have caught wild tarantulas before.

No need to get mad dude, chill out.
 

BrettG

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
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I agree with letting him go. If it IS indeed a MM,( I bet it is)his time is very limited and he is just going to go nuts running around in the 10 gallon.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
Geez, nice job. Catch something wild and then endanger its life by dropping it.
<Leaves topic annoyed.
i used to wonder why so many ppl leave AB after posting 3 or less times. posts like this probably have something to do with it.





@OP
if you fed the spider with store bought crickets or other bugs please do not let it go. bugs should only have a one way street into captivity due to risk of pathogen transmission... since you probably don't keep other bugs as pets the only real way for something to get spread is from store bought bugs.
 

redrumpslump

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
336
Geez, nice job. Catch something wild and then endanger its life by dropping it.
<Leaves topic annoyed.
Everyone makes mistakes. Instead if being mean about it why don't you help educate him? Caco I agree with you I think this is the reason go alot of people leaving AB. If you can't add anything to help on the thread don't post. Pretty simple.

Anyways...OP yea lose the sponge and get an actual waterbowl. If you can post some pics we can tell if it's a mature male. I'm thinking it is and if that's the case then release him and let him make some babies.

Matt
 

Tank Buster

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Messages
4
OP Id like to see a picture of your captured T if you have one :)
My cheapo camera broke last week, sorry man. But I'm almost positive it's a mature male.


Did you notice any bleeding are any side effect from the fall?

Matt
I checked him out and I didn't see any bleeding. He seems to be doing good now. He's eating well, I fed him 2 crickets. However I am thinking of letting him go and buying a $20.00 Rose Hair from Petco. I feel sorry for the little guy.

What do you guys think I should do?
 

NikiP

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 16, 2006
Messages
539
I am thinking of letting him go and buying a $20.00 Rose Hair from Petco. I feel sorry for the little guy.

What do you guys think I should do?
This, and start browsing the forums before you get the rosehair. That way you'll be educated before you bring your new friend home :)
 

NevularScorpion

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
916
My cheapo camera broke last week, sorry man. But I'm almost positive it's a mature male.




I checked him out and I didn't see any bleeding. He seems to be doing good now. He's eating well, I fed him 2 crickets. However I am thinking of letting him go and buying a $20.00 Rose Hair from Petco. I feel sorry for the little guy.

What do you guys think I should do?
I also catch tarantulas in the wild to fatten them up then release them. I even feed females or immature male with crickets on their burrow :). I like using my thong to draw them out of their burrows and make them do threat pose lol
 

webbedone

Arachnobaron
Joined
Aug 27, 2010
Messages
410
I think letting it go and rescueing the rosie from evil petco is the right choice. Just get The Tarantula Keeper's Guide either before or with and you'll be set to go.
 

Chris_Skeleton

Arachnoprince
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Jan 31, 2010
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I also catch tarantulas in the wild to fatten them up then release them. I even feed females or immature male with crickets on their burrow :). I like using my thong to draw them out of their burrows and make them do threat pose lol
Hmm I never knew thongs drew them out of their burrow. I'll have to wear one when I'm trying to get mine out lol
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
it really is not a great idea to release stuff after you have fed it. or even just kept it in a reused container if you keep other spiders.

it's funny cuz afaik i am one of the few hobby ppl to really look into invert pathogens and it is pretty scary. most of my research went into arachnid pathogens but i did come across enough stuff to know that like humans and all other animals virtually every individual is infected with *something*. the vast majority of the time "natural" pathogens do not cause too much harm to their hosts. essentially it is a bad survival strategy for a pathogenic organism to kill or seriously inconvenience their host. BUT you can run into problems with non-native pathogens are introduced.


specifically here my concern would be grain mites. petstore crickets are lousy with them. in nature, specifically CA nature, i do not see that many grain or other saprophagic mites in nature. they exist... but seem to be well controlled by natural predators and conditions. it might be possible to spread a grain mite that is resistant to the natural controls local species experience... for instance the hobby grain mites can enter a suspended animation hypopus stage that lets them go relatively long periods without food and water. it is entirely possible that being able to withstand privation so long would allow them to not die off when the native mites do, and thus have their numbers grow and grow. they would then out compete native species for similar foods and what not. also the mites could be a vector for other diseases. a lot of times infection occurs when scavengers eat the contaminated tissue of dead bodies. or the mites could carry plant diseases and spread them to native plants that are the base of most food webs.

i'm not saying that is what *would* happen... no one can know that. i *am* saying that based on my own research credible invertebrate pathogen threats *do* exist and that we in the hobby know pretty much nothing about them.

if you are worried about "wasting" the spider by keeping it yourself know that there are tens of thousands to millions of other mature males out there that will handily cover the increased work load. plus, if you are really that concerned i believe i can get you an address to ship it to for scientific research which is desperately needed on our local tarantula species... or possibly even find ppl somewhat local to you that have females that might be of the same species
 
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