Is my T dehydrated or is something else wrong?

[GayTree]

Hi, I'm new here and I have a question about an unsexed A. Avic I got 16 days ago from a local pet store that's about an inch and a half long, give or take, not including its legs. Normally the little thing stays on the side of its enclosure with its legs out and occasionally walks around, and, I've noticed it seems to pace the enclosure when hungry, and, the first week I had it I think I fed it too much by giving it four crickets throughout the week, and after further reading, I stopped and have only given it two this week, and it's water dish stays full and was cleaned just the other day, on Monday if I remember correctly. However, yesterday I noticed it pacing it's enclosure and presumably searching for food, and it appeared otherwise fine. Later in the night, however, it began to curl it's legs underneath it except for one or two while still sitting on the side of its enclosure, near the top. And, out of fear, I opened the enclosure and offered a cricket, which it found and struck at with no issue whatsoever, and, afterwards, the curling ceased and it appeared to be back to normal. Today however, when I noticed that it was towards the bottom of its enclosure- still on the wall, it rarely ever ventures onto the ground, it only seems to when hungry or on the one occasion I saw it at it's water dish about a week to a week ago-, its legs were curling under it yet again, though not as much as they were the first time, and about two or three hours ago, I offered it another cricket which it readily accepted and stuck at. It's now finished consuming it and, once again, it appears to be back to normal aside from keeping it's legs close to its body. During and after feeding it appeared to be relaxed, though for nearly an hour now, it's kept it's legs close to its body, but not tucked. I don't use an under tank heater since I've heard those seem to only be good for cooking the poor things, instead I use a space heater and the room stays roughly 50-70F° which it never seems to find an issue and I typically try to keep the room between 60-70° when able. Until Monday, I'd been keeping a sponge in its water dish but after further reading, I removed it as they only seem to cause issues, and I also cleaned the dish and rinsed well prior to placing it back in the enclosure. I don't mist the enclosure and I keep the ssubstrate dry and get a clean cloth or q tip to remove any stray droplets or spills from watering and there's no signs of mold or anything of that nature and any waste from the feedings are removed regularly. But, does anyone have any idea as to why it's suddenly began tucking it's legs underneath it and curling them in? I know they flip on their backs to molt, but it hasn't flipped itself over or spun any webbing, but could it still be attempting to molt? Or is it possibly dehydrated? I don't know the sex, however I don't think it's anywhere near maturity. I also keep my curtains closed and the main light is off 85% of the time or more, the only light aside from that and what comes through the closed curtain I'm the day, are the lights of the heater when it's on, a lava lamp, and and a salt lamp which are all very dim and cast a slight glow at best. Should I possibly put it in a tarantula ICU? What could be wrong with it? Also, I water it with bottled natural spring water and the bowl is never dry, and I've yet to purchase anything for it to climb on, however, I will be doing so soon as well as searching for a taller tank, the current one is maybe an 11-13 inch length, 7-8 inch high faunarium that had a width of maybe 6 inches at the bottom and 7 at the top. Also, will this be suitable for it while it's smaller or should I go ahead and look into purchasing an adult sized enclosure made/suited for arboreals? Also, I've handled it twice and kept it where it can't fall during the handlings and I mostly just let it walk around, once was on the day I got it and the second time was maybe a week after that. I'm sorry that this was so long but I wanted to mention all that I possibly could for best results, and if anyone has any idea of what the issue may be or has any questions, thoughts, advice, suggestions, or anything, really, I'd love to hear it. Thank you all for taking the time to read this, I really appreciate it

 

[Enrgy]

Sounds like it was cleaning itself and you can just use tall deli/condiment containers for housing. Also since you handle it, You shouldn’t wash your hands with anything prior to doing so.

 

[GayTree]

Sounds like it was cleaning itself and you can just use tall deli/condiment containers for housing. Also since you handle it, You shouldn’t wash your hands with anything prior to doing so.

Do they do that with most of their legs curled under them? Mine kept maybe two or three extended during when it was curled, but the majority were underneath it or appeared to be curling closer to going under it. Also, how often do they typically clean themselves?

 

[Enrgy]

Do they do that with most of their legs curled under them? Mine kept maybe two or three extended during when it was curled, but the majority were underneath it or appeared to be curling closer to going under it. Also, how often do they typically clean themselves?

Yea it’s fine, if u watch closely next time you’ll see it moving them between its fangs while doing so and I can’t really give u an exact answer as to how often they do it lol, because I mean, these are animals and they do whatever they want when they please

 

[GayTree]

Yea it’s fine, if u watch closely next time you’ll see it moving them between its fangs while doing so and I can’t really give u an exact answer as to how often they do it lol, because I mean, these are animals and they do whatever they want when they please

You have a point, and, thank you for the help! This is my first tarantula and that was really worrying me since I'd never seen it do that before

 

[Enrgy]

You have a point, and, thank you for the help! This is my first tarantula and that was really worrying me since I'd never seen it do that before

no problem
Edit: forgot to say pretty much everyone on here disapproves of handling (u shouldn't mention that u do so again lol) cus it does more harm than good but I know people will do whatever they want cus it's their animal and they're responsible for it.

 

[GayTree]

no problem we've all been there
Edit: forgot to say pretty much everyone on here disapproves of handling (u shouldn't mention that u do so again lol) cus it does more harm than good but I know people will do whatever they want cus it's their animal and they're responsible for it.

Okay, thank you again!

 

[Thekla]

Could you post pictures of the spider (especially from the pedipalps to make sure it's not a MM) and the whole enclosure? It's hard to say, whether there's something wrong or not without pictures.
One thing though, I'd say you feed it still way too much. At that size (you said 1 1/2" without legs, right?), I'd feed it once a week, if at all.

 

[GayTree]

Could you post pictures of the spider (especially from the pedipalps to make sure it's not a MM) and the whole enclosure? It's hard to say, whether there's something wrong or not without pictures.
One thing though, I'd say you feed it still way too much. At that size (you said 1 1/2" without legs, right?), I'd feed it once a week, if at all.

Roughly, I can't measure anything like, at all, but, sure, I can post a few pictures. I don't have a molt or anything and it hasn't molted since I've had it and I have no clue when it did last, but, if you need any other pictures, just let me know and I'll do my best to get them. How are these? And, I took one with a water bottle for size comparison. I just took these and this is what or normally does, but it occasionally changes where it's sitting and all, but it's normally in this position

One of those posted twice I think, sorry about that :"

 

[Anoplogaster]

Avics are arboreal spiders. They will spend almost no time on the ground. That is perfectly normal. Also, you need a LOT more clutter in there. And I agree with the above: you’re feeding too much. Spiders need far less food than you probably realize.

 

[GayTree]

Avics are arboreal spiders. They will spend almost no time on the ground. That is perfectly normal. Also, you need a LOT more clutter in there. And I agree with the above: you’re feeding too much. Spiders need far less food than you probably realize.

Should a purchase or attempting find a larger, well, taller enclosure or wait on that? And, what would be good clutter and things for it? I had debated purchasing things like fake Ivy that's in the reptile section and all but I was scared that it would possibly misjudge the strength of it and fall, and I thought the same thing with small fake plants. Should I get some and hot glue them in or buy more durable branches or fake plants that are used in reptile cages and things?

 

[Thekla]

Unfortunately, that enclosure is not suitable for an Avic. It needs more height, something to climb and sit on (preferably a cork bark leaning against the wall) and loads of clutter/foliage around the top.

Here are some threads you should read:

Avicularia care by @Venom1080
Avicularia husbandry by @viper69

Other than that, that spider looks healthy as far as I can see. Maybe you could post a picture of its pedipalps from above/front. Are the tips of them still pink?

 

[Enrgy]

she said she was looking for something taller and stuff for it to climb on. I think she knows it's arboreal, she said she had been doing some reading on it.
After all she wasn't keeping it how most inexperienced people do. and as said above, feeding once weekly will be fine.

 

[GayTree]

Other

Unfortunately, that enclosure is not suitable for an Avic. It needs more height, something to climb and sit on (preferably a cork bark leaning against the wall) and loads of clutter/foliage around the top.

Here are some threads you should read:

Avicularia care by @Venom1080
Avicularia husbandry by @viper69

Other than that, that spider looks healthy as far as I can see. Maybe you could post a picture of its pedipalps from above/front. Are the tips of them still pink?

Yeah, they're still pink, how is this?

 

[Thekla]

Yeah, they're still pink, how is this? View attachment 293946

Great. So, at least we can be sure it's not a MM (yet). Pet shops often sell MMs because they don't have clue.
You could post the close-up picture (from the first set of pictures) here, and I'm sure a more experienced keeper could determine whether it's male or female. I'm really bad when it comes to ventral sexing.

That's a very nice looking T by the way. And you can measure its size very easily when it sits like that... just take a ruler and measure from the tip of one of its front legs to the end of the rear leg on the other side. That's the DLS (diagonal leg span) and that kind of measurement is way more helpful than just its body length.

 

[GayTree]

Great. So, at least we can be sure it's not a MM (yet). Pet shops often sell MMs because they don't have clue.
You could post the close-up picture (from the first set of pictures) here, and I'm sure a more experienced keeper could determine whether it's male or female. I'm really bad when it comes to ventral sexing.

That's a very nice looking T by the way. And you can measure its size very easily when it sits like that... just take a ruler and measure from the tip of one of its front legs to the end of the rear leg on the other side. That's the DLS (diagonal leg span) and that kind of measurement is way more helpful than just its body length.

Thank you! As soon as I can find a ruler I'll be sure to do that and keep track of it. And, I've been wondering about the gender but I figured I'd have to wait until it molts, but I'll post the picture you mentioned and see if I can possibly get that figured out. What would be some good clutter and plant ideas? Should they be strong enough for it to climb on, or? And, should the cork be glued in once I can obtain it?

 

[Enrgy]

doesn't have to be glued in, u can just have it leaning or something. good clutter would be a lot of any fake foliage, in the wild they live up in the trees and seldomly come down.
http://arachnoboards.com/gallery/avic-housing.54708/full something like that

 

[Andrea82]

Feeding it a lot can cause them to go off feed for weeks or even months.
Be sure to change its enclosure, and like @Thekla mentioned, read up on this genus in the threads she quoted. You could use this one temporarily, but I would tilt it so it stands on its shortest side, with just a little bit of substrate on the bottom.
Avicularia rarely comes to ground, except for drinking, so it's normal to sit on the sides. What you have seen with the funny positions of its legs is just spideryoga and cleaning

 

[GayTree]

doesn't have to be glued in, u can just have it leaning or something. good clutter would be a lot of any fake foliage, in the wild they live up in the trees and seldomly come down.
http://arachnoboards.com/gallery/avic-housing.54708/full something like that

Thank you! As soon as I get the chance to order or buy some fake plants and cork, I'll do that for starters and then attempt to figure out a more suitable enclosure for it and I'll post updates of it as I go if you'd like

 

[Thekla]

You can house it in whatever you want as long as it has proper dimensions in terms of height and size depending on the size of your T.

I recently rehoused my two arboreals into these (just so you get an idea):

C. versicolor (sling)


its former enclosure


A. merianae (juvenile/sub-adult)


and his former enclosure