Mexican Red Leg Tarantula Questions

[N1ghtFire]

So I decided to go to petco "just to look" at their pets, and I ended up finding this little guy. I have been wanting a new pet tarantula after my last one passed away due to old age. So I couldn't resist bringing this guy home, he is about a 1/4" Brachypelma emilia. I don't know much about this species so I have a few questions.

I keep my room at 68° - 70° Fahrenheit, is this tempature okay for him?

In the picture you can see he came with this foam pad in the bottom of his container, should i replace this with coconut fiber? And the meal worm in the container was fed to him by the people at petco yesterday but he still hasnt eaten it. Is it to big for him? Should i leave it in there until he eats it, or remove it since its been there for over 24 hours and has not been eaten. Also what is the best thing to feed him? He is obviously to small for crickets right now. My last tarantula was mature so I have never delt with spiderlings. Any advice?
I bought him the blue cage in the picture above, and will have a 5 gallon tank for him when he is full grown. but i think he is still a bit small and could fit through the holes in the top of the small blue cage . Is it okay for him to stay in the container he came in until he is a bit bigger?
Please just give me any advice on taking care of spiderlings or this species. Thank you!

 

[Toxoderidae]

odear @viper69 @EulersK

 

[EulersK]

Oh, here we go.

Don't put it in that cage unless you want it to escape Get yourself a deli cup from the deli, poke plenty holes in it with a needle, and you're good. Give it coco fiber substrate, a water bottle cap for a water dish (just water, no sponge, and they can't drown), and a cut drinking straw or some fake leaves for a hide. That's all you need. No climbing room at all. 1" from the floor to the lid is more than enough. For humidity, mildly overflow the water dish when you see the substrate starting to dry out. You don't want a stuffy cage, so again, poke plenty of holes with that needle. You can't have too many. Also, never worry about temperature again.

If you've read caresheets online, forget everything you've read. They're almost all wrong.

Please ask any questions you have in this thread! I'm watching it, so I'll be at your beck and call... as is the entire forum. A lot of helpful people on here.

Just a side note. This is my absolute favorite species, but they're not the best for beginners just because of how slowly they grow. Don't expect to have an adult any time soon. And by "any time soon", I mean within 5 years or longer if it's female.

 

[EulersK]

Just realized that I didn't address your feeding question. Yeah, remove the meal worm. They actually can very easily harm a spider. If you feed them meal worms, just crush the head and cut off chunks. As a sling, they will happily eat prekilled prey. Personally, I'd suggest just buying small crickets and cutting them and/or feeding it a torn off leg. But meal worms will work, to be clear.

You can't overfeed a sling! Feed it until it refuses food. It knows when it's had enough, you don't. Different story when it gets older, though.

I'm going to post pictures of typical sling enclosures when I get home, but @Trenor has some amazing pictures of setups for slings.

 

[viper69]

Thanks @Toxoderidae


Emilia's are excellent, hardy Ts.

I keep all my Ts 68F night/70-75F day, usually 75.

That setup and the prey need some obtimizing

1. Obtain a 16 oz deli cup (what you find at the supermarket deli, like SOLO).
2. Put some holes, using a push-pin is fine, around the perimeter, a few on top is fine if you like
3. Put some substrate, either coco fiber, about 3" deep, OR even better pure topsoil w/out any extra ingredients (I'll let @EulersK or @cold blood comment on that)
4. Build a starter burrow w/your finger or pencil AND provide a slab of cork bark against the container wall
5. Add in a water dish, 16 oz bottle cap from a water bottle is fine
6. A few plastic plants too
7. Transfer emilia into the deli cup
8. That mealworm is too large in my opinion, I would give it only a quarter of that mealworm cut up (@cold blood can comment better I use crickets)
9. Feed it as often as it will eat, slings job is to grow/get large, and avoid predators in the wild. I feed my slings everyday if they will eat.
10. Kept at 75F day, and fed as often as it will eat, my 1/2" AF emilia reached ~3.5" DLS in about 3-4 years.
11. Caresheets are for idiots, don't read them.

If you have questions come back to this thread.

You want a container that is on the small side like I mentioned above, what you showed is wrong (Petco) and the KK is too large (decreases prey/predator interactions when container is larger and T is small) for now.

 

[N1ghtFire]

Thank you a bunch!
I am looking forward to watching him/her grow up!
And yeah i have heard that about mealworms, so i went ahead and removed it. Ill cut it up and use it until i can get ahold of some crickets or other food.
I am interested in seeing the set ups ypu guys have.

What about the tempature i keep him at? Is 68 - 70 okay?

 

[Vanessa]

This was something I threw together to illustrate the different enclosures that I use for spiderlings. The size of the tarantula inside is what is written on the post-it on the outside. It is a guideline only and sizes don't have to be exact for each container. Some people swear by the deli cups and they work very well too.
From left to right.
.25" Euathlus sp Red, 1" L. difficilis, 1.5" E. campestratus, 2.5"-3" B. verdezi

 

[N1ghtFire]

Thank you all for your help!
I just finished getting a new container set up and moving him in. What do you guys think?

 

[EulersK]

Thank you all for your help!
I just finished getting a new container set up and moving him in. What do you guys think?

Not too shabby! Looks like a happy spider to me But is that sand under the coco fiber? This spider will burrow as a sling, and sand will cave in.

 

[N1ghtFire]

Not too shabby! Looks like a happy spider to me But is that sand under the coco fiber? This spider will burrow as a sling, and sand will cave in.

No, it isnt sand. The coco fiber was just really dry, so the stuff on top is a bit moist and the lighter cocofiber on bottom is dry still. Should i dampen the cocofiber throughout the cup?

 

[viper69]

This was something I threw together to illustrate the different enclosures that I use for spiderlings. The size of the tarantula inside is what is written on the post-it on the outside. It is a guideline only and sizes don't have to be exact for each container. Some people swear by the deli cups and they work very well too.
View attachment 217704

Nice picture!

Vanessa, I suggest you edit your post to read what species are in what container. That would help new people who come here later. For example the two containers to the left, could hold terrestrial OR arboreal depending on size/species.

 

[viper69]

No, it isnt sand. The coco fiber was just really dry, so the stuff on top is a bit moist and the lighter cocofiber on bottom is dry still. Should i dampen the cocofiber throughout the cup?

Not necessary.

 

[Vanessa]

Vanessa, I suggest you edit your post to read what species are in what container. That would help new people who come here later. For example the two containers to the left, could hold terrestrial OR arboreal depending on size/species.

Good point. In my case, all of the ones in the photo are terrestrial. I have edited the post to include who I have in those specific enclosures.

 

[viper69]

Good point. In my case, all of the ones in the photo are terrestrial. I have edited the post to include who I have in those specific enclosures.

I can always count on you and @Trenor to post up some excellent images in terms of resolution/clarity, Consistently, I might add too.

If only we could get @cold blood to move into the modern age on this area

 

[Vanessa]

I can always count on you and @Trenor to post up some excellent images in terms of resolution/clarity, Consistently, I might add too.
If only we could get @cold blood to move into the modern age on this area

Thanks, that's really kind of you.
I see so many people asking which size deli cup is 16oz, 32oz, etc., that someone who uses the deli cup setups should do the same thing. It would be great to see each deli cup size and the size of the tarantula who lives in it.
I put that together to illustrate approximate sizes - even if people use a different type of enclosure they can still get an idea of size.

 

[cold blood]

For a 1/4" sling what you have is fine, but I generally use a condiment cup...and unlike what eulersK said, I restrict ventilation to keep it from drying out too quickly. 4 pinholes around the side, and 2 or 3 on the lid, just to prevent condensation. This is nearly 1/2", but as you see, its still in a condiment cup.

 

[sdsnybny]

View attachment 217720 For a 1/4" sling what you have is fine, but I generally use a condiment cup...and unlike what eulersK said, I restrict ventilation to keep it from drying out too quickly. 4 pinholes around the side, and 2 or 3 on the lid, just to prevent condensation. This is nearly 1/2", but as you see, its still in a condiment cup.

Nice shot what happened to the potato camera

 

[N1ghtFire]

View attachment 217720 For a 1/4" sling what you have is fine, but I generally use a condiment cup...and unlike what eulersK said, I restrict ventilation to keep it from drying out too quickly. 4 pinholes around the side, and 2 or 3 on the lid, just to prevent condensation. This is nearly 1/2", but as you see, its still in a condiment cup.

I like that idea
What else do you have in the condiment cup with them? Like do you have a little hide or water or just food?

 

[cold blood]

A piece of moss perhaps, but no, its just lightly damp substrate.

 

[viper69]

Thanks, that's really kind of you.

You are quite welcome, I call it like I see it, that's the truth.