The toads may have been eating her insect prey items, too. They are also nocturnal and share a similar diet.
. Spiders are so different from almost any other "normal" pet. Weeks and months without food is common and normal. And they actually do better in smaller enclosures.. I hope the spider gives you many years of happiness in his spirit! They're really neat animals to keep.
I am sorry to hear about your father. Follow the advice of the others in this thread and you will have a much better environment for your spider. And the toads as well.
I never said they can "think". I said they have a memory and basic learning abilities - like every other invertebrate ever tested. Invertebrate learning is actually textbook knowledge since the 1980s and before. I really don't know why people around here are so vehemently opposed to accepting a very, very well proven fact. Unfortunately, tarantulas have never been included in learning tests and nearly all of arachnid learning has been investigated in jumping spiders, which are highly intelligent by invertebrate standards. So, it's basically inference: since every other invertebrate ever tested, from worms to flies to snails to jumping spiders, can learn, so can tarantulas. If you google invertebrate learning behaviour you get nearly 1.5 million results, and a lot of them are old textbook articles - most of the research has been done 20 or 30 years ago. Newer research focusses on molecular mechanisms of memory.
I agree, it's quite clear they're more intelligent than people give them credit for.
if you would have read my full post you would have seen that I inherited her from my dad when he died a few weeks ago.. Not my choice of a pet but I'm trying. And the toads were because of a link I saw online about what tarantulas eat.. I thought she would like something besides crickets. That's all my dad has fed her for 8 years. They were in her habitat for 3 days.
Thank you and yes I'm excited to have her. I was told females can live to around 20 years.. I think he got her around 2004-2008You don't actually need a bigger enclosure. Just set it up differently, like others have said. Spiders don't need a ton of room to roam.
One piece of advice I think I can contribute is to take everything you know about animal husbandry, throw it out the window, and start over
Sorry about your father! Terrible situation
I think he mentioned something like 2004-2008 he has had her since she was a tiny thing.
Oh you thought the tarantula would eat the toads - I didn't get that. Actually I'm against feeding things other than insects to tarantulas - those toads or mice die a slow and very painful death. Some people still do it and I don't say it's morally wrong, I'm just saying I don't like it. But Tarantulas don't need anything else but insects to live very long and healthy lives, so there's no need to feed them animals with advanced pain receptors and make those animals suffer.
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She does... He loved her and I want to too. But I want her to be extra happy with me.... She lost him too. Probably feels abandoned. He held her alot. She was always chilling on his shoulder when he watched TV or was reading.
I didn't think of that.. that's actually a very good point. I want her to be happy. I thought a broader diet would help her be happy. I feel bad she is caged up. Is it OK to take her outside and let her walk around in the grass?Oh you thought the tarantula would eat the toads - I didn't get that. Actually I'm against feeding things other than insects to tarantulas - those toads or mice die a slow and very painful death. Some people still do it and I don't say it's morally wrong, I'm just saying I don't like it. But Tarantulas don't need anything else but insects to live very long and healthy lives, so there's no need to feed them animals with advanced pain receptors and make those animals suffer.
Oh, and there's some rumours that a tarantula like yours can get 30 to 40 years old - so you may have her a very long time
Yup! And they can go longer with proper care
With that said, avoid online caresheets like the plague! They seem credible to a novice, but are often written by people with very little experience with tarantulas. Come here for all your questions! And be sure to keep a camera handy to share all the awesome pictures with us
Thankfully, although I do think they are smarter than people give them credit for, they aren't capable of emotions, taming, or anything of that such. In other words, she knows no difference. Simply give her the correct housing, food, and water. She'll be content for many many years. Please avoid handling her though, there's really no benefit to it. If you do decide to do it occasionally, keep her no more than a foot off the ground and in a big open area.
She's perfectly content in a tank for the next 30 years of her life, so I wouldn't recommend getting her out at all. And definitely do not take her outside, they are a lot quicker than you think. You can give them a varied diet, but it doesn't necessarily matter to them. I would recommend superworms or dubia over crickets, but crickets will do just fine too.
The thing is terrestrial tarantuals like yours don't walk around in the wild, either. They are very much homebodies: they create their burrow and then they stay there forever - really forever. Everything they don't know is dangerous for them and can be extremely stressful. What we humans think of as exitement is pure naked panic inducing for a tarantula (or whatever a tarantula feels when it's really scared). I don't think your tarantula would like a walk in the grass. They seem to mostly just want some peace and quiet.