My pet tarantula escaped! Help!

[leighannedelray]

I feel really terrible, but I was dirt changing, and cage cleaning last night and I found out (this morning) that I had left a crack open to the top of one of my tarantula cages and he is now gone!
I have a sunburst baboon, a Venezuelan SunTiger, 2 Chilean Rose Hairs, and then this one other fella that I bought a year ago as I little guy. I have lost the receipt and I do not know what he is I bought two at the same time, and one passed away right away, but I still have the little tiny bottles that the two different ones came in, so, and there is some sort of shorthand written on the lids of the vials that the two little spiderlings were in. So, I know that he came in one of those two, and one lid says "Ga" and other said "Pi". I don't know if that means anything to you guys, or if it even matters what kind he is when they are just loose in your house.

Anyway, I figure on a forum like this, this must have happened to tons of people on here. I am only slightly scared, b/c I don't think he would hurt me, I am more just really sad, b/c I don't think that the will find any random crickets or bugs in my house, so I feel like he may starve if he is lost too long. BUT, my biggest concern is my cat. I really think if she finds him before me, he could be a goner. She has been responsible for a few homicides of various bugs and lizards that enter our house from time to time.

His (and I don't know if it is a 'him') temperament is pretty nice, he doesn't seem to be aggressive like the sunburst baboon or the Suntiger but, just moves very fast. He is about 3 inches around and I just feel awful.

Is there anything I can do? I want to make it right and find him and give him a nice cricket gift to show my apologies.

Any ideas?

Thank you in advance for any help you guy can give me. You really have no idea how appreciative I am. I just joined and you guys are great.

Also, I have a few photos of him, if you would want me to post them, I don't know if it will help though.
Also, another bit of info, he is a hider, I mean he has a stick to climb up and a rock to hide under, and he is never on the stick,but is always under the rock, so he likes to hide under stuff, I would think.

Thanks again.

~Leigh Anne DelRay

(owner of 2 emperor scorpions, 1 babycurus jacksoni scorpion, 1 Sunburst Baboon Tarantula, 1 Salmopeus Irminia Venezuelan Sun Tiger Tarantula, 2 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantulas, 1 Mystery Tarantula (who is lost), 2 Hermit Crabs, 1 Wandering Violin Praying Mantis, 2 Leopard Tortoises, 1 Sonoran Desert Tortoise, 3 Cats and 2 Dogs) so I guess a zoo really.

 

[7mary3]

well guessing at the short hand I'd say that the Pi is short for Psalmopoeus irminia, and then the Ga is some sort of Grammostola.

A photo would help a ton. Both in general identification and in terms of helping you search for it.

 

[AmbushArachnids]

I would guess Grammostola aureostriata. That is now classified as Grammostola pulchripes. Did it have gold stripes on the knees? I would look for the closest warm dark area and keep searching. It will probably be found low but always check the ceiling first(its easy). I had an LP escape and searched my whole room and ended up finding it on in the top corner of my wall. Good luck. You can put out a dish of water hoping it gets thirsty.

 

[JimM]

Best of luck to you Leigh Anne.
Although I've never had a tarantula escape, I've had a few monitor lizards escape back in the day. Twice I found them, outdoors against overwhelming odds. (just knowing their habits) and a third, which was actually a rock iguana now that I think about it, was gone forever.

Move with care in the general area, it probably hasn't gone far. First appropriate hiding spot I'd imagine.

 

[Bill S]

Only one escapee? Consider yourself lucky. During this past summer I discovered one of my tarantulas had an egg sac in her hideaway only after it hatched and we found swarms of babies migrating down the hall.

You didn't give us a lot of specific information to help you with. We don't even know if the tarantula is arboreal or terrestrial. That could make a difference where to look for it. What kind of environment did you lose it in? (Large open room, small cluttered closet, etc.) In any case, start looking under everything, behind everything, etc. If there's reason to believe it's still confined to one room, try to put up barriers to keep it in that room. Look for it at night. If you can come up with a red light to illuminate the area being searched, use that at night instead of bright white lights. If you're stuck with white lights, shut them off for half an hour and leave the room darkened - then turn them on and go in and do a fast, systematic search. I notice you're from Tucson, and things are pretty dry here right now. Consider putting a shallow bowl of water in the vicinity of where the tarantula escaped from, and put a few small boxes or places for the tarantula to hide in near that bowl. Also keep your eyes open in wet areas of your home, such as bathrooms and kitchens.

Good Luck!!

 

[leighannedelray]

Thank you so much with help with the abbreviations. IT IS A GRAMASTOLA!
After you said that, I immediately knew!

So, it is a gramastola, and it is a ground-dweller, and hides under things, and has stuff to climb in its tank but never climbs them.

It was in a nice little aquarium that has a screen top that slides to the side to open, and it was just slid over like an inch open and the bugger escaped from the crack. It was on a eye level shelf in the main room of my house, so where the living room, and a sun room and the kitchen all meet.
It is really close, (like 3 feet away from) the refrigerator. So I will keep an eye out near there. And I will try the dish and a nice dark box. I also have kept his little aquarium open, b/c I wouldn't want to stop him from going back in there, and it is the most ideal place for him.

I can always set his aquarium on the floor and wait.
I just fear the cat finding him first.
eek.

Thanks for help with the i.d. I needed that. And you are right Tucson is getting to be pretty dry again, no more monsoons here.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AmbushArachnids]

Does sun hit the tarantulas cage? :?

 

[BigJ999]

I don't know i would be worried about the cat T venom ive heard is pretty potent against dogs&cats.

 

[leighannedelray]

No, the cage does not get hit by the sun ever.
And That is alarming. I had no idea that tarantulas were very dangerous for cats and dogs.

Has anyone on here ever had experience with that? My little tornado of a cat is only 6 pounds, so I am pretty freaked out if a baby tarantula only about 3 inches could possibly kill her or hurt her?????
eek!!

I have now tried the water dish and the box, and his cage is on the floor now, and I also am sleeping with the interior door open and the screen door being the only door there, with a 1 inch crack under it, so maybe he will just take off into the wild where he can eat again. (not ideal, but better than dying) And hopefully nothing new will crawl in.


Thanks for any other suggestions.

 

[AmbushArachnids]

Its probably not a good idea to introduce a spieces thats not native to your area.

And i believe (cacoseraph) I think how its spelled.. was saying something about parasites and small bugs could be introduced from a captive T into the wild and effect the native microscopic organisms. I dont know what the thruth to this is. :? But he did say he was studying it for a while.. :? Its beyond my knowledge so dont quote me on that.

 

[Bill S]

Its probably not a good idea to introduce a spieces thats not native to your area.

And i believe (cacoseraph) I think how its spelled.. was saying something about parasites and small bugs could be introduced from a captive T into the wild and effect the native microscopic organisms. I dont know what the thruth to this is. :? But he did say he was studying it for a while.. :? Its beyond my knowledge so dont quote me on that.

I don't know of any mites or microorganisms identified on captive raised tarantulas that have harmful potential in the wild - but the concept is a valid one. The California desert tortoise population is threatened now, largely because of a microorganism that was introduced from captive animals. Just because we haven't identified pathogens from tarantulas doesn't mean they don't exist. As a matter of standard caution - releasing captive animals, especially if they originated somewhere else - should not be done.

 

[Irfin]

A) You'll find it dead in a couple days in your home.

B) You'll find it alive in fewer amount of days in your home
1)You will see it moving around and catch it
2)You will not see it moving and it will bite you
3)You're other animals see it first and they kill it
4)You're other animals see it first and it kills them

C) It gets out of your house and dies / gets eaten or gets eaten / dies.

It is EXTREMELY unlikely that a non-native T would be able to maintain a steady population in the US environment. I openly welcome criticisms from those who have evidence otherwise.

Keep a container nearby at all times. I would even go as far as to put one in arms reach in every room. Think like a T. If you were scared, dehydrated, afraid of light and being seen, where is the nearest place you could run to in order to feel safe...

Longer term, my assumption is that they will move to find a moister environment assuming they cannot get back into their enclosure. At which point I project they will travel searching out moisture. They feel more comfortable moving in dark and like mice, travel along the edge of a room.

A sling will die in the first 24 hours.

Good luck.

 

[Bill S]

It is EXTREMELY unlikely that a non-native T would be able to maintain a steady population in the US environment. I openly welcome criticisms from those who have evidence otherwise.

Brachypelma vagans has established a long term population in Florida, despite official efforts to eliminate it. Circumstances have kept it in a small geographical area, but it's been there for years and wild offspring have been documented. This has been documented by the Florida Department of Agriculture.

In this case, though, a single captive hatched specimen cannot reproduce and there's nothing closely enough related to hybridize with.

A sling will die in the first 24 hours.

I've found missing slings several days later. I've also had several-month-old escapees turn up more than a week later. But the odds do quickly decrease with time.

 

[Irfin]

Touche'

Thank you for the corrections.

 

[BillyG]

Coz you know how they love to hide,I think you can call your friends come over and ready for a room cleanning(if the room door was open last night then house or apartment cleanning).I don't quite get how many ts have you lost,but there still chance that your t(s) is(are) still in your home,so why not?I'll go cleanning with you if i am near but i'm not, so girl...I wish the best luck to ya!

 

[Ivory]

i lost my .75 in h. maculata last night what do i do or where do i look????? please help me

 

[Mrk Socias]

Im hoping to find my Marshalli as soon as possible too

 

[Vinny2915]

Whenever closing lids always double check sometimes triple check. The amount of times I would've missed a loose lid is astonishing.

 

[Irfin]

Not sure it matters now but the T was found and everything worked out!