new tarantula

chinom

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
8
hello people...
i stumbled across this site and decided to join because i just got a tarantula from a friend. He caught it and didnt have an aquarium to put it in so i obliged. I just wish i could know what species it is. i dont have a digital cam, so no photos as of yet. i searched the net for tarantulas native to my area ( arkansas ) and found that there is only (supposedly) one species that dwells here, which would be the Aphonopelma hentzi , or texas brown. It would be wonderful to know for sure so i could give it the proper habitat such as moisture and prefered type of substrate. I have no reason to believe that this is not an Aphonopelma hentzi, excpet that all the sites i have found say they get to be approx. 1 1/2 - 2 inches or so in length. i believe mine is closer to 3 1/2, not counting the legs. other than that, the colors seem to be identical. any info on this is greatly appreciated. thank you.

-dud-
 

chinom

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
8
yes, its my T

all i am REALLY worried about is how moist to keep it for molting and if it is ok to use wood chips. i dont know if they are cedar or pine. i read that a lot of invertabrates have reactions to cedar chips. my friend doesnt know anything about it except that it reared back at him. it doesnt look like the pic you directed me to. it is more brown, maybe immature?:?
 

Mendnwngs

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 30, 2003
Messages
128
For what its worth, I think the whole humidity thing is highly over emphasized.

Ill just stop there on that one. :)

Also, you say the T you have is about 3" Body length? That sounds like a fairly large specimin. At that size (and im guessing here) it probably should be adult, or close enough to an adult to show adult coloring..


The pepole here are great, and a hell of a lot smarter than I when it comes to Ts.
See if you can borrow someones digital camera to take som pics. Im sure someone here will know exactly what you have.

-Jason
 

D-Man

Arachnochicano
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 27, 2003
Messages
356
Re: yes, its my T

Originally posted by chinom
all i am REALLY worried about is how moist to keep it for molting and if it is ok to use wood chips. i dont know if they are cedar or pine. i read that a lot of invertabrates have reactions to cedar chips.
Ask for a care sheet on this forum. Cedar kills, not causes bad reactions. If you're ever in doubt about anything for a T, don't do it, ask someone. Use the basics: potting soil, peat moss, vermiculite, or more commonly combinations of these. I use 50-50 mix of vermiculite and peat moss. Some pets shops carry vermiculite or you can get all at a Home Depot type store.

I don't think humidity is much of a concern with the Aphonopelma genus, a water dish in the cage and maybe a little misting now and then should do it.
 

chinom

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
8
so far so good

so far the only thing i have given it for a "ground" is dirt from my yard and a small handfull of dried, dead leaves. what is this vermiculite i keep hearing about? i am guessing some kind of nutrient enriched super-dirt? is it really better than yard dirt? i will work on posting some photos. i really want to learn all that i can about the newest addidtion to my "kids" and i believe this a good place to do just that. thank you for the replies.

P.S.~~ i just put a ruler up against the glass and the critter is closer to 2" than 3". my bad.
 

TheDon

ArachnoDon
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 19, 2003
Messages
836
I would definately go and get vermiculate or something from a petstore. You never know what is in the dirt from your back yard. Vermiculite can be bought at Walmart or Homedepot and it is really cheap. I got a 9 litre bag for $3 and 9 litre bag of peat for $3 it is much safer. I dont know much about the T u found but just thought I would recommend that.

thnx and good luck with the t

peace

TheDon
 

Buspirone

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 10, 2003
Messages
1,064
Vermiculite isn't dirt at all. Its inert mica that has been exposed to high heat, IIRC. Its good because it doesn't harbor many pests, absorbs water and doesn't grow mold as easily as peat, coir or soil. On the down side its not good for burrowing spiders and some terrestrials just plain hate it and won't walk on it, but thats only an issue with some individual spiders and not common to any single species in general. You can find vermiculite at a garden centers/feedstores and you want medium sized horticulture grade vermiculate. Stay away from the insulation grade stuff that some harware stores may carry. There are alot of reports that Home Depots don't carry vermiculite anymore and then there are folks who say that their local brach does carry it. There was some vermiculite mined that contained low levels of asbestos so some hardware stores stopped carrying it. I think thats probably more than anyone really wanted to know about vermiculite. Welcome to the board!:D
 

chinom

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
8
well...

ok well, it looks like im going to go out and buy some vermiculite. =D
 

conipto

ArachnoPrincess
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 27, 2002
Messages
1,256
Just thought I'd add..

While they serve a similar purpose, Perlite and Vermiculite are NOT the same.. Where vermiculate is mica based, perlite is silica based.. essentially glass dust if left to dry out.. possibly bad for book lungs..

Bill

P.S. - Credit goes to Code_monkey on that little factoid :)
 

MrT

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
2,171
Keep it simple dud,
Aphonopelma sp. don't like vermic. They don't need alot of moisture. A water dish is all it needs.
Get some peatmoss, wet it till its damp, not dripping wet. Put it in the enclosure and pack it down pretty tight. Add a hide for cover, and put the Tarantula in. Thats it, bing-a bang. After a day or so, feed it a cricket or two.
It will walk the walls for a few days, so don't worrie about that . It'll settle down after a time of exploring.:D


Ernie
 

chinom

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
8
one more question...
i dont have a light for the top of my aquarium. the tank is in a room that doesnt get much sun... is this a problem? do T's need a certain amount of sunlight?:?
 

Buspirone

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 10, 2003
Messages
1,064
Tarantulas don't like light nor do they need it. Keep them out of direct sunlight or they could overheat, dessicate and die.
 
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