New To Owning A Tarantula

[scott308]

Your spider may eat over night if you leave the prey, just make sure you crush the head like Ghost56 said. Tarantulas are nocturnal, and sometimes they prefer to eat at night. I have some that will pounce on crickets the second they hit the dirt, while others will eventually get around to eating, often after dark.

 

[valkyrie4488]

Thank you guys, and for letting me know about crushing the mealworms head as well. ^^ I left it in there awhile, but just removed it sense it appeared to just be annoying him inside his web where I dropped it in. I got it as it crawled out one of the tunnel's leading out. He seemed interested feeling it with his legs, but just didn't go for it. His abdomen still seems a little plump to my eyes from the feast he had when I first got him. I will try again in a couple of day's as mentioned, and I might try getting him some more cricket's what he's used to at that time as well. When I was at Petco buying the mealworms today I noticed they still had the extremely tiny Curly Hair T they had when I bought my A. Versicolor. I felt bad for him sense they were trying to feed him cricket's, and even the small cricket's looked a little too big for him. Plus when I was looking at them both when I bought my A. Versicolor the lady for some reason went to take the leaf out of his hut, and dropped him out on the floor. He was okay, and ran around really small, but she eventually caught him putting him away. When I'm back over there the day after tomorrow I think I might just go ahead and buy him as well along with some flightless fruit flies to feed him. Thank you again for the help guys, I appreciate all of it and I will remember not to worry as much if he doesn't eat.

 

[AlbatrossWarrior]

When I was at Petco buying the mealworms today I noticed they still had the extremely tiny Curly Hair T they had when I bought my A. Versicolor. I felt bad for him sense they were trying to feed him cricket's, and even the small cricket's looked a little too big for him. Plus when I was looking at them both when I bought my A. Versicolor the lady for some reason went to take the leaf out of his hut, and dropped him out on the floor. He was okay, and ran around really small, but she eventually caught him putting him away. When I'm back over there the day after tomorrow I think I might just go ahead and buy him as well along with some flightless fruit flies to feed him. Thank you again for the help guys, I appreciate all of it and I will remember not to worry as much if he doesn't eat.

You should get him! A curly hair sling was my first T, they're really great!

 

[AlbatrossWarrior]

I have some that will pounce on crickets the second they hit the dirt,

I have some T's that will pounce on crickets before they even touch the air inside the cage!

 

[Lessej]

I might try getting him some more cricket's what he's used to at that time as well. When I was at Petco buying the mealworms today I noticed they still had the extremely tiny Curly Hair T they had when I bought my A. Versicolor. I felt bad for him sense they were trying to feed him cricket's, and even the small cricket's looked a little too big for him. Plus when I was looking at them both when I bought my A. Versicolor the lady for some reason went to take the leaf out of his hut, and dropped him out on the floor. He was okay, and ran around really small, but she eventually caught him putting him away. When I'm back over there the day after tomorrow I think I might just go ahead and buy him as well along with some flightless fruit flies to feed him. Thank you again for the help guys, I appreciate all of it and I will remember not to worry as much if he doesn't eat.

Gosh, I'd be worried that the sling is in rough shape after being dropped like that. That's sad!

I started out feeding my little sling B. lateralis roaches and it loved them until its rump got huge. It ended up not eating for 3 straight weeks and then it finally molted. I did attempt a feeding of one roach once every 3 days, at night, during that time just to see if it was hungry and each time it was refused. The roach were still in there the next morning so I took it out.

I ended up running out of those roaches completely and they are not easy to come by where I am without ordering them online so I ended up picking up pinhead crickets and meal worms at my local pet store. I only bought a dozen pinheads just to supplement for the moment as I don't want to get into the habit of keeping crickets at all. The crickets go down like candy but I'm having trouble with the mealworms. It only seems to take them when they are cut in half. I did the head smashing but I think the overall worm size might be too big. At least one half of the worm is always gone by the next day. Maybe try that if you have trouble getting your T to take the mealies ever. I say that because I've heard the flightless fruit flies can be a pain to take care of, though I've never had any.

 

[mistertim]

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate all the help and information. Thank you as well Viper69, Scott308, Marijan2 and Ghost56. I will listen to your advice, and I've been reading the advice in the thread you linked me to as well Viper69. I've stopped misting him, and removed the sponge from the bottle cap water bowl as well and his web is in the corner of the cage facing out so I can get a good view of him and his belly. lol ^^ I have also left the heating pad off, and as I mention before within the next couple of day's I will be ordering him a regular arboreal enclosure for when he get's a little bigger after 2-3 more molt's. He isn't that active, but from time to time I see him spinning more web with his abdomen working. I can see by the look of the substrate it's drying up as well sense I stopped misting. The entire lid of the pet keeper is covered with vent hole's so hopefully that will be enough, and he walked all over the lid when I first put him in there and none were big enough for him to get through, but I will keep that in mind to keep an eye on that. Thank you again guys, I really like Jeff my A. Versicolor. lol

Just wanted to drop in and say that this is exactly the attitude to have. Constructive criticism and taking it the right way means healthy tarantulas.

 

[valkyrie4488]

Thank you guys, I appreciate it. Thing's didn't go as planned with the Curly Hair T so I ended up ordering this B. Vagan's beginners special from Jamie's Tarantulas https://jamiestarantulas.com/specia...ump-1-2-3-4-terrestrial-spiderling-enclosure/

 

[Lessej]

Thank you guys, I appreciate it. Thing's didn't go as planned with the Curly Hair T so I ended up ordering this B. Vagan's beginners special from Jamie's Tarantulas https://jamiestarantulas.com/specia...ump-1-2-3-4-terrestrial-spiderling-enclosure/

Awesome! Looking forward to pics!

 

[AlbatrossWarrior]

Thank you guys, I appreciate it. Thing's didn't go as planned with the Curly Hair T so I ended up ordering this B. Vagan's beginners special from Jamie's Tarantulas https://jamiestarantulas.com/specia...ump-1-2-3-4-terrestrial-spiderling-enclosure/

Great choice! A B. vagans was my second T as well! They're wonderful. I just ordered an H. lividum, along with two scorpions, they'll probably arrive the same day yours do, if you ordered today

 

[valkyrie4488]

Thank you, and I will post some pictures when I get him. ^^ I did order today as well, and those sound awesome. Hopefully you can share some pictures as well. Looking forward to raising my B. Vagans, and learning more about them. Here's a picture of Jeff, sorry if it's not the best quality, I took it with my cell. The cord is from the heating pad, but as mentioned I haven't used it at all sense learning they were a danger. I wrapped a coat around the bottom of his cage to help with cold night's, and the water in his bottle cap water bowl seems to disappear quickly. lol He's in his web showing off his plump abdomen, and belly. Jeff has been awesome, and is a docile teddy bear. Also, the cut in half cup was meant to be a makeshift hide temporarily before I knew anything, and that he was an arboreal species. lol

 

[AlbatrossWarrior]

Thank you, and I will post some pictures when I get him. ^^ I did order today as well, and those sound awesome. Hopefully you can share some pictures as well. Looking forward to raising my B. Vagans, and learning more about them. Here's a picture of Jeff, sorry if it's not the best quality, I took it with my cell. The cord is from the heating pad, but as mentioned I haven't used it at all sense learning they were a danger. I wrapped a coat around the bottom of his cage to help with cold night's, and the water in his bottle cap water bowl seems to disappear quickly. lol He's in his web showing off his plump abdomen, and belly. Jeff has been awesome, and is a docile teddy bear. Also, the cut in half cup was meant to be a makeshift hide temporarily before I knew anything, and that he was an arboreal species. lol

He's looking good! I wish I had a versicolor, but I always somehow end up accidentally avoiding arboreals (2 out of 14 of my current T's are arboreal) And I spent 2 hours setting up my future scorpion's cage and then realized the plastic had no holes drilled in it...oops. I guess only the lid will have holes in it lol

 

[AlbatrossWarrior]

- messed up this post, sorry

 

[cold blood]

Wow, how could there still be so much.

You have a "classic" floor type hide in there, a cut McDs cup it appears, remove that, with arboreals, there's no need for a hide...you give them the proper tools, and they create their hide from the given resources. This means vertical wood that reaches near the top. The wood should be surrounded by plants. The wood provides a stable platform to hunt and anchor its home to, the plants both provide cover as well as anchor points for their webbing. The more you give them, the more elaborate their webbing will be...as you can see, yours had to use the cage sides as there were no other options. Its pretty uncommon to see an avic making its home virtually on the ground (although its made a nice tube and does appear to be acclimating).

Now I know you plan to "order" an arboreal, so these are just things to keep in mind for when you set the new home up.

Without a heat source, a coat wrapped around will just be a room temperature coat offering nothing in the way of warmth as a coat is incapable of creating its own heat, only holding in a heat source....I mean if you were outside it would stop the wind, but I highly doubt its windy in your room Avic slings don't like to be cooler than 70. As adults or even juvies they can handle nights in the 60's, but you're asking for trouble with a sling. Ideally you will want to keep a sling warmer, like 75-80, but temps are highly variable...but warmer means more food intake and faster growth of new exoskeleton, meaning faster growth, and the larger your avic gets, the hardier it gets.

In all honesty, I would have that avic in a 32oz deli cup...in fact, my avics are in 32oz deli cups...hehe. Its a cheap, easily ventilated, clear enclosure that's perfect until they reach about 3".

Mealworms....many avic slings will not eat mealworms and many won't eat pre-killed prey, preferring movement to trigger the hunt. Live small crickets are your best bet. I will say versicolor is the one species of avic I've had the best luck with pre-kill though....but don't just toss it in, things like mealies should be placed right at the entrance to their web home.

Glad to see the changes you've made, removing the sponge, letting the substrate dry out, halting the misting You can occasionally dribble a little water on the webbing though, just for easy drinking.

Its tough starting out when you learn in the totally wrong place, youtube and care sheets are the bane of the hobby's existence, showing 99% crap, bad habits, bad advice, bad husbandry, show off handlings and so much nonsense its incredible. The few good ones also never seem to be the ones visited by newbies.....a general rule about you tube, watch for entertainment, NOT education UNLESS directed to the video by an experienced keeper. You have found the right place here, lots and lots of great real world tarantula keepers speaking from experience, not their backsides. For the record, pet stores are also notoriously bad places to get tarantula info from as well.

I wouldn't feed that sling any more than one cricket every 3 days, when it refuses, stop feeding for a couple weeks, chances are it will either molt in that time, or web its self in preparing for molt. When they web themselves in, always just leave them and don't feed till they emerge...same goes for a terrestrial that's buried its self.

Now the vagans on the way....how big is it? They start out really small and can take a long time to grow in the first year or so (after that they get increased appetites and growth rates). For anything under 3/4", I keep them in condiment cups, like you might put ketchup in. The small areal makes everything easier for you and the spider. Keep the sub, or part of the sub damp until its home is large enough to accommodate a dish. 3/4"-2.5" a 16oz deli cup is perfect, with a hide, water dish and maybe some moss or plants. Vagans is a great species, but one of the more skittish and defensive Brachypelma species. Definitely not one I'd try to handle either....itchy hairs, too. As slings though, they will readily take pre killed prey, or diced up meal worms...usually1/3-1/2 of a mealie is plenty.

I hate those sling enclosures though, that mesh ventilation leaves a lot to be desired, a cheaper deli cup is vastly superior IMO.

Last but not least, if you are going to handle the avic, aside from being way more careful than you think you need to be, be aware that they are knwn as "poop cannons" for a reason....keep those handy wipes available and your mouth closed.

Good luck and enjoy the hobby.

 

[AlbatrossWarrior]

I hate those sling enclosures though, that mesh ventilation leaves a lot to be desired, a cheaper deli cup is vastly superior IMO.

I feel like they would have been /better/easier to make if they just had a few small holes drilled in, lol, why make extra work for yourself? I like using them for catching and releasing true spiders though, although even then a vial or delicup works better

 

[viper69]

Thank you, and I will post some pictures when I get him. ^^ I did order today as well, and those sound awesome. Hopefully you can share some pictures as well. Looking forward to raising my B. Vagans, and learning more about them. Here's a picture of Jeff, sorry if it's not the best quality, I took it with my cell. The cord is from the heating pad, but as mentioned I haven't used it at all sense learning they were a danger. I wrapped a coat around the bottom of his cage to help with cold night's, and the water in his bottle cap water bowl seems to disappear quickly. lol He's in his web showing off his plump abdomen, and belly. Jeff has been awesome, and is a docile teddy bear. Also, the cut in half cup was meant to be a makeshift hide temporarily before I knew anything, and that he was an arboreal species. lol

All I can say is that I hope you are making a different home for your Avic.

If you read my post in that link (maybe you have, or haven't) I would have expected the following:

1. My enclosure is different than what that person viper69 described
2. Why did viper69 suggest that style?
3. I should ask people on the AB forum to make sure I'm doing everything I can to ensure my T thrives not survives/dies in my care.


Quite honestly, it's not a wise idea to get another tropical animal when you barely know how to take care of the first one you already own. I fail to see the logic in ordering a 2nd T, that is smaller, and will have its own challenges at that small size.

It makes more sense to learn BEFORE you get more, I know that sounds like some whack-job hair brained scheme, but it really isn't.