Newbie Question

[dbbga]

ok a friend of mine caught a wild Tarntula, and didnt want it after a month. Now we have taken it, it is in a ten gallon aquarium with cricket water and cedar substrate... I have no idea what to do with this poor creature. They gave use crickets for it but, I just dont think its happy. Can someone please help me out with what do do for this poor thing, BTW my 10yr daughter is in love with it.... :8o

 

[TheWidowsPeak]

ok first off what do you mean by "cricket water" , and second don't worry tarantulas are very forgiving creatures. they don't need to eat too much, and crickets are usually cheap. a ten gallon should be fine and take out the cedar bedding for sure. use some bed a beast or peat vermiculite mix. and if at all possibe put up a pic. trust me you will get to love it soon enough.

 

[dbbga]

ok, first off, I hate spiders. Second my daughter loves this thing and i cant just let it be miserable. The cricket water is what the people that had it used to water it. Its like jello, its dry and you add water to it and it swells up, I think it needs a sponge myself. Next i have no idea about the sustrate you are suggesting, were would i get this for it. And last this thing has a bad attitude, it kinda rubs its back legs and hair starts flying LOL. This poor thing has an abdomen the size of a penny. I cant post a pic yet, I lent my camera out but will search the threads for a similar species. This thing is wild caught, will it calm down?

Its dark, almost black legs and brown abdomen, my daughter is taking out the cedar chips now, is there anything we can put in the tank for it now to make it more comfortable? like dirt or a potted plant?

Thank you so much for your help, I am a scared newbie mom

 

[MORBIUS]

The easy set up is potting soil as long as it DON'T!! have any additives in it like miracle grow. Or you can use peat moss. Make sure you put 4 or 5 inches of the soil or peat moss. Hope this helps.

MORBIUS

 

[Code Monkey]

What it needs actually is just a water dish. Tarantulas cannot drink from a sponge and while some people have used the water gel with them, I'm skeptical that it works very well with the way they ingest things.

Bed a beast is a coconut coir product sold at the pet store in bricks that you rehydrate or sometimes in bag mixture (Forest bed is one such name brand). You can also use peat, a mixture of peat and vermiculite, or even unfertilized potting soil.

Since you're in texas what you most likely have is a mature male of some Aphonopelma species (which also fits with the small abdomen you describe). On the first pair of legs you'll probably find some small hooks that it would use to mate with a female if it had one. If it is a mature male, expect that it won't live more than a year or so.

 

[TheDon]

Peat Moss and Vermiculate can be bought at any walmart. Make sure the peat doesnt have fertilizer in it. Peat and Vermiculate is pretty cheap to. When it rubs, it is rubbing its abdomen and its flicking off irticating hairs. This is normal, and most new worlders do it. All i can say is get some peat and verm from walmart and fill the tank up probably halfway so if it climbs it wont fall too far. Change the cricket water to real water it is mostl likely better/ ON the cricket water I have it says do not feed to tarantulas, scorpians or lizards as they may eat too many of the crystals and not eat for a long time. So get a cheap flower pot dish from walmart for about $1 and fill it with water just to be safe.

peace

TheDon

 

[dbbga]

Thank you so much for all the quick responses, we are off to walmart to get what we need for this, i guess, cute guy

 

[dbbga]

ok i found what the spider is:http://www.birdspiders.com/archive/1/0070.htm

But the poor thing doesnt look this good, its alittle on the thin side, i feel. Fresh water has replaced the cricket water and fresh potting soil with and under substrate od verm. has been put into the tank. Guess i need to do more research on what typr of food to feed this guy.:?

 

[TheWidowsPeak]

does it look like it has "hooks" about halfway up the first set of legs?

 

[dbbga]

yep on the first set of long legs

 

[TheWidowsPeak]

ok then it should look like it has little boxing gloves on the short set (pedipalps) this means you have a male and the little guys days are numbered. after maturity they usually only live around a year so it could go any day. but don't let that scare you away from tarantulas because the females usually live around 20 years and they do make great pets... no sound, no smell, no cleaning(or at least very little), they don't eat much, don't need a lot of room, no vet bills, no poop on the carpet, no chewing up your funiture, and they make good pets for younger people who tend to get bored and quit taking care of an animal, trust me the tarantula won't care a bit.

 

[chuck]

after reading thru all the replies no one mentioned what he is using. i thought ceder was one of the woods we shouldnt subject our tarantulas too?

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by chuck
after reading thru all the replies no one mentioned what he is using. i thought ceder was one of the woods we shouldnt subject our tarantulas too?

Are you sure you read through *all* the replies?

The get it out of the cedar was covered in the very first reply.

 

[dbbga]

OK after we put the new little guy in its new home, it has cleaned itself off and actually filled out a bit. I think it was dehydrated.... But after closer inspection this spider does NOT have those little hooks on its legs that i thought it did. it must have been debre or dirt. I watched it clean itself today and it was kinda cool So I guess we have a female, a small one but Im sure its a female She has a new enclosure and seems alot happier. She has even calmed down alot since we removed the cedar chips Thanks for all the help

 

[Bjorgly]

It is sometimes very hard to determine weather it is a male or female even by looking for hooks or enlarged pedipalps. Also the reason why cedar is bad is because the natural oils in the wood are poisonous to all tarantulas.

Can you perhaps get a picture of it and it's setup? If so perhaps we can help you tell if it is male or female.

Mark

 

[dbbga]

That would be great i will get a pic of it and post it... Altho spiders are not my field of interest,yet, this is what i raise, similar just a bit different

 

[Code Monkey]

If there are no hooks you may have either a male or a female as it is only mature males that have the hooks. It would be just a juvenile that had to leave it's home for some reason (flooding, pest invader, dumb kid with a long stick, etc.). In that case you are in for anywhere from a year or two to perhaps decades of being a tarantula mom; I'm sure you're thrilled

 

[AllenG]

welcome to the hobby

 

[SpiderTwin]

Either way male or female, especially female, a tarantula with a small abdomen may be dehydrated and needs to eat and drink. Get it set with the water dish and keep it full at all times. Toss in a couple of crickets and see if it will eat. If it eats, toss in a couple more. If it dosen't eat, give it a couple days and try again.

They should have a nice round abdomen, the abdomen should be as large or slightly larger than the one in the pic you posted.

Good luck

 

[Immortal_sin]

dbbga...did you just post a pic of an octopus?
If so, would you kindly start a thread in the 'not so spineless wonders' forum, and give us information on them?
I'm fascinated by them, and I'm sure others here would like to hear about your experience with them too!
Welcome, BTW, to the excitement of tarantula keeping!