Newbie questions- Aphonopelma Anax as a therapy spider

[Venom1080]

Given the chance to come out onto my hand she hasnt taken it. .

lol bet any T would love that opportunity

 

[Garth Vader]

Here's his home, he's all settled in the kitchen/ break room in my office. The substrate is higher now, about 2.5 inches from the top. He's not very interested in the clay pot. The gorilla glue worked well for the latch. Now he cannot escape!!

 

[Andrea82]

View attachment 214414 View attachment 214415 Here's his home, he's all settled in the kitchen/ break room in my office. The substrate is higher now, about 2.5 inches from the top. He's not very interested in the clay pot. The gorilla glue worked well for the latch. Now he cannot escape!!

Goodlooking enclosure!
And good to read that giving info on the T's fragility works so well!

 

[Garth Vader]

Thanks! I wish it could be more exciting but I guess he mainly needs substrate! I like seeing what people do for arboreal spider enclosures- they are cool! But I do not want one of those- noooooo. Pretty sure they would make ME phobic.

 

[Mauri]

Thanks! I wish it could be more exciting but I guess he mainly needs substrate! I like seeing what people do for arboreal spider enclosures- they are cool! But I do not want one of those- noooooo. Pretty sure they would make ME phobic.

Watch some vids of avics you might change your mind.

This might help you. Tom was a real help when I started off in the hobby and he has some great beginner tips and vids.

https://tomsbigspiders.wordpress.com/beginner-guides/

 

[Sana]

Thanks! I wish it could be more exciting but I guess he mainly needs substrate! I like seeing what people do for arboreal spider enclosures- they are cool! But I do not want one of those- noooooo. Pretty sure they would make ME phobic.

You may change your mind in time. If you do, hit us up before you get one and we'll help you get set up right. They have some different needs than your terrestrial sweetie pie.

 

[Garth Vader]

You may change your mind in time. If you do, hit us up before you get one and we'll help you get set up right. They have some different needs than your terrestrial sweetie pie.

I watched a video yesterday on rehoming and the dude had a very angry Australian spider. It just about gave me a heart attack! No thanks!!!!

 

[Ges613]

You may change your mind in time. If you do, hit us up before you get one and we'll help you get set up right. They have some different needs than your terrestrial sweetie pie.

Agreed. I have 2 avics and have kept more in the past. Right now i have a sling versi and hes pretty skittish. Most avics are pretty finicky just watch for random jumps and dont be alarmed cause that could make it worse depending on how you react to their leap. But they quite fun!

 

[Andrea82]

I watched a video yesterday on rehoming and the dude had a very angry Australian spider. It just about gave me a heart attack! No thanks!!!!

Australian spider? Lol, not all arboreals are like that. Aussie spiders are known for their temperament. If you search Avicularia on youtube, you'll see that there are more calm arboreal species as well.

 

[BobBarley]

I saw this a while ago:

Beautiful A. geroldi. I hope to get that species one day.

 

[Garth Vader]

Haha- what are you guys trying to do? Make me a T addict?

 

[jiacovazzi]

I saw this a while ago:

Beautiful A. geroldi. I hope to get that species one day.

i just ordered one, I couldn't resist.

 

[Andrea82]

Haha- what are you guys trying to do? Make me a T addict?

Oh no..no need for us to get you addicted, they are perfectly able to do that all by themselves

 

[Sana]

Yep. I didn't understand when the lady the sold me my first tarantula said that they were like potato chips. I figured it out 30-some spiders later.

 

[Garth Vader]

Hi everyone,
So many of you offered helpful advice and encouragement, so I want to give an update. Things are going well! Nigel the A. anax seems to be settling in. He has started digging around and moves around his enclosure quite a bit. I like to take my breaks in the kitchen so I can watch him do his thing. He continues to seem pretty chill. I have yet to see a threat posture or kicking hairs. He's in a somewhat busy area, as he's on top of a shelf next to the fridge in our clinic break room, so I might move him to a place with less activity, but so far it doesn't seem to both him.

I put together that Storables enclosure and wouldn't you believe the blasted thing is falling apart now. The little metal hinge in the back (just a small metal pin) popped out of the hole and the lid fell in today, luckily Nigel didn't get hurt when that happened. I put the pin back in but noticed the plastic around it was white and looked frayed, I think the cheap thing just started to crumble, probably from the vibrations from drilling all those holes in it. So back to Storables. I found a better container that I will drill holes in to replace it.

So I have a few questions-

-Due to all the digging, his water bowl (actually a bottle lid) is full of substrate. I clean it out when I can, but is this a problem? Will he drink out of it when it is full of dirt? Nigel will be alone sometimes on weekends and for a week at the end of the month when we are all on vacation, so I want to make sure he isn't without water. Should I get a bigger dish? Or will he fill that up too?

-I read people saying that certain Ts are "docile" and I do not I understand exactly what that means- no threat postures? No kicking hairs? No running at you? No trying to escape? I've also read people saying "he is so docile, he crawls into my hand". Do you want them to do that? (I would think no, but I'm not sure). I also see descriptions of "he's not skittish" associated with the words "docile" and "calm" and I'm not sure what it all means as far as observable behavior. I do notice that he startles a bit if I open his lid or when I go in to fill up his water, and will sometimes go into his enclosure at that time, is that what is meant by "skittish"? I'm quite unfamiliar with T behavior, and see these descriptions a lot so want to make sense of it.

-Last, I posted a "want to buy" for a Euathlus Sp. "red". They don't seem to be for sale anywhere (I'd like an adult), except for one that is $175! I've read that tarantulas from Chile are no longer available and also read that's not really true. So what's the deal with that? I don't know if these are typically harder to find this species, or if it's due to lack of availability from Chile right now? There is a Euathlus Sp. "tiger" available and I wonder about those- sounds like they are similar in temperament? I'm not in a hurry and told my spouse and my business partner that I'd wait to get another one until I have another arachnophobia treatment to do, plus I'm going out of town for a week at the end of July so it makes sense to wait until sometime after that.

 

[BobBarley]

Hi everyone,
So many of you offered helpful advice and encouragement, so I want to give an update. Things are going well! Nigel the A. anax seems to be settling in. He has started digging around and moves around his enclosure quite a bit. I like to take my breaks in the kitchen so I can watch him do his thing. He continues to seem pretty chill. I have yet to see a threat posture or kicking hairs. He's in a somewhat busy area, as he's on top of a shelf next to the fridge in our clinic break room, so I might move him to a place with less activity, but so far it doesn't seem to both him.

I put together that Storables enclosure and wouldn't you believe the blasted thing is falling apart now. The little metal hinge in the back (just a small metal pin) popped out of the hole and the lid fell in today, luckily Nigel didn't get hurt when that happened. I put the pin back in but noticed the plastic around it was white and looked frayed, I think the cheap thing just started to crumble, probably from the vibrations from drilling all those holes in it. So back to Storables. I found a better container that I will drill holes in to replace it.

So I have a few questions-

-Due to all the digging, his water bowl (actually a bottle lid) is full of substrate. I clean it out when I can, but is this a problem? Will he drink out of it when it is full of dirt? Nigel will be alone sometimes on weekends and for a week at the end of the month when we are all on vacation, so I want to make sure he isn't without water. Should I get a bigger dish? Or will he fill that up too?

-I read people saying that certain Ts are "docile" and I do not I understand exactly what that means- no threat postures? No kicking hairs? No running at you? No trying to escape? I've also read people saying "he is so docile, he crawls into my hand". Do you want them to do that? (I would think no, but I'm not sure). I also see descriptions of "he's not skittish" associated with the words "docile" and "calm" and I'm not sure what it all means as far as observable behavior. I do notice that he startles a bit if I open his lid or when I go in to fill up his water, and will sometimes go into his enclosure at that time, is that what is meant by "skittish"? I'm quite unfamiliar with T behavior, and see these descriptions a lot so want to make sense of it.

-Last, I posted a "want to buy" for a Euathlus Sp. "red". They don't seem to be for sale anywhere (I'd like an adult), except for one that is $175! I've read that tarantulas from Chile are no longer available and also read that's not really true. So what's the deal with that? I don't know if these are typically harder to find this species, or if it's due to lack of availability from Chile right now? There is a Euathlus Sp. "tiger" available and I wonder about those- sounds like they are similar in temperament? I'm not in a hurry and told my spouse and my business partner that I'd wait to get another one until I have another arachnophobia treatment to do, plus I'm going out of town for a week at the end of July so it makes sense to wait until sometime after that.

-water dish: lol, this is something that every keeper encounters that is completely normal. He does not need his water dish 24/7, but refill it with clean water as much as you can. Just be glad you aren't dealing with this:

-"docile" means along the lines of not kicking hairs and not throwing threat postures. It can also encompass not being startled that easily. If a t is skittish, it means that the t is more likely to be startled and possibly kick hairs and hide. It'll make more sense when you own more species with different temperaments. When describing Eauthlus sp. "red/yellow", 'inquisitive' is what I think is most fitting. When you open the enclosure they may come out of their hide and calmly explore. Many times they end up outside their cages and on people's hands. Watch some YouTube videos about them, to watch their behavior, but take the peoples' advice with more than a grain of salt. These are all generalizations and temperaments vary from individual to individual.

- I don't really understand the whole Chile "ban". From what I can discern, some species are most likely semi-restricted (not sure what that means exactly), and other species flat-out banned. I'm not sure how they deal with localities like sp. "red/yellow" but I do see them for sale on non-reputable websites that probably somehow get them imported. The prices are much cheaper, but I wouldn't risk it. Just search something like "Dwarf Chilean Flame Tarantula For Sals" on Google and run through the results. EDIT: I just searched and it looks like all the websites are out of stock at the moment. However, I do know that about 3ish months ago, a couple of them had sp. red for sale.

 

[Garth Vader]

Thanks, BobBarley! That video is hilarious. What a stubborn T!

When I checked in yesterday, the water dish was full and no substrate. I think it got hot in there the other day and so he was digging around a lot. The temps in the office are weird, it's such an old building and unfortunately the HVAC is weird. Temps vary a lot but mainly from around 65-75 so it should be okay for T from what I understand. I have a space heater on hand in case it gets much below 70.

Thanks for the info on T behavior. I have not ever been around one so I don't know what's "normal". Reading a lot on the boards is helping me understand more, and watching my T is helping too. I have NOT seen him kick hairs at all- I had to watch a video to see what that even looks like! Now I know.

I really have my heart set on Euathlus Sp "red" even though they are hard to come by. I see some slings for sale, but I already have a sling and would like an adult. I'm going to keep looking around! Plus, it's a darn hot summer right now so I don't want to have one shipped right now anyway. "Inquisitive" sounds awesome to me and they are quite beautiful.

 

[Garth Vader]

Oh yeah, and I returned all the crap to the pet store yesterday- the giant tank, the screen, the heating pad, the skull and the big fake plants. I got a full refund. I was ready to give them a lecture but didn't bother because eh- it's a pet store. As a cat and dog owner, I know not to go near there for training or definitely purchasing an animal, so same goes for other types of animals too. Just glad I got a full refund and that I found this board! I did look around and noticed they had no more T huts or adult Ts for sale so that's good.

 

[rally]

Man, I look at the difference between your first whack at an enclosure in the first posts and the new one, and these people have done a great job advising..and good on you for the therapy practice as well as for listening to some thoughts on good keeping.
I have two Euathlus sp. "red"/"yellow".. it's tempting to offer one to you, but man...... they're definitely the sweetest ts I ever met.
I'll never understand why Rosies get top pick for newbie lists, and these guys get glossed over. Never.

 

[Andrea82]

Man, I look at the difference between your first whack at an enclosure in the first posts and the new one, and these people have done a great job advising..and good on you for the therapy practice as well as for listening to some thoughts on good keeping.
I have two Euathlus sp. "red"/"yellow".. it's tempting to offer one to you, but man...... they're definitely the sweetest ts I ever met.
I'll never understand why Rosies get top pick for newbie lists, and these guys get glossed over. Never.

They're making a come back, the E.sp Red.., with all the new people getting them due to the propaganda on AB, lol.