Questions From A Newbie

[Kendricks]

I'll throw in a shoutout for the A. geniculata.

Finally!
Was scrolling down and was surprised no one mentioned this perfect species yet!
I agree with everything you said... including the butt itch.

 

[mistertim]

You certainly CAN start with an Avic but arboreals can in general be a bit more complicated to care for, even if only for the fact that you're dealing with a spider that moves in more directions/dimensions than a terrestrial. They also tend to be quite a bit faster than terrestrials, so you have to be prepared for a tarantula that can and likely will at some point "teleport" and move faster than you can blink. My second T was a juvie female A. versicolor. The main thing with Avics is actually having enough ventilation, especially cross ventilation. A stuffy enclosure without enough ventilation is a death trap for that genus. I kept mine with dry sub with a good amount of ventilation and 2 water dishes for humidity purposes...one glued to the side half way up and the other on the substrate.

I would generally recommend a NW terrestrial for a very first tarantula. As other have stated Brachys and Grammos are both great genera. Others here have suggested a GBB (C. cyaneopubescens) and I think that is fine too but you have to be aware that they are generally much more skittish and quite a bit quicker than many other terrestrial species. That being said, GBBs are insanely hardy and easy to care for; they also make incredibly cool webs, if you're into that. I'd say the only species easier to care for than a GBB is an OBT, but yeah...don't think you're quite ready for that yet.

 

[Andrea82]

Avicularia/Caribena spp can be less forgiving of new keepers' mistakes.
However, from your posts i gather you're seriously doing research instead of just jumping in wanting a spider because it's cool and
scary
I'd start with a juvi or adult though, just to be safe.
Link below contains pretty much everything you need to know to keep these species succesfully.
Key is to add enough ventilation, keeping the substrate predominantly dry, give a slab of cork to stretch out upon, and lots of leaves and branches to hide in and web on.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-husbandry.282549/#post-2461399

 

[Xafron]

Avicularia/Caribena spp can be less forgiving of new keepers' mistakes.
However, from your posts i gather you're seriously doing research instead of just jumping in wanting a spider because it's cool and
scary
I'd start with a juvi or adult though, just to be safe.
Link below contains pretty much everything you need to know to keep these species succesfully.
Key is to add enough ventilation, keeping the substrate predominantly dry, give a slab of cork to stretch out upon, and lots of leaves and branches to hide in and web on.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-husbandry.282549/#post-2461399

@Andrea82 Thank you, I appreciate that. I really do want to take it seriously and learn about it. If I wanted to just jump in like a lunatic with no idea what to do, you'd be reading a P. Metallica bite report right now.

So...Viper's post was enlightening but I still have some questions. I was looking at buying an enclosure from Jamie's Tarantulas*. Would it be a good idea to drill even more holes into that? Or is there such a thing as TOO MUCH ventilation? And as far as moisture goes that's really all they need? A water bowl? Almost sounds too good to be true haha.

If there's lots of ventilation, and just a water bowl with dry substrate...is there really anywhere else I could seriously go wrong with their care? I mean I know there are things that apply to all tarantulas like remove waste, remove uneaten live prey, don't feed right after a molt, clean the cage (still need to research the best way to go about that). Viper also mentioned that Avics might not use their water bowl and you may have to drop water on their web to get them to drink. But is there any other Avic specific issues? Or issues specific to A. Purpurea? If not, I'm not sure I understand what makes the ADULT Avics so tricky to keep...

EDIT: *Not to say I am opposed to making my own enclosure. However, I would probably end up just buying a bin at Big Lots, and punching holes in it...I don't have the skills/tools to make something pretty like Jamie's Ts lol.

 

[Shudragon]

Depends on the species inside of the enclosure. Some like it steamy, most species are happy with moist substrate and a water bowl, alot of arid like mid african/central american spiders can be kept dry with a water dish. Just ask around, run a quick search on the forums. I started out with clear sterilite containers for juvie/subadults and deli cups from Walmart, just use a drill with a small bit for vent holes, or a soldering iron for the plastic.

A. avics were my first non-spiderling spiders, due to their cheap cost. Honestly, avics are, in my newbie experience, not as hard as most people say. just keep their water bowl full (and slightly overflow, but not enough to get wet substrate everywhere), maybe drip some onto their web and haven't had a problem yet. Mine are super picky eaters though. ~3inch spiders (M+F pair) and neither of them eat more than once or twice a month.

I'll also throw my hat in for a Pamphobeteus species as something interesting and fast but not super scary like a baboon. My irminia is also a really fun one to watch but he is in his hole 95% of the time.

 

[Xafron]

Depends on the species inside of the enclosure. Some like it steamy, most species are happy with moist substrate and a water bowl, alot of arid like mid african/central american spiders can be kept dry with a water dish. Just ask around, run a quick search on the forums. I started out with clear sterilite containers for juvie/subadults and deli cups from Walmart, just use a drill with a small bit for vent holes, or a soldering iron for the plastic.

A. avics were my first non-spiderling spiders, due to their cheap cost. Honestly, avics are, in my newbie experience, not as hard as most people say. just keep their water bowl full (and slightly overflow, but not enough to get wet substrate everywhere), maybe drip some onto their web and haven't had a problem yet. Mine are super picky eaters though. ~3inch spiders (M+F pair) and neither of them eat more than once or twice a month.

I'll also throw my hat in for a Pamphobeteus species as something interesting and fast but not super scary like a baboon. My irminia is also a really fun one to watch but he is in his hole 95% of the time.

What are they eating, crickets or roaches or something else? And how long have you had them?

 

[Shudragon]

I buy crickets for my spiderlings and when they outgrow the spiderlings in size they get fed to the larger spiders. I have the beginnings of a dubia colony from ordering from Jamie thats been establishing for the last 4 months, saw my first adult male in there just the other day, shouldn't be long before they start breeding and I will hopefully have feeders for everyone.

I find dubias to be annoying to feed to arboreals because of their tendency to burrow/hide instead of running around like crazy like lateralis or lobster roaches would. So they normally get larger crickets.

Had the avics for about 6 months.

 

[Ungoliant]

Or is there such a thing as TOO MUCH ventilation?

I don't think there's such a thing as too much cross-ventilation. In theory, too much top ventilation could prevent you from establishing higher humidity in the enclosure than the surrounding room. In practice, too little ventilation is far more dangerous than too much, so when in doubt, I would err on the side of providing more ventilation.

And as far as moisture goes that's really all they need? A water bowl? Almost sounds too good to be true haha.

My first two tarantulas were Avics, which I got three years ago. (I still have the young female, but the elderly one recently passed away due to a bad molt.) We live in a humid climate. I kept the substrate dry and just provided an elevated water dish, and both thrived on that. I periodically saw both of them use their water dishes. (If you are concerned that the Avic is not drinking, you can dribble a little water into the web.)

clean the cage (still need to research the best way to go about that)

The cage is pretty low-maintenance. The most urgent cleaning requirement is if your Avic fouls up her water dish by pooping in it (kind of gross) or discarding boluses in it (disgusting). When that happens, I clean the dish right away.

Otherwise, I remove boluses as I find them on the ground, though I don't really fret if I can't. (They can be hard to spot against the substrate, and since the cage is dry, the likelihood of undesirable microorganisms infesting the cage is low.) Cleaning poop off the walls is mainly for your benefit (aesthetics). That can be done with a wet paper towel. I use a plastic putty knife for scraping any dried-on poop that doesn't come off easily.

is there really anywhere else I could seriously go wrong with their care? . . . But is there any other Avic specific issues?

I assume you already know to provide a cork hide and add lots of leaves/vines as anchor points for webbing.

The only other thing I can think of is to avoid using a screen or mesh lid, as tarantulas can get their tarsal claws stuck in the mesh. (They will amputate a limb and/or fall in their attempt to free themselves. Falls can result in injury or death.)

If not, I'm not sure I understand what makes the ADULT Avics so tricky to keep...

It's not that adult Avics are really tricky to keep. The reasons we see so many "help my dying Avic" threads:

• Brand new keepers often get their first tarantula from a pet store, most of which only carry Grammostola rosea/porteri or Avicularia avicularia. (In other words, new keepers are likely to end up with an Avic.)
  
• These are often impulse purchases with no research done in advance (unlike what you are doing).
• When a brand new keeper comes home with an Avic, he's probably gotten care advice from the pet store or an Internet care sheet, both of which are usually bad. (I've yet to see an Avic properly set up in a pet store.)
• Many care sheets emphasize trying to keep humidity within an arbitrary range. This misleads new keepers into restricting ventilation in order to raise humidity. Moist, stuffy enclosures are bad for Avics. (In contrast, the new keeper who chose Grammostola rosea/porteri as his starter tarantula is unlikely to encounter care sheets that would mislead him into creating a moist, stuffy death trap, and the species is more tolerant of other kinds of newbie mistakes.)

If you get a juvenile or adult (2" or bigger) and follow the advice given in this thread, you should have no trouble. When setting up your first Avic enclosure, you may want to post pictures for feedback. (Most of the "help my dying Avic" threads could have been avoided if their owners had requested enclosure feedback before the tarantula's health began to decline.)

 

[Andrea82]

Ungoliant has summed it up pretty well, no need to echo
Re: cleaning
If you are diligent in spotcleaning and keeping the substrate dry, you will never have to clean out the entire enclosure. No, that is not a joke...never.
The only reasons for cleaning entirely are when you have an infestation of mites/mold/nematodes. Which rarely occurs, and even then it's mostly a matter of picking out the infested areas.
As to overall care, there is a sticky in tarantula questions and discussions labeled 'beginner info read before posting', it has some good pointers.

Avicularia/Caribena species suffer the most when their keepers are 'helicopter-caring'. Messing a lot, spray here,feeding twice a day, add decoration, remove decoration, soaking the substrate, removing said substrate because it is too wet...you get the idea.
They can take a while to settle in and start feeding,but if you double check your enclosure before adding the Avic, it will be okay.
Re: jamies enclosures, I've heard good and less good things. @Trenor has some serious goodlooking and functional arboreal enclosures, maybe he can chime in.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Finally!
Was scrolling down and was surprised no one mentioned this perfect species yet!
I agree with everything you said... including the butt itch.

I personally view A.geniculata as a 'why not' beginner Theraphosidae as well, but I don't suggest said spider as first for everyone. While a 'GBB' is more speedy, A.geniculata 'feeding rush' rapture (read everything inside her home is food) can fool someone not focused enough.

 

[Kendricks]

I personally view A.geniculata as a 'why not' beginner Theraphosidae as well, but I don't suggest said spider as first for everyone. While a 'GBB' is more speedy, A.geniculata 'feeding rush' rapture (read everything inside her home is food) can fool someone not focused enough.

Protip: toss them a cricket to stuff their face with before using fingers in their enclosure.

@Paiige hi there!

 

[Xafron]

I don't think there's such a thing as too much cross-ventilation. In theory, too much top ventilation could prevent you from establishing higher humidity in the enclosure than the surrounding room. In practice, too little ventilation is far more dangerous than too much, so when in doubt, I would err on the side of providing more ventilation.




My first two tarantulas were Avics, which I got three years ago. (I still have the young female, but the elderly one recently passed away due to a bad molt.) We live in a humid climate. I kept the substrate dry and just provided an elevated water dish, and both thrived on that. I periodically saw both of them use their water dishes. (If you are concerned that the Avic is not drinking, you can dribble a little water into the web.)




The cage is pretty low-maintenance. The most urgent cleaning requirement is if your Avic fouls up her water dish by pooping in it (kind of gross) or discarding boluses in it (disgusting). When that happens, I clean the dish right away.

Otherwise, I remove boluses as I find them on the ground, though I don't really fret if I can't. (They can be hard to spot against the substrate, and since the cage is dry, the likelihood of undesirable microorganisms infesting the cage is low.) Cleaning poop off the walls is mainly for your benefit (aesthetics). That can be done with a wet paper towel. I use a plastic putty knife for scraping any dried-on poop that doesn't come off easily.




I assume you already know to provide a cork hide and add lots of leaves/vines as anchor points for webbing.

The only other thing I can think of is to avoid using a screen or mesh lid, as tarantulas can get their tarsal claws stuck in the mesh. (They will amputate a limb and/or fall in their attempt to free themselves. Falls can result in injury or death.)




It's not that adult Avics are really tricky to keep. The reasons we see so many "help my dying Avic" threads:

• Brand new keepers often get their first tarantula from a pet store, most of which only carry Grammostola rosea/porteri or Avicularia avicularia. (In other words, new keepers are likely to end up with an Avic.)
  
• These are often impulse purchases with no research done in advance (unlike what you are doing).
• When a brand new keeper comes home with an Avic, he's probably gotten care advice from the pet store or an Internet care sheet, both of which are usually bad. (I've yet to see an Avic properly set up in a pet store.)
• Many care sheets emphasize trying to keep humidity within an arbitrary range. This misleads new keepers into restricting ventilation in order to raise humidity. Moist, stuffy enclosures are bad for Avics. (In contrast, the new keeper who chose Grammostola rosea/porteri as his starter tarantula is unlikely to encounter care sheets that would mislead him into creating a moist, stuffy death trap, and the species is more tolerant of other kinds of newbie mistakes.)

If you get a juvenile or adult (2" or bigger) and follow the advice given in this thread, you should have no trouble. When setting up your first Avic enclosure, you may want to post pictures for feedback. (Most of the "help my dying Avic" threads could have been avoided if their owners had requested enclosure feedback before the tarantula's health began to decline.)

That is some very good information, thanks. Also, I really like the soap dish idea.

Ungoliant has summed it up pretty well, no need to echo
Re: cleaning
If you are diligent in spotcleaning and keeping the substrate dry, you will never have to clean out the entire enclosure. No, that is not a joke...never.
The only reasons for cleaning entirely are when you have an infestation of mites/mold/nematodes. Which rarely occurs, and even then it's mostly a matter of picking out the infested areas.
As to overall care, there is a sticky in tarantula questions and discussions labeled 'beginner info read before posting', it has some good pointers.

Avicularia/Caribena species suffer the most when their keepers are 'helicopter-caring'. Messing a lot, spray here,feeding twice a day, add decoration, remove decoration, soaking the substrate, removing said substrate because it is too wet...you get the idea.
They can take a while to settle in and start feeding,but if you double check your enclosure before adding the Avic, it will be okay.
Re: jamies enclosures, I've heard good and less good things. @Trenor has some serious goodlooking and functional arboreal enclosures, maybe he can chime in.

I'd heard a few complaints about the juvenile setups, and the spiderling ones being pointless because of deli cups, but I thought the adult ones were supposed to be pretty decent...will look into this more.

 

[Charlottesweb17]

I got l.parahybana for my first time Ts and love them.
They are full of attitude and are hilarious.
They are pretty simple to keep up. Deep subturate as they are deep borrowers. Almost immediately after getting them they both burrowed to the bottom of their enclosure. At a little bigger than a quarter inch I feed them every other day and let them do their thing.
I used old medicine bottles for hides and the lids for water dishes.
They are in plastic containers currently with air holes.
I am looking forward to further behaviour, adventures and discovering what sex they are. Watching them hunt etc. They are great for kids to watch too. My 12 year old son loves helping me take care of them and watch what they do. He is currently doing habitats and vegetation in science class and was able to show his teacher pictures of the Ts enclosures he helped me make. His class thought it was really cool although most don't like spiders lol.
I am glad I made the decision to start the hobby. Now my problem is I won't stop lol.
Do a lot of research on everything before deciding.

 

[cold blood]

Grammostola pulchra looks awesome. Size would be a bit of an issue there though, as I'm not sure the enclosures on Jamie's Tarantulas would be large enough, except for the XL one...more space, more money.

I do not think you realize the size of pulchra...they're not a giant species...about a 6" species for a female....their large would be a big enclosure for an adult pulchra, the XL one would be a waste of $ and space.

I would just like to ask, in the first video he says that Avicularia adults are fine for beginners. Why are opinions on this so insanely different?

IMO beginners should avoid Avics for starting out. Way too many avic slings die in the hands of beginners...start out with a species that is more forgiving to beginner mistakes.

IME purpurea would be the worst species to start with. If you are starting with an avic, as a sling, C. versicolor is the most forgiving IME, but I think a juvie or adult A. avic or A. metallica would be a significantly better choice than a purpurea sling.

@volcanopele Can I ask how much water you let overflow into the substrate, and how often? Do you avoid misting?

This is all dependent on many variables...from the species, to the size of the specimen to the natural temp and humidity of your particular location.....ventilation will also play a role.

Misting is pointless for anything other than providing a quick and easy drink.

Over flowing the water dish is also a poor practice, as it keep an area perpetually damp, which is an invitation for the things we all want to avoid. Its best to rotate the damp area, letting each area dry out.

So...Viper's post was enlightening but I still have some questions. I was looking at buying an enclosure from Jamie's Tarantulas*. Would it be a good idea to drill even more holes into that? Or is there such a thing as TOO MUCH ventilation? And as far as moisture goes that's really all they need? A water bowl? Almost sounds too good to be true haha.

If there's lots of ventilation, and just a water bowl with dry substrate...is there really anywhere else I could seriously go wrong with their care? I mean I know there are things that apply to all tarantulas like remove waste, remove uneaten live prey, don't feed right after a molt, clean the cage (still need to research the best way to go about that). Viper also mentioned that Avics might not use their water bowl and you may have to drop water on their web to get them to drink. But is there any other Avic specific issues? Or issues specific to A. Purpurea? If not, I'm not sure I understand what makes the ADULT Avics so tricky to keep...

Yes, there is a such thing as too much ventilation, especially in dry areas or during winter in cooler areas where furnaces are running.


And yes, things can and will go wrong, and this is when new keepers get in trouble. React too slowly or incorrectly and its another "my dead avic" thread.

I'd heard a few complaints about the juvenile setups, and the spiderling ones being pointless because of deli cups, but I thought the adult ones were supposed to be pretty decent...will look into this more.

I wouldn't put an avic in jamies sling cages if I had piles of them for free....a deli cup is far superior. I can't stand the mesh venting hole...amex boxes like that are great, but only if drilled....the way their adult enclosures are....their adult enclosures are great. I find deli cups to be the best and easiest option for raising slings...I can get hundreds of them for the price of one $3 amex box and can ventilate with a pin and toothpick, not worring about cracking things with a drill.

These are all better choices to start out with than a purpurea, or any avic for that matter.

Resized952017032695121222

• cold blood
• Mar 26, 2017
• 8

formerly smithi

Resized952017031995215948(1)

• cold blood
• Mar 19, 2017

sabolusum

Resized952017031995214443

• cold blood
• Mar 19, 2017
• 5

Resized952017030395190522(1)

• cold blood
• Mar 3, 2017

scrofa

Resized952017030395145750

• cold blood
• Mar 3, 2017

Tliltocatl vagans

• cold blood
• Feb 13, 2017
• 5
• brachypelma vagans mexican redrump tarantula tliltocatl tliltocatl vagans vagans

vagans

Resized952017020795002529

• cold blood
• Feb 7, 2017

albopilosum fresh off molt. about 2.25"

0612141312b_443888

• cold blood
• Jan 30, 2017
• 9

cyaneolum

Resized952016112295013429

• cold blood
• Nov 22, 2016

albiceps

or even

Resized952017020895140825

• cold blood
• Feb 9, 2017

Look into my beady little eyes....

You are feeling sleeeeeepy :/

These are B. smithi, B.sabolusum, G. pulchripes, P. scrofa, a GBB, B vagans, B. albopilosum, T. cyaneolum, B. albiceps and N. chromatus (a little feistier, but still a very easy keep).

 

[Xafron]

IMO beginners should avoid Avics for starting out. Way too many avic slings die in the hands of beginners...start out with a species that is more forgiving to beginner mistakes. IME purpurea would be the worst species to start with. If you are starting with an avic, as a sling, C. versicolor is the most forgiving IME, but I think a juvie or adult A. avic or A. metallica would be a significantly better choice than a purpurea sling.

@cold blood I had no intention of getting an Avic sling. I meant if I could track down and purchase an A. Purpurea adult.

Good to know on the Pulchra...thought they got bigger.

 

[Charlottesweb17]

I do not think you realize the size of pulchra...they're not a giant species...about a 6" species for a female....their large would be a big enclosure for an adult pulchra, the XL one would be a waste of $ and space.


IMO beginners should avoid Avics for starting out. Way too many avic slings die in the hands of beginners...start out with a species that is more forgiving to beginner mistakes.

IME purpurea would be the worst species to start with. If you are starting with an avic, as a sling, C. versicolor is the most forgiving IME, but I think a juvie or adult A. avic or A. metallica would be a significantly better choice than a purpurea sling.


This is all dependent on many variables...from the species, to the size of the specimen to the natural temp and humidity of your particular location.....ventilation will also play a role.

Misting is pointless for anything other than providing a quick and easy drink.

Over flowing the water dish is also a poor practice, as it keep an area perpetually damp, which is an invitation for the things we all want to avoid. Its best to rotate the damp area, letting each area dry out.



Yes, there is a such thing as too much ventilation, especially in dry areas or during winter in cooler areas where furnaces are running.


And yes, things can and will go wrong, and this is when new keepers get in trouble. React too slowly or incorrectly and its another "my dead avic" thread.



I wouldn't put an avic in jamies sling cages if I had piles of them for free....a deli cup is far superior. I can't stand the mesh venting hole...amex boxes like that are great, but only if drilled....the way their adult enclosures are....their adult enclosures are great. I find deli cups to be the best and easiest option for raising slings...I can get hundreds of them for the price of one $3 amex box and can ventilate with a pin and toothpick, not worring about cracking things with a drill.

These are all better choices to start out with than a purpurea, or any avic for that matter.

Resized952017032695121222

• cold blood
• Mar 26, 2017
• 8

formerly smithi

Resized952017031995215948(1)

• cold blood
• Mar 19, 2017

sabolusum

Resized952017031995214443

• cold blood
• Mar 19, 2017
• 5

Resized952017030395190522(1)

• cold blood
• Mar 3, 2017

scrofa

Resized952017030395145750

• cold blood
• Mar 3, 2017

Tliltocatl vagans

• cold blood
• Feb 13, 2017
• 5
• brachypelma vagans mexican redrump tarantula tliltocatl tliltocatl vagans vagans

vagans

Resized952017020795002529

• cold blood
• Feb 7, 2017

albopilosum fresh off molt. about 2.25"

0612141312b_443888

• cold blood
• Jan 30, 2017
• 9

cyaneolum

Resized952016112295013429

• cold blood
• Nov 22, 2016

albiceps

or even

Resized952017020895140825

• cold blood
• Feb 9, 2017

Look into my beady little eyes....

You are feeling sleeeeeepy :/

These are B. smithi, B.sabolusum, G. pulchripes, P. scrofa, a GBB, B vagans, B. albopilosum, T. cyaneolum, B. albiceps and N. chromatus (a little feistier, but still a very easy keep).

A few of them are on my list!

 

[Trenor]

Protip: toss them a cricket to stuff their face with before using fingers in their enclosure.

The better Protip is not to put your fingers in an enclosure with a T in it. That's what tweezers, tongs, paintbrushes, straws and forceps etc are for.

A T with food in his mouth is less likely to jump but I had one drop a dubia it had been eating and take off toward my tongs. Granted I was picking up a bolus between it and it's hide when it freaked out.

 

[Kendricks]

The better Protip is not to put your fingers in an enclosure with a T in it.

True, which is why I don't do it, not even with my Slings I dare to.
That 'protip' (I hoped the sarcasm was obvious) came from someone else initially and was more or less an inside joke.

Long story short, fingers don't belong near T's, I agree!

 

[Xafron]

I think a couple of you are misunderstanding me and referring to care for slings. I would just like to reiterate that I am not looking at buying an avic sling. A number of these comments say "don't get an avic sling, get this instead." Again, I do not want a sling. I know that avic slings are something I want to avoid. I am talking about purchasing an avic adult. That is what all these questions are about. I want to better understand the adult care. Because some people make them out to be these very difficult things to keep alive, while others make it sound incredibly easy...let me compile what I've gathered so far about avic adults from people such as viper69 and a handful of others out there, along with what I've read for basic T care in general.

Humidity: Don't worry about it. Don't mess with it. Don't mist. Don't dump water. Just leave it alone. It's fine as is: dry.
Temperature: Room temp is fine.
Food: Crickets. Don't add when a T is molting, or for some time after. Also remove uneaten live prey.
Water: Water bowl. Could have one on the bottom or glue one up high. If it doesn't use it, drip a little water onto the web.
Enclosure set up: Tall, because it's arboreal. Cork bark/moss/fake plants for anchor points. About an inch of substrate, keep it dry. Ventilation is key.
Cleaning: Just remove stuff like cricket parts. Remove dirty water from bowl, add clean water.
Temperament: Can move very fast. Can jump. Can bite. Not a good T to attempt handling with. Shoots poop. Considered to be "docile" compared to many other arboreals.

If it's a factor, I live in Washington. We can get a lot of rain. In the house (if hydrometer's are to be trusted) it was around 50-55%. The temperature generally stays right around 70f in the house. For an enclosure, I was looking at buying Jamie's Tarantulas Adult Arboreal Kit. My only question there is if the ventilation is adequate or if I should add more, though in her video she puts an avic in it so I am assuming it is enough.

So...what am I missing here? I've searched all over online, this place seems to have the most knowledgeable people which is why I am trusting people enough to take their word over a care sheet. What makes Avicularia purpurea adults, or ANY avicularia adults for that matter(metallica, versicolor and so on), difficult to keep? Or are they not difficult at all? Are these just misconceptions spread by poor care due to incorrect care sheets (i.e. high humidity)? I need to understand this.

I do appreciate the other suggestions and videos. There are some very interesting tarantulas provided by all of you. I am not ruling out any possibilities. However I want to understand this better before I decide whether or not to move on to a different T. Avics have hooked me. But this MASSIVE difference in opinions/information from person to person makes me uneasy.

 

[Andrea82]

I think you got it right. Not sure why others are putting up other spiders to keep instead of the Avic.
I think you're good to go if you get a juvie or adult. Only change i'd advise is maybe switch to a Avicularia avicularia, or C.versicolor since they are a bit less fragile.
Browse on this site's gallery for 'arboreal enclosure' or 'Avicularia enclosure' to get inspired for its enclosure.