Salmon Pink Birdeater owners?

[Anonymity82]

I'm just expanding my list of T's that I would like to own one day. I was looking up the care sheets for Lasiodora parahybana and the humidity levels say 60-70%. I don't want to own any who need special care for their humidity. So my questions are, how do you keep the humidity levels where they need to be and basically how do you keep yours? What size tank? How often do you feed it? Thanks for any info!

 

[Earth Tiger]

LPs are just beginner species and they can adapt most settings. At one time I had around 18 juveniles and adults although housing them all gave me headaches and I had to trade many of them for smaller Ts. Just make sure that the tank has enough floor space and give it a water dish as they are very active and as adults they never hide and never burrow. Provide plenty of food and they will thrive. The humidity of my region never falls below 60% so I can't give you comment on the humidity. LPs are one of my all time favorite and you will never find their relentless hunting attitude boring. In fact I like them more than my T. apophysis and T. blondi - I don't judge a T solely by how rare and expensive they are. T. apophysis can be a tad bit chicken sh!t at time and their urticating hairs give me a hard time, but LPs are just some brave and confident Ts that will make you proud.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

A little wetter then G rosea... they are very hardy.. I keep it like my B vagans except in a LArger 10gallon tank..
my 5" female LP is only half sized though.. they get 8-10.5" inches -rumored 12" wild indivuals with NO proof) big spider stores I bet::

 

[Anonymity82]

LPs are just beginner species and they can adapt most settings. At one time I had around 18 juveniles and adults although housing them all gave me headaches and I had to trade many of them for smaller Ts. Just make sure that the tank has enough floor space and give it a water dish as they are very active and as adults they never hide and never burrow. Provide plenty of food and they will thrive. The humidity of my region never falls below 60% so I can't give you comment on the humidity. LPs are one of my all time favorite and you will never find their relentless hunting attitude boring. In fact I like them more than my T. apophysis and T. blondi - I don't judge a T solely by how rare and expensive they are. T. apophysis can be a tad bit chicken sh!t at time and their urticating hairs give me a hard time, but LPs are just some brave and confident Ts that will make you proud.

That's great! I really want to get one. I can't do it right now, but sometime in the near future I really want to. I just really worry about the humidity. I can mist once a week or dampen half the tank. I just don't want mites or mold or even end up having to deal with a bad molt because there isn't enough humidity or too much. I love how they are fast growing too because slings are only 5 bucks! Thanks!

 

[le-thomas]

I've got three slings and i mist them a few times a week. They molt fine in dryish conditions and their humidity requirement, as stated already, isn't really set in stone.

 

[yodaxtreme545]

LPs are just beginner species and they can adapt most settings. At one time I had around 18 juveniles and adults although housing them all gave me headaches and I had to trade many of them for smaller Ts. Just make sure that the tank has enough floor space and give it a water dish as they are very active and as adults they never hide and never burrow. Provide plenty of food and they will thrive. The humidity of my region never falls below 60% so I can't give you comment on the humidity. LPs are one of my all time favorite and you will never find their relentless hunting attitude boring. In fact I like them more than my T. apophysis and T. blondi - I don't judge a T solely by how rare and expensive they are. T. apophysis can be a tad bit chicken sh!t at time and their urticating hairs give me a hard time, but LPs are just some brave and confident Ts that will make you proud.

I wouldn't go as far as saying adults never burrow because my 4" female LP loves to burrow and has made a nice little tunnel system in her tank.

 

[Earth Tiger]

That they are sold at 5 bucks each means they are CB. Unless the T is wild caught or its prey items have mite problems, mites shouldn't be of any concern. And the 60-70% humidity requirement or misting weekly should not be a significant mold promoting factor. As ultum said they are hardy, and your main concern will be providing enough food for them - if you don't feed them pinkies or mice you need to feed the adults bigger inverts like dubia roaches or at least super worms. For me I supplement their diet with prawns and centipedes. Crickets alone can hardly satisfy their big appetites especially after they molt unless you have a constant supply of crickets to feed them. You will have to visit your cricket supplier regularly for a cricket alone diet - if there is no nearby cricket supplier this won't work for LPs. You cannot feed too many tiny crickets to a big T at once as their fangs cant hold too many tiny crickets, or dead crickets are dropped all over the floor and some may be ignored and left to rot. Raising dubia roaches yourself is perhaps the simplest answer but my wife hates roaches so I go with the prawn and centipede route.

Also they can get injured from falling because they are so active and thus they have a higher risk of falling than the T. blondi. Fill the tank with thicker substrate to reduce the height between the top and the substrate but I guess many hobbyists have covered this topic and you already know it.

That they are inexpensive not because they are bad Ts - an LP egg sac gives you 1000-2000+ eggs while a T. blondi egg sac has ~50 eggs only and T. blondi are hard to breed. Price alone doesn't tell how great a T is.

---------- Post added 12-23-2011 at 02:51 AM ----------

I wouldn't go as far as saying adults never burrow because my 4" female LP loves to burrow and has made a nice little tunnel system in her tank.

That's why I emphasized ADULT LPs in my post. LPs temperament change from shy to confident when they matures. At 4" they are very young juveniles and far from being mature. LP slings burrow too and many different species of non-burrowers would burrow when they are young. A confident LP sling wandering around only means easy prey for other predators (or its bigger sisters) in the wild.

 

[captmarga]

I wouldn't go as far as saying adults never burrow because my 4" female LP loves to burrow and has made a nice little tunnel system in her tank.

Ditto on that with my big female. The male actually coaxed her out of the burrow during the one (I think successful) breeding attempt. Right now I'm watching her be a 7" excavating machine...The first six months I owned her, she was a display spider, then she molted and started a burrow after that.

Marga

 

[Earth Tiger]

Ditto on that with my big female. The male actually coaxed her out of the burrow during the one (I think successful) breeding attempt. Right now I'm watching her be a 7" excavating machine...The first six months I owned her, she was a display spider, then she molted and started a burrow after that.

Marga

How do you keep her? Do you put a light source near her tank or the spider room is well lit during daytime? Burrowing adult L. parahybanas... call me ignorant I had never heard this before I was back to this forum and none of my adult LPs burrows. Even my L. parahybana and L. klugi slings stay outside their burrows most of the time.

Tarantulas are mostly nocturnal and if we owners are not aware of their basic instincts and go against their needs like keeping them in very bright places, or using a spot light etc above the tank, expect a confident and active non-burrower L. parahybana behaves not naturally like burrowing and appearing shy. There is no such thing as right or wrong in this topic so please don't jump me on that. Some people want to keep their spiders in a bright room with direct sunlight and as pets they need to compromise somehow.

---------- Post added 12-23-2011 at 07:58 PM ----------

Also what do you guys mean by "burrow"? If you put an artificial hide like a flower pot many non burrowing species would actually hide inside during daytime if your spider room is well lit at the day. But I am most perplexed to hear an adult L. parahybana digs and moves the substrate to make a burrow.

 

[Formerphobe]

I've always kept my LPs so they were aware of daytime vs night, but no direct or artificial light. They both burrowed as slings and younger juvies, up to about 4+ inches, only coming out to grab a meal. They gradually started spending more time topside between the 4 - 6" size. Neither has burrowed, nor used their hides much (except to sit on top of), since their last rehousing at ~6" (19 months of age).

Both of mine began being very defensive at ~3.0", the male more than the female. (I would sooner attempt to handle my H. livs than my LPs... and I don't make a practice of handling at all.)

When provided a moisture gradient, both of mine preferred the dry side of the enclosure. They are on a combination coconut coir/peat substrate with a large water bowl.

 

[vickywild]

A little wetter then G.Rosea? I've kept rosies for 8 years and never wet their sub.

My LP is only a wee babe atm though, and I am spraying the side kof the enclosure once every 3 days.

 

[Earth Tiger]

Thanks for the sharing FormerPhobe. I have been alone to suggest that adult LPs do not burrow until you shared your experience.

I also found that adult LPs exhibit a wide degree of temperament differences. Some of my LPs are actually docile and a bit nervous only and I had no risk of handling them (although I don't handle any T too often too).

In general males are more aggressive and nervous, in fact I found nearly all male arachnids are more aggressive than the females. My male scorpions and sun spiders are more aggressive too.

 

[ijmccollum]

I have both L. parahybana and klugi -- they came in as .25" slings. The LP is still burrowing and stays hid for the most part and is currently at ~0.75". The Klugi just molted and I would say it is at ~+1.0" and has gotten somewhat bolder -- it's hanging around on top of the substrate. i've handled both for very short periods - I figure I won't be able to do this as they get bigger because they may be too intimidating - and the parahybana seems calmer than the klugi. I think the klugi may grow up to be a beast!

 

[Anonymity82]

That they are sold at 5 bucks each means they are CB. Unless the T is wild caught or its prey items have mite problems, mites shouldn't be of any concern. And the 60-70% humidity requirement or misting weekly should not be a significant mold promoting factor. As ultum said they are hardy, and your main concern will be providing enough food for them - if you don't feed them pinkies or mice you need to feed the adults bigger inverts like dubia roaches or at least super worms. For me I supplement their diet with prawns and centipedes. Crickets alone can hardly satisfy their big appetites especially after they molt unless you have a constant supply of crickets to feed them. You will have to visit your cricket supplier regularly for a cricket alone diet - if there is no nearby cricket supplier this won't work for LPs. You cannot feed too many tiny crickets to a big T at once as their fangs cant hold too many tiny crickets, or dead crickets are dropped all over the floor and some may be ignored and left to rot. Raising dubia roaches yourself is perhaps the simplest answer but my wife hates roaches so I go with the prawn and centipede route.

Also they can get injured from falling because they are so active and thus they have a higher risk of falling than the T. blondi. Fill the tank with thicker substrate to reduce the height between the top and the substrate but I guess many hobbyists have covered this topic and you already know it.

That they are inexpensive not because they are bad Ts - an LP egg sac gives you 1000-2000+ eggs while a T. blondi egg sac has ~50 eggs only and T. blondi are hard to breed. Price alone doesn't tell how great a T is.

---------- Post added 12-23-2011 at 02:51 AM ----------



That's why I emphasized ADULT LPs in my post. LPs temperament change from shy to confident when they matures. At 4" they are very young juveniles and far from being mature. LP slings burrow too and many different species of non-burrowers would burrow when they are young. A confident LP sling wandering around only means easy prey for other predators (or its bigger sisters) in the wild.

THanks! I have read some information about them, but I was uncertain how to keep a 60-70% humidity levels. Is 20 gal long large enough for an adult?

 

[Earth Tiger]

May I know what the humidity level of your environment is? A 10 gallon tank is enough IMO, but a bigger tank is certainly better. Keep in mind that floor space is more important than the height, and filling the tank with enough substrate to reduce the height and thus the risk of falling is important. LPs are active and fall quite frequently.

You don't need to worry about the tank size at this moment until it really gets big, but that won't take too long LOL.

 

[Stan Schultz]

I'm just expanding my list of T's that I would like to own one day. I was looking up the care sheets for Lasiodora parahybana and the humidity levels say 60-70%. I don't want to own any who need special care for their humidity. So my questions are, how do you keep the humidity levels where they need to be and basically how do you keep yours? What size tank? How often do you feed it? Thanks for any info!

OMG! You aren't reading those care sheets are you? ALL care sheets tell you to keep almost ALL tarantulas at 60-70% rH! And none of those care sheets know what they're talking about! They can't even give you a good definition of relative humidity! Don't believe anything those care sheets tell you unless you confirm it here first. Ditto for pet shops.

If you're getting an LP with a diagonal leg span (DLS) of less than about 2" (5 cm) keep it as any other baby tarantula, i.e., relatively closed container with slightly damp substrate.

Three inch (7.5 cm) or larger DLS: Keep it the same way you would a Brachypelma albopilosum (curlyhair) which it will resemble a lot, i.e., as an arid or semi-arid species.

During that intermediate phase of about 2 molts you should be gradually allowing the substrate to dry out. Also, during this phase and forever after, supply it a water dish.

Note carefully that as adults (and as with most other tarantulas) humidity is not a big issue. Don't stress over it. If you have any doubts, keep the substrate dry and cover the open parts of the cage with plastic food wrap to hold in a little of the humidity from the water dish.

As adults they need a larger cage. A floor space measuring about 2' X 3' (60 X 90 cm) isn't too big. But, the distance between the top of the substrate and the top of the cage should never exceed their DLS or 1.5 X their DLS at maximum!

These are huge spiders when adult. To reach their full potential in size they need to be fed LOTS as they grow. They're real garbage cans!

Contrary to popular opinion, these are really fairly docile as adults providing that you begin to gently handle them at about the 3" DLS stage. Once they become accustomed to the hand of man, and you become accustomed to handling a spider the size of your face, "everything's going to be all right."

Enjoy your HUGE little handful!

 

[captmarga]

How do you keep her? Do you put a light source near her tank or the spider room is well lit during daytime? Burrowing adult L. parahybanas... call me ignorant I had never heard this before I was back to this forum and none of my adult LPs burrows. Even my L. parahybana and L. klugi slings stay outside their burrows most of the time.

Tarantulas are mostly nocturnal and if we owners are not aware of their basic instincts and go against their needs like keeping them in very bright places, or using a spot light etc above the tank, expect a confident and active non-burrower L. parahybana behaves not naturally like burrowing and appearing shy. There is no such thing as right or wrong in this topic so please don't jump me on that. Some people want to keep their spiders in a bright room with direct sunlight and as pets they need to compromise somehow.

---------- Post added 12-23-2011 at 07:58 PM ----------

Also what do you guys mean by "burrow"? If you put an artificial hide like a flower pot many non burrowing species would actually hide inside during daytime if your spider room is well lit at the day. But I am most perplexed to hear an adult L. parahybana digs and moves the substrate to make a burrow.

She's in a 10-gallon. She has a hide and uses it. She also sits on top of it, out in the open, and down in the burrow. Her dank is mostly in shadow, there is no direct light on her at all. I'm looking at her right now packing down another fangful of dirt she just brought up for the depths. I've owned her for over a year, and the burrowing started with the molt. She could not have burrowed in what she was kept on before I got her... gravel with a log.

Marga

 

[Formerphobe]

I also found that adult LPs exhibit a wide degree of temperament differences. Some of my LPs are actually docile and a bit nervous only and I had no risk of handling them (although I don't handle any T too often too).

I think this is probably true of any species.

In general males are more aggressive and nervous, in fact I found nearly all male arachnids are more aggressive than the females. My male scorpions and sun spiders are more aggressive too.

I will tuck this tidbit of info away for safe keeping. With my LPs the male has been more consistently defensive. He is also due to molt, so I'll see if his behavior alters any post-molt. The female did seem to be less reactive after her last molt.

The only scorpions I've kept are P. imperator. The boys are weenies...

 

[Anonymity82]

May I know what the humidity level of your environment is? A 10 gallon tank is enough IMO, but a bigger tank is certainly better. Keep in mind that floor space is more important than the height, and filling the tank with enough substrate to reduce the height and thus the risk of falling is important. LPs are active and fall quite frequently.

You don't need to worry about the tank size at this moment until it really gets big, but that won't take too long LOL.

Yes, I read they mature quickly, within a 2 or 3 years. Thanks for the helpful info!

---------- Post added 12-23-2011 at 11:19 PM ----------

May I know what the humidity level of your environment is? A 10 gallon tank is enough IMO, but a bigger tank is certainly better. Keep in mind that floor space is more important than the height, and filling the tank with enough substrate to reduce the height and thus the risk of falling is important. LPs are active and fall quite frequently.

You don't need to worry about the tank size at this moment until it really gets big, but that won't take too long LOL.

I have no idea on how humid my home is. It's little dry I would guess because my sinuses are dry but other than that I really can't say.

---------- Post added 12-23-2011 at 11:23 PM ----------

OMG! You aren't reading those care sheets are you? ALL care sheets tell you to keep almost ALL tarantulas at 60-70% rH! And none of those care sheets know what they're talking about! They can't even give you a good definition of relative humidity! Don't believe anything those care sheets tell you unless you confirm it here first. Ditto for pet shops.

If you're getting an LP with a diagonal leg span (DLS) of less than about 2" (5 cm) keep it as any other baby tarantula, i.e., relatively closed container with slightly damp substrate.

Three inch (7.5 cm) or larger DLS: Keep it the same way you would a Brachypelma albopilosum (curlyhair) which it will resemble a lot, i.e., as an arid or semi-arid species.

During that intermediate phase of about 2 molts you should be gradually allowing the substrate to dry out. Also, during this phase and forever after, supply it a water dish.

Note carefully that as adults (and as with most other tarantulas) humidity is not a big issue. Don't stress over it. If you have any doubts, keep the substrate dry and cover the open parts of the cage with plastic food wrap to hold in a little of the humidity from the water dish.

As adults they need a larger cage. A floor space measuring about 2' X 3' (60 X 90 cm) isn't too big. But, the distance between the top of the substrate and the top of the cage should never exceed their DLS or 1.5 X their DLS at maximum!

These are huge spiders when adult. To reach their full potential in size they need to be fed LOTS as they grow. They're real garbage cans!

Contrary to popular opinion, these are really fairly docile as adults providing that you begin to gently handle them at about the 3" DLS stage. Once they become accustomed to the hand of man, and you become accustomed to handling a spider the size of your face, "everything's going to be all right."

Enjoy your HUGE little handful!

Wow, great information! Thanks!!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

males 2-3 yrs... females 3.5-5 years. .. my 4.5-5" female is aprox 3+ yrs old.. was 2" inches when I got it 2 yrs ago
I only heat my Ts during wintertime though,.,. norm 73 degrees -78 summer..
Temps & feeding greatly affect growth.. Slower feeding in males typically means a way longer life..