So, you want to keep a pet tarantula?

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Originally posted by Wallace
How do you maintain humidity ?

Edit : Great thread by the way, one of the only long threads where I've read all the replies and still been interested :D
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There are a few ways. Some spiders like it really wet - soak the peat or vermiculite, even go to the lengths of pouring water down the side of the tank.
Other spiders like the Chile Rose like a reasonably dry floor.
I tend to mist the tank once or twice a week with a water sprayer.


EDIT

I think I just convinced myself into ordering two sub-adult Baboon spiders....:o :eek:
 
Originally posted by Wallace
So its nothing precise then (at least not in your setup)..

Just when you were quoting figures for the spiders in your first post of "around 80%" etc I thought you might have some fancy gadget in your tank :)

Think I'll either get a spider or a snake when im working full time :)
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Oh you can get gauges but they tend to be pretty inaccurate.
Most people just go for the "mist it up every few days" routine. :)

Here's what I've just bought......

http://www.donsroom.co.uk/~lopez/Pterinochilusmurinususumbara01

http://www.donsroom.co.uk/~lopez/Pterinochilusmurinususumbara02


Temperament:
"She's a firey, psycotic beast. Fortunately, she's not prone to running around like the cobalt, but she'll basically flip over backwards in her threat position, striking at the air, jumping around and hissing. Combined with her bright, firey colors, she closely resembles a flaming ball of death. Not to be messed with at all! "

According to Phong's site, and having seen one in the flesh today, he isn't wrong!
 
Originally posted by At The Gates
They post the spiders? :confused:

I think i'm going to go for a giant weevil :D
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Gauranteed live on arrival, Special Delivery. :)

It's been commonplace in America for years, only now is it getting more polular over hear.
Our winters don't help - most places will check weather forecasts etc beforesending animals out as any more than a few hours in the cold can be enough to finish them off.

As long as they have the 2 Baboons I want in stock I'll be placing the order today. I've been given a huge fish tank which is about to be converted using a simple divider.
Baboons are voracious feeders so I'll probably end up buying extra crickets every few weeks.

Unless you have an allergic reaction, most tarantula bites are not serious. Many of their close allies (Brazilian Wanderingspiders, Funnel Webs etc) do indeed have potentand lethal venom - but you shouldn't find them on sale, at least not unless you have a Dangerous Animal's License.
The problem with spider bites is they leave a large painful mechanical wound (the fangs are large and leave a big hole) which often gets infected.
There are some excellent bite reports here which I suggest anyone intending to keep tarantulas reads - just in case you do ever get tagged.


On another note, my Chile is far happier now that she has deeper substrate - she's been active all night judging by the cricket debris in her tank, and I even saw her climbing last night, which is somethingshe's not done for years.
 
Originally posted by silverpaw
Do they taste nice? Saw some dude munch one on tv, maybe Ray Mears... :cool:
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Sure it wasn't Rick West (guy with a beard)?
He's a spider expert from Canada.

Apparently they taste pretty much like barbecued or chargrilled chicken. Not a great deal of meat on them mind you, and I don't think all species are edible.
 
Originally posted by Lostkat
They're fascinating creatures, and he's even persuaded me to get one. I'm still um'ing and ah'ing over which one though. There's too much choice :)
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Trust women to be totally unable to make a decision. :D
I'd recommend something attractive asyour first spider, to keep you interested when it doesn't do much. Don't get an aggressive species, you will end up getting bitten. :(

Any of the Brachypelma genus would be suitable - it's just finding them for sale as many pet shops have them at extortionate prices, often double what online shops charge.
 
Originally posted by At The Gates
I'm sure i saw a documentary once about some tribes in the Amazon i think, that smoked a type of tarantula to 'reach the spirits'. Apparantly it was hallucinogenic. No idea how true it was :eek:

And i've decided to get some Rainbow Land Crabs instead of weevils. It says that onces they get to know you they'll eat out of your hands :D
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That's a typo mate.

It should say
"Once they get to know you they'll eat your hands"

;) just kidding
 
Well, just been down to collect my new (free) tank.

It's bigger than I expected! I can house 2 Baboons here easily - infact 4 would be more like it. And it's so deep I could put an arboreal spider in it if I wanted.
Just need to knock up some perspex dividers (spiders are generally cannabilastic) and I'll be ready to receive my 2 baby Baboons.

I've ordered them online - hope they arrive safe. The guy says to allow 5 days delivery, so I'll need to be in over the next few mornings 'cos it's no good sending these things back to the Sorting Office!

http://www.donsroom.co.uk/~lopez/NewTank01
http://www.donsroom.co.uk/~lopez/NewTank02
 
Both are sub-adult (4-5cm across) and so probably unsexed.

One is a Pterinochilus murinus (Mombassa Golden Starburst), the other is the same species but the "Usumbara" colour variant - very often described as a whole new species when it isn't. (Rick West said so and I take his word as gospel.)
The Usumbara variant is from the mountain ranges and is usually a deep golden "Terry's Chocolate Orange" wrapper colour.

The murinus was £10, the Usumbara variant was £12.50, from www.bugsdirectuk.com

Cobalt Blue's are DAMN expensive - my local pet shop had them at £70 and he reckoned it wasn't up to much colour-wise unless recently moulted.
 
Had a mail yesterday from Bugsdirect confirming they had the Pterinochilus spiders in stock. They get sent Special Delivery - I just hope we don't have a cold snap over the next week (the spiders are being sent over the next 5 days)

My other worry is that the silicone sealant won't have cured by the time they arrive! It's taking ages for the first application to go off and after that it'll need redoing to ensure a strong bond.
 
Originally posted by GJUK
I can just imange in the sorting office 2 little boxes moving around that could give someone a fright
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Well tarantulas are pretty fragile things so I've no idea how they package them. :confused:
I don't even know if they tell Royal Mail what's in the parcels - all I know is live delivery is gauranteed via Royal Mail Special Delivery.

I tried something new tonight with my Chile Rose.
To move her about I've always scooped her up gently into my hand.
The other popular method is to "pin" the spider down using the index finger, and grip it firmly between the 2nd and 3rd pairs of legs and lift it up.

As this is something the spider is unnacustomed to, it simply sits still like it's frozen or something.
I've given it a shot a few times but my Chile always struggled against me, tonight was the first time she's co-operated. :)
 
My spider prefers the softer brown crickets, but sometimes black ones is all we can get.
These arefine, except for the fact that they chew out of their plastic containers :mad:

I came homeonce to find scores of the things under my radiator eating the carpet underlay. They met a swift death, some by T and the rest by flyspray.
 
Originally posted by Kendo
Whats the millimetres measurement? How large (small :)) they are as spiderlings?
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Yes, the measurements refer to their size as spiderlings.

You usually see them for sale at about 10mm across and upwards.

Tarantulas may well produce upwards of 3 egg sacs in some cases, each holding over a 100 babies.
What most breeders do is keep the spiderlings together. As they are generally cannibalistic, they will feed off each other and the strongest will survive. Seperately feeding and housing over 100 spiderlings is just not practical.

When they have 20 or 30 babies left they can be separated and put in their own tanks (a film canister or polystyrene cup does the job nicely) and sold to pet shops or the public.


Originally posted by sik
I just have a few more questions for anyone willing to answer them

1) I would like to shove a light in the tank, if I ever got one, would I leave it on 24/7, or turn it off at night? Also, what about a different coloured light, other than white?

2) I'm a traveller, I go on holiday about 3 times a year, mostly for 2 weeks at a time, what would I do about the lil' fella whilst I'm away? (mates are petrified by spiders unfortunatly).
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I've never found a satisfactory answer to the light question.
They don't need light as such, like many lizards do. Strong sunlight is actually bad for tarantulas.
You could use a blue or red light to watch your spider at night (most animals seem to be unable to detect red or blue light)

As for the travelling, it's usually not a problem.
Make sure the water dish is full and drop in 5 or 6 crickets - these animals can go quite long periods without food.
If you have a tropical species it might be wise to give the tank a thorough misting and soak some of the substrate to maintain humidity.
 
Originally posted by Kendo
You've got a really nice setup with that twin tank there Lopez :)

What else are you going to put in it? Anything for the Tarantulas to spin webs onto? Plants or branches? Or do they like to stay on the ground?

Sorry about all the questions, its really fascinating stuff. Thanks for the replies so far. :)
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Questions are good.
I'd rather people were interested instead of just being afraid or ignorant.

As for decorations - both tanks will have a shallow water dish in the corner, topped up daily.
For decorations you need to be careful - many parasitesd live in old bark etc, so any driftwood you collect should be soaked in salt water for 24 hours and then microwaved to kill them off (I microwaved all that peat this morning!)
The spiders I've bought will web up pretty much anything, and tend to rearrange and dig the substrate how they want it. So for now they can stay bare - I may add some bark later for shelter :)

Some species are tree-dwelling (arboreal) these need tall tanks with branches in them to build their messy webs.
Ground dwelling spiders don't often make much web, and burrowers tend to dig and web, depending on species.

Baboons are awkward sods and seem to be semi-arboreal, so there's no telling what they'll do once settled.
 
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