So, you want to keep a pet tarantula?

[Lopéz]

You can usually tell by examining the old shed skins - but spider sexing is tricky, a bit of a black art really.

When buying a pricey spider you really don't want an adult male.
They are extremely restless, and live only to mate, as many times as possible, before they eventually die about a year later.

What most people do with adult males is "Stud" them out to people with females.
The female owners use the male to breed, and then you split the profits from the 100 or so spiderlings 50/50.

The male often gets killed or at least tagged after the mating process, but seeing as they are basically going to die soon after mating of natural causes it doesn't really matter.

Very good information on breeding loans

 

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Originally posted by The Edge
Prolly been asked but i'll ask anyway

How often do they need cleaning out? Can u do it without handling the spider?

I clean any debris (ie half-eaten or dead crickets) out once every week.
I do it by hand, but I wait until the Baboons are both tucked up in their burrows More becuase I don't want them running off and escaping than anything.

If they are alert and stomping about, I leave it for another day.

You can clean a docile spider out by hand while it's alert, they generally ignore you.

If you want you can always use tweezers or long forceps to do it.

As for totally cleaning out the tank, it doesn't really need doing - some people do it every 6 months or anually, but most won't bother with the more aggressive species.

I use the faithful "prod it into a freezer or food bag with a chopstick" method to catch the feisty ones. Once in the bag they huddle up in the corner, and can be put in a temporary container while you wash the tank out and change the substrate.
When your done just put the bag in the clean tank and they should find their own way out, or you can gently prod them until they do a runner.

 

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Originally posted by DirtyMinx
Yay!! Another baby spider for me to quiz Lostkat about lol.

They are certainly fascinating creatures.

There are loads more species I'd like, but unfortunately species choice in Britain is poor compared to mainland Europe andthe States.

Then there's the question of space - when I move out I'm really going to need a taratula room, or at least a very big wall to put all my tanks on.
Looking to double if not treble my collection in the next year.

I expect Kate should be on later tonight, I think she got her A.geniculata from an independant breeder.

 

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Well the other day, I was getting a bit bored of Idi and Mugabe being permanently underground.
P. murinus is what's known as an "opportunistic" burrower - if you give it dirt it will dig, so I decided to conduct an experiment.

I moved his log from the tank floor, and propped it up, like a tree trunk.
I wanted to see if he would make a shelter against the corner of the bark, which would look a bit better than a tank full of dirt...

I came back from work to find that he'd made a totally arboreal web!

Mad huh?

Such adaptive creatures.

 

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Originally posted by GJUK
To Lopez. Lostkat

this might make you smile

imagine this there I am reading this thread and my daughter comes alone and bugs me to sit on the lap

now I am still reading this thread and scroll down to a picture of a Big spider well.....

My daughter who is 2 in april roars out laughing and shouting spider(she love house spider and is alwasy pointing them out) well I keep scolling down the page and another picture well the laughter is even louder

/keelystop hirstfgtting th e keyboard

anyway see really loves the picture stangley see like the one with I presume Lopez's Hand but then she not right

well more picture please


Cool thread

GJUK

Awww. Yeah it's my hand in any of the pics I've posted.
The one sitting comfortably on my hand is a gentle old lady, who a raised from a spiderling the size of my thumbnail. She's 10 years old and mightlive another 10 or more - you never know. She literally wouldn't hurt a fly, she kills and eats crickets so selfom that you would wonder how she hasn't starved. Chilean Rose make a great first spider.

As for the orange spider sitting by my thumb, well that's an entirely different kettle of fish. Though he's not much bigger than a housespiderat themoment, that thing should grow into a 6" across ball of spitting hellfire. That's as close as my finger is ever getting to that tarantula, and I only didit then as I knew the spider was at rest. They don't make the greatest pets due to their attitude and their tendancy to dig deep burrows and hide away (although mine has spun a tree web just to be different )

Glad you like the thread and the pictures, infact thanks to everyone who's responded and contributed to this thread. It's been really enjoyable, and it'll keep growing until people stop showing an interest.

 

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The second book is very chunky. I can't believe it's only a fiver. Takes a while to arrive as I believe Amazon ship them from the States - Kates took 3 weeks to get here.
Full of useful info from genuine tarantula keepers - not just full of anecdotes and hear say like many books are.

Well, you wanted pictures, so here come a few.
I apologise for them being blurred, but where he's built his new lair it's tricky to get a camera in decent position to take good pics.

Feeding The Beast:

My favourite aspect of keeping T's is feeding them. Watching them sieze a cricket, sometimes after letting it walk right past them a few times never fails to amaze me - their speed is out of this world.
Just now, I managed to get a few shots of Idi catching a medium sized cricket.

1)

Idi is resting peacefully in his new lair. He's nowhere near as constructive as Mugabe.
Note the foolish cricket to the right of the picture

2)

Seems the cricket is more foolish than we thought, eh readers?
Somehow he's managed to stumble across a hungry Baboon spider's lair. You know those horror movies when you're screaming "turn back now, run before it's too late!".........

3)

Too late! POW, Idi snatches the cricket up with his pedipalps (the small "mini legs" outside his jaws) and it's a case of "Fangs a lot for the free lunch Mr Cricket"
*chortle*

4)

Idi turns his back on the camera and slowly begins to inject digestive juices into his prey, turning it into basically creamy cricket soup.

Lovely stuff.

 

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Originally posted by Master Skooter
I don't know if i'd feel a little guilty sending the crickets to such a painful & sickening death

Saying that i used to feed ants to spiders when i was a lad........kids huh?

Oh trust me, after you've listened to them rustling about all day it's easy, theraputic even, to send them scurrying off to their doom. Besides, they were specifically bred to be live food, so I have no guilt whatsoever there,

That's as close as my fingers are ever getting to Idi! Even at this size, it pays to be wary of any Pterinochilus or Poecilotheria, as their venom tends to be more potent than that of most tarantulas.

 

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Originally posted by DirtyMinx
This may have been asked before but rooting through 13 pages is going to take forever so anyway..

If he bit you what would happen? Would it be a trip to the local A&E?

And how often do you feed him one of those poor innocent crickets?

Most bites from pets are caused by these little buggers.

Sme of this info is adapted from the Tarantula Keepers Guide.
Tarantulas are capable of exquisite control over the amount of venom they inject in every bite.
Most bites are "dry bites" when the spider injects no venom at all.
Only when a tarantula is enraged or biting for it's life will it inject a full payload of venom.

Generally something like a P. murinus bite will result in an aching in the affected limb, often some numbness, burning sensation and perhaps swelling
Of course, nearly all tarantulas have slightly differing venom and therefore different effects.

As for feeding, I keep a diary of how often Idi eats:

Idi arrived: 22.01

22.01 - 1 cricket
23.02 - 1 cricket
25.01 - 2 crickets
28.01 - 1 cricket
11.01 - 3 crickets
12.01 - 1 cricket
13.01 - 1 cricket
15.01 - 1 cricket

sizewise, he's certainly bulked out a lot. Idi isthe larger of the two, probably over a centimeter more than Mugabe across.
He will only grow a significant amount next time he moults.

 

[Lopéz]

Originally posted by Master Skooter

Do u bite your nails young man?

Lots

It's the stress of keeping volatile tarantulas that does it.

 

[Lopéz]

Fantastic shots!

You're very lucky to see a moult - my spider has always shed overnight - I've only witnessed a moult once.
It's seriously fascinating to see the spider extract itself from the old exoskeleton and inflate themselves.
Some fast growing tarantulas have been known to almost double in size during a moult.

Now you need to give her a few days to harden up and she can start to feed again.

 

[Lopéz]

Dying spiders tend to be upright, not on their backs.
Lots of people have thrown away a healthy moulting spider because they thought it was sick or even dead.

As an aside, I'm currently in the middle of a transaction to buy 2 more spiderlings (haven't had a s'ling in over 10 years )

Anyone want to take a guess at what I'm procuring?

 

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Originally posted by DirtyMinx
My money is on the cobalt blue for Lopez's new baby Or maybe a bluebottle

I know someone who recently had a Cobalt Blue lay eggs - it's just a matter of seeing if they hatch successfully.
So far my search for a Green Bottle Blue has been fruitless.

However, I was most pleased to find a dealer with 2 of my favourite species in stock as spiderlings:

Venezualan Suntiger Psalmopeous irminia

"These are a stunning velvety species of tree spider. The colours are simply gorgeous.
These are NOT beginners spiders though. They are incredibly fast, and are reputed to be very aggressive at times, and if you are unlucky enough to get bitten, then the likelihood of multiple strikes is very high."

Temperament: Agressive, fast and nervous

Size: 5.5 inches across

Heat: 75 to 80 degrees

Humidity: 70 to 80 percent

Habitat: Arboreal - Venezuela

"These spiders are not particlarly big, but the velvety black with the yellow/orange rump markings are stunning. The lower legs have rich orange lines. They have the typical splayed scopula of tree spiders, but do not sit in the typical tree spider stance much."

Wanted one of these for a long long time

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The other species is one of my serious all time favourites:

Martinique Pink-Toe Avicularia versicolor

They start out life looking like this:

And mature into equally stunning adults:

"The Martinique Pinktoe Tarantula has to be one of the most beautiful tarantula species in the world! When the spiderlings hatch out, they are a brillant blue color, and by the time they reach adult coloration, the Martinique Pinktoe Tarantula is covered in reds, greens, and even purples."

Temperament: Docile and nervous

Size: 6 inches across

Heat: 75 to 80 degrees

Humidity: 75 to 80 percent

Habitat: Arboreal - Tropical areas of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and possibly the surrounding Caribbean islands

"The Martinique Pinktoe Tarantula is a docile but skittish species that can be quick to run if disturbed. For good reason, Martinique Pinktoe Tarantulas are among the most sought after tarantulas in the hobby"


Very happy that I've found both of those at last.

 

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Popped down to the pet shop today, I was only going in for some crickets I swear.

Got chatting to the guy and he has a surplus of Honduran Curly Hair spiderlings. Now I've never been that keen on the Curly Hairs, but under the light they are actually a very pretty spider.
Not quite as docile as a Chilean Rose, but handleable nonetheless.
Well after long talk he eventually made me an offer I couldn't refuse
I'm now the proud owner of a baby Honduran Curly Hair.

All together now - "Awwwwwww"

Close up, you can see the red hairs on the legs and abdomen

And as 10p pieces seem to be the universal scale indicator:

Coming from Honduras in Central America:

I decided a Hispanic or Latin American name would be most appropriate.

So, say hello to Miguel.

 

[Lopéz]

Originally posted by iam
LOL @ Miguel - very fitting

So how much he set you back mate?

/and whats with the views of this thread being smaller than the replies

The thread screwed up the other day, nobody could reply to it.
So 2blue4u did some merging jiggery pokery with an old thread of mine, and managed to fix it.
Hence, the start date, views and thread id has all changed.

As for how much, well he has a pile on the shelf and they are on sale to the public at a mere £3 each.

Ideal first spider.

 

[Lopéz]

Originally posted by DirtyMinx
Aaahhhh I want one now!!!

Miguel =
They are pretty sweet but I dont think I could bring myself to handle the spiders when they got bigger, do spiders care whether they are handled or not? would it make any difference to their existance if you didnt touch them at all?

Sorry to keep throwing the questions at you but I'm well curious now.

Spiders don't give two hoots.
Many many keepers never handle their tarantulas. The spider gains nothing from the handling process (spiders are incapable of loyalty and affection as displayed in cats and dogs) and have poor memories. What happens to them today is of little relevance to what happens tomorrow.

It is useful to be able to hold your spider for when you need to wash the tank out (once every 6 months, if that)
Of course if you don't want to hold it ever, you can happily nudge it into an empty container of some sort while you clear the tank out, and then nudge it back in again.
I've not touched my Baboons by hand, and I'm never going to.

I'm still getting those 2 spiders I mentioned earlier, they will be posted to me as soon as the weather improves (no dealer worth his salt will post livestock when it's this cold.)

Just to tempt me even more, the guy I'm buying them off has offered me first refusal on baby Avicularia metallica, a similar species to the Martinique Pink-Toe.

Almost all Avicularias are gentle and timid, but fast moving. They make good pets for experienced and novice keepers alike.


Miguel is now happily stomping about in his mini set up.
Spiders need very little room to thrive (tank should be double the length and double the width of the spider)
He doesn't take up any room at all - I could comfortably house another 10 or so spiderlings without even tidying up......

 

[Lopéz]

Originally posted by ToXik-yogHurt
They really only need a tank double their width and double their length? Don't move about much really do they...
I think I'll stick to fish for the moment

Nope.
Apart from wandering males trying to find a mate, the majority of spiders in the wild only cover about 4 square feet in their 15 years or so .....

They move about the space they have quite a bit.
I like to give them a bit more room myself, 4x the width /length is more than enough.

 

[Lopéz]

I have to say Miguel is a far better looking spider than I initially gave him credit for.
Curly Hairs tend to bulk out very well, making them ideal display spiders.

This is about as close as I can get without any blurring. Not a bad little macro mode on this camera I have to say.

 

[Lopéz]

Like I said - it's not essential to hold your tarantula, far from it - but it's nice to be able to hold it if you want to.
That's one of the main reasons I still really like Pepper - I can hold her at will, my friends can hold her, hell, I can let her sit on my desk all day without worrying.

Same goes for Miguel and the same should also apply to the Avicularia versicolor when it arrives.

 

[Lopéz]

They have a right old temper on them.

How big is she? Looks a well-fed chunky specimen.

 

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Originally posted by JonnyV
Lopez, im not sure how old she is, i think she was about 3yrs old when i got her, but not sure.
she doesnt seem that nasty to be honest, quite docile really, apart from when shes after crickets !

It's not unusual to get a docile example of a normally aggressive species. My own Baboons are pretty docile compared to some I've seen, and lots of people have extremely nasty Chile rose tarantulas, despite them being apparently docile.

My Curly hair is very docile (but it's only a baby) I'm trying to get it used to being picked up and handled at an early age, like I did with my Chile rose.
It's certainly a voracious feeder - Miguel has taken 5 crickets in the 2 days I've had him.