So, you want to keep a pet tarantula?

[Lopéz]

My Tiger rump has moulted twice in my care - it will take big crickets readily which is always nice.
Mine isn't too secretive, but then I don't give it the chance to be, as it is only in a small container.

The new arrival is settling in, shame it's the Devil incarnate.

Not really happy with the tank it's in at the moment, might make something customised, as it ideally needs to be deep and reasonably narrow.

 

[Clark Nova]

Moving to the Penthouse

This week I have been mostly buying: stuff for tarantulas.

I decided that the sweetjar that my Psalmopoeus cambridgei was being kept in was too small for her. I didn't really like it anyway; it was a bit ghetto and also difficult to take pictures through. I bought a nice new tank from Pets@home (thanks Nexus ) and she seems pretty settled in it. It was only £18 pounds and I really like it.

Here she is taking it easy on her piece of bark:

and here is my setup with all of my T's:

Iam getting another few this weekend so I will try to put some pictures up for you of them when they arrive. Only spiderlings, but some nasty biters are on the way

 

[Windle]

Originally posted by Lopéz


The new arrival is settling in, shame it's the Devil incarnate.

SCARY SPIDER

[/B][/QUOTE]

That beasty looks pretty damn evil Lopez. Hope your not thinking about handling this one ;)

 

[Bungee]

Nice tank si_sleaf

Maybe you could put in half a plant pot for it to hide in?

 

[Lopéz]

It's really nice getting them in new tanks isn't it? That new tank is just about right for a large arboreal (Trinidad Chevrons get up to around 6" in legspan)

New tanks and substrate really freshen up even spiders you've had for years

 

[Clark Nova]

Originally posted by Bungee
Nice tank si_sleaf

Maybe you could put in half a plant pot for it to hide in?

I don't think she is interested in hiding to be honest. She hangs around on the side of the tank and even lets me touch her. She's not nervous in the slightest. With her being an arboreal, I think that's about par really. She doesn't even hide behind that piece of bark. She seems much happier than she was in the sweetjar. She used to go into threat posture as soon as I took the lid off.

 

[Lopéz]

Originally posted by Bungee
Nice tank si_sleaf

Maybe you could put in half a plant pot for it to hide in?

The spider wouldn't use it.
Trinidad Chevrons are arboreal, and tend to make camouflaged webs in trees or near the base of bushes etc.

 

[Bungee]

Originally posted by Lopéz
The spider wouldn't use it.
Trinidad Chevrons are arboreal, and tend to make camouflaged webs in trees or near the base of bushes etc.

Ok, cool. I knew it looked like an arboreal, but didn't realise those don't like to hide so much

 

[azrael357]

Where are the bodies?????

Okay,

My Fireleg has eaten a fair amount of crickets but I can't find any remains of the corpses.

Is the T eating the whold lot or will they be hidden away somewhere.

The only place I can think of is in the burrow. I've looked in the entrance but can't see anything.

Any ideas?

 

[Clark Nova]

I can never find any "leftovers" etiher. I guess some T's just eat the lot and some don't

Off to bed now, an a bti drunk

 

[Nexus]

I have that problem with my Fireleg too, I can never find any bolouses, where as my little spiderlings leave loads of them.

 

[Lopéz]

I hardly ever find cricket remains - maybe a bit of leg and that's about it

 

[Lostkat]

As I said a page ago...

Originally posted by Lostkat
They usually eat the whole cricket, sometimes leaving a leg or a wing. Contrary to popular believe, tarantulas masticate (chew) their prey, converting it into a fine pulp, which they digest. They don't just suck the insides out and leave a corpse behind

 

[azrael357]

Those jumpy little critters

How do you handle your crickets?

I have a terrible time trying to catch them. In the end I just tip a few into the tank.

This could become an issue as when the T next moults I don't want to cause any distress to the T while I'm trying to catch the little jumping beggars.

What's the secret of becoming a cricket handler?

 

[St0n3y]

WOW a spider thread

I've always been fascinated with spiders from a young age, and decided to get a Chile rose when I was 15.. 10 years later and she’s still terrifying my girlfriends


A photo but its no great the damn camera would not focus on the spider..

 

[Repo]

Re: Those jumpy little critters

Originally posted by azrael357
How do you handle your crickets?

I have a terrible time trying to catch them. In the end I just tip a few into the tank.

This could become an issue as when the T next moults I don't want to cause any distress to the T while I'm trying to catch the little jumping beggars.

What's the secret of becoming a cricket handler?

I use a pair of stainless steel teabag grabbers They were £1.49 I think; from Tesco's

Just go for a back leg & you'll usually be able to get one (sometimes you just get the leg ) With smaller cricks; putting them in the fridge for a while helps as they slow down quite a bit; although the bigger ones don't seem to be affected that much.

 

[St0n3y]

Just been looking through this thread...

Lopez and the other guys you really have some great looking spiders should keep me busy on this quiet Friday looking through all 48 pages !! lol

 

[Repo]

w00t!!!

After 2 weeks, Frida finally eats a crick

 

[Clark Nova]

Well, what an interesting day I have had. When I got my first T, one of my friend's introduced to me a friend of his who keeps T's called James. I never met him until today (lots of phone time, email etc) and saw some of the most fantastic tarantulas. He has about 80 fully grown and countless numbers of hatchlings and spiderlings.

He had a king baboon (I think it was) about the size of a cricket tub, I have never seen anything like it. It was super-nasty and kept striking at him when he opened the lid. Not one I handled but definitely one I liked, the fiery temperament and the fangs like needles were very impressive

I handled a couple of his Avicularia spiders (avici. avic and avic metallica) and they were lovely. Definitely ones for the list. They were great and kept waving their little legs around as they climbed up and down my arm. Then he put two together and they started doing a bit of drumming. I thought they were going to get it on, but they didn't.

James also owns a fully grown Poecilitheria regalis and it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Of course James had to get it out and it proceded to run all around the top and the bottom of the coffee table it was on. Then it ran on the floor and up my leg onto my chest and down my arm! I managed to keep calm because the last thing I wanted to do would be to panic her, knowing about their fiery reputation. Anyway, she eventually went back in (much to my relief as a tarantula n00b!).

James has also been breeding other T's and he showed me an eggsag from his Brachypelma emilia (sp?) which is apparently quite tricky to get to breed. Fantastically small spiders, just pink pinheads really with legs on the sides. He's also been breeding his Brachypelma vagans but those are a bit bigger now at about 1cm long each. I only really wanted one, but he sent me home with 10! Had to buy some micro-crickets to feed them on, but I think it was well worth it.

The only downside to my day was the lack of a camera Oh well, I'll know for next time

 

[Repo]

Sounds like you had a great experience

Think I would have been very nervous with the P.Regalis crawling up me! Beautiful T's though.

Ten B.Vagans... lol... feed 'em up, sell them on & make a profit My B.Vagans is very fond of mealworms & they don't fight back like cricks do making them good fodder for slings and the smaller T's.