A. Chalcodes..what to expect

[Rickdawg73]

Hi everyone I'm now a solid week into the hobby (Yay!) and have so far managed to 1. Not kill my T..2. Setup a new enclosure and 3. Rehouse my new 8 legged friend . Now for the tough part..what should I expect from my T? so far she hasn't eaten and seems pretty lazy (although she has been more active the past couple of hours). My biggest concern is feeding. Since she doesn't communicate when she's hungry how do I know? I was also wondering if I should invest in a heater? I'm constantly researching and reading posts but I can't really find anything really specific about my T. Sorry for the long post but I appreciate any helpful info.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Depends on The size...slings I feed 2 small meals a week. Juveniles I feed once a week. Adults I feed every 2 weeks. If they don't eat I'll pull the prey item out and try again in a couple days. After they refuse 2 or 3 times and they appear fat...ill assume their in premolt. Except a few adult species that are known to fast long periods at a time. I'll try every couple weeks to see if they will eat. Always make sure the water dish is full. Heaters aren't necessary. Room temperature is good for most T's 68°-74° is fine. If your any colder then that a space heater to heat the room or area is the safest. No heat pads! Remember most desert T's hunt at night when the temperatures plummet.

 

[Rickdawg73]

Depends on The size...slings I feed 2 small meals a week. Juveniles I feed once a week. Adults I feed every 2 weeks. If they don't eat I'll pull the prey item out and try again in a couple days. After they refuse 2 or 3 times and they appear fat...ill assume their in premolt. Except a few adult species that are known to fast long periods at a time. I'll try every couple weeks to see if they will eat. Always make sure the water dish is full. Heaters aren't necessary. Room temperature is good for most T's 68°-74° is fine. If your any colder then that a space heater to heat the room or area is the safest. No heat pads! Remember most desert T's hunt at night when the temperatures plummet.

I have some pics up but if I remember right this is an unsexed juvi (but it looks female by the coloration). I put 3 crickets in but 1 drowned in the water dish the other expired (maybe starved?) There is still 1 roaming around but she hasn't taken any interest in it. Still getting my head around keeping crickets alive for feeding. My wife bought 15 from Petsmart and I kinda freaked out..lol.

 

[Arachnoclown]

I'd feed only 1 cricket a week. You can try superworms. They are easier to keep alive for long periods of time. They also don't stink. I keep them in oatmeal and throw a carrot in every few days...thats how they get moisture. I can keep them alive for months. Just pinch their heads when you fed otherwise they will bury themselves. They'll still kick around for a bit but the Ts will find them.

 

[Dustin Amack]

Get the Tarantula keepers Guide! It will be a valuable resource. Just keep your room comfortable for you and your T should be fine. I use Rust Red Roaches or "red racers" I think they are called (B. lateralis), they don't harm your T and are full of protein. These roaches are wicked easy to keep alive and easy to use as feeders. Good luck with everything, welcome to this incredible hobby!

 

[Whitelightning777]

Don't always believe every caresheet out there but this one seems plausible.

https://tomsbigspiders.com/2015/04/14/aphonopelma-chalcodes-the-desert-blonde/

Asking what's in my caresheet and is it any good works the same way it does with cannibis. You have a general idea but you never really know.

 

[LGTARANTULAS]

You're worrying too much my friend.
All you need to do is:
- Feed it once/twice a week.
- Keep water dish full. (Depending on what tarantula you have, keep the substrate moist also.)
- Don't leave the crickets in as they can start to stress your tarantula out and possibly end up
eating it. Crickets are sick twisted cannibals. Remember that!
- I would leave in 1 cricket for 24 hours. If it's not gone, then simple remove it and try to feed it next week.

It would be helpful if you told us the species or at least posted a picture of it. Anyway, good luck to ya!