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A moderatum husbandry

SikmT7

Well-Known Member
3 Year Member
Tarantula Club Member
Messages
306
Location
Rahway, NJ
What's up my T family? I have an A moderatum that's about 1 1/4 inches and was looking for best husbandry suggestions for this species. At night it gets a little overactive trying to always climb out of the container that it's in. I provided a hide, source of water, and the substrate is coconut fiber. I keep it more on the dry side only lightly misting every 4 days. The container is about 18 inches wide by 5 inches high. I put 3 inches of substrate to prevent injury from fall and I even have the hide situated 2 1/2 inches deep for burrowing. This T is very sweet just quite skittish, she will even run from small crickets at times. I have a nice husbandry set up but yet, still climbs a lot at night, during the day, inside her hide. Wondering if I need to rehouse or reconstruct the husbandry to calm her down? Thank you for any suggestions! :)
 

T-Baby

Well-Known Member
3 Year Member
Messages
389
Location
London
It sounds to me like you have everything perfectly fine for your Moderatum, I personally don’t mist Aphonopelma species as they like it dry I just change the water every few days but that’s just what I do.. Tarantulas are nocturnal so will in theory be more active during night times, she could simply be hunting or seeking a way out. I tend to feed more in the evenings to simulate this. Not to mention it’s only small, smaller T’s are more skittish and/or burrow.
They also have their own character, my 2 Strimi’s aren’t the same. 1 hides and 1 is very defensive/skittish but as she grows up she could change... at the end of the day she’s a small spider in a big world (tank)
 

SikmT7

Well-Known Member
3 Year Member
Tarantula Club Member
Messages
306
Location
Rahway, NJ
It sounds to me like you have everything perfectly fine for your Moderatum, I personally don’t mist Aphonopelma species as they like it dry I just change the water every few days but that’s just what I do.. Tarantulas are nocturnal so will in theory be more active during night times, she could simply be hunting or seeking a way out. I tend to feed more in the evenings to simulate this. Not to mention it’s only small, smaller T’s are more skittish and/or burrow.
They also have their own character, my 2 Strimi’s aren’t the same. 1 hides and 1 is very defensive/skittish but as she grows up she could change... at the end of the day she’s a small spider in a big world (tank)
@T-Baby Thank you so much for reading this thread and for your very helpful response! :D. This is very true, I noticed the smaller ones have more burrowing tendencies and as they get older they chill out and stay out in the open more. Is the same true for A seemani that they like it dry too? I will definitely take that into strong consideration and just use the water dish as a humidity source :). My A moderatum is so shy that it takes me several attempts sometimes to even feed her 1 cricket, and she will only eat once every 2 weeks, very slow growing. Thank you so much for your help my friend! :)
 

T-Baby

Well-Known Member
3 Year Member
Messages
389
Location
London
@T-Baby Thank you so much for reading this thread and for your very helpful response! :D. This is very true, I noticed the smaller ones have more burrowing tendencies and as they get older they chill out and stay out in the open more. Is the same true for A seemani that they like it dry too? I will definitely take that into strong consideration and just use the water dish as a humidity source :). My A moderatum is so shy that it takes me several attempts sometimes to even feed her 1 cricket, and she will only eat once every 2 weeks, very slow growing. Thank you so much for your help my friend! :)

Unless it’s a genus that prefers high humidify I don’t mist any Tarantula as it causes mould, for the ones that need misting I have a lot of cross ventilation to prevent that. Even with slings I use the smallest tattoo ink pots as water dishes, if you look at the attached picture :)
If she’s shying away from food, prekilling the prey is always an option and sadly yes as with all Aphonopelma’s you’ll be waiting a long time for growth hence why some adults can be costly.
You are most welcome for the help, any other questions feel free to ask :D
 

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SikmT7

Well-Known Member
3 Year Member
Tarantula Club Member
Messages
306
Location
Rahway, NJ
I usually give her a medium to small sized cricket and it has to be in front of her or else she will run! As long as I put it in front of her as to not surprise her then she grabs it with a vengeance :D:eek:. I wait until she goes into her hide to give her one because that is when she is courageous to strike at prey. I know they are desert dwellers from Texas so low humidity will not harm them so I think I'm gonna stick with just a water source at the corner and nothing else. Plenty of cross ventilation is there :). I love this species, so fascinating and beautiful, hard to come by :D. You have been a tremendous help, thank you so much!
 

AndrewClayton

Well-Known Member
Messages
276
Location
Wishaw, Scotland
What's up my T family? I have an A moderatum that's about 1 1/4 inches and was looking for best husbandry suggestions for this species. At night it gets a little overactive trying to always climb out of the container that it's in. I provided a hide, source of water, and the substrate is coconut fiber. I keep it more on the dry side only lightly misting every 4 days. The container is about 18 inches wide by 5 inches high. I put 3 inches of substrate to prevent injury from fall and I even have the hide situated 2 1/2 inches deep for burrowing. This T is very sweet just quite skittish, she will even run from small crickets at times. I have a nice husbandry set up but yet, still climbs a lot at night, during the day, inside her hide. Wondering if I need to rehouse or reconstruct the husbandry to calm her down? Thank you for any suggestions! :)
You’re setup seems fine as @T-Baby said no point in misting, what I do is just overflow the water dish as they burrow and overflowing the water dish soaks the bottom layers allowing your T to burrow to the about of moisture it desires. As for A seemani I do the same but other aphonopelma like chalchodes are more arid and like it dry
 

SikmT7

Well-Known Member
3 Year Member
Tarantula Club Member
Messages
306
Location
Rahway, NJ
You’re setup seems fine as @T-Baby said no point in misting, what I do is just overflow the water dish as they burrow and overflowing the water dish soaks the bottom layers allowing your T to burrow to the about of moisture it desires. As for A seemani I do the same but other aphonopelma like chalchodes are more arid and like it dry
Definitely gonna give that a try! The A moderatum are very intelligent, mine dug a hole between her hide and the water source so that if the source overflows a bit of water trickles down through the hole into the side of the hide, sorta like she made her own irrigation system :D. And yes, I did notice my A chalcodes likes much more drier than my A moderatum and A seemani. Chalcodes are quite the interesting and enigmatic species, mine literally made a path of thick web on the substrate like a intricate network of webbing leading straight to her burrow, I love Aphonopelmas! Thank you @AndrewClayton for your help and for reading this thread!
 
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