curly hair spiderling help

[Olivia Watts]

hi!
i just received my first ever tarantula in the mail this morning. it's a mexican curly hair, and it's a baby. i was thinking i'd receive an adult, but i guess i was wrong! i'm not upset, the idea of raising him really intrigues me and i am very excited. i just want to be very careful and make sure i'm being a good spider mom.
any general advice? right now he is in a small mason jar about 3/5 full of eco earth coconut husk substrate. he's in the little starter burrow i dug for him. the substrate is a little damp, but not too much. when should i begin feeding him? how do i make sure he's getting enough water? does he need to stay warm? what should i do when he begins to molt? will he molt in his burrow? any advice is good, really. i just want to make sure he's in the perfect environment!
thanks,
Olivia

 

[Olivia Watts]

also, i'm having a hard time navigating this forum, i hope i posted this in the right place! lol

 

[Olivia Watts]

hi thanks for replying! this is him right now. he's about the size of a dime.

 

[Bugmom]

I would put him in a plastic enclosure with ventilation holes on the top and sides. The mason jar isn't going to give him enough ventilation. Pretty much any cheap plastic food storage container will work as a tarantula home. I get mine at Dollar Tree for, yep, $1

You can use a bottle cap (like off water or soda) as a water dish, but being a Brachypelma species, he will probably just tip it over or fill it with dirt. With slings that small, I just add a little bit of water to one side of the substrate at the same time I feed (every 5-10 days). He should be able to eat small crickets with no problem. Be careful with mealworms - they can and will eat your tarantula, especially if he's molting! I've had them eat at least two of my spiderlings.

Brachypelma albopilosum (curly hair tarantulas) are excellent excavators, so they tend to move and/or bury water dishes, and make pretty extensive burrows at times. They're fun to watch. Here's a video of my albo pretending to be heavy machinery

 

[Olivia Watts]

I would put him in a plastic enclosure with ventilation holes on the top and sides. The mason jar isn't going to give him enough ventilation. Pretty much any cheap plastic food storage container will work as a tarantula home. I get mine at Dollar Tree for, yep, $1

You can use a bottle cap (like off water or soda) as a water dish, but being a Brachypelma species, he will probably just tip it over or fill it with dirt. With slings that small, I just add a little bit of water to one side of the substrate at the same time I feed (every 5-10 days). He should be able to eat small crickets with no problem. Be careful with mealworms - they can and will eat your tarantula, especially if he's molting! I've had them eat at least two of my spiderlings.

Brachypelma albopilosum (curly hair tarantulas) are excellent excavators, so they tend to move and/or bury water dishes, and make pretty extensive burrows at times. They're fun to watch. Here's a video of my albo pretending to be heavy machinery

i've punched a bunch of holes in the lid of the jar for ventilation but they are not big enough for him to fit through or hurt himself on i don't think, do you still think i ought to move him?

 

[kormath]

i've punched a bunch of holes in the lid of the jar for ventilation but they are not big enough for him to fit through or hurt himself on i don't think, do you still think i ought to move him?

Yes, you want cross ventilation for airflow as well as the top ventilation. Otherwise the air inside his home can become stagnant and that is bad for them.

A food container like @Bugmom said is a great way to start. You can go to to your local deli shop and get a 4 oz condiment cup for a sling that size and he'll do fine. Use a needle or push pin and heat the tip, then use that to melt small holes in the lid and around the sides of the cup near the top.

You want the substrate moist so he can burrow easily. I mix Eco-Earth coco fiber and peat moss (half and half or so) and then add a bit of water and mix that in. You want it moist enough it will hold shape when you squeeze it, but not so it drips when you do that. If it does drip just add a bit more coco fiber or peat moss and mix it in.

At that size your B. albo will spend most of it's time in his burrow. I'd recommend a bottle cap or a lego brick (the 4 post square ones work well). He probably won't drink the water, it's more to keep the humidity controlled. Spiders get the majority of their hydration from prey.

I'd give it a week or so to settle in, he'll probably cap off his burrow until he's ready to eat and face the world. At that time a pinhead cricket would be a good food size. You'll want the food to be about the same size as his abdomen. If you can get roaches where you are the pinhead lateralis roaches are great feeders for that size also. Or mini/small mealworms, but be sure to crush their head so they don't burrow away, and won't harm the T.

Good luck with your first T!! and welcome to the addiction

 

[Kymura]

i've punched a bunch of holes in the lid of the jar for ventilation but they are not big enough for him to fit through or hurt himself on i don't think, do you still think i ought to move him?

Yes, I would. Doesn't have to be fancy or expensive, even those gladware storage containers work well. Tarantulas do odd things and even the terrestrial types can/will climb from time to time. Any rough edges could injure him/her. You can melt holes in the plastic and they work personally put mine on the sides.

 

[Kymura]

@kormath
We posted same time wouldn't have had to post if you had been quicker

 

[kormath]

@kormath
We posted same time wouldn't have had to post if you had been quicker

I was in Texas for the last 5 days, between hearing their accent all day long and jet lag my brain is fried

 

[Olivia Watts]

this is what he's in now, with holes on the sides and the lid. is this okay? i fed him a tiny cricket today and he loved it!

 

[kormath]

this is what he's in now, with holes on the sides and the lid. is this okay? i fed him a tiny cricket today and he loved it!

Looks good, i'd add a little more substrate though, unless the gap i'm seeing is from burrows he's already dug. You want the sub as least as deep as his leg span, those little guys will spend 90% of their time digging in the substrate. At that size i saw mine every couple months, when he'd come out chasing a roach or it was time to upgrade his enclosure

 

[Olivia Watts]

i'll add a little more! how long do you think it'll take him to grow? i don't even know how old he is now. i'm also not sure if he's a male, i'm just hoping so because i'd really like his name to be sir legsalot.

 

[MassExodus]

Brachypelma grow slowly. They will mature in 4-6 years, possibly longer, just depends how often you feed them and how warm you keep them. A female can live 25 years, males mature and only have a year or two to breed, then they die

 

[32 spiders and counting]

hi!
i just received my first ever tarantula in the mail this morning. it's a mexican curly hair, and it's a baby. i was thinking i'd receive an adult, but i guess i was wrong! i'm not upset, the idea of raising him really intrigues me and i am very excited. i just want to be very careful and make sure i'm being a good spider mom.
any general advice? right now he is in a small mason jar about 3/5 full of eco earth coconut husk substrate. he's in the little starter burrow i dug for him. the substrate is a little damp, but not too much. when should i begin feeding him? how do i make sure he's getting enough water? does he need to stay warm? what should i do when he begins to molt? will he molt in his burrow? any advice is good, really. i just want to make sure he's in the perfect environment!
thanks,
Olivia

I dont know if this is a post or a comment or what but did your curly hair ever just kill flys not eat them and put them in a pile