Hello! PLEASE HELP!! QUICK!! (rescued t's)

[flickedthehairout]

New to keeping tarantulas! And I'm in a bit of a pickle! A long time friend called me up. She works at a homeless shelter. A homeless man came in to stay and had two tarantulas. He was told he could not keep them there and would have to re-home them or throw them out if a home was not available. This is where I came on scene!! One T was living in a very moist, very small peanut jar with NO ventilation. I was informed that this was the pink toe, who I've since rehoused in a less than perfect enclosure, but which is MUCH better than what she had. The other T was housed in a small critter carrier with little substrate and no hide, but which was not overly humid. However, I was told she was a FIRE SPIDER. . I feel like this is highly inaccurate!! Both, 'girls' have been rehoused in enclosures that are moderately better than before, for sure. But, I have questions!

Alice, the pink toe, will not eat, and appears very thin. She was housed in a dank, airless enclosure and was very stressed. I assume this is why she will not take food. Should I be worried? I've provided much more height, climbing and cover. (We'll be changing her enclosure to be better suited to her species ASAP but as we weren't planning on having spiders, we're working with what we have available!) I've controlled the humidity and given, and plan on giving, much more ventilation. I do not know enough to tell if she is in pre molt. She is actively webbing up her enclosure and moving around. I'm allowing her quiet and space, but offering food every other day or so. Removing any food not eaten. Is this the right thing to do!?! Also, I'm reading that they can be kind of picky eaters? Any pro tips on food?

Scrambles, the "fire spider" is a voracious eater and will soon be moving to a larger, better ventilated enclosure as well. She seems to be doing fine. She is active, though she doesn't seem to want to hide or burrow, which is what I expected considering the type of tarantula that I THINK she is! Which brings me to the first and most important question! What kind of spider is this furry, orange, lovely lady? Once I have that answered, I'll home in on more questions about her, but seeing as how she's eating and responding well to stimuli, etc. I am much less worried about her.

Also.. sorry to unload on the introduction forum! So sorry! It's the middle of the night and I can't sleep for worry about Alice and Scrambles. They're the first tarantulas I ever held and they've got a special place in my heart. Also, sorry for the less than amazing photos. I don't want to upset them anymore than strictly necessary. I'm sure y'all will take one look at these ladies and know instantly what these girls are and what needs to be done for them!

But, in any case! Hey! Hi! Nice to be here!

 

[Konstantin]

Hi there
First of all you can relax and calm a little bit.
Both spiders seem in pretty good condition.
First the pink toe is Avicularia species likely Avicularia Avicularia (common pink toe) but Im not an expert on identification of those.
Anyway if you don't plan on breeding that spider thats nor really important as all Avicularia have similar care.
Arboreal enclosure(more height than floor space)is needed with good ventilation as they don't like stuffy environment. Enclosure size is dependent on size of your spider in DLS (Diagonal leg span)For spider with 4 inch DLS enclosure with dimensions 20x20x30H will be good. If spider is smaller enclosure should be smaller too.Enclosure setup is cork bark angled vertically towards one of the corners ,dry substrate, decoration higher up (as they hand up high up) and water dish.
Example

Food you can offer once every 2 weeks(couple of crickets )not every other day.Tarantulas don’t need to(won't)eat that often as they are very good preserving energy. Arboreal tarantulas look more slender usually and yours is not slim anyway. Also it may take a while for your spiders to settle in their new homes so refusing food is no issue.
Second spider is Brachypelma hamorii (Mexican red knee)
Hardy terrestrial species.
More floor space than height is needed when housing them.Enclosure should have approximately 3 times spiders DLS in lenght,2 times DLS in width and 1.5 times DLS in height.
For 5 inch spider you are looking as enclosure with dimensions approximately 15-12inch lenght x 10-12inch width and 8 inch height as a rule of thumb but the main thing is not to give them too much height as falls from height may result in injury or worse. They like dry packed down substrate . Provide cork bark hide and water dish too.This species grows slow and should be fed once every 2-3 weeks as too much food will result in extensive fast(up to 12 months) before moulting eventually. Tarantulas are opportunistic feeders and will take food when available but that doesn't mean they should be fed every few days.
When you have chance post pictures of the full enclosure so we can advise you further.
Hope that helps
Any further specific questions you have just post and we will try our best to answer them.
Regards Konstantin

 

[flickedthehairout]

Thank you for the quick reply! I was worried! And still am! I have NO IDEA what I'm doing. My 13 year old son knows way more than me. I'll post pictures of their enclosures soon. The red knee, Scrambles, definitely needs more floor space. Alice, the pink toe has more height. I'll work towards making her enclosure more appropriate as we go. I just worry that she's not well because of being housed in the stupid peanut jar for who knows how long! I'll let them get settled and adapt my husbandry as I learn! These girls (we're calling them girls cause... Why the hell not!) seem to be liking their life with me much better than their previous one. I will calm down slightly and allow them to show me what they want!

 

[Konstantin]

Hi
Im sure you will do fine with them.
Its just a matter of doing a little research for their care and time to get used to them.They are beginner friendly species and don't require much to care for them properly at that size.
Here are some links to Tom Moran YouTube channel.He is a teacher by occupation and explains things well.He is one of the few trustworthy sources of tarantula husbandry on YouTube.
Avicularia avicularia video below but any Avicularia species on his channel you come across applies too.

Ignore the brand of the enclosure or the aesthetics of its aesthetic (Spiders don't care its for our benefit only)Suitable size end ventilation holes placement ist whats important.
Brachypelma genus care below.

Regards Konstantin

 

[flickedthehairout]

Hi
Im sure you will do fine with them.
Its just a matter of doing a little research for their care and time to get used to them.They are beginner friendly species and don't require much to care for them properly at that size.
Here are some links to Tom Moran YouTube channel.He is a teacher by occupation and explains things well.He is one of the few trustworthy sources of tarantula husbandry on YouTube.
Avicularia avicularia video below but any Avicularia species on his channel you come across applies too.

Ignore the brand of the enclosure or the aesthetics of its aesthetic (Spiders don't care its for our benefit only)Suitable size end ventilation holes placement ist whats important.
Brachypelma genus care below.

Regards Konstantin

Thanks for the links! I plan on watching them this evening when I get some time! My son and I are enclosure shopping and looking for accessories for the girls now. I'm learning a lot. I was just worried about the pink toe, especially. She seems to be behaving normally from what I can gather except for not eating, but as far as I can gather, even that is pretty normal!

Figured my best option was to talk to folks who actually owned these creatures and knew what was going on!