Hit Me With All The Info You Have!

[Jolene]

Quite some time ago I had your basic pink toed tarantula. I bought it as an adult and it didn't live that long. About a year and a half with me. While it lived I got in to a relationship and my new beau said no more spiders!

He has since come in to an addiction of his own where critters are concerned and this weekend....to soften the blow that he purchased another ball python without consulting with me....he bought me a new spider.

Here's the thing. I HATE taking any sort of living thing in to my home without first knowing all there is to know about it. Second, it's a wee little thing. I have zero knowledge on how to care for a teeny, tiny, fragile spider. The adult was fairly easy. But a baby?

He bought me an avicularia versicolour. How long can it stay in a little tub? How long does it take to grow? How many crickets does a wee spider eat? Pin heads I assume? How often do I need to change substrate in such a container? I'm looking at a aboreal habitat? So tall instead of wide, how tall?

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by my lack of knowledge and google's wealth of pages that offer a million different answers!

 

[Chubbs]

Quite some time ago I had your basic pink toed tarantula. I bought it as an adult and it didn't live that long. About a year and a half with me. While it lived I got in to a relationship and my new beau said no more spiders!

He has since come in to an addiction of his own where critters are concerned and this weekend....to soften the blow that he purchased another ball python without consulting with me....he bought me a new spider.

Here's the thing. I HATE taking any sort of living thing in to my home without first knowing all there is to know about it. Second, it's a wee little thing. I have zero knowledge on how to care for a teeny, tiny, fragile spider. The adult was fairly easy. But a baby?

He bought me an avicularia versicolour. How long can it stay in a little tub? How long does it take to grow? How many crickets does a wee spider eat? Pin heads I assume? How often do I need to change substrate in such a container? I'm looking at a aboreal habitat? So tall instead of wide, how tall?

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by my lack of knowledge and google's wealth of pages that offer a million different answers!

Get the Tarantula Keepers Guide, it will answer a lot of these questions.

You don't need to change the substrate unless you notice a lot of mold on the substrate. Avics need lots of cross-ventilation. This is accomplished by drilling lots of holes on the sides of the enclosure rather than the top.

Here is an enclosure for one of my Avics:

Sling:

Juvenile:

 

[Jolene]

I don't have it yet. The reptile show my hubby got it at is in another city so it will be home tomorrow. It looks like it's in a plastic solo container with holes on the top. Do I poke holes on the side or does it need a whole other container?

 

[Jolene]

 

[Chubbs]

I would probably just rehouse it completely, because chances Are if you're getting it from a reptile show, it's not being kept in an ideal enclosure.

Yeah that's way too big of an enclosure for a tiny sling. They also need a slab of cork bark leaned across one side of the enclosure to attach webbing to and a small bottle cap for a water dish.

 

[Jolene]

how long does it take for such a small spider to grow? How does feeding go for this size? Pinheads I assume but how many and how often? Is the Tarantula Keepers guide a book? I can't go get a book now but just so I know

 

[Chubbs]

how long does it take for such a small spider to grow? How does feeding go for this size? Pinheads I assume but how many and how often? Is the Tarantula Keepers guide a book? I can't go get a book now but just so I know

Yes it's a book written by a guy who has been keeping tarantulas for decades.

Growth depends on a variety of things such as feeding frequency, temperature, species, and the gender of the spider. Unfortunately no one's really going to be able to give you a clear answer on that one. A.versicolor are a medium-growing species on average. As for feeding, you could use live small crickets, or you could just use prekilled. Simply crush the head of the cricket so it can't jump away but will still twitch, and place it in front of the sling. Sounds gruesome but it makes feeding a heck of a lot easier. I don't have a set feeding schedule for my spiders, I go by the size of their abdomen. A spider with a large bloated abdomen is probably in premolt and will most likely refuse food anyway.

 

[Jolene]

So you feed every day til you see that? I have a special needs gecko....Im a pro at mutilating crickets haha. Small crickets or pin heads? Is there a food size rule? Like snakes is width of the biggest part of body. Frogs are space between eyes etc etc. I wouldnt be able to go get a book for a week as I work 12 hour days.

 

[Chubbs]

So you feed every day til you see that? I have a special needs gecko....Im a pro at mutilating crickets haha. Small crickets or pin heads? Is there a food size rule? Like snakes is width of the biggest part of body. Frogs are space between eyes etc etc. I wouldnt be able to go get a book for a week as I work 12 hour days.

I try to feed at least once or twice a week, but I don't fret over if say I run out of crickets and can't do that. Also the book is available on Amazon. Some slings will take down live prey as big as themselves, but I try not to over challenge mine. With dead crickets it shouldn't matter.