Just rescued a Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula from a bad situation in a pet shop.

[amaranthinedragon]

I've been thinking about getting my first tarantula for a while now; so when I saw what condition this poor guy was being kept in I had to take him away from it.

But anyways to keep things short I not experienced enough to know what signs I should look for to tell the health condition of this poor thing. I couldn't get much info about him from the seller, in fact he even got the species wrong.

Can anyone more experienced tip me off as to what to look out for?

 

[octanejunkie]

Welcome to the forum, I see this is your first post

Congratulations on doing the right thing I'll be it unrehearsed and unresearched, all is not lost

Make sure to set up your new friend in an enclosure that is at least 3 to 4 times it's diagonal leg span in width and length, and no more than one and a half to two times it's diagonal lifespan in free climbing height

Provide your friend with a hide, and make sure that there's always clean fresh water available in a water dish in one corner of the enclosure

As far as substrate and other furnishings, you can easily use coco fiber, peat moss or any commercial substrate that's formulated specifically for keeping tarantulas. Garden soil, topsoil and things like that often have pesticides and other undesirable elements in them, so we tend to stay away from commercial garden soil

As far as health, feed your new friend once every week or two and remove any uneaten feeders or food items from its enclosure. Probably easiest to start with adult crickets and given the approximate size I would try feeding one or two adult crickets every week or two for now

Congratulations on saving your friend from a lousy fate of wasting away in a pet store. Now do your research, and again, welcome

(dictated but not read)

 

[MBullock]

Looks fairly healthy to me albeit def in need of a meal. Those black spots are from the scales being rubbed off. its common in WC specimens, they try to escape from containers and rub off scales.

You should see the sorry state of some of the wild aphonos i run into in the wilderness, many of the A. iodius i collect surely would've died had I not found them. they're aways super thirsty with shriveled up abdomens, all beaten up and ragged, missing limbs etc..

 

[Oursapoil]

Welcome to the forum/family!

 

[ArachnoHorn]

Welcome!

 

[amaranthinedragon]

Can a tarantula develop behavioral issues from how it was kept? I would of expected this guy to start burrowing or at least stay in the hide I provided for him by now. But he just seems to lie out in the open in the middle of his enclosure, He's spinning webs over the ground but that's about it.

I'm wondering if having been kept in a tiny cage with zero substrate could have affected his behavior.

 

[Turtlynne]

I just always try to remember that the T is much smarter about what it should be doing than you can imagine! If you have housed it as advised above(these guys know their stuff!) it will do what it's supposed to do
Give it time to adjust!
Welcome!!

 

[smallbike]

Can a tarantula develop behavioral issues from how it was kept? I would of expected this guy to start burrowing or at least stay in the hide I provided for him by now. But he just seems to lie out in the open in the middle of his enclosure, He's spinning webs over the ground but that's about it.

I'm wondering if having been kept in a tiny cage with zero substrate could have affected his behavior.

As far as I know, they don’t really work like that, but this species does tend toward being skittish. I have an A. seemanni as well, adopted from a pet store employee who took her in after being surrendered at their store. Once she had consistent care, her appearance really improved.

I second all the advice here, and will add that this species does like deep substrate, though mine seems to be less interested in burrowing than others. They’re not usually aggressive, and mine has only given me a half-hearted threat pose once. Generally a very chill pet (to the point of boring lol).

Good luck with your new friend and welcome to the forum!