Lots of Questions for my Emergent Curly Hair Tarantula Rehoming - New to the Hobby

[Magee]

Hi there! So I picked up this curly hair tarantula from a craiglist posting in my area that wasn't taking care of it and I have a couple questions as the new owner. I would love any advice and guidance the community can give me. Here are some of my main questions:

- As pictured, my tarantula has a bald spot from its previous ownership. Is this from stress? Or what is it from? Is there anything I can do to help it?

- I just rehoused my lil mans from a 5 gal. tank to a 10 gal. tank and the 5 gal. tank had a mesh lid that my tarantula loved hanging upside down from. I read that was dangerous though because their feet can get stuck so I moved him to a 10 gal. tank and got a custom acrylic lid with ventilation holes. He's still trying to get upside down on the new lid? Is this normal? It's only day one of him being in his new tank so I'm just watching him acclimate and go around. He was pretty active looking around, and there's even some webbing on the floor so I'm hoping this is a good sign? Pictured in his new setup:

- Also, regarding his new setup: I have him in a 10 gal. glass aquarium with eco earth substrate with some fake flowers. He's got a water bowl, multiple hides and some burrows. I'm worried about how cold it gets at night because I live in Arizona, but I am really worried about messing up with my choice in tank heater. What are the recommendations for heating a tarantula tank?
- For feeding, I ordered a dubia roach colony so I could keep those and feed him. I heard they were better than crickets. I want to tong feed ideally but I'm open to any suggestions about feeding. I know they refuse food when about to molt but should I keep trying to feed? How do I know for sure? ==
- Regarding age and sex, I think its male and no idea on the age. How can I determine these things?

Finally I have this video of him doing this thing? Can someone tell me what it is?

 

[Magee]

Also, I should clarify on the video. His leg was wet like with saliva.

 

[AdamG]

Will try and go through your points as best I can one by one, there are people here with a lot more knowledge than me who'll chime in I'm sure but happy to give my views as a starting point.

* The bald spot indicates he's been flicking a lot of hair but in conjunction with the size of his abdomen, I'd worry that he's been under stress and not eating a lot.

* Enclosure-wise you did the right thing going for an acrylic lid, I've heard too many cases of them getting their cute little feet stuck in mesh and losing a leg or worse so that's an excellent choice made already.

* On enclosure size, this is a topic I often struggle to wade through opinion on so hopefully someone smarter than me will have some input, however from your photos it looks like you've mitigated the risk of a fall quite well by raising the substrate. I use the rule for terrestrials of having no more than 1.5x their leg span for them to fall and I try to avoid anything with sharp edges that could possibly rupture a tarantula's abdomen.

* Well done on the multiple hides. That will give him a choice where he wants to burrow. The climbing the enclosure at this stage could just be a settling in behaviour.

* Linked to the aforementioned skinny abdomen, I would try him with some food as soon as he's comfortable. Tarantulas can go without food for a long time and still be healthy but the poor guy looks like he needs a good meal. I would always advise against tong feeding as a tarantula can break their fangs if they accidentally hit the tongs. It may be prudent if you think he's lacking energy to drop the prey right in front of him rather than letting him hunt. If he doesn't take prey, remove it and try again another day.

* Temperature shouldn't concern you too much. Have a read of this article by Tom Moran which should put your mind at ease a little.

Humidity, Temperature, and Tarantulas

We’ve all done it. After hours of exhaustive research in which we read about a tarantula’s natural habitat and peruse a plethora of care sheets (many of them with conflicting informatio…

tomsbigspiders.com

* Regarding sexing, I will defer that to someone with more knowledge as I have no experience here.

* Your video looks just like he's cleaning and preening in my opinion.

Hopefully that's helpful to start you off. This is a great place full of amazing advice and friendly people so you've come to the right place. The amount of conscientious questions you've asked tells me immediately you're gonna be great for the little guy (if he is one!). Good luck!

 

[Konstantin]

Hi there! So I picked up this curly hair tarantula from a craiglist posting in my area that wasn't taking care of it and I have a couple questions as the new owner. I would love any advice and guidance the community can give me. Here are some of my main questions:

- As pictured, my tarantula has a bald spot from its previous ownership. Is this from stress? Or what is it from? Is there anything I can do to help it?

View attachment 51960

- I just rehoused my lil mans from a 5 gal. tank to a 10 gal. tank and the 5 gal. tank had a mesh lid that my tarantula loved hanging upside down from. I read that was dangerous though because their feet can get stuck so I moved him to a 10 gal. tank and got a custom acrylic lid with ventilation holes. He's still trying to get upside down on the new lid? Is this normal? It's only day one of him being in his new tank so I'm just watching him acclimate and go around. He was pretty active looking around, and there's even some webbing on the floor so I'm hoping this is a good sign? Pictured in his new setup:

View attachment 51961
- Also, regarding his new setup: I have him in a 10 gal. glass aquarium with eco earth substrate with some fake flowers. He's got a water bowl, multiple hides and some burrows. I'm worried about how cold it gets at night because I live in Arizona, but I am really worried about messing up with my choice in tank heater. What are the recommendations for heating a tarantula tank?
- For feeding, I ordered a dubia roach colony so I could keep those and feed him. I heard they were better than crickets. I want to tong feed ideally but I'm open to any suggestions about feeding. I know they refuse food when about to molt but should I keep trying to feed? How do I know for sure? ==
- Regarding age and sex, I think its male and no idea on the age. How can I determine these things?

Finally I have this video of him doing this thing? Can someone tell me what it is?

View attachment 51962

Hi and welcome to the hobby .
Your tarantula looks like mature male.In order to confirm we will need close up of its front legs.It should have hooks on them on the underside.
If this is a mature male there will be only one thing on its mind,mating.It may eat a little or it may not.Don't worry about it just make sure it has water available all the time.It will wander a lot looking for females.Many keepers keep mature males in smaller enclosures to extend their lives as not eating and being vary active exhausts them quicker. Multiple hides and too much decorations will reduce chances of pray and predator encounters so thats not ideal.Also bigger enclosure is not always better as far as tarantulas are concerned.They are very energy efficient animals and feel much more secure in tight spaces.
I will personally put him in smaller enclosure
Regards Konstantin

 

[Rs50matt]

It’s a mature male and the saliva is spider spunk. It’s a nice looking enclosure thou so when he passes

 

[Magee]

Hi and welcome to the hobby .
Your tarantula looks like mature male.In order to confirm we will need close up of its front legs.It should have hooks on them on the underside.
If this is a mature male there will be only one thing on its mind,mating.It may eat a little or it may not.Don't worry about it just make sure it has water available all the time.It will wander a lot looking for females.Many keepers keep mature males in smaller enclosures to extend their lives as not eating and being vary active exhausts them quicker. Multiple hides and too much decorations will reduce chances of pray and predator encounters so thats not ideal.Also bigger enclosure is not always better as far as tarantulas are concerned.They are very energy efficient animals and feel much more secure in tight spaces.
I will personally put him in smaller enclosure
Regards Konstantin

I have a five gallon that I'll move him into asap. I tried to feed him dubia roaches but they were on the small side and he wasn't interested. I'm worried because his bald patch definitely grew in size. What could I do in addition to moving him to a smaller tank? I'll try to get a picture or video when I can of his feet to confirm if he's a mature male or not.

 

[Konstantin]

Hi
the bold patch is nothing to be concerned about. It just kicked some hairs.There are various reasons for that behaviour.
Regards Konstantin

 

[Spydee]

keep offering food. Maybe try a variety of food. I feed mine crickets and dubia roaches but you can also feed them superworms (usually used as treats) or grasshoppers. try feeding once or twice a week. You can leave food in his cage, but if he doesn't eat it within 24 hours, take it out. Good luck!

 

[TheInv4sion]

It’s a mature male so it may not choose to eat and if it does it may not do so regularly. They don’t live very long as mature males so depending on when he hooked out you may have a year or so