new, and confused

[Justin Lee]

yo, everything to be said is pretty self explanatory. not only am i knew with the forums, but new with tarantulas in general, and would really appreciate some advice. i have been interested in tarantulas for a while, but was given an A. Avicularia as a gift, and pretty much have no idea what to do. i gathered some good info off of the internet, and such, but honestly, i need more than just thatt.
my entire reasoning for joining was for help. i would really appreciate any help i can get. particularly on pink toes. Thanks.

 

[77RRad]

I keep mine and my daughters in an Exo Terra Nano tall tank (8x8x12), with Eco earth as substraight and dry. then I have a water dish that's about 2 inches round and about 1/2 in deep. Have a piece of cork bark in the center standing straight up. I feed them every 2 weeks.
Some people like to have something about the same size but only cross ventilation.
I also change all my screen tops on exo terra tanks to 1/2 inch plexiglass with holes in it since I have access and can run a CnC router its easy for me to make tops for myself.

 

[Justin Lee]

I keep mine and my daughters in an Exo Terra Nano tall tank (8x8x12), with Eco earth as substraight and dry. then I have a water dish that's about 2 inches round and about 1/2 in deep. Have a piece of cork bark in the center standing straight up. I feed them every 2 weeks.
Some people like to have something about the same size but only cross ventilation.
I also change all my screen tops on exo terra tanks to 1/2 inch plexiglass with holes in it since I have access and can run a CnC router its easy for me to make tops for myself.

you mentioned feeding every two weeks. Would you mid elaborating on how much to feed for that time? don't really want my pink toe to be attacked by the crickets.

 

[Meludox]

Not certain how large your T is, but if it's an adult, one or two large crickets will do. If it does not eat immediately you can leave the prey in for 24 hours before removing.

 

[Justin Lee]

Not certain how large your T is, but if it's an adult, one or two large crickets will do. If it does not eat immediately you can leave the prey in for 24 hours before removing.

That was really helpful, and much appreciated information. i had been looking all for that answer specifically for some time now. 'm not too sure of my Ts age, but want to say it's an adult.

 

[Meludox]

Well what is the length? 2" around, 3" around..?

 

[Justin Lee]

Well what is the length? 2" around, 3" around..?

Three.

 

[Meludox]

Then yeah, I'd say a large cricket would do.

 

[Chubbs]

No idea how big yours is, but here's what I keep my slings in:

And my juveniles go in these:

Avicularia are arboreal (tree-dwelling). They spend very little time on the ground and need a decent bit of height to climb, therefore the enclosure needs to be taller. There are a lot of sources online that claim that Avics need lots of humidity. This is simply not true, so I suggest just disregarding anything you've read about that on any caresheets. What is important with these guys is having good ventilation, specifically cross-ventilation, which is achieved by drilling several rows of holes around the sides of the enclosure, not on the lid. I start at the top and go maybe halfway down. The spider will spend most of its time in the upper portion of the enclosure, therefore most of the holes should be in that area. Try to keep it a bit more on the dry side and provide a water dish. They don't need much substrate, about 2 to 3 inches. A typical arboreal set-up will do, cork bark slab or branch of some kind leaned against one side at an angle for it to climb on and web against. I also like to add some plastic vines, leaves, or plants around the top of the enclosure to give it more things to web against.

Jamie's Tarantulas has some very good custom-made enclosures for arboreals and terrestrials. The arboreal ones work great for adult Avics. I'm not a fan of anything glass because it's extremely difficult to drill holes into it without obviously cracking the glass, hence why I'm not a fan of exo terra or zoo med enclosures. Yeah they might look nice, but they're not the most suitable enclosures for Avics IMO. Hope this helps.

 

[Chubbs]

Some more pics of my set-ups for my Avics:

 

[Justin Lee]

Some more pics of my set-ups for my Avics:
View attachment 12904

View attachment 12905

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That's similar to my set up. At least now i know they don't need so much humidity. What about my heating?
And my Avic hasn't actually been doing much climbing at all. in fact, it's been on the ground for a while, and i see no webs yet.

 

[SasyStace]

Hi Justin - Welcome to the forum. You've got yourself a pretty easy going T don't see you having any problems with all the great info that you can locate on here and all the great people willing to assist you with your questions. Good Luck

 

[Chubbs]

That's similar to my set up. At least now i know they don't need so much humidity. What about my heating?
And my Avic hasn't actually been doing much climbing at all. in fact, it's been on the ground for a while, and i see no webs yet.

How's the ventilation? You may want to consider increasing the ventilation if necessary. If you just got it, don't expect to see any significant webbing for possibly a while. It can take weeks, sometimes months for them to start webbing heavily. My only concern is the Avic being on the ground for such a long period of time. Not trying to worry you here, but that's usually a bit of a red flag to me.

 

[Justin Lee]

How's the ventilation? You may want to consider increasing the ventilation if necessary. If you just got it, don't expect to see any significant webbing for possibly a while. It can take weeks, sometimes months for them to start webbing heavily. My only concern is the Avic being on the ground for such a long period of time. Not trying to worry you here, but that's usually a bit of a red flag to me.

my ventilation is pretty much just like what you have in the pictures you have there.

 

[SasyStace]

How's the ventilation? You may want to consider increasing the ventilation if necessary. If you just got it, don't expect to see any significant webbing for possibly a while. It can take weeks, sometimes months for them to start webbing heavily. My only concern is the Avic being on the ground for such a long period of time. Not trying to worry you here, but that's usually a bit of a red flag to me.

Amen to that- my rescued pink toe has been on the lid of her enclosure for 2 weeks - no webbing and no eating since her super worm on week 1.

 

[Kymura]

Hi and welcome to the forum. , my A.avic is three inches as well and webs very little, she eats well, is calm and seems perfectly happy other then when she decides she's hungry, (she then haunts the lower area on the front of her enclosure looking for the magically appearing crickets )
The folks here are wonderful and there's always someone willing to help when you need it.

 

[Chubbs]

A.avic and A.metallica I find to be the least webby of all the Avics.

 

[Kymura]

A.avic and A.metallica I find to be the least webby of all the Avics.

Which are the most prolific webbers of the avic Chubbs?

 

[Chubbs]

Which are the most prolific webbers of the avic Chubbs?

Out of the ones I have kept myself, I'd say A.versicolor is at the top. I have heard that A.purpurea is up there pretty high as well, but I haven't had the experience of owning one just yet. A.diversipes is also a really heavy webbing species, mine often webs so much that it seals the lid shut on a regular basis. My A.amazonica is an extremely prolific webber, as those who have seen my photo thread may have noticed. When she was a little sling though, she barely webbed at all. Most Avics can be somewhat heavy webbers, if housed in a way that allows them to be, and are given adequate time. Sometimes it'll just happen seemingly out of the blue. From my experience though, A.avic and A.metallica take longer to start spinning and usually only do it more heavily when about to molt.

 

[Kymura]

Thanks @Chubbs , want a versi eventually anyway so that's the one I'll set my sights on ^^