Soo... bought my first T yesterday, new to all this.. =)

[custm42425]

I have wanted one for a while, and after browsing craigslist found a local seller with pinktoe metallica slings for sale at $10 each and thought what the heck why not get one..

Not sure exactly how old it is, and i know definately not old enough to tell the sex yet, but figured would be fun none the less... I know you can feed these small crickets at this age, wondering about other small insects (have a veg. Garden, so not hard to find small insects lol) also unsure of whether it has recently eaten or not, so went outside and browsed my cabbage plant and found a colony of tiny caterpillars on it and wondered if this would be something the little thing would like to eat? put one of them in the container with it last night and it hasnt really done much other than smack at it if it got too close so maybe its full? Any info appreciated and thanks in advance =)

 

[Josh]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Nice little sling you have there! Welcome to the Tarantula addiction! hahahah

 

[Samuraisid]

Hey custm,

Its virtually impossible to tell the actual age of a T, unless the breeder keeps excellent notes. The best way to record "age" is to keep track of the diagonal leg span. Much like the position your T is in, in the pic, you want to measure from the first leg on the left side to the last leg on the right side.

I will completely advise against using outside caught insects to feed your T. The reason being that herbicides and pecticides are in widespread use throughout the world, and you cant be sure that the insect isnt carrying that, or some dangerous parasite or bacteria. It can be done, just be aware of the risks.
At that size you can get away with feeding it every 2-3 days or once per week. Go to your local pet store and buy one cricket. The easiest way to feed this guy, would be to crussh the head of an adult cricket and drop the carcass in with the T. Remove the leftovers after 48hrs. Otherwise a live cricket, approx. the same size as the spiders body length (tip of head to anus, accurately called the prosoma (head) and opisthosoma (abodomen/butt)).

With this guy, you will eventually notice a darkening of the legs. Almost as if someone drew lines down them with a pencil. This is the new exoskeleton detatching from the old. It means he is in pre-molt and will not be interested in food.

Your going to want to add a source of humidity. The T may or may not drink from it, but as relative humidity increases, the amount of naturally occuring waterloss from the T will go down, reducing the likliehood of death. A small bottle cap lid filled with water should do.

This sp. can shy away from feeders. I tend to not wait for him to eat. Just put something in, then take it out after two days if not eaten.


I also suggest you try getting used to scientific names if Tarantulas become your new addiction. This one is called Avicularia metallica, the Metalic WhiteToe Tarantula.

 

[custm42425]

it now has substrate and something to climb on, but hasnt been interested in eating over last 3 days for some reason. bought mini mealworms and flightless fruit flies and it acts like it doesnt even care about them... Definately interested in seeing the colors come out over next few molts though =)

 

[custm42425]

earlier today, it climbed the wood in the middle of the container, and started waving its rear back and forth and up and down while moving its spinnerets then rubbed them close to the wood with its hind legs, so i thought it might be about to build something, then later just stopped doing it and didnt really see anything on the wood. also did that earlier while standing on the bottom, although this time just started doing 360's while doing so. being new to this whole thing, i have no idea what any of that means it is doing lol

 

[Samuraisid]

T's have a variety of silks they spin. Sounds like yours was just laying claim to the land. Kind of like when wild mammals urinate the perimeter of their land. Since Tarantulas dont rely on the same sences as us, they require other mechanims to keep them oriented.

IME it can take up to three weeks for an Avic to start building a nest.