Worried about my T

[Alnana]

Bare with me, this is my first T. I'm a newbie and know nothing.
I got an Arizona Blondie at a local reptile expo, probably not the best place to get one, but I felt kinda of bad for all the Ts there, and I have watched T hobbiests on YouTube for years. I've tried to do research before I went through with this. He/she is blonde and tan, about 4-5 inches.
I have a locking tank, with substrate, half log, silk plant and wood, a little tray for water and a little cup with water that came with the T. I have a heater that came with it under the tank but it's warm in the house so I don't have it on.
The first day he/she hid in the log. Moved from one side to the other some time I wasn't looking. The second day I fed it a medium cricket as per the sellers instructions. It disappeared so I think it was eaten in the night. Today my T (Charlie) moved from on top of the log to the side of the tank. Then kind of slid down so he/she is sitting half way on the substrate and the other legs on the glass.
Is this normal? I checked all the things I've learned: no bald spot, no shriveled abdomen, no curling legs, nothing like that.
But he/she just isn't moving much. It's late here, midnight, I thought maybe at night he would move. Honestly I don't mind a little guy that doesn't hardly move, I mean if that's normal. Is it normal?
I know I have SO much to learn. I feel kinda dumb, although I am reading as much as I can. I just don't want my ignorance to kill the little guy. Please don't bash me, unless I deserve it. Do I?
Ps, in the time I wrote this he walked a few inches and now is against the glass (picture included.)

TLDR: reptile expo T might not have been a good idea, but I am trying. Any advice?

I'm going to bed and will check in the morning in case anyone even answers. Thanks if anyone even read this.

 

[Jeef]

Greetings and welcome aboard!

I always get tarantulas at the expos. I'm gonna get some more in about two weeks at an expo. No problem there.

I've got a few Aphonopelmas, and what you are describing is completely normal. They don't do a whole lot. When they do, I wouldn't think too hard about it. They go on hunger strike. They bury themselves and don't come out for months. They know what they are doing.

Heater on the bottom of the tank is a bad idea. It is instinct for them to dig down to get out of the heat in addition to all the other reasons they dig. You might want to give it some more substrate to dig around in.

At the end of the day, Aphonopelma chalcodes are super easy to take care of.

 

[Enn49]

Hello and welcome.

 

[Alnana]

Greetings and welcome aboard!

I always get tarantulas at the expos. I'm gonna get some more in about two weeks at an expo. No problem there.

I've got a few Aphonopelmas, and what you are describing is completely normal. They don't do a whole lot. When they do, I wouldn't think too hard about it. They go on hunger strike. They bury themselves and don't come out for months. They know what they are doing.

Heater on the bottom of the tank is a bad idea. It is instinct for them to dig down to get out of the heat in addition to all the other reasons they dig. You might want to give it some more substrate to dig around in.

At the end of the day, Aphonopelma chalcodes are super easy to take care of.

Thank you so much! He moved a little bit during the night too. So I'll just keep an eye out. How often should I try to feed?

 

[Sugar Wolf]

As Jeef said its completely normal... I have an A. seemanni and she does this on the side tank stuff all the time she will also move to different spots in her enclosure and spend quite awhile at a spot before she moves to another...

 

[m0lsx]

Thank you so much! He moved a little bit during the night too. So I'll just keep an eye out. How often should I try to feed?

Hello & welcome to both the hobby & the forum, the Aphonopelma chalcodes are great T's, full of character, but not the most active.

With food, I feed my T's once a week & with my Aphonopelma's I tend to feed smaller crickets, as I find larger crickets make them less likely to feed. So a medium cricket sounds about right, once a week.

Tarantulas are sedentary ambush predators. So they will sit for days waiting for food to pass. Thus they are not very active & thus don't need a whole lot of food. My Aphonopelma jonnycashii went for two years only taking food once or twice during that period. But it is currently taking food fine, as long as I put smaller prey in. I have tried 2 smaller crickets & food is left, but one & at the moment it's taken.

 

[mrsoul1974]

Hello and welcome aboard!

It sounds like your T is just fine. Remove the heater, as long as the room temperature dosen't drop below say 62 degrees F for an extended period of time, Charlie should be fine. If yor feel comfortable in the temperature of the room, your T probably is, too.

I would offer food that is smaller than your T's abdomen once weekly until premoult, and than wait at least a week, depending on their size, for your spader to harden up before feeding. You'll notice that when your T moults, its fangs will be white in color and too soft to eat. They need to harden completely before feeding, or else they can break. Broken fangs can lead to you T not being able to eat, and that will lead to death, so it's very important to make sure that your taruntala's fangs are completely hardened-up before you go feeding it again. The fangs will turn jet-black in color when they are ready to eat again. Take a look at the fangs on your T's most recent moult, and you'll see the color, or check them out now or during the next feeding. (You can always look up a pic online, too.) Also, at that size, I'm pretty sure you can sex the moult the next time it happens. (I'm suprised that whoever sold it to you didn't know...) best of luck to you!

 

[Lawrence b]

Welcome to hobby and forum .

 

[SullivanC]

Hi welcome to the hobby and forum! your spider seems normal, aphonopelma species are similar to rose hair (grammostola porteri/rosea) they dont seem to like being active alot so its normal behavior from them if they dont move. You asked people to not bash you but no worries, this is not arachnoboards and we are pretty friendly here when it comes to new people terrestrial species need alot of substrate to prevent them from possibly falling down and getting hurt so can you take a picture of enclosure if thats okay? from the picture you provided it doesnt look bad at all, nice setup but substrate level seems little too small compared to enclosure so just for safety I would maybe just add more substrate and something you should keep in mind is dont add anything to their water dishes, I know pet stores tell you to put sponge but dont take their advice, just fill the water dish with water and leave it like that. Sponge is dangerous because it grows bacteria in the water very quickly that can harm the spider. If you have any more questions feel free to ask them and we can happily help you out if needed