They're heeeeeere! (New tarantulas!)

Last week I finally pulled the trigger on a purchase I’ve been thinking and talking about for a while: tarantulas! I ordered a 1 3/4" G. pulchripes and a 1/2" T. albopilosus from Fear Not Tarantulas (the T. albopilosus was a freebie), and they arrived today safe and sound. They’re so freaking cute! I’ve never seen tarantula slings in person before, so I wasn’t prepared for just how adorable they really are. They were both pretty chill and easy-going when I unboxed them and put them in their enclosures. The T. albopilosus ended up crawling onto my hand, but never freaked out or bolted. Just calmly crawled onto my hand and then walked straight into their little enclosure. The G. pulchripes walked straight from its shipping vial into its enclosure with a couple gentle prods. Very drama-free unboxing, thankfully! The G. pulchripes seems very bold, it’s been hanging out in the open and hasn’t gone under its hide/starter burrow yet. The T. albopilosus found its hide right away.

I was super stoked to be able to get a G. pulchripes sling that had already put on some size, because I know their growth rate is crazy slow. The free curly hair was the icing on the cake. They’re both beautiful and I can’t wait to watch them grow into gorgeous adults! No names yet, so I’m open to suggestions. They’ll have to be gender-neutral names, since it will be a while before they’re old enough to sex.

I wasn’t able to get a picture of the tiny little T. albopilosus, but I did manage to snap a photo of the G. pulchripes right after I got it out of its shipping vial.


So cute! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

18 Likes

Congrats on the new additions!!

8 Likes

Well, the G. pulchripes is still out in the open, now clinging to the side of its enclosure. I don’t think it’s gone in its hide once. Meanwhile, the T. albopilosus has done some serious landscaping, having excavated a pretty deep little burrow.

There was a bit of a snafu with the enclosures. I ordered some more Tarantula Cribs in the appropriate sizes for these little ones, and initially the enclosures were scheduled to arrive yesterday and the slings were scheduled to arrive today. Perfect, right? So naturally it didn’t work out that way. The delivery for the enclosures was delayed by two days, which I wasn’t notified about until the slings had already shipped. :person_facepalming: So I got the slings today as planned, but the enclosures won’t arrive until tomorrow. Fortunately I was able to make due with what I had around the house. I thought about just leaving them in the shipping vials, but I wanted to check and make sure they’d made the trip alive and well, and I figured since I had to do that, I may as well move them into temporary enclosures that would let them stretch their legs a bit. But that means I’ll have to rehouse them again tomorrow when their enclosures arrive. I feel bad, but I guess it’s unavoidable.

I had initially considered waiting until the enclosures actually arrived before placing my order for the slings, but I was afraid the G. pulchripes slings in the size I wanted could sell out. Maybe if I ever face a situation like this in the future, I can place the order for the animal, but ask that shipping be delayed until I actually have the enclosures. Live and learn!

5 Likes

Thanks, I’m super excited to finally have them!

If I remember correctly, you keep Ts, right? What’s your favourite species that you’ve kept?

3 Likes

Congrats on the new babies :heart: aracnids are so fun and most are relatively easy to keep. All my slings/scorplings start in small enclosures so that i can monitor them more easily and ensure that they are getting their food.

I’ve found that spiderlings have webs to help them catch prey but they love live and kicking insects. In the small starter you can drop insects in on the webbing easier. Just most spiders can climb and are pretty fast so you do have to be careful lidting the lids.

My scorplings dont have webs to help them they also have poor eyesight. They have to rely on sound, vibrations and smells. If prey is too big for them they will run away and not eat. Scorpions are not picky eaters so as long as i kill the insect beforehand they will eat it.

Once my babies have molted 3 or 4 times i may transfer to the permanent home. Pretty much once they can successfully hunt i really don’t need to interfere.

My Linothele Sericata is the only spider i kinda worry that i placed in permanent housing too soon. So because she blends in so much i can’t find her, i try to drop all the crickets in on her web.

3 Likes

My Psalmopoeus cambridgei is my current favorite, I guess. She (I hope) is just getting some of those adult green colors and looking amazing!

4 Likes

I don’t believe either of the species I got are heavy webbers. I’d guess that they may lay down some silk at the entrance to their dens, but that’s about it. Tarantulas are very sensitive to vibrations, though, so even the ones who don’t web much are still able to find and take down their prey.

Currently, the G. pulchripes is in the deli that used to house my black widow, and the T. albopilosus is in the shipping vial that the G. pulchripes came in. Those are perfectly adequate, but they’re not the greatest for viewing the spiders, so I’d like to get them into some nice crystal-clear acrylic enclosures. The Tarantula Cribs I got are, I believe, a good size. Not too big but not too small. Plus the small terrestrial slider I got for the G. pulchripes has this sort of lip around the edge of the opening, which can help prevent escapes, and given how my G. pulchripes seems to enjoy climbing the sides of her (thinking positive, feminine thoughts) enclosure, I’m looking forward to that extra security measure! Though so far she doesn’t seem bolty, just rather bold and curious. She did finally dig herself a burrow last night. :heart:

4 Likes

I love those, they’re really beautiful! I love pretty much any green spider, even if it’s more of a greenish tint than GREEN. Definitely on the list of species I’d like to have at some point. Though I’ve heard they have a tendency to be a bit bolty and defensive, so I didn’t think it was the best beginner species for me. There’s a pretty extensive list of more “intermediate” or “advanced” species I’d love to have once I get a little more experience under my belt, and P. cambridgei is absolutely on that list!

How large does a T generally have to get before you can sex their molts?

4 Likes

You know I’m not really sure. I’ve never done it, but I have a few that I need to do it for. I know that Dave’s Little Beasties YouTube channel has a really good video on how to do it that I watched here recently.

I just call all of mine girls in the hopes that they are!

4 Likes

Yeah, I’ve watched lots of videos and looked at lots of pictures about sexing molts. I feel like I have a pretty good idea of how to do it and what to look for, I’m just a little unclear on when I should start checking them. I’ll probably give it a try as soon as one of them gives me a molt, though I’m guessing that it’ll be a while before either is large enough to give me a definitive answer. Until then, like you, I’ll just think positive and call them both “she.”

Although…my dad has some pretty fancy, high-powered microscopes that I’m betting he’d let me use, so maybe if I use one of those, I’ll be able to tell sooner.

4 Likes

That’s what i love about sexually dimorphic species, you can tell externally :joy:

5 Likes

Many tarantula species are sexually dimorphic to one degree or another (in some species the differences are very dramatic, while in others it’s more subtle), but typically that dimorphism doesn’t become apparent until the spider is mature, or at least nearing maturity. But you can usually sex the molts a good deal earlier.

4 Likes

Well, the enclosures arrived, and the babies have been safely transferred into them. Let it be known that I now officially hate digging tiny spiders out of their burrows. The T. albopilosus was especially trying, because damn is that a tiny spider. The fact that she was in a tiny vial just made the process even more difficult, because it was virtually impossible to delicately remove the substrate. I removed about half the substrate, and then ended up having to just dump the rest of the substrate with the sling into the larger containment bin I was working in. Then I chased that tiny creature around the bin with a catch cup for about 5 minutes (felt WAY longer) before I finally managed to scoop her up and deposit her in her new enclosure. BUT IT IS DONE.

The G. pulchripes was much easier. She hadn’t buried herself very deep, so I just pulled up her hide and she calmly walked out of her burrow and right into the catch cup. Only problem was, she then didn’t want to leave the catch cup, so I ended up just putting the cup into the enclosure with her still in it. She can come out on her own when she’s ready.

5 Likes

Yep, sounds about right! I usually put a hole small enough for my smallest paint brush to go in, to help coax them out. Last time I transfered a tiny sling I ended up just emptying the vial into the little container and used a small paintbrush to uncover the sling.

4 Likes

Yeah, I’ve seen some YouTubers use the trick with a small hole in the catch cup so they can insert a stick or paintbrush through the bottom to more easily coax the spider out. I’m definitely going to prepare some catch cups like that before it’s time for the next rehousing! Only problem with that in this instance is that the T. albopilosus sling is so tiny that I feel like any hole wide enough to get a stick through would be large enough for her to skitter through. But she’ll be larger the next time I need to rehouse her, so that won’t be such a worry.

I’m very happy with the Tarantula Cribs I got (small terrestrial slider for the G. pulchripes and the Sling Crib for the T. albopilosus). The quality is, of course, excellent, and I think the sizes are perfect. Both are larger than they technically need, but they’re not so large as to cause problems, and this gives them some good space to grow before I need to upsize them, which will make life easier for everyone.

5 Likes

I agree about enclosure size. I tend to give them a bit more room than they need but I also make sure they can find the food and are eating. Im not a big rehousing fan! I dropped an enclosure once and it took me two hours to find the littlw guy, and another half hour to finally get it in a catch cup and back into its home.

5 Likes

Yes transferring slings is an art form, nope im not an expert not even close. Im always worrying about hurting them transferring them. Secondly since slings tend to be nearly clear they make spotting them fast a chore.

Having recently moved my funnel web spider i can definitely say i don’t want to have to do that ever again.

4 Likes

I typically use 2 different snap top or deli cups before a permanent home. Although i kinda hate the whole transfer thing and feel bad if they don’t have a nice enclosure, the one positive is that i know hiw they are doing and if they are eating. Since i transfered my funnel web, she disappeared under the log and i don’t think she is eating which may force me to dig her up again ( i really don’t want to because she is super fast and super aggressive, I’ve also seen her play dead, id never free handle her. I use tongs, and long handled soft bristle paint blushes. I try to use an animals natural urge to run to “safety” but this girl, she dont run, she will square off with me. Throwing a catch cup over her is only part of the problem, the next challenge is getting some thin cardboard under her to form a temporary lid so i can gently tip the cup and lid it. She definitely gets my adrenaline running.

4 Likes

Your funnel web sounds kinda scary! Rehousing a spider with medically significant venom is nerve-wracking enough when they’re non-aggressive. I was so nervous rehousing Delilah, not because I was afraid of being bitten, but just because I really, really didn’t want her getting loose in my house, and she’s super quick. But at least I knew she wasn’t likely to bite me. She just sort of bolts around when I poke her, she doesn’t attack. A super venomous, large spider who stands her ground and attacks would probably give me a heart attack. :joy:

5 Likes

Yeah widows are super fast when they need to be. It helps them either flee or catch their prey. I don’t blame you for having the feeling of not wanting her loose in the house. She would likely 99% of the time bite you but she is nocturnal and may accidentally put herself in a position where you night accidentally smash her in your sleep and she will then bite. Their bite isn’t quite as deadly as the claims, still you never know if you have an issue with venom until you encounter it, there’s always that small chance you could have a reaction. Theres a YouTuber who purposely got bit by a black widow as well as brown recluse. He filmed the whole thing didn’t go to dr just used over the counter meds. Still i wouldn’t want to endure the envenomation the widow lasted like 24 hrs, the brown recluse was like 6 days.

As much as i love my aracnids i don’t mess with any of them, im not willing to risk getting bit or stung. A young healthy individual ( which im not ) is likely to survive envenomation depending on how much venom they got, but im not trying to find out if i get a dry bite or a dry sting. And i really love my funnel web, though i never see her because she hides in her burrow, i only seen her 1 time out in the open that was the 1st night in her new enclosure by the morning she found where she wanted to make a burrow and been there since. She isn’t eating her crickets so i may have to try other prey, i may ultimately have to dig her up to make sure she is ok, and that im 100% not looking forward to because she will not run from me its crazy to me that an animal about the size of the circle in an OK sign with my fingers is absolutely not afraid of a human like 1000s of times larger than herself

4 Likes