Tarantula Q

legs11

Righ folk

Im toying with the idea of getting a bad ass mexican red legged perhaps or a chile rose.

whats the deal with feeding these critters, in the sticks we dont have cockroaches, little mice and the like in abundance.....

Can you let them roam around a house and pick them up with ease??!


no point spending 150e if the lad dies in a week.....

also how long do these live and is an incubator expensive?


thanks for the help:p

Vinnie K

Let a tarantula roam around the house?? What do you do then, start whistling and calling here boy?

legs11

:d

legs11

so noone here feeds tarantulas.......?

just want some feedback

Our man in Havana

They eat crickets - both the mexican red knee & a chile rose are good begginer species they are less aggressive than other species - you should be able to get a supply of crickets from the shop you are getting the tarantula from.

PM me if you would like more details & I will give to other sites with care sheets etc.

Duzzie

As Bond says, chillis and Redknees are good starters. Most of the Brachypelma and Avicular species are mild mannored and make good pets. Some of the other species are a lot more agressive and get a lot bigger. Those species can be handled, although i dont recomend it, as they are very dellicate and can be easily damaged. If you want an animal that is good for handling, a T is not the best choice.

As for feeding, mine eat cricks, roaches and super worms. They are not huge eaters, mine eat once or twice a week, so a single box of cricks would be more than enough for a hand full of spids for a couple of weeks

You would need a propper viv or tub to keep them in, your average house would be too cold and your T wouldnt do very well. The dont need a lot of space. Many breeders keep their spids in modest sized plastic tubs and the do fine. Bare in mind that in the wild a lot of them live in underground burrows and only come out to eat or mate.

x in the city

I would need more tips, whats the life span and are they high maintenance, I live in the country so no easy access to a supply of crickets, do these come dead or alive?! sorry If i sound dumb, lmao.

once I get some more facts I can make my mind up, but id love a mexican red legged dude

Duzzie

Their life span depends on species, sex and conditions. The males tend to have a shorter life span, as they would in the wild. Different species grow at different rates so it is hard to give an average age. Many females will live in excess of 5 years.

Crcks come live. I have never tried to feed a dead crick but i'd be surprised if a spid would eat a dead one. A box of live cricks tends to last about 2 weeks if they are fed and not kept too warm or cold. Superworms tend to live for longer, maybe a couple of months, again if kept in the right conditions. Roaches last for ages, I have some that I have had for over a year now. Once again, if they are kept right.

Spids are not really high maintenance. Once again it depends on the species, Some like dry conditions, some humid. The humid ones would need spraying more often to keep the humidity up. Your avaerage T needs food, maybe once a week, a constant supply of water and the correct temperature (depends on species). They do not make mess mso do not need regular cleaning out. So i'd say the have less maintenance requirements than other exotics.

As you can see it is difficuilt to give general answers as there is a wide variety of Ts, all with different needs.

scorps101

Not a spider specialist or anything, but they were selling a few ts in a pet shop a few years back (looked like tiger stripes) thats all i remember, i asked the petshop guy what they eat and he opened some greyish gel like stuff in a tub? i might have picked him up completely wrong or vise versa, but of course my girlfriend was going to move out if the spider moved in so i didnt get a chance to find out more.

but im curios about the live roches and crikets...what do u feed them? lol

Duzzie

Lol, I aint an expert on spids either, I get lost with all the species.

I have never seen a grey gel for feeding them. I only feed them on the insects.

The cricks tend to get a bit of carrot to nibble on, gives them their moistiure too. The roaches eat a mixture of carrot and dried cat food, like go-cat. Thats all they need really. I must be doing something right cause I have thousands of them, lol.

legs11

FREAK! lol

thats interesting, gotta look into this, how much for a red legged? i heard 50 to 150e in wackers?

are females more expensive? do they live nice single lives or need a partner...:cool:

Duzzie

legs11 wrote: »

FREAK! lol

Yip, thats me.

legs11 wrote: »

, how much for a red legged? i heard 50 to 150e in wackers?
are females more expensive? do they live nice single lives or need a partner...:cool:

You can buy an adult female for that sort of money, yes. Alternatively you can buy them online from somewhere like www.thespidershop.co.uk, although the weather is not really right for sending T's. They would tend to be cheaper ordering them from the UK. People dont tend to buy adult males unless they want it for breeding. You would also get a much better selection of spids from them.

Another alternative is to buy a few spiderlings (slings). The spider shop sell redknee slings for something like £4 each. So you could buy 5 or 6 for very little, then grow them on. As slings they would be too small to sex, maybe as small as 1cm. Personally I like to get them small and see them progress and get bigger. Most spids are solitary and should be kept alone. If kept together, they would kill each other. There are very few communal T's out there.

reptileguy16

you should look into getting a pink toe, a mexican red knee, a chilean rose, a curly hair or a king baboon! (JOKE!) they are really the best starter spiders ( minus the baboon t ) remember to research the needs of your t BEFORE you get it. get a female it will live longer. males of most species live only 1-2 years. housing can be nothing more than a plastic kritter keeper. use organic soil or vermiculite as bedding. feed crickets, earthworms, wax worms, giant mealworms and locusts. tarantulas with 3 inches legspan or over should have a small jar lid of water to drink. heating should be a heat matt on th e back of viv or red light on top do not use any bright light as it will irritate you ts. spray tank 1 a day with water to keep humidity high. hope this helped

legs11

can you use a glass cage with a simple solar panel or something to provide constant heat source? with no mains supply?

wow, some freaks on here....:D

Duzzie

reptileguy16 wrote: »

or a king baboon!

Just go for a T Blondi, great starter T. :D:D Incase anyone is in any doubt, I am kidding. DO NOT GET A T BLONDI AS A FIRST SPID.

Duzzie

legs11 wrote: »

can you use a glass cage with a simple solar panel or something to provide constant heat source? with no mains supply?

wow, some freaks on here....:D

I dont see why not, although a simple 6-7W heat mat on the outside of a glass tank would be fine. It doesn't take a lot to keep the temp up. My Herp room is kept at a constant 27degrees which is fine for Ts. As far as i know, T's are able to handle a wider range of temps than snakes and lizards.
You want to get a T so you must be a freak too, lol

legs11

im a wannabee freak,

my bro actually is crazy for this ****, i was there buying a car one day and yer man was in the car reading a book about spiders.....wouldnt even go into the showroom:p

hmmm, whats a blondi.......

legs11

lmao

holy smokes

http://mirukashihime.cool.ne.jp/image/smithi29.JPG

legs11

what a bad mofo:D

Duzzie

A T Blondi is comonly known as a Goliath Birdeater. It is the largest T species getting to 12 inches. They often have an attitude to match. There are more aggressive spids but none with quite combined size and attitude.

Keep us up to date with your descent into Freakdom, lol. And one word of warning, one is never enough.

Duzzie

legs11 wrote: »

lmao

holy smokes

http://mirukashihime.cool.ne.jp/image/smithi29.JPG

Thats a wee pussycat, lol. Now this is a narky spid, lol
http://www.bighairyspiders.com/pix/irminia4.jpg

legs11

yikes

do you sleep with these by any chance......!

legs11

hmmmm

can you keep say a bird eater and a mexican in one incubator, would they go at each other like roy keane and micko.?

Duzzie

Lol, no, they are securely away in thier tubs. That one isn't one of mine, but I do have 3 of that species. Very prety spid. Very fast and narky though. Not for the feint hearted

http://www.bighairyspiders.com/pix/irminia2.jpg

legs11

http://www.tarantulas.com/cobaltb.asp


wow!

Duzzie

legs11 wrote: »

hmmmm

can you keep say a bird eater and a mexican in one incubator, would they go at each other like roy keane and micko.?

No. All spids, with a few exceptions, should be kept singley. If put together, one would kill the other, guarenteed. Both Bird eaters and redknees have to be kept as single specimens. Some species can be kept in groups but i'd advise against it until you know what you are doing, not a move for a newbie.

legs11

lol

funny, wouldnt be nice to see two half dead Ts and 200notes down the drain.

is your hobby expensive ? do ordinary pet shops in the sticks, not dublin. have a supply of roaches and super bad ass worms? how much would this cost? i might throw some roaches to my cavalier king charles, that bugger eats anything

Duzzie

legs11 wrote: »

http://www.tarantulas.com/cobaltb.asp


wow!

A Cobalt Blue, another very narky spid. Lovely looking spids though.

This is a Greenbottle Blue. Another very pretty spid but with a much better attitude. http://www.bighairyspiders.com/pix/speck14.jpg

legs11

thats wonderful.

how much would that cost?! are they available in the big smoke?

Duzzie

legs11 wrote: »

lol

funny, wouldnt be nice to see two half dead Ts and 200notes down the drain.

is your hobby expensive ? do ordinary pet shops in the sticks, not dublin. have a supply of roaches and super bad ass worms? how much would this cost? i might throw some roaches to my cavalier king charles, that bugger eats anything

It can be expensive depending how many you get. I have 30+ snakes, 5 lizards and 12 T's to heat and feed. The costs do add up with that many animals. As far as i know, you cannot get roaches in petshops in ireland, which i why i breed my own. Crick and worms you should be able to get in any petshop that deals in reptiles. A tub of cricks normally costs around €4-5. So for a few spids, that would be a weeks worth of food, so not a huge amount. The heating would probably turn out to be a greater expense.

Duzzie

legs11 wrote: »

thats wonderful.

how much would that cost?! are they available in the big smoke?

I've not seen them here. I got mine from the uk for 30 quid. Not a lot really.

legs11

that cobalt blue is deadly, i gotta look into this

man, speak later, keep them spids in order now, . all 10 of them:p

Our man in Havana

OP for a first time spider stick to a Chile Rose or similar - we got a colbat blue & boy was she aggressive - if she could bite you she would try & try & try & try & try for AGES!

legs11

where you get that cobalt blue, he is one cool dude.....!

must have cost a lot.

reptileguy16

why not get an usumbara starburst? very freindly spider.:D:D

Vinnie K

legs11 wrote: »

where you get that cobalt blue, he is one cool dude.....!

must have cost a lot.

Ben in reptile haven had a few a while back, or talk to Gavin or Sean in wackers, any of those two shops shoud be able to sort you out with which ever you choose to go for.

Our man in Havana

I got my colbat blue in the uk.

Jimkel

scorps101 wrote: »

Not a spider specialist or anything, but they were selling a few ts in a pet shop a few years back (looked like tiger stripes) thats all i remember, i asked the petshop guy what they eat and he opened some greyish gel like stuff in a tub? lol

Ha ha

That Gel is an alternative way of providing water to a spider, the spider will drink from the gel, which stays wet and holds moisture for longer then other commonly used water retainers like cotton wool will.

Lenny

Bond-007 wrote: »

OP for a first time spider stick to a Chile Rose or similar - we got a colbat blue & boy was she aggressive - if she could bite you she would try & try & try & try & try for AGES!

Sorry for dragging this topic up but read it ages back and never got roud to replying.
By saying that the spider is and trying to bite, do all the spiders on that site ya can buy on have there fangs removed? if they do in what general way does your spider act aggressive, I take it it is when you're picking up then an that yea? and being very sutburn to get it to move,
also how much does that website charge to get one sent over, was looking at buying a tank too

Our man in Havana

No they all have their fangs! They can all BITE some are less likely too such as the Chilean Rose which is what we have at the moment are very calm - but if she does not want to be taken out she raises up & shows us her fangs - so we leave her be when she does that!

If they do bite its similar to a bee sting - if you are allergic you will need to take anti histamines etc. if you are not allergic then you tend to get mild flu like symptoms.

Spiders need their fangs to eat! This is how they kill their dinner.

I would visit a good pet shop - get some proper advice & see the animal before you buy it - I would not trust the post - others have & its fine but for me I would wish to see the animal first!

Lenny

Ah right thanks for clearing that up about the bites, yea I thught they could still bite ya an inject ya just got a bit confused,
Yea I was also lookin at a pet shop at the spider there, the lad was busy helpin someone else but I was listenin to wahat he was sayin about them, afaik there price rance was 120-140 for the spider

Hellrazer

Lenny wrote: »

afaik there price rance was 120-140 for the spider

Thats nuts money for a T.

Check out

http://www.virginiacheeseman.co.uk/

http://www.bugsdirectuk.com/tarantulas.html


These 2 are breeders in the UK who will ship here for a tenth of that price.
I bought 2 Chilli rose babies for 15 sterling each + 10 p&p.They arrived in a box with a 48 hour heat pack and they were wrapped in tissue.

Theres shops selling them here for 100 each.

As for a tank--Any old tank will do once it has a secure lid.It doesnt even have to be watertight.