Post by John Pilling on Jun 17, 2005 0:03:32 GMT
Introduction
Tarantula spiders are becoming more popular as pets due to them needing less room thus making them perfect for people who don't have a lot of space and are relatively easy to keep as they don't need cleaning out as often as the reptilian and mammalian variety of pets and the variety of species available today from breeders and pet shops makes the choice for the person wanting to get into spider keeping a chance to keep a few species.
Tarantulas belong to an animal group called arachnids, which include scorpion’s ticks and mites in which they possess eight legs but even then tarantulas are different to even their spider family members and other arachnids as they,
1) They breathe using two pairs of book lungs whereas other spiders have trachea and one pair of book lung but the main problem is they dry out very easily as like all spiders they extend their legs using blood pressure and the loss of water dramatically lowers that pressure which results in loss of movement and it can cause the tarantula to desiccate (dry out) if not provided with water
2) Their fangs go up and down whereas it is sideways in other spiders
3) They have two claws on their pedipalps and have adhesive pads on each foot which are covered in fine hairs called emallae which are found in geckoes too which allows them to climb smooth surfaces
Spider habits
There is a few types of habits that spiders have that must be taken into account of when you are choosing your pet tarantula and the set up of its cage for its needs
Opportunistic burrowers
These are species that modify pre-existing burrows or use crevices under logs or rocks to make a burrow to keep away from predators and catch unsuspecting prey and the burrows aren‘t heavily lined in silk and are variable in size, examples of these are the large south American tarantulas such as the goliath bird eater (theraposa blondi) and Haitian browns (phormictopus cancerides).
Obligate burrowers
This means that the burrows are constructed by themselves rarely modifying pre-existing structures as the above do (the opportunist burrowers), examples of such tarantulas that do this are the Asian blacks (haplopelma minax) and Mexican blonde tarantulas (aphonopelma chalcodes) the silk use is variable they sometimes extend the silk lining into a trumpet shape that may also include twigs and leaves
Arboreal
These are tree climbing tarantulas which they build their retreats in places such as cliff faces, road banks even in buildings which is a reason the Peruvian pink toe (aviculara sp) are usually found in villages and near plantations in their native south America, these types of tarantulas are well adapted to tree life with broad flattened foot surfaces on their tarsi and metatarsi which is basically their feet, other species include other avics such as Martinique pink toes and Trinidad chevrons
Housing your tarantula
Due to their relatively small size, tarantulas can be housed in any suitable sized box and can be as simple or as elaborate with the decoration as you wish, plastic fauna boxes/pet pals make suitable housing for the smaller species of tarantulas and some are stackable so you can have multiple spiders and they go well together making it look tidier.
Glass cages can be used with much success too as it can give you the scope to provide a decorative set up for your tarantula making it more pleasing to the eye and the main advantage is they come in bigger sizes if you want to use glass for the larger species of tarantulas such as the theraposa blondi but also you can get tank dividers from any pet shop/aquarium stockist which you can make different sections for a number of spiders in a large cage but watch out for any gaps as spiders are cannibalistic and the end result is death of one your spiders.
There’s different preferences regarding water in tarantulas, some prefer a free standing water bowl whereas others use sponge as the spiders suck the sponge to get the moisture they need but I use the free standing water bowl for my terrestrial tarantulas (ground living) and spray onto the foliage when I kept the arboreal species as it can be hard to provide a free standing dish for the climbing species
Heating them is relatively easy, if like me your room is quite hot (must be all the vivs) there is no need for additional heating but a small heat mat controlled by a thermostat covering about 1/3 of the cage is sufficient for the tarantulas, the temperatures needed is dependant on the type of habitat and places the tarantulas live which is tropical/sub tropical places of the world.
Substrate of tarantulas depends on where they come from, for the spiders that come from the hot humid rainforests of Asia and south America, vermiculite and peat mixed together makes a suitable substrate for these as it holds a lot of moisture making it much easier to achieve the humidity needs of these species whereas sand is a good one for the desert species such as the Mexican red kneed tarantula and Mexican blonde.
Suitable hides can be cork bark, plant pots and other bits of décor for the spiders to hide in but make sure everything used is free from anything sharp to prevent injury to your tarantula and is properly sterilised to kill any nasty bugs
Spiders are best kept singly to prevent any cage mates being eaten or injuries and is very dangerous if not done so
Handling and temperament
Like in every animal you get exceptions in temperament and spiders are no exception, the Asian and African babboon spiders (Pterinochilus,haplopelma and others) and the theraposa blondi are some of the more aggressive species available and will bite without hesitation but there are calmer species such as the brachypelma and grammastola species which accept occasional handling but all handling must be carried out as close to the floor as possible and be confident in handling the tarantula as even a fall from a few inches could rupture the abdomen which is fatal to the tarantula and damages the fragile exoskeleton
Foods and feeding
Spiders generally are insectivores and their main foods include crickets, locusts, mealworms, roaches and any similar sized invertebrate but some of the larger species will take mice which always should be offered from defrost due to the complications of feeding live vertebrae foods, the fangs inject the food item with venom which digests the body into liquid so the spider can suck the contents out and all is left is a husk
Their metabolism is quite slow so do not need feeding as often as you would feed a lizard or mammal so every 2 days should be sufficient and feed them as much as they will eat in a set time as they usually are great feeders unless going through a shed or fasting for certain times of the year
Sexing
It is very difficult to tell the sexes apart but females are of a larger size and do not possess the mating hooks on the pedipalps the males do and females live a lot longer than males (if they don’t get eaten by her lol)
If you are a beginner to spiders these species make great pets.
Chilean rose (grammostola rosea)
This spider is one of the more commonly available of the tarantulas due to their small size and docile nature, they are very slow growing so is best to get them as sub adults/adults as they really are worth having, their name comes from the reddish colouration on their carapace and are one of the more hardy spiders in which they live in dryer conditions than most species of tarantula
Curly haired tarantula (brachypelma albopilosum)
This is a largish tarantula named because of the length and curliness of the hairs on their legs and abdomen and are from Honduras, the hatchlings of these grow very quickly with males maturing at 2 years of age, in my experience these are perfect for handling as they are not as skittish as the Chilean rose and are a good size to take large insects
Mexican red kneed tarantula. (brachypelma smithi)
Red knees are a popular spider and what most consider as a pet tarantula, these come from Mexico and are a largish tarantula which settle down to become great captives and are very docile but as they are only bred in small numbers adults can be a little pricey but spiderlings are readily available which are relatively easy to house and take care of, they are used in zoos and educational talks as its what most perceive to be a pet tarantula and combined with their size and docile nature are another good choice..
All My thanks goes to Lee for providing this care sheet. I'm not a fan of spiders so i really appreaciate Lee doing this for me, and all you teranchula lover's out their needing a good place to start, can't go to far wrong with this infomation.
Tarantula spiders are becoming more popular as pets due to them needing less room thus making them perfect for people who don't have a lot of space and are relatively easy to keep as they don't need cleaning out as often as the reptilian and mammalian variety of pets and the variety of species available today from breeders and pet shops makes the choice for the person wanting to get into spider keeping a chance to keep a few species.
Tarantulas belong to an animal group called arachnids, which include scorpion’s ticks and mites in which they possess eight legs but even then tarantulas are different to even their spider family members and other arachnids as they,
1) They breathe using two pairs of book lungs whereas other spiders have trachea and one pair of book lung but the main problem is they dry out very easily as like all spiders they extend their legs using blood pressure and the loss of water dramatically lowers that pressure which results in loss of movement and it can cause the tarantula to desiccate (dry out) if not provided with water
2) Their fangs go up and down whereas it is sideways in other spiders
3) They have two claws on their pedipalps and have adhesive pads on each foot which are covered in fine hairs called emallae which are found in geckoes too which allows them to climb smooth surfaces
Spider habits
There is a few types of habits that spiders have that must be taken into account of when you are choosing your pet tarantula and the set up of its cage for its needs
Opportunistic burrowers
These are species that modify pre-existing burrows or use crevices under logs or rocks to make a burrow to keep away from predators and catch unsuspecting prey and the burrows aren‘t heavily lined in silk and are variable in size, examples of these are the large south American tarantulas such as the goliath bird eater (theraposa blondi) and Haitian browns (phormictopus cancerides).
Obligate burrowers
This means that the burrows are constructed by themselves rarely modifying pre-existing structures as the above do (the opportunist burrowers), examples of such tarantulas that do this are the Asian blacks (haplopelma minax) and Mexican blonde tarantulas (aphonopelma chalcodes) the silk use is variable they sometimes extend the silk lining into a trumpet shape that may also include twigs and leaves
Arboreal
These are tree climbing tarantulas which they build their retreats in places such as cliff faces, road banks even in buildings which is a reason the Peruvian pink toe (aviculara sp) are usually found in villages and near plantations in their native south America, these types of tarantulas are well adapted to tree life with broad flattened foot surfaces on their tarsi and metatarsi which is basically their feet, other species include other avics such as Martinique pink toes and Trinidad chevrons
Housing your tarantula
Due to their relatively small size, tarantulas can be housed in any suitable sized box and can be as simple or as elaborate with the decoration as you wish, plastic fauna boxes/pet pals make suitable housing for the smaller species of tarantulas and some are stackable so you can have multiple spiders and they go well together making it look tidier.
Glass cages can be used with much success too as it can give you the scope to provide a decorative set up for your tarantula making it more pleasing to the eye and the main advantage is they come in bigger sizes if you want to use glass for the larger species of tarantulas such as the theraposa blondi but also you can get tank dividers from any pet shop/aquarium stockist which you can make different sections for a number of spiders in a large cage but watch out for any gaps as spiders are cannibalistic and the end result is death of one your spiders.
There’s different preferences regarding water in tarantulas, some prefer a free standing water bowl whereas others use sponge as the spiders suck the sponge to get the moisture they need but I use the free standing water bowl for my terrestrial tarantulas (ground living) and spray onto the foliage when I kept the arboreal species as it can be hard to provide a free standing dish for the climbing species
Heating them is relatively easy, if like me your room is quite hot (must be all the vivs) there is no need for additional heating but a small heat mat controlled by a thermostat covering about 1/3 of the cage is sufficient for the tarantulas, the temperatures needed is dependant on the type of habitat and places the tarantulas live which is tropical/sub tropical places of the world.
Substrate of tarantulas depends on where they come from, for the spiders that come from the hot humid rainforests of Asia and south America, vermiculite and peat mixed together makes a suitable substrate for these as it holds a lot of moisture making it much easier to achieve the humidity needs of these species whereas sand is a good one for the desert species such as the Mexican red kneed tarantula and Mexican blonde.
Suitable hides can be cork bark, plant pots and other bits of décor for the spiders to hide in but make sure everything used is free from anything sharp to prevent injury to your tarantula and is properly sterilised to kill any nasty bugs
Spiders are best kept singly to prevent any cage mates being eaten or injuries and is very dangerous if not done so
Handling and temperament
Like in every animal you get exceptions in temperament and spiders are no exception, the Asian and African babboon spiders (Pterinochilus,haplopelma and others) and the theraposa blondi are some of the more aggressive species available and will bite without hesitation but there are calmer species such as the brachypelma and grammastola species which accept occasional handling but all handling must be carried out as close to the floor as possible and be confident in handling the tarantula as even a fall from a few inches could rupture the abdomen which is fatal to the tarantula and damages the fragile exoskeleton
Foods and feeding
Spiders generally are insectivores and their main foods include crickets, locusts, mealworms, roaches and any similar sized invertebrate but some of the larger species will take mice which always should be offered from defrost due to the complications of feeding live vertebrae foods, the fangs inject the food item with venom which digests the body into liquid so the spider can suck the contents out and all is left is a husk
Their metabolism is quite slow so do not need feeding as often as you would feed a lizard or mammal so every 2 days should be sufficient and feed them as much as they will eat in a set time as they usually are great feeders unless going through a shed or fasting for certain times of the year
Sexing
It is very difficult to tell the sexes apart but females are of a larger size and do not possess the mating hooks on the pedipalps the males do and females live a lot longer than males (if they don’t get eaten by her lol)
If you are a beginner to spiders these species make great pets.
Chilean rose (grammostola rosea)
This spider is one of the more commonly available of the tarantulas due to their small size and docile nature, they are very slow growing so is best to get them as sub adults/adults as they really are worth having, their name comes from the reddish colouration on their carapace and are one of the more hardy spiders in which they live in dryer conditions than most species of tarantula
Curly haired tarantula (brachypelma albopilosum)
This is a largish tarantula named because of the length and curliness of the hairs on their legs and abdomen and are from Honduras, the hatchlings of these grow very quickly with males maturing at 2 years of age, in my experience these are perfect for handling as they are not as skittish as the Chilean rose and are a good size to take large insects
Mexican red kneed tarantula. (brachypelma smithi)
Red knees are a popular spider and what most consider as a pet tarantula, these come from Mexico and are a largish tarantula which settle down to become great captives and are very docile but as they are only bred in small numbers adults can be a little pricey but spiderlings are readily available which are relatively easy to house and take care of, they are used in zoos and educational talks as its what most perceive to be a pet tarantula and combined with their size and docile nature are another good choice..
All My thanks goes to Lee for providing this care sheet. I'm not a fan of spiders so i really appreaciate Lee doing this for me, and all you teranchula lover's out their needing a good place to start, can't go to far wrong with this infomation.
