Where is best to keep my tarantula tank?

Hi, I'm a first time owner. Someone gave me a one year old salmon pink birdeater, and I know absolutely NOTHING about taking care of them. I've noticed that I rarely ever see her. Is that because she's scared? Should I move her to a less noisy room or keep her in the living room to get used to my apartment? I want her to be as comfortable as possible. Will I begin to see her more?

Also, any tips or information would be great. Like I said, I know nothing about raising a tarantula, but I feel like a new mother already.

Any chance you could post a picture or two of your current setup?

Have you read through these pages yet?

Oh, and welcome to the [strike]addiction[/strike] hobby!! If you prefer hardcopy, I'd recommend the Tarantula Keepers Guide by Stan Shultz (also the author of the links provided).

How large is s/he? My LP didn't stop hiding until about 4". Hiding isn't indicative of being "scared." It's normal behavior for many species. Your LP will eventually hang out in the open much more. In terms of tank position, I keep mine away from windows but in a place where they're exposed to natural light (I live in an apartment, my living room has my spider shelves. We hang out. Watch movies, it's great.) and not directly in front of a vent. As far as how to keep this species, you'll want dry substrate, I use coco fiber, depth for mine is about 5-6 inches. Keep a water dish full, and provide a hide (cork bark is great for this).

Be aware its gonna get VERY large..8-10" legspan...no joke. As a result, they have voracious appetites and grow very quickly. Easy to keep though for sure. Dry, fairly deep sub, water dish and a hide and lots of crickets. You will like feeding time, no doubt.

Lasiodora parahybanas (Brazilian salmon pink birdeater, what a silly name) are great T's. I wouldn't be too concerned with yours hiding, he/she should come out into the open more with age, once they hit the juvie/sub adult mark they pretty much never hide and make great display T's. They're also luckily extremely easy to care for, so you started off with a good beginner species Fairly deep substrate, a burrow/hide, and water dish is all you should need for now. LPs can be a bit weird when it comes to humidity, but the general consensus is to overflow the waterdish every now and then, but otherwise keep it dry, they seriously hate stepping on damp substrate. They also have pretty big appetites! I generally feed mine 10 crickets every couple weeks or so, keeps her nice and plump. Also, pay special attention to the height from the substrate to the top with this species. As this species gets larger they can be very susceptible to injuries from falling, so it's safest to fill the tank pretty high with substrate.

Thanks!

Thanks for the replies, everyone! And yes, she is still very small! I almost didn't believe the man when he told me she was a year old. I thought she was sick or I had done something wrong already since she's only come out about one time. Since I posted this she's made a nice tunnel.
And really keep the substrate dry? The man told me to mist it once a day. I've noticed if the substrate gets dry her burrows fall down. Which also worries me!
Next question, how long until I can handle her? I'll post pics!

(Excuse my nails, lol). For scale, my hands are about 4 or 5" and in the second picture that dirty water dish (don't worry, i've cleaned it!) is the cap from an Arizon Green tea bottle.

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Sello said:

Thanks for the replies, everyone! And yes, she is still very small! I almost didn't believe the man when he told me she was a year old. I thought she was sick or I had done something wrong already since she's only come out about one time.

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He/she is definitely not a year old, trust me LPs are extremely fast growing, they just skyrocket in size as slings/juvies. Don't worry, I doubt there's anything wrong with her, tarantulas can be very elusive at times.

Sello said:

And really keep the substrate dry? The man told me to mist it once a day. I've noticed if the substrate gets dry her burrows fall down. Which also worries me!

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Definitely keep the substrate dry, I find terrestrials get very, very irritable when they have to step on damp substrate. Also, misting is really not necessary, especially not once a day. The water dish should provide enough humidity unless your tank is over-ventilated. If you're concerned about humidity, overflow the waterdish a bit every week or two. If you're worried about her burrow collapsing, you can put PVC pipe, a terracotta pot, premade hide, anything really, to hold a burrow shape for her.

Sello said:

Next question, how long until I can handle her? I'll post pics!

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I've never handled mine, she's far too defensive. LPs are kind of 50/50 in the attitude department. I've seen incredibly docile ones, and ones that put OBTs to shame. Also, keep in mind that handling can be very stressful and risky for the tarantula, it's best to handle only when necessary. If you must handle, make sure you do a search here on how to take all of the proper precautions.

One of my fav's!!! Welcome to the forum and an amazing hobby. Be prepared for more. Its addictive.

Sello said:

she is still very small! I almost didn't believe the man when he told me she was a year old.

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Personally, I dont care for the age of a given T, but there is nothing wrong with keeping track of it. Warmer temps and more meals will increase metabolism, which means less time between molts. And please dont take this simple answer as an excuse to dump a pile of crickets in his enclosure and bump the temperature up to 105F. For your first T, room temp and one feeding per week is my suggestion. I have a Brazilian Fire Red Birdeater (L. dificilis) that is approx. the same age, and is about 4 inches (DLS).

Sello said:

I thought she was sick or I had done something wrong already since she's only come out about one time. Since I posted this she's made a nice tunnel.

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While you look at this beautiful animal as a pet, it is still very much a wild animal. Its going to hide or be out and about, depending upon its individual preference. Hiding provides security.

Sello said:

And really keep the substrate dry? The man told me to mist it once a day. I've noticed if the substrate gets dry her burrows fall down. Which also worries me!

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Moist soil will potentially invite mold. Most keepers suggest a waterdish and bone dry substrate, which is likely the best way for a newbie to go. Another alternative to this is to keep the soil slightly damp. Moisten it, and squeeze out as much water as you can. If your knuckles arent white, your not squeezing hard enough. Your call, but at that size it should be fine either way.

Sello said:

Next question, how long until I can handle her? I'll post pics!

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Another challenging question I call it a challenge because there is a general consensus on these boards that handling is of zero value to the Tarantula, and could be potentially fatal, so dont do it. My personal opinion is that everyone on the planet (who wont drop the spider in a shriek of fear) should handle a Tarantula at least once.

That being said, if your inclined to handle it, you could handle it this moment. It will be fast, and it could run off your hand. You could accidentally kill it trying to wrangle it. During a rehousing session with a Pink Toe (A. avicularia), I had it in my palm, and within a literal second, it was on my upper back. To make a long story short, by the time I got it into its new home it was missing three legs. Thankfully they all grew back fully with its next molt.

Ive picked up other T's at that size, and they seem "content" with just sitting still in my palm. Others still slowly walk around, and others make a beeline in whichever direction is most troublesome for me.

This is YOUR pet, but its also a wild spider that you can never possibly tame in any way, shape or form. If you choose to handle it, be prepared to not be prepared

tunnel collapse

You say its tunnels collapse when the sub is dry. The sub should be pressed down a little to compact it and help keep its shape more stable.

All mine are on bone dry sub, even a 1.5" B. smithi sling. Dry will also help keep various other unwanted bugs from living with your t.oh:

I also would double the amount of sub. This will help give room to burrow, which is entertaining...and decrease the distance the little guy can fall if and when it decides to climb, making the enclosure much safer.

Don't mist.

oh yeah, never trust anything a pet store tells you about a tarantula....they are NOTORIOUS for their bad advise.

Dunno if this has been said already, get yourself some 10" tongs for feeding time (will be fine dropping crickets in for now) and cleaning of discarded prey items aka "bolus".

I recommend the tongs as they will come in alot of use as the T gets larger. Lasiodora have huge appetites and will often react to movement inside its enclosure as if its food so you may get tagged as a mistaken prey item.

Keep your fingers out the way too as they're fangs get very large and are capable of some damage.

Here's a link to another thread with a video that might be of some interest. There's a lot of useful information that anyone from beginner to advanced can use. And you might want to go ahead and make room, cause you'll be getting more t's in the near future. :biggrin:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...ulas-in-the-Terrarium&highlight=michael+jacob

S/he will use web to reinforce the burrow. General rule with Ts is if they can get in they can get out. You should be packing the sub down when you put it in, though. Think soil in the wild. It shouldn't be like walking on a coco fiber pilaf.

Hi Sello welcome to the hobby/lifestyle and boards

Well looks like you've started on the larger side of terrestrial T's and good news as everyone said brilliant T's for anyones collection, pretty much everything has been said in terms of care advice and top notch at that, I will say DONT handle these T's mainly at 6"+ cause they are very out in the open and stand there ground (no hesitation) even with a good attitude they can be very (unpredictable) with 1"+ fangs as adults, that said I've handed mines a couple times but never made a habit of doing so (during rehousing or small 2" slings) so not being critical about it just make sure your both safe if you decide to

Thanks a lot everyone!

Hey Sello, congrats on the Salmon Pink, they are awesome Display T's but less likely to be good for handling. I have a 7" female which for the most part is nice but not always. She'll try to tag me here and there. If you want to handle a large T I'd suggest a Mexican species or a Chaco golden knee.
But even then use caution!
Good luck!

cold blood said:

Be aware its gonna get VERY large..8-10" legspan.

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Usually 7-8".

the back of the door or under the stairs is usually a nice dark alley for T enclosures. makes them feel safer. welcome and congrats!

Sello said:

Hi, I'm a first time owner. Someone gave me a one year old salmon pink birdeater, and I know absolutely NOTHING about taking care of them. I've noticed that I rarely ever see her. Is that because she's scared? Should I move her to a less noisy room or keep her in the living room to get used to my apartment? I want her to be as comfortable as possible. Will I begin to see her more?

Also, any tips or information would be great. Like I said, I know nothing about raising a tarantula, but I feel like a new mother already.

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Welcome to T world! 3 suggestions

1 read/research about your species and others
2 get Stan Schultz's The Tarantula Keeper's Guide 3rd ed. it will answer virtually all your beginner questions you asked and will continue to ask for QUITE a while IMO
3 follow step 1 again

If you don't do at least step 1 and 3 your T might just die

Also check out YouTube for RobC aka Tarantulaguy1976 and I think Jon3800 is another informative poster there

Enjoy!