Tips for beginner

Mark Taylor · 03-26-13, 11:36 AM

I am going for it

I will be picking up a Salmon Pink Bird eater 2nd instar.

Here's what I have read if it's not correct let me know thanks.

Enclosure size should be 3 times the length and hight 2 times the length.

Temp 70 -80

Humidity 60-70%

Food for the size I am getting should be 1 week old crickets twice weekly.

Substrate potting soil or similar

Also that I don't need to provide a water supply other than misting the sides of the enclosure 2-3 times a week?

Cleaning will only need doing once a year?

Anything I missed?

Starbuck · 03-26-13, 02:11 PM

Sounds about right, i generally offer my tarantulas crix that are as long as their cephalothorax (the 'head'). I also offer mine multiple crux per feeding (i wouldnt do more than 5 for such a young spider though), and if they dont eat them all i dont offer again until they're gone. As your spider gets bigger, you can go long periods between feedings, but once a week or so is a good maintenance level. Also, with very young spiders (like yours) Humidity is really important, so i would provide a very shallow dish with water in it anyways. You may never see your spider drink from it, but it will help keep humidity up. Best of luck!

Mark Taylor · 03-27-13, 09:15 AM

I read not to leave the food in with the spider as they can injure the spider.

Starbuck · 03-27-13, 09:20 AM

Thats true, they can, but from my experience my T's when young are voracious eaters. Mine will catch and kill multiple crix, wad them into a big prey-ball, and carry it to a secluded corner to start eating. If the cage is not very large, and she will run across the crix pretty quickly (i.e. the crix can't hide away somewhere to then get hungry) it shouldnt be a problem, however this is also why i only offer 5 or so at a time.
You can also remove them if she doesnt eat after a day or so. Mine sometimes dont like to eat when they get ready to molt.

Also, I clean out my Ts cage MAYBE once a year; depending on how often i have fed them. Mine however dont spin a lot of silk, and are pretty clean as they're all adults now.

Mark Taylor · 03-27-13, 10:48 AM

Oh cool so I am pretty much ready can't wait now thanks for the help Starbuck.

ReptiWoman · 03-27-13, 10:52 AM

I agree with Starbuck, If my t isnt hungry and a cricket messes with her she will kill it and eat it later lol. Full cleaning of the cage isnt really needed, just spot clean. Make sure the dead crickets are cleaned up. T's are pretty clean and dont like their area messed with. I personally use a mix of coco fiber and vermiculite for substrate and it stays the perfect humidity with a misting every day or so. T's are such interesting creatures. I could watch mine for hours! Good luck to you and make sure to post pics when you get him/her.

Mark Taylor · 03-31-13, 02:04 PM

So I went for one pink salmon bird eating tarantula and came home with 2 and a Honduran curlyhai tarantula.

here is a pic of the Honduran curlyhai.

I could not take a pic of the 2 instar bird eaters because they are so small and my camera is shiz lol

Mark Taylor · 04-01-13, 10:41 AM

So I was able to feed the curly but my pet shop didn't have any crickets small enough for the bird eater's has anyone got a pic of the size I need for the young bird eaters they are only 2nd instar, so small I have a job to find them in there little tubs lol.

Starbuck · 04-01-13, 10:52 AM

you would be surprised at how large of a meal they can takedown, however, given that they are so small i would still be cautious. Anything smaller then the total length of their body; but i wouldnt leave it in with them. I forgot in my earlier post that your kids were going to be so small heh heh

You could try the jumbo flightless fruitflys; if you keep the fruitfly habitat in a cool area they will grow slower and hopefully last longer. I put my jar in the fridge for 5 min, then tap out a few while they are still groggy and toss them in.

Also, humidity is Key for such young Ts!!! I originally got a pair of 2nd or so instar vietnamese tiger tarantulas and one died after about a week or two due to dehydration. Best of luck, keep us updated!

Mark Taylor · 04-01-13, 10:56 AM

I will keep updating thanks again starbuck.

Any pics of size just so I can judge what I feed?

Starbuck · 04-02-13, 01:05 PM

sorry. i dont have any pics of my Ts when they were small

And im not familiar with how big a 2nd instar birdeater would be. Id say you're safe with something half the size of your spiderlings.

Mark Taylor · 04-02-13, 01:39 PM

2nd instar sling is about the size of a money spider lol. Half the size I don't think I would be able to see it lol.
Not to worry as the lad I got them from has given me some pinhead crickets I should have asked him while I was there but he was busy and I didn't want to bother him to much.

So they both had 1 each I tried a second but they were not interested the curl had 2 but only ate 1 and killed the other so I left the one she killed for her to do whatever she wants with it, she has been stood over it for about 24 hrs now and there is not much left lol.

I can't believe I never got one sooner I really enjoy watching there behaviour.

Thanks for all the help so far I am sure I will come across some more questions soon.

Starbuck · 04-02-13, 05:38 PM

yay! Glad they ate for you! As they get bigger, you may get to see the prey dance, them 'roll over' and lots of other stuff, depending on the gender

Its always nice to see someone so interested in inverts as well

Mark Taylor · 04-03-13, 12:07 PM

The only issue I have with my 2ndinstars is I can't bloody see them they and now they have been burrowing so now it's impossible.

I am just going to leave them to it until feeding day and see what they do.

Is there any health problems that I should look out for that are easy to spot? They don't seem unhealthy but on the other hand I would not know to be honest.

Starbuck · 04-03-13, 02:21 PM

only health problems that i can think of would be mites (not snake mites, but similar idea); however i imagine a sling would be dead very shortly. This is unlikely if from a knowledgable breeder.They can break their fangs off in screen tops (again, not a concern with slings), and around molting time you'll want to bump up the humidity. Expect fairly rapid growth initially, though bird eaters are slow growers (i would expect at the very least once a month, maybe more) once they hit about 2 inches they slow down quite a bit. One problem i had with my baby red knee was that she made a burrow in her 10gallon, but she was only about the size of a nickel! This made it pretty tough for the food to find her, as she didnt like to come out

She found enough food though and kept growing, shedding once every 5-8 weeks.