Avicularia Versicolor avoidable high sling death rate.

[Ray Gabriel]

From my experiances with numerous Avics, rearing breeding etc, i have found that rehousing can be a great "stress" time for Avics so i recomend the following contra to other websites etc.

Chose the tank the spider will be in as an adult, coir substrate is the best, place the juveniles container into the adult container and let the juv rehouse herself when ready.
I have had many Avics die when unable or not willing to produce further web.

Also for juv Avics (and other sp) I recommend maggots as opposed to crickets.

Just some input

RayG

[Paul Welsh]

Thank you Ray.That is greatly appreciated advice.I hope I didn't sound cocky with my last post,as this was absolutely NOT my intention.I have followed reliable advice to get her from a tiny sling,to where she is now,and feel extremely proud of her progress.So do you recommend I buy her her final ADULT home now,as I intended on steadily building up to it?If so,then that is what I shall do.I only have 5 Ts,and keep them individually in a thermostatically controlled heated vivarium.I shall be buying another viv when they're a little bigger,so how tall will my viv have to be for my avic's new home?Cheers Ray.Kind regards.Paul.

[Paul Welsh]

Also Ray.How would I get the original smaller home out of the bigger adult home when she has settled,without stressing her out?Especially if she decides to web to the original.Cheers Ray.

[Peter Lacey]

What works for me when rehousing is to place as much of the existing enclosure into the new enclosure, and most definitely the webbing. Even webbing from a completely different species will suffice. There is a report somewhere that suggests burrowing tarantula will more readily adopt a burrow that has previously been used by a tarantula, especially if there are signs of webbing.
So, set up your new enclosure with plenty of arboreal furnishings and place the existing furnishings amongst this. They tend to discard using this but it does start them off. You can see this when rehousing all tarantula IMO, so I do this for all that I rehouse, and it becomes the building block for many.
As Ray suggests, the lack of webbing seems to be the kiss of death for many, and adults seem to suffer the most. Since Ive been using the above method Ive not found any issue rehousing, in the short term.

[Peter Lacey]

These three sweet jars were all rehoused Avics, and you can see by the one on the right that the old webbing has been discarded. Sometimes they'll incorporate it in the new webbing sometimes its just to help them settle in.

[Paul Welsh]

Peter and Ray,I am so grateful for your advice,as it would have been a disaster if anything had happened to my Avic,as it is also my wee 5 year old boy's favourite T,and,as with my other 4 Ts,I want to give them the best care possible.I have had ALL of them since they were tiny slings,and we respect and adore them all.Perhaps it might be a good idea for either one of you to start a seperate thread with these key points on it?Thank you very much once again to both of you.

[Paul Welsh]

Just thought I'd ask.What is the best furnishing for avics,and where is the best place to buy it.Sorry to be a pain.Until now,my A Versicolor has had a simple little fake branch,and seems happy in her little tub....I say HER,but I don't know !

[Peter Lacey]

sticks!
Its going to web over it so really it doesnt matter. It needs to be firm enough to take the weight, it needs to be arboreal, but apart from that its personal choice

[Ray Gabriel]

Wot Pete said

What size of container are you keeping the juv in now? Good arboreal tanks are made by Custom Aquaria who will be at the BTS Expo in May, if you come along I am sure pete or myself can take you over and show you a good tank..................BTW might want to find out if this is a male or female..................if male you might want to send him out for breeding before housing in a largert adult tank

RayG

[Peter Roach]

I use pieces of bark and twigs from the local woods plus sometimes i use pieces of plastic plants for small slings so that they can build webbing amongst the plastic leaves.
If i remember I'll try and take a few photo's at the weekend.

[Paul Welsh]

Thank you both once again.Ray,can I ask why the gender is important please?And Peter.I look forward to the photos.Cheers !

[Peter Roach]

Avic versicolor slings

Circular web tunnel




Attached to the lid (as normal for this individual)



Usual shaped web tunnel



Another shaped web tunnel



A goose stepping versi



Top view

[Peter Roach]

Avic sp. 'Peru Purple'
Subadult female (hiding away in premoult)

A 5L sweet jar with multiple ventilation holes for cross ventilation from substrate to lid on all four sides (lid also has holes)
Hide is made from strips of bark gathered from local woods (untreated, just dried out) the strips are glued together using hot glue
with dried sphagnum moss pressed and stuck to any visible glue.
The plastic leaves were added in the hope that the avic would use them in her webbing, didnt work though


Front view





Rear view





Top view

[Ray Gabriel]

Thank you both once again.Ray,can I ask why the gender is important please?And Peter.I look forward to the photos.Cheers !

Well if it is a male I tend not to establish in a good tank (unless it is something which the s/a male nees to be aclimatised prior to moulting in time for breeding) as once it matures the male is used for breeding or sent out.

If it is a female I prefer to have the females established for breeding in an appropriate container.

RayG

[michael connachan]

As I have said before VENTILATION is a must for A. Versi slings, I had my versi since August last year unfortunately it died durind its last molt which would have been its 5th in my care I have no idea why this happened but she was stuck in her molt and had died I assume from exhaustion, this was just over a week ago sorry I did not post this online, there had been no change to her (I say her) setup so I have no clue as to WHY! WHY! WHY!, still very upset as it was a fantastic specimen, regards Michael. (I think it was just one of those things)