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  • New pink toe tarantula, any hints and tips please?

    heyy. im just new to the forum, and i just got my guyana pink toe last week and im done as much research on the internet as i can find, but what i couldnt find out, is how often i should feed him/her? any way to tell whether its male or female? how can i raise the humidity and temperature in the tank? best i can get is 22degrees and 74% humidity and ive read this species needs higher than that? any help and general hints and tips would be great thanks!

  • #2
    Hi and welcome to the forum Robert,

    From my own experience in keeping Avicularia sp. (assuming thats what you mean by "pink toe") the temp is just a little low, a couple of degrees higher would be more beneficial to the spider, the humidity is fine at that.
    People tend to worry about temp and humidity with Avicularia a little more than other spiders as they have the reputation for being a little frail, in my opinion they are a lot more hardy than given credit for....ventilation is as important as heat and humidity with this genus in general.
    A couple of bits of info would help, i.e. what tank are you using (including what substrate etc) and what kind of heat source do you have.

    as far as the feeding goes...a couple of suitably sized food items per week will be more than sufficient (two large crickets for an adult is ideal)

    The only sure fire way for sexing is from a moult, a lot of people will be able to have an educated guess from looking at the spider.
    you can post pictures of the ventral (under side) area of the spiders abdomen and let a few of us have a guess and then post a picture of the moult (when he/she does) for us to confirm or there's a few members on here that wouldn't mind you sending the moult to and sex it for you.

    Colin
    Don't forget to learn what you can, when you can, where you can.



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    • #3
      Originally posted by Colin D Wilson View Post
      Hi and welcome to the forum Robert,

      From my own experience in keeping Avicularia sp. (assuming thats what you mean by "pink toe") the temp is just a little low, a couple of degrees higher would be more beneficial to the spider, the humidity is fine at that.
      People tend to worry about temp and humidity with Avicularia a little more than other spiders as they have the reputation for being a little frail, in my opinion they are a lot more hardy than given credit for....ventilation is as important as heat and humidity with this genus in general.
      A couple of bits of info would help, i.e. what tank are you using (including what substrate etc) and what kind of heat source do you have.

      as far as the feeding goes...a couple of suitably sized food items per week will be more than sufficient (two large crickets for an adult is ideal)

      The only sure fire way for sexing is from a moult, a lot of people will be able to have an educated guess from looking at the spider.
      you can post pictures of the ventral (under side) area of the spiders abdomen and let a few of us have a guess and then post a picture of the moult (when he/she does) for us to confirm or there's a few members on here that wouldn't mind you sending the moult to and sex it for you.

      Colin
      Thanks! im glad the humidity is ok, and ive managed the raise the temperature by putting the heat mat on the side of the tank rather than underneith, i have a tall plastic tank, its tall rather than deep and i have a 7x12" heatmat and a namib coco substrate! i bought this all from exotic-pets.co.uk


      Thanks

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      • #4
        ok, now that i had the heat mat on the side. the temp was fine, but the humidity dropped to 40!! how the hell do i sort this out? where shud my humidity and temp gauges be anyways?

        Comment


        • #5
          Welcome to the forum. I keep my pink toes between 25 and 28 degress and the humidity should be around 80% with good ventilation. I usually find that spraying the substrate once a day will keep the humidity about right as the good ventilation will dry it out again quickly. How often you have to spray will depend on how good the tanks ventilation is though.
          www.flickr.com/photos/craigmackay/sets

          My Collection: - Support captive breeding







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          • #6
            and help where i shud position my gauges? ive got my temp and hygrometer stuck to the back panel of the tank in the middle and with the heat mat under the tank, i cant seem to get the humidity over 70 or the temperature over 21. i have good ventilation and i spray every day. maby my gauges read low?

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            • #7
              Are yor gauges didgital or dials? I find the cheap dial guages are really crap. I use a digital thermometer and I have a digital hygrometer but I don't use it. They don't really give usuful readings. If your spraying the tank once a day and the substrate stays nice and damp then I would say your doing fine. I would put your thermometer next to the heat mat as this will be the hottest part of your tank and the place you need to keep an eye on most. Hope that helps. Any more questions, fire away.
              www.flickr.com/photos/craigmackay/sets

              My Collection: - Support captive breeding







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              • #8
                there only analogue dials >< i guess they were cheap xD i guess the humidity will be fine then, i always keep the substrate nice and damp and spray at least once a day. so i guess the humidity is ok then? and is it ok that i have the heatmat under the tank? Thanks for the help =]

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                • #9
                  Yeah, your humidity should be ok as long as the substrate is damp and you have a water bowl with fresh water full all the time. I would keep the heat mat on the side or back of the tank. If you put it under the tank the substrate will heat up to much. It's the air your looking to heat so with it on the side it'll do that better. If you wanted decent gauges you can get good digital ones for about a tenner but yeah the cheap plastic ones are poop I found, lol.
                  www.flickr.com/photos/craigmackay/sets

                  My Collection: - Support captive breeding







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                  • #10
                    yeah. the substrate is always nice and damp and i change the water in the bowl every day, ive changed the heat mat to the back of the tank now and fixed it on with blu tack xD i might invest in some descent gauges acturaly...would you reccomend it? would ebay be a good place to look? thanks

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                    • #11
                      Sounds a though your doing ok then. If you want to get digital guages then ebay would be a great place to look:


                      These are the ones I use and they're reliable and a decent price. With the exoterra ones you can check the min and max that the temperature has been at so you can make sure that your temp isn't dropping too low over night or too high in the afternoon etc. Pretty useful I find.
                      www.flickr.com/photos/craigmackay/sets

                      My Collection: - Support captive breeding







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                      • #12
                        awesome, thanks. so u think just a temp gauge would do fine, and just do away with the humidity gauge? ive moved the heat mat onto the back aswell. she seems to like the back wall where the heat mat is xD ive came to the conclusion its female. her front "what ya call ems" are the same size all the way and i dont see any hooks. when i read the males have hooks and there slightly bigger at the top end? is that right? thanks

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                        • #13
                          Yeah, I don't bother with the humidty guages. Males will only have tibial hooks when they're matured. What size is your spider? If it's not mature the only reliable way to sex your spider is to look inside it's moult. It's possible to have an educated guess though. Males tend to be leggier and have a smaller abdomen than the females but your best to check the moult. Here's a link to a page that shows you how to do that:
                          www.flickr.com/photos/craigmackay/sets

                          My Collection: - Support captive breeding







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                          • #14
                            ahh. thanks! well. he/she defo not full grown, the company i bought it from described the spider as sub-adult. and ive only had it a week or so. so i dont have a moult. and dont know when to expect 1 xD Thanks

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                            • #15
                              quick question. but how is she suppost to eat? shes had nothing in a week. there are 3 crickets running about the floor of the tank, but she lives up on the walls! hows she suppost to eat if shes all the way up there? O.o

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