New owner, old questions (I expect)

[Dr Geoff Eavy]

Hi all,
As the title suggests I'm new here and a new T owner (a juvenile female A. Geniculata) - just the one for now. Typically, I have many queries that, for sure, you have already answered many times. Knowing this I have tried to search for answers but some remain rather elusive. I would be very grateful therefore for any light anyone could shed on the following;

1) Many conflicting recommendations on temp and humidity have left me a little uncertain. I have her tank in a draft free spot at room temp only which varies between 65-72F but mostly in the 68-70F range (our usual room temp). Humidity I attempt to control (by overfilling the water dish, occasional misting) but mostly fail with the result that is varies widely between 55-85%. I did read somewhere to ignore this and just make sure the water dish is topped up but this seems hit and miss for a species indigenous to Brazilian rain forests. In any case do I need to worry about any of this? Or am I typical old duffer worrying unnecessarily?


2) Leftovers (bolus?) - where are they!? Yes, my Geniculata is true to form and violently attacks the cricket offerings. But she runs off into her hide with it, no scrape of the cricket(?) ever to be seen again? I look down her hide (cork bark sunk in substrate) but can see nothing, though I don't really know what I'm looking for. This is still the case after 3-4 weeks and quite a few crickets! Moreover I have seen no spider 'droppings' from her. Should I be concerned about any of this?

3) Crickets, yes, but how many, how often? I follow the rule of keeping prey size equal to, or less than, that of the her abdomen (though this measure seems problematic too as crickets are long relatively skinny things compared to the bulbous abdomen of a T). But what I'm really unclear about is how many crickets to feed at a time? She is about 5-6cm in size (I think, just an estimate, she might be a little larger) and I feed her 2-3 crickets twice a week at present. Is this ok? I suspect she will eat much more if offered.

Sorry for the lengthy first post but I do hope someone can help. Thanks in advance.

Geoff

[Stuart Baker]

In my opinion, if the spider is eating happily, there can't be much wrong with the temperature. As for humidity, you do need to keep an eye on it, particularly when the spider is moulting, but it isn't really an exact science. Incidentally, if you are using one of the dial type hygrometers, you may as well throw it away, as they are wildly inaccurate. Frankly, I'm not sure how the are still allowed to be sold. My tropical spiders are kept 'warm and wet'. I'm afraid I don't really take much more notice than that.

The prey remains are literally little round balls of mashed-up crickets. They tend to grow a white mould after a while, which helps them stand out. I remove them when I see them, but I don't go digging around for them. I wouldn't worry about it. The only other droppings you are likely to see are small white, almost chalky deposits of uric acid. They are very easy to miss. Again. not something to worry about.

My feeding regime is somewhat haphazard. They might get fed every day for a week, then nothing for a couple of weeks. It's all down to what food I have available and when I remember to feed them. I like to think that this mimics a natural diet. If I only had the one spider, it would eat frequently until the box of crickets was empty and then go hungry for a couple of weeks until I got around to buying some more. Despite the dire warnings on various internet forums, I have never head any real evidence of over-feeding causing any problems, certainly not in the short-term. I also had a Chile rose that ate nothing for eighteen months. To sum up, you have a fair amount of leeway when deciding on a feeding regime.

[Dr Geoff Eavy]

Thank you very much for this, it really is a great help. The hygrometer is the exo terra digital combo unit so I assumed it would be a little more reliable. Last few days she has spent much time in her hide but still off the blocks like Usain Bolt at the sight of a fat cricket so I guess, as you say, not much to worry about. It is difficult, though, as a beginner trying to sort the wheat from the chafe so, again, many thanks for the advice.

- Geoff

[Stuart Baker]

No worries. We were all the same in the beginning.

[Adam Beynon - Jones]

Good advice from Stuart there. Personally I feed mine once a week, or fortnight - The frequency and amount depends on the size of prey and size of spider - smaller spiders get a little more food a little more frequently/bigger ones get a lot less - all of this can depend on species as well (and a lot on opinions, which are subject to change!), but I wouldn't worry about that for now as you have only got the one, and you know this species are eating machines - this will also make it easy for you to remember how big/how many last feeding time's items were, and judge it by that - if it had a bit extra, give it a little less etc... I have a juvenile female A. geniculata that I'd give a few crickets per week, or a roach, sometimes a little more frequently, sometimes a little less - it nails them every time, and is too fat now in my opinion, so I'm holding off, and would advise 1-2 items a week depending on how big the items are...

There's different prey items to try as well, of different shapes and sizes which complicates things until you realise it's not that complicated! The feeding issue is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string in the sense that somebody might feed lots of crickets once a week, whereas somebody else might feed one - Somebody might feed one big prey item per week, somebody else might feed one small item - Somebody might feed a few very small items a week - you get the picture, people who are feeding at the same frequencies might not be feeding the same amounts, so how can you know what is actually going on, especially as a lot of people do things differently. Some people feed once per month, it varies, and as Stuart mentions can be done on an as and when basis, but the main thing to do is not to overdo it - that's the one thing that long term keepers all say (mostly), and they are the ones who know - This is the advice I give myself having done this around 10 years, although I still mess it up with some of my spiders (although to be fair they haven't suffered any moulting problems). It's very easy done - suddenly one day you realise how fat your spider is!! In those situations I back off feeding for a fair few weeks, or even until the next moult - but to be honest it seems to take ages for them to lose weight, and it's best just to feed in moderation so they don't put too much on in the first place. If you go by the size of the abdomen, this is a good indicator - if it is well rounded and not shrinking/shriveling and is roughly the size of the prosoma give or take, then it is probably being fed about right - I just have a few I didn't keep a close enough eye on who look far too porky now, which is my own fault...

A very important thing though, is to hydrate your feeder insects, and feed them up so they are well nourished, and well hydrated - The tarantula get's most of it's internal hydration from it's prey, which is obviously important to maintain it's "system functions" and mobility, and also seems to be key to producing enough of the fluid it releases in between the old and new exoskeleton when moulting - the less fluid it can produce, the less lubrication, and the more chance of it getting stuck; it seems to be the general consensus that this is far more important than raising humidity in a tarantulas enclosure prior to a moult in order to aid the process - Basically it doesn't matter how wet you make things on the outside if the spider ain't wet on the inside!

Although seemingly, raising humidity can be a contributing factor in triggering a moult, but that's a different conversation