Criptic's Page On Herps - Tarantulas - Personal Account

when I was 18. I knew nothing about tarantulas, and had no idea at the time that she was a Chilean Rose (Grammostola spatulata). Let alone, that Muffy was already an adult. And, I thought that all tarantulas were desert animals. But, since I was able to keep Muffy for 6 more years I was able to correct my mistakes and learn about her species. Tarantulas are an easy animal to care for, they don't require much room, food, or attention. But, being the nature freak that I am, Muffy got a 30 gallon tank, done up as naturally as I knew how to at 18.

Dangers

The most annoying thing I've ever found was when I was cleaning out Muffy's cage! Seems that the hair on tarantulas (called Urticating hairs) cause an itching on the skin of people. She was supposedly able to throw the urticating hairs, but she never did. She just dropped them in the cage for me to unexpectedly pick them up with my hands and itch for an hour. The books all say that the bite of a tarantula feels like two bee stings. But, I don't know, Muffy's fangs were about 1/2 an inch long and I never really wanted to get bitten (never been bitten by one of my animals, knock on wood). Luckily for me she never tried.

Enclosures

They say that a 5 gallon tank is large enough for a tarantula. But, I believe that if we are going to take something out of the wild, we owe it the best we can to make its' life as much like at its' home. I always tried to use a 30 gallon tank for adults and for juveniles a 10 gallon tank. I used vermiculite for desert setups and orchid bark or Spanish moss for rainforest setups. Put a pretty background on the back. Hot glue some silk flowers to the back corners, and there it was. Young tarantulas like to dig burrows so you might want to put a fake burrow in, like the roll off the t.p., Add a water dish (shallow). Yes, I've seen tarantulas drink water!

Feeding

I fed Muffy about a dozen crickets (gut loaded) a week, and always kept water in her enclosure. Never had an problems. She molted about once a year. Some people will feed a tarantula pinkies, but I could never bring myself to do that. But, I suppose if I had an adult Goliath Bird Eater. I would feed it pinkies or even adult mice.

Molting

This is the most dangerous time for a tarantula. And, I 've only actually seen it twice. I was smart enough to record the second one with a camera. The shoot took 4 hours, from 2am to 6am, and 2 rolls of film. I have included some of the pictures on this page so you can see what it looks like. When you first see a spider molting you'd swear it was dead! Most spiders lay on there backs with their legs curled up. Muffy used too, till the first time I saw it. And, thought she was dead, poked her with a pencil and she flipped over and moved to the corner. Ever since she's molted upright. Guess she found it easier or just didn't want me bothering her anymore. Anyway, she always stopped eating for a week beforehand and searched the enclosure for a spot. Then, spun a bed out of webbing. And, well, I'll let the pictures explain what happens. But after I'd give them a day or two before trying to feed them. Oh, if you look real close in one of the pictures you can see Muffy's newly molted fangs!!! They are white for a few days after a molt, and I measured them , they were just over 1/2 inch.

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