Payson tarantula

[nasty bugger]

I have no experience with tarantulas, but bought a small 'baby payson tarantula' as the container said on it, from a local pet store. He was only 3 bucks so I figure it'd make a good starter tarantula, since I live in Arizona.

I was wondering if these require any special care from any of your experiences?

Since I am new, what would I need to watch out for?

What mistakes would I want to avoid making?

Is this guy a burrower, or what, I doubt he's arboreal being an Arizona native species.

I really don't know what to ask, since this is a new venture for me, and him

 

[Peter Clausen]

Despite it being a desert species, it does need humidity. They spend most of their time in burrows or under cover of some kind, venturing out to hunt at night. I just today set up a new habitat cage for an adult female I collected in Arizona this past summer. Because of her size I have her in a ten gallon. The substrate is a mixture of coconut fiber and sand, sloping up from the bottom at one side of the cage to about 2/3 the way to the top at the other end. I placed a variety of pieces of corkbark in there for her to use as part of a shelter she might build (strategically arranged to allow her to sort of figure it out). I also dug a suggestive burrow for her hoping she might take the hint and build her home right up against the glass where I can see her. She'll wander around for a few days or weeks, but she'll settle in soon. A piece of dead cactus wood completes the decor.

Any tuperware container will do. I'd recommend one at least 3X the legspan of your tarantula. They do like something to hide under. Other than that, just pull out the leftover parts of feeder insects from time to time to keep the smell and mold down. A bit of moss might help retain humidity, but pouring water into a corner of the cage helps with that. A lid with restricted ventilation tends to be better than one with too much in my experience.

If the tarantula doesn't eat the feeder insect after 12-24 hours, pull it out and try again a day or two later. It might be preparing to molt.

 

[nasty bugger]

I noticed that there are redish spots on the side of the container, like maybe puke. I fed it 4 flies one day, and noticed the spots the next day. I wasn't sure if it ate the first two flies, so i put in two more and saw it actually flip and grab a fly and push it into it's 'mouth' and hold it there, and watched it disappear further in till I left.

I gave it fruit flies the last two feedings, to see if it puked again. There were more spots, so i wonder it it was just 'digesting' and going to come back for the mess on the container later, cause I scared him off of one of the spots a couple minutes ago.

I have crickets, but they're larger than the guy I bought it from suggested.

I'm going to try to make it to the feb 14 reptile show, in Mesa. Anyone else be there?