Cat Scratcher/House. Thread now a discussion about tarantulas!

[Moonbird]

Tarantulas are quite easy to keep, if your thinking of getting one I would recomend visiting http://www.thespidershop.co.uk that's where mine have come from. They have a section on there website about which species are good for beginers, such as the red knee I have, and all the information you need about keeping them, you can also ring them for advice and there really helpful!

 

I just wondered how much it would be to get a set up for a spider and what I need?

I know I can Google but its nice to know from someone that has them I think.

[LillyDeMorte]

It all depends on what sort of spider you wanted and how fancy you wanted the tank, ill give an example on my red knee that i bought as the pink toe i addopted from a friend who emigrated.

 

Red knee spiderling (1cm) was £5 from the spider shop,

Rearing jar for housing was about £1 (p&p for both items was around £9)

 

I later bought a mini aquarium for her, that was £4 ish

 

Substrate for housing, i use coir bark and its about £3-4 but this lasts ages as you only need an inch or two at the bottom, it comes compacted and puffs up, i still have the first one i bought after two small tank cleans and one large.

 

Some spieces prefere substrate mixed with vermiculite, you can get that from garden centers but i dont have it for mine.

 

Hide, i first used a bottle top sunk down as shelter, thats how tiny she was! Now i have a half hollowed log for her to hide under, about £1-3

 

Aboreal species need a long log in a tall tank to build a web on/around for there hide, high up like in there natural habital in trees, i havent had to buy these as mine pink toe came with her tank but i shouldnt think it should vary too much initially for a tank/hide

 

Anything else you want to add thats tarantula safe, i have two mini skulls in fangs current tank, theres a tunnel dug under one where shes made a bit of a lair

 

Heating, small reptile heat pad, i got mine on ebay for about £8

 

Water spray bottle, for misting the tank to keep humidity, can get these from poundland etc

 

For more delicate species you may need a thermostat to check temperature and humidity etc

 

Food, crickets or meal worms, around £2.50 a tub, i get mealworms and fangs eats the smaller ones out of the box and fluffy the slightly bigger ones, if choosing crickets feeding them lettuce etc helps them keep longer and pass on the nutrients, however they kept looking at me with thier little faces all sad, and fangs refused to eat them so i went for the mealworms and i find they keep a bit longer and are easier to feed to the tarantulas. Teeny spiderlings sometimes need pin head crickets to start off with, or fruit flies, usualy £2.50-4

 

Water dish, small spiderlings just need the housing interior misting to get there moisture, they get alot from there food, some people give bigger, adult tarantulas a dish but some dont, i dont have water dish's for mine.

 

Spiderlings vary from £3-45 most of the recomended for beginer ones are less than £10 tho.

 

I think ive covered everything. Most of thats from my experience of how ive been keeping mine, researching differnt websites and what they recomended, and what advice my friend gave me

 

Roughly totting up the basics on the lower end price wise id say around £35 to start off (spider/housing/substrate/hide/heating/misting bottle/food), then it'll just be a case of buying the food at £2.50 as needed untill substrate runs out or a larger tank is needed, or you want to jazz it up etc

 

Hope thats some help to you

 

---------- Post added 24-08-2013 at 01:34 ----------

 

Some pictures of my t's

 

Fangs;

 

Baby fangs, not long after moving into the bigger tank, little brown spider

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/livingdeadgirl13666/IMAG0834.jpg

 

Hiding out in my skull

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/livingdeadgirl13666/IMAG0818.jpg

 

First moult, now looking like a mini tarantula

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/livingdeadgirl13666/IMAG1024.jpg

 

The moult

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/livingdeadgirl13666/IMAG1008.jpg

 

Second moult, how she looks now, much more vibrant and more furry

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/livingdeadgirl13666/IMAG1385.jpg

 

 

Fluffy

 

Dinner time!

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/livingdeadgirl13666/IMAG1026-1.jpg

 

1st moulted skin while shes been mine

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/livingdeadgirl13666/IMAG0954.jpg

 

Vibrance after moulting (excuse it being a screenshot of my phone wallpaper hehe)

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/livingdeadgirl13666/2013-07-03_08-04-10-1.png

Edited August 24, 2013 by LillyDeMorte

[midgecat]

I particularly found the moults fascinating, especially since Lilly showed me the real thing. I'd no idea spiders did that - snakes yes, but not spiders. The fact that they can moult like that and leave perfectly formed skins (?) behind with all the legs and everything. Just amazing.

 

Lilly is clearly very well read and informed about spiders which made it really interesting to meet her.

 

Wandering slightly back to the thread topic (maybe it needs changing?) the scratcher and house cleaned up beautifully and the furries of my house are loving them.

 

---------- Post added 24-08-2013 at 10:25 ----------

 

Hi I have a plastic pink cat basket if you want it my kitten turned her nose up at it so practically brand new

 

thanks sand_dollars ... have pm'd you

[angel22]

How interesting! I never knew spiders shed their skin either. Thanks for all the info and pics Lilly

 

Thread title now changed! I've kept the 'cat scratcher/house' bit so it doesn't confuse anyone that might be looking for the thread!

Edited August 24, 2013 by angel22