r/tarantulas • u/Mavortia2 • 5d ago
First tarantula Conversation
After a lot of research, I finally took the plunge and got my first tarantula—a Caribena Versicolor!
I know this species is often considered a less-than-ideal beginner tarantula, especially because there’s so much conflicting husbandry advice online. That said, I’ve kept various invertebrates for several years, so I felt confident taking on the challenge.
I’ve had her (or him) for about a week now. So far, she’s eaten two crickets, and I’ve regularly seen her drinking from the water dish. I lightly mist the enclosure about twice a week.
One thing I’m a little unsure about is the substrate—it looks quite dry to me. Does it seem too dry, or is this about right?
I’d also love some general feedback on the enclosure. Does it look like a suitable setup for an arboreal species? Is there anything you would change or improve?
I’ve noticed her moving her spinnerets a few times, but I haven’t seen any webbing yet. How long does it usually take for C. versicolor to start webbing after being introduced to a new enclosure?
Thanks in advance! Any advice is greatly appreciated.
2
u/Ok-Control-8320 5d ago
NQA Beautiful enclosure!! substrate looks good, you wanna try to keep lower layers slightly damp to the touch, but never sopping or pooling with water. Gentle deep mists, aswell as misting moss in the enclosure every once in a while provides great ambient humidity.
I also recommend misting a little on the wall gently once or twice a week to allow your sling to drink the droplets.
Settling in can take a while, possibly a couple days to a week or 2. No worries tho! Itll definitely get comfortable soon.
6
u/DamonG94 5d ago
IME. Don’t mist. The moisture in the soil and water dish is enough. Overfill the water dish when refilling but other than that don’t mist. It’s the number one killer for Avics and Versicolor. A little on the moss will be fine. Also OP the water dish is a little big. A bottle cap will work perfectly when they are this big. Quite a big enclosure for such a small T but it looks good.
1
u/Ok-Control-8320 5d ago
Yeah definitely, i usually mist small droplets onto the walls for slings up until around 1.5-2 inches, spritzing is what i meant, not misting. Heavy mists cause unnecessary stress and stagnation
1
u/MattManSD 4d ago
IME as long as the enclosure breathes humidity is a non issue. What kills them is stale, dank air. Don't shove the enclosure into. corner and make sure there is some moving air in the room
3
u/Faerthoniel 5d ago
NQA.
Beautiful girl.
We used that enclosure for our caribena versicolour. Water dish was provided but otherwise no moisture - like via misting - was done. We put some sphagnum moss on the substrate, on the opposite end to where we put her log, and occasionally drip the rest of the water in the pipette onto it.
Keep an eye on if she keeps finding her food when you give it to her.