if anyone has ever taken care of a Arizona Blonde. Please give me advice. Like temps, humidity, substrate, diet, cage requirements, etc.
08-23-2011, 01:46 AM
Alexandra V
The Aphonopelma chalcodes (what I'm assuming you mean by Arizona Blonde), and pretty well all US-native tarantulas from the Aphonopelma group do great in a very basic setup - room temperature, no extra humidity required. Just offer a cage large enough for you to offer a hide spot and a shallow water dish and some floor space in between. Fill the enclosure up with packed substrate (Eco-Earth/coco fiber works fantastically) until the distance between the surface of the substrate and the top of the enclosure is no more than 1.5 times the legspan of the tarantula.
These guys are generally docile but known to have decent feeding responses. When they're young, I'd offer 2-3 crickets (about the same size as the abdomen) per week. Then as they get older you keep the relative size of the prey items the same and offer 1-2 per week.
They're super hardy and easy to care for, just spot clean when you find food boluses (undigested parts of prey items). They will fast when they're approaching a molt, and after they've molted, food should be withheld for at least a week to allow the exoskeleton to harden. That's about it :) they're a great beginner species to be certain.
08-23-2011, 10:20 AM
Druzy
Thank you for the information! Looks like I've been doing everything right! Only thing Betty (my tarantula) is a little vicous creature! She defintally has a spark of attitude!
08-23-2011, 10:28 AM
Alexandra V
Re: Arizona Blonde
Quote:
Originally Posted by Druzy
Thank you for the information! Looks like I've been doing everything right! Only thing Betty (my tarantula) is a little vicous creature! She defintally has a spark of attitude!
Anytime. I love the name, by the way! :D And the ones with spunk are more fun anyways :P
08-23-2011, 10:55 AM
Nektu
I have 5 wild caught Arizona Blondes. I have found that they are actually very sweet and handleable. I use the coconut fiber substrate for them and put about 3 inches of it in their enclosure along with a hide since they are burrowers. They tend to all like it on the dry side, being from a desert environment, with something I can put a little water in for them. They all eat like champs and are eating at least one cricket daily. Unless they are reaching a molt. As they get older their molts will come less frequently. The one I caught last year molted this past December and is going into molt again right now.
I also agree that this is a great specie to start out with. Males, when mature, will have long legs that are dark deep brown to black as well as a darker abdomen. Females will keep the lighter color brown throughout their bodies. I've also noticed that they will raise the back end of the abdomen when they feel threatened, much like our Vagans does.
