First Tarantula

So i was in my local shop earlier, found this tarantula very intresting, ive never owned one before but this one looked great to me, i know nothing about it though, heres a few pics, idk anything about it but its name in the shop was "Black and white ornate tarantula"

Its currently in a 30x19.5x20.5cm as thats all i have atm, i had some cocoa fibre substrate left over from my emps so just put some of that in and a little log piece, also has a spider sponge in there, heres some pics, not great quality, ill try get some better ones, any advice on this type would help alot, as i said i know nothing of it.

https://2img.net/h/i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss157/scorpion-newbie/DSC00288.jpg

https://2img.net/h/i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss157/scorpion-newbie/DSC00289.jpg

https://2img.net/h/i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss157/scorpion-newbie/DSC00290.jpg

Again sorry for bad quality lol

First off, remove the sponge. They don't do any good, they house loads of bacteria, and spiders are perfectly capable of drinking from standing water.

Other than that, things sound good. Common names are rubbish and I'm not the best at tarantula ID, but my first guess would be Nhandu chromatus.

lasiodora cristatus is my guess after looking it up abit

check this photo out of one:

http://www.swiftinverts.com/pix/vcristatus.jpg

And sponge is gone

also read just now that what i said the lasiodora cristatus what i said was changed to the name you said, so i think both are samething

Also the guy in the shop said to have it at room temperature in the tank that i wont really need a heatmat, im not sure totally about that? He said should only need it in winter, but i have a spare heatmat anyway so should be fine if i need to use it

Mike is correct it is indeed Nhandu chromatus, however you are also sort of right dude as Nhandu chromatus used to be Lasiodora cristata hehe

This is labelled L.cristata


this is labelled as N.chromatus


as you can see they are one and the same lol

Ah ok, gonna have to look around for a caresheet somewhere, also i just heard from some site that there one of the species that flick hairs? Although in store they said she isnt. So not totally sure on that either, tbh im hoping not lol

Yeah, they're a flicker. Better than a biter.

Heat mats aren't really necessary . . . just keep the room warm in cold weather.

Thats not gonna be a problem, rooms always warm lol, and yeah possibly, however though the enclosure shes in atm has loads of little slits in the top, its the old thing i used for my locusts until the other container for her gets here, get abit nervous going to look at her and she might get some through one of them holes at me, i dunno how dangerous it is? Heard its bad if you breathe them in or they go in your eyes, which i can only imagen thats right lol

there not the worst hairs out there to be honest but if you get them in your eyes or throat you wont feel too clever lmao, aslong as you dont handle or move anything near them they arent too bad to be honest.
Oh and you could wear gloves when changing substrate and dont put your face too close to the tank while cleaning out as youl send all the hairs flying lmao

Ah right yeah ok, no yeah i dunno im just going on what ive heard, and yeah she seems fairly calm with everything, and no yeah i aint intending to go putting my face in hers lol, how dangerous is it though if she does get me with one? I heard in the skin it would just itch like crazy? Just wanna know what im looking at incase it does happen lol

Some people it itches like crazy, some people don't notice it, and some people get a horrific itchy rash for a few days*.

Generally, if I see a T flick, I'll pull my head back, close the lid, and not breathe in for a few seconds (or pull my shirt up over my nose and mouth). Lori's pretty sure she's got bunches of urticating hairs floating around inside her eyeballs.


*I only know of this happening once, and it was from someone pulling a preserved T. blondi out of a jar of alcohol, so he got the hairs ALL OVER his hand.

What would someone be looking at if it got in there eyes or breathed in?

Not sure about inhaling, but in your eyes, you'll just get a couple more floaters. Nothing too serious.

Isnt there a special type of see through material people use to put over the holes of enclosures that still allow air in? I swear i saw that somewhere, not sure though

congrats on your new addition

as for bad flicky hairs.... the L. parahybana has to be the worst.

I wouldn't worry too much about sealing the air holes up with fabric or anything. just be less hands on with them.

Thanks

And yeah well im not too worried, she seems very calm, more calm than my emps tbh lol

Not too sure how often i should feed her, they fed her 2 locusts infront of me in the shop which she nabbed straight away, should be enough for 2 weeks they said, so im guessing 1 locust a week is enough which is what i feed my emps with aswell and once a week also

And yeah you can see the lines where shes been flicking hairs before, well ill try get a decent type of setup when i can afford it lol.

all in good time, remember a pretty tank is for your benefit, not the tarantula's.

But I do like pretty tanks haha!

Yeah but the tarantula isnt gonna mind if i get her a bigger and nicer looking tank is she lol