Brazilian Salmon Pink Tarantulas

When I becam interested in Tarantulas I  registered and becam a member of The American Tarantula Society Headquarters - atshq.org. After purchasing Charlotte, my B. smithi( Mexican Red Knee Tarantula), I soon acquired Gigi, my B. albiceps( Mexican Gold Red Rump) and Fifi, my B. boehmei( Mexican Fireleg). As the days passed and I scoured, I scoured The American Tarantula Society's forum for infor mation on how to care for my new pets. I soon camee across a posting from a woman who had recently purchased Lasiodora parahybana spiderlings and wanted to find a home for the extras. She supposedly had purchased 4 spiderlings from an enthusiast/breeder. Lasiodora parahybana - aka - Brazilian Salmon Pink Tarantula is supposed to be one of the largest tarantulas in the world. I thought to my self that this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I sent her a message saying that I would be interested in a couple of the babies. She responded saying that she had asked for 4 babies but had been sent about 40 and was really hoping to get rid of all at one fell swoop. Once again, I thought to myself...this might not be a bad idea. They are babies and surely some will die as a matter of due course, and perhaps I might be able to find a home for some of them. So I told her I would take them all. To date, the 3 tarantulas I had purchased and all of the feeder insects I had ordered online had all been sent overnight delivery. So I began the anxious job of waiting. When the day came and went that I had expected to receive them came and went, I jumped online and sent her a message as soon as I got home from work, asking her when they might arrive. She had sent them 2-3 day delivery. Sure as shooting they arrived the next day, much to my relief. They were fine.

 I took them home and ran to my local pet shop and bought 40 small crickets. The smalls were very small at this time. I rushed home and opened their container and began catching a few small crickets and tearing their hind legs off and dropping them in the container. A few of the braver babies grabbed a leg and dragged them over to the side of the container to feed.
  After a couple of days had passed, I sat down at my computer desk and started to separate them into their own little individual houses( ketchup containers I had gathered from Five Guys near me). I started by using a lid to one of the condiment containers and a cotton swab..ushering the little tykes that were on the wall of the container with the cotton swab onto the lid of the container. Then, I, as gently as possible, deposited them into their own little house. Each container  contained some damp coconut coir( shredded coconut husk). The first day of rehousing ended when I ran out of condiment containers, and I realized that I had only removed the babies that were on the walls of the original shipping container! That hadn't even touched the large wad of dampened paper towel in the container that was covered with babies! BEWARE!!!! If buying from Hobbyist/enthusiast, you may get MORE than you asked for!All in all, I made 3 trips to Five Guys to get condiment containers before I had enough. After 3 days of gathering containers and continuing my individual rehousing project, I realized I had 106 babies... WAY more than the original 40 I thought I was getting!! I soon found my self at the pet shop again purchasing a 10 gallon aquarium and a smal undertank heater in which to put all of my new babies. Note: I did not put the babies' containers direectly on top of the undertank heating pad, but as they were in the basement, and it is 65-70 degrees down there I did drape a towel over the  tank to help hold in some of the heat.
  During the next 2 weeks, I spent time each day opening each condiment container and examining the spiderling inside. The coconut coir I had used was left over from when I housed my 3 Brachypelmas and had held more moisture than I had thought. Each day upon opening each container, I wiped excess moisture from the lid and the sides of the container with a paper towel. I then proceeded to look for remnants of the last feeding and removing them.

 I had intended to try to feed them all every other day and thus cut down on my workload of caretaking, butI soon found myself manipulated into an everyday feeding regimen as some would not eat when I wanted while otheres would. So, everyday I would go through them one by one. If I opened a container and found cricket parts, I removed them whether they had been fed upon or not, closed the container and put it back. If, on the otherhand, I opened the container and there were no cricket parts, I would procure a fresh cricket leg, put it in - perhaps I would use a cotton swab to try to usher the little tyke over to the food, and then back it would go with the others.  I always alternated positions of the containers. Obviously, the containers closest to the undertank heater were warmest, so I therefore, every day alternated postitions putting those that were farthest away from the heater the day before in the closest position and vice versa.
  After the first 2 weeks, I had lost only about 6 babies, which I thought was pretty good as I was new to all of this, and I had only really wanted 1. I currently need to recount and make sure how many I actually have. The differences among them are interesting. Some of them are hearty eaters, while others are not. A few of them I can only assume that they have eaten something although I have seen no evidence of it. Some of them when they are hungry literally tackle their prey as it is dropped in. Some will run up on it and then get startled and run away. Others just seem to take their own sweet time, and I don't know they have fed until the next day when I open their container and find the cricket part in a different place and obiously discolored by the venom. I should note here that when I feed the babies, I ALWAYS put the food in the center of the container. If they don't show any interest right away, I use a cotton swab to usher them over to it. Then I let them be. Usually, when a baby has fed, It drags the food to the side of the container where, I guess, it feels less exposed and more comfortable. Well, I suppose that is all I have for today, except that one of my co-workers has taken one of the babies off my hands. It's name is now Aragog. :)