Plurrrr

Wed 20 May 2020

Adam's Acanthoscurria geniculata arrived

Today, shortly after Adam returned from school, one of his birthday presents finally arrived; a female Acanthoscurria geniculata. I had ordered this tarantula the 6th of May, 2020 with Robert of Fatbob's Exotics:

  • 0.1 Acanthoscurria geniculata 2,5-3cm body €25

Together with shipping within the Netherlands it came down to €32. Originally, Adam wanted to have a female Brachypelma hamorii but when I contacted Robert the 5th of May this tarantula was no longer available.

Adam holding the vial with his female Acanthoscurria geniculata
Adam holding the vial with his female Acanthoscurria geniculata.

Due to the colder nights it took a while before Robert could ship the spider safely. But yesterday it got picked up by DPD and today it arrived. Not on time for Adam's birthday, which was the 12th of May, so he had been asking now and then "When is my tarantula coming?"

Female Acanthoscurria geniculata on Adam's hand
Female Acanthoscurria geniculata on Adam's hand.

For the terrarium I drilled plenty of holes in two sides of a plastic box and several more in the lid. Together with Adam I added plenty of substrate; slightly moist coco peat. I had also cut a cork tube in half, which Adam added, together with two plastic plants. Finally, I added a plastic bottle lid with water to provide a source of moisture to the spider.

Acanthoscurria geniculata in its terrarium
Acanthoscurria geniculata in its terrarium.

We tried to feed the tarantula a mealworm larva, Tenebrio molitor, but it was not interested. In my experience sometimes tarantulas accept food after travelling and sometimes they don't. Later in the afternoon when I checked the terrarium I noticed that she had been moving substrate out of the cork tube and made a nice pile next to it.

Close up of the female Acanthoscurria geniculata
Close up of the female Acanthoscurria geniculata.

In the evening Adam and I checked again, but she was still well hidden in her new burrow. We also tried to feed his Heterometrus petersii. While the scorpion did pick up the mealworm I put next to it, and even held it for a while, it was too stressed out because I had lifted the piece of wood it normally hides under to actually eat it. Adam and I decided to try again tomorrow. Adam is a little worried about his scorpion since it hasn't been eating since we bought it, the 23rd of February, 2020 at the Invertebrate Show in Harmelen.

We did leave a pre-killed mealworm next to the burrow entry of his tarantula, though. Let's see if it's gone tomorrow.