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 6^th 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 5^th 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 12^th 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 23^rd 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.