today i'm going to tell you how i unbox
tarantulas that i receive in the mail
and we're starting
right now
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thanks for watching this video and if
you're new to the channel my name is
richard i make videos about tarantulas
scorpions and other invertebrates
so if that's something that you're
interested in make sure you hit that
subscribe button and click the little
notification bell
select all notifications that way you
get alerted anytime i upload a new video
now whether you're new to the hobby or
you've been around for a while
eventually you're probably going to end
up ordering some tarantulas off one of
these amazing websites
if you don't know where to order
tarantulas and other invertebrates
online then go to my website
thetarantulacollective.com hit the
resources tab at the top of the page
i've got a whole list of online dealers
a lot of them have discount codes where
you can order tarantulas scorpions
manuses i mean all kinds of inverts and
reptiles most of the time
ordering online gives you access to a
lot more species
at much better prices so eventually
almost everyone in the hobby ends up
ordering online at least once
but i get messages and comments all the
time from people that are nervous
ordering online because they don't know
what to expect or how to unbox them
safely so today
that's what we're gonna learn
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so to start off you want to make sure
you're ordering your tarantulas from a
reputable dealer with a website
or a breeder that can provide references
that way you know you're not going to
get ripped off or
sent a tarantula that's wild caught or
end up getting something that you didn't
even really want
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after that you want to make sure that
they're getting shipped fedex overnight
now i know that's a lot more expensive
than other shipping options but you want
your tarantulas or other exotic pets to
spend the least amount of time in the
mail as possible
and almost anyone selling live animals
that's reputable
will only offer fedex overnight
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let's look at the tools you're gonna
need to unbox these tarantulas now i
suggest you have a knife
tweezers ketchup a paintbrush or a
chopstick or
something long and skinny and of course
a spray bottle or something to drip
water
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now you always want to make sure that
you prepare the enclosures beforehand to
the best of your ability you'll usually
know about
what size of tarantula you should be
expecting now i like to set up all the
enclosures before the package actually
arrives and make sure i have
smaller and larger enclosure options
available in case the species is bigger
or smaller than i was anticipating this
is very important when it comes to
spider links
because they can easily escape through
ventilation holes so the enclosure that
you have prepared
may have vents that are large enough for
that sling to escape
so you want to have an option with much
smaller vent holes available
in case you need
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no matter what species of spiderling
that you're getting you want to make
sure that you keep that substrate a
little damp it's very
easy for spiderlings to dehydrate
because they lack the waxy coating that
adult tarantulas have
that keeps a lot of that moisture in you
don't want to go too far
and make the substrate swampy but you
don't want it to be bone dry either
you gotta find a happy medium
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now it is best to have the package held
at the local fedex hub so you can go and
pick it up first thing in the morning
but i understand that's not always an
option
some people live an hour or two away
from the nearest hub in which case you
want to make sure that you have taken
time off work
and you are there at your house waiting
by the door for that package to arrive
or at the very least you have somebody
there waiting to receive it for you you
don't want fedex to attempt a delivery
and
not deliver because no one was there to
answer the door that's just another day
your slings are gonna spin
in the back of a hot or extremely cold
truck and then overnight at the fedex up
only to be shipped out again the next
day
so make sure you or someone you trust is
there to pick up the package
now if you're picking it up at the hub
make sure you get it as soon as possible
personally i don't even wait for the
notification that it's ready for pickup
now i know normally they're ready around
9 30 at my home
so i'm usually already on my way there
when i get notification that it's ready
to be picked up and also be sure you
bring a photo id
because unless the person behind the
counter knows you really well your id
is required to pick up packages
[Applause]
now once you get that package and you
bring it home or maybe you're on your
way to work you want to open it up
immediately a lot of times spiderlings
are shipped with a heat pack or a cool
pack depending on the weather so you
want to open up the box and get the heat
pack out as soon as possible
so whether i'm taking it to work or
bringing it back home
i'm opening that box right away and
pulling those spiderlings out
now if you're unable to re-house them as
soon as you get them
place the vials somewhere safe like on a
table where they can't roll off
on their side that's a lot better than
leaving them standing straight up make
sure they can't
roll off or get knocked off by your cat
or a small
child and most dealers offer a live
arrival guarantee
meaning if it arrives dead you can
contact them and they will replace that
spiderlink but most of them require you
to notify them within two hours of
receiving the package
in those cases even if i can't re-house
them right away i like to go ahead and
open up the vial and look inside
make sure the spiderling's moving and
everything is okay
and if you have any issues read their
live arrival guarantee
you may need to take pictures and email
them to whoever you bought them from
and get that process started as soon as
possible
now once you're ready to open up and
re-house these slings you want to slowly
open the lid
and use tweezers to remove the top layer
of paper towel
then you want to grab the edge of the
paper towel as far down as you can with
your tweezers without touching the
tarantula
and slowly pull it out of the vial
now do not pull on the paper tubing if
it's starting to twist
the tubes normally will come out very
easily but there are sometimes that they
get stuck
and if the paper tubing starts to twist
the spiderling could become entangled
and get injured
once you have that out of the vial
slowly unroll the towel into the
enclosure
or gently begin squeezing from the
bottom towards the opening
and let the sling walk right on out
[Music]
if your tarantula is not moving it may
be molting so you should just leave it
alone for a little while and see if it
moves at all
a lot of times the stress of shipping
can cause a tarantula to
mold early also if it's really cold out
and your tarantula is not moving
let it sit out at room temperature for
20 or 30 minutes keeping a watchful eye
the entire time
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when temperatures get low tarantulas
become very lethargic and may not move a
lot or at
all but as they warm up they will become
more active
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once your tarantula is in its enclosure
gently mist the side or drip water on
the side so they have access to a drink
even if they were only in the mail
overnight they may be very thirsty and
will want to get something to drink
right away mist both the walls and the
substrate sometimes tarantulas get
dehydrated during the shipping process
so having water available is very
important
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now personally i don't feed my
tarantulas the day that they arrive
i usually wait at least 24 hours before
attempting to feed
but if your spiderling looks very thin
and you're worried about it
you can go ahead and attempt feeding but
if it doesn't take that prey right away
i would go ahead and remove it and wait
till the next day
leaving a live feeder in their enclosure
after they were just rehoused can cause
them
even more stress which could lead to
them waiting even longer before eating
and settling
in
and i'll say it again always make sure
the ventilation holes
in the enclosure are smaller than the
carapace of the spiderling
last thing you want to do is spend all
this time and money acquiring this
species only to have it walk right out
of a vent hole and disappear into your
house
[Music]
unboxing and re-housing tarantulas that
you received in the mail can be very
stressful and a little intimidating but
once you get the hang of it
you'll realize it's not that hard at all
these people selling tarantulas online
know what they're doing have a lot of
experience and issues with shipping or
receiving dead species
is an exception not a rule so hopefully
you learned something or at least
developed a little more confidence when
it comes to unboxing tarantulas you
ordered online now if you're curious
about the best way to feed your
spiderlings i actually made an entire
video on that topic that you can watch
right here and if you're new to keeping
tarantulas i put together an
entire playlist just for you that you
can watch right here as always i
appreciate you watching
subscribe if you want to see more thanks
for buying tarantula collective
merchandise
and i will see you next tuesday
you