How To Unbox Spiders - DON'T KILL YOUR NEW TARANTULA!

today i'm going to tell you how i unbox

tarantulas that i receive in the mail

and we're starting

right now

[Music]

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

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