GO WITH YOU'RE INSTINCT.and i little research !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Tarantula Keeper's Guide is a must! Buy this book and most of your questions will be answered.

The Linguist wrote: ... I'm new to tarantula keeping ...

First, "Welcome to the hobby!"

And, "Welcome to this forum!"

Next, read Stan's Rant . While it was written primarily for North Americans, it turns out that stupidity is found worldwide, and you need to defend yourself against it even on the other side of the planet.

Pay particular attention to the following points:

1> Read as many of those books as you can lay your hands on. Note that you don't have to buy them. You can get them from most public libraries. If they don't have them on their shelves, they can get them through something like an Interlibrary Loan System for you. Ultimately, if you fall in love with any of them, you can buy them at many pet shops, or order them through any local or Internet based bookstores.

2> Don't believe anything you find on an Internet care sheet unless you can verify it in one of the aforementioned books, or you can verify it on one of the Internet's arachnid forums. (But see entry #4!) Remember that just about any nincompoop can publish just about anything they want on the 'Net. There are virtually no rules and absolutely no safeguards. And, you have absolutely no recourse if they kill your tarantula for you!

3> Don't believe anything a pet shop tells you unless you can verify it in one of the aforementioned books, or you can verify it on one of the Internet's arachnid forums. (But see entry #4!) While there are distinct exceptions, the personnel in most pet shops know even less about tarantulas than you do!

4> Don't believe anything you read on an Internet arachnid forum unless you can verify it in one of the aforementioned books, or unless the person can back up their recommendation with a believable explanation of why they're telling you this. Remember that just about any nincompoop can publish just about anything they want on the 'Net. And once it's been published it'll never be erased. Worse, there are an almost unlimited number of ignorati who consider it their God-given responsibility to disseminate this stuff, good or bad, as far and wide as possible.

While most arachnophiles and arachnoculturists still work hard to dispel the traditional spider and tarantula myths, those very same enthusiasts are now passing around a whole new set of myths founded on some of the weirdest assumptions or misinformation imaginable. Or, they still believe some of the stuff that's been obsolete in the hobby for years or even decades. As a novice it's going to be difficult to sort out a lot of this stuff at first. Just go slowly and be suspicious unless a really compelling line of reasoning is presented.

The Linguist wrote: ... and got a baby Honduran curly hair to start with. I put a small piece of bark in her enclosure for her to hide under - anyway, she has spent the past few days burrowing under it and has now completely closed herself in! ...

Imagine this if you will: A 7 year old girl is kidnapped by aliens, and transported by these huge, clumsy, God-like things with body odor and bad breath to a completely foreign and alien place. Worse yet, the place is filled with weird, unrecognizable junk and things; the smell is disgusting; there are all sorts of strange sounds and vibrations; the lighting is all messed up; and they gave the kid a bark hovel to hide in instead of a proper home with a bed. What would you expect that kid to do?

Maybe dig a hole under something, wall itself in, and cower in it in abject terror?

Need I say more?

The Linguist wrote: ... Not sure what to do about feeding!? ...

Forget it. The baby tarantula won't need to eat for at least a week. And, it desperately needs that time to readjust and come to terms with its new habitat.

When you do feed it, give it only 4 to 6 crickets A WEEK, but each cricket must be smaller than the baby tarantula's abdomen (the rear half of its body, more properly called an opisthosoma, but you're likely to get slapped or punched by the person next to you if you use that word in public! :lol: ). If you're feeding it baby roaches, the size rule still applies.

I recently wrote a small dissertation on caring for tarantulas over the course of their growth and development from newly hatched babies to adults, and you can find it at "Chromatopelma Cyanopubescens- Keeping?" - HOW TO CARE FOR THE ARID SPECIES . Just scroll down the page.

There is also a collateral thread that may interest you at "First T Choice and enclosure questions" . This last thread is composed of a bunch of pages (4 on my browser), but all are worth reading. There, I'm discussing Brachypelma smithi, but they and your curlyhair (B. albopilosum) are closely related, and cared for very much alike. The major differences, other than their coloring and the nature of their bristles, are that B. albopilosum grows and matures more quickly and doesn't live quite so long. Both species are among the best pet tarantulas you can get.

Oh! Lest I forget: Do not "power feed" your B. albopilosum. (Do a search on this or any other forums.) If power fed, the males grow and mature extremely quickly. They also die much sooner. I have no data on what effects power feeding does to females of that species. But as a novice, you shouldn't have to find out the hard way.

I hope this helps a little. Best of luck.

Enjoy your new-found, little 8-legged, alien buddy!