A question regarding my B Boehmei or Mexican fireleg.

[MrFireLeg]

Hi all,

I put a post up in a facebook group a while back now and got some useful feed back. It hadn’t eaten in a while and it’s bum was large, I was thinking pre moult and that was the consensus.

That was a while back now and it still hasn’t eaten, the drinking water is going down, it’s fairly active especially at night which would be expected and has a large abdomen still. But as an estimate it hasn’t eaten for around 8 months.

Yesterday I went to an exotic pet store near Sheffield https://www.exotic-pets.co.uk/ where the owner was great and having bred Brachy’s had a lot of knowledge. He was concerned about temperature and believed that a sub adult would normally not go quite so long without eating, we have a heat mat for the colder months and have it set at 25c/77f but we didn’t think to get a digital thermometer to actually check real time temps. I feel pretty foolish about this now.

His advice was to check the temp around where the spider mostly hangs around and to place the mat on one side of the enclosure against a wall rather than underneath. The temp came back at 19c so I turned it up, its set around 28c/82f now and looking like 21c. The heat map has a little more to give going upto 34c.

I checked the area of the enclosure closest to the heat mat and it came back at 27/28cc, so I’m concerned about parts of the enclosure being too warm.

A few questions:

I’m putting the heat mats and the digital thermometers censor into the substrate, is this correct?

Should I be concerned about the temp around the mat being higher than the rest of the enclosure? the mat is still underneath right now since this morning we had to move the room around a bit but it will be moved to a wall of the enclosure asap.

Is a Juvie not eating for 8 months a concern?


Any other advice would be appreciated.

 

[Seamus]

Hi I honestly believe heat mats are a no no for tarantulas. All tarantulas will be fine at normal room temperature if you are comfortable they will be. I have about 10 brachys and all are fine at room temperature. As for it not eating don't worry I had one go over a year without eating. As long as you have got water available for your t it will be fine. A large abdomen is a good sign it's OK could be in heavy pre molt. Send a picture of your tarantula and enclosure

 

[Seamus]

If you are going to use a heat mat it needs to be on one side of your enclosure so your t can choose whether it wants a warm spot or cool spot . Never place a heat mat underneath your spider as if it gets too hot it has nowhere to go to cool down. All mine have been kept at room temperature between 65 and 75 and all are thriving

 

[octanejunkie]

I no longer worry about tarantulas fasting, just make sure it always has access to clean water and offer it food every couple of weeks to see if it changes his mind. Remove uneaten good items after 24 hours.

I agree with the comments about heat mats, I used to use them also, they came more trouble than it was worth. now I just heat the area that my enclosures are in.

How about a picture of your tarantula and it's enclosure

 

[MrFireLeg]

Thanks loads for the replies!

 

[MrFireLeg]

 

[MrFireLeg]

 

[MrFireLeg]

 

[MrFireLeg]

We’ll be changing the enclosure probably on Saturday. Not because that one is inadequate, the new one will be similar sized. Just to one we prefer.

Its sub is a mix of bark and coco fibre. We keep the water topped up with a bit of splash around the dish.

I did change urs sub last weekend wondering if there was an issue, it was 100% coco fibre.

 

[Konstantin]

Hi
the enclosure is a bit too cluttered with too many hiding spots for the feeders your tarantula will have little chance to cross paths with feeders.They are ambush predators and don't actively hunt.I will remove most of the leaves and the the wood hide,one hide is more than enough.Also there is no benefit from adding bark chips to the substrate imo.Bark chips is one of the worst things to use as tarantula substrate.

Regards Konstantin

 

[octanejunkie]

Be careful with wood chips, some types of woods are natural pesticides and dangerous to tarantulas. Stick to Coco fiber and peat moss mixed an equal quantities will be mold resistant and will emulate natural ground when packed down

What are all the wires?

 

[Seamus]

I agree with @octanejunkie about the wood chips just coco fibre is fine or try mixing it with top soil or spiderlife . Also you might want to de clutter the enclosure a bit there's a bit too much going on in there

 

[MrFireLeg]

Hi
the enclosure is a bit too cluttered with too many hiding spots for the feeders your tarantula will have little chance to cross paths with feeders.They are ambush predators and don't actively hunt.I will remove most of the leaves and the the wood hide,one hide is more than enough.Also there is no benefit from adding bark chips to the substrate imo.Bark chips is one of the worst things to use as tarantula substrate.

Regards Konstantin

Cheers Konstantin,

it’s not struggled to catch the prey far when it was eating well. But I can certainly see the logic, so will remove them.

I don’t think it’s not having the opportunity to catch them though, In the past few weeks I’ve seen feeders walk across it’s legs and underneath without it going for it.

 

[MrFireLeg]

I agree with @octanejunkie about the wood chips just coco fibre is fine or try mixing it with top soil or spiderlife . Also you might want to de clutter the enclosure a bit there's a bit too much going on in there

What are all the wires?

interesting. I have some coco fibre left over so will swap it out asap. The wires are for the digital heat sensors. One for the thermostat and the other for the thermometer.

it’s only reading 19c at the moment.

 

[octanejunkie]

You can lose all of the wires and sensors, if you're comfortable in a t-shirt your tarantula will be comfortable too

 

[MrFireLeg]

You can lose all of the wires and sensors, if you're comfortable in a t-shirt your tarantula will be comfortable too

What if you’re not comfortable in a t-shirt? I am a bit mesh sometimes but it’s been jumper weather here.

 

[octanejunkie]

I don't speak 100% fluent british but it's usually best to heat the area vs the enclosure as it's challenging to control localized heat regardless of a sensor system like a bunch of probes.

Tarantulas instinctively move away from heat and often burrow to escape the sun, so if a heat mat under and enclosure is too warm the silly T will burrow to escape the heat, moving closer to the heat source unwittingly... no bueno.

Also, wires give feeders, like roaches, a "ladder" to climb and possibly escape an enclosure.

What is the ambient temp in the room or area your tarantula enclosure is in?

 

[MrFireLeg]

I don't speak 100% fluent british but it's usually best to heat the area vs the enclosure as it's challenging to control localized heat regardless of a sensor system like a bunch of probes.

Tarantulas instinctively move away from heat and often burrow to escape the sun, so if a heat mat under and enclosure is too warm the silly T will burrow to escape the heat, moving closer to the heat source unwittingly... no bueno.

Also, wires give feeders, like roaches, a "ladder" to climb and possibly escape an enclosure.

What is the ambient temp in the room or area your tarantula enclosure is in?

Thanks for all of this feedback bud, your English is great fwiw.

the room temp swings from night to day, I’m guessing low point in recent months is 17-18c at night.

I’m seeing the logic in localised ambient temp though, especially since I want to add my own T’s in the future. So I’ll come up with a plan for that.

 

[octanejunkie]

Thanks for all of this feedback bud, your English is great fwiw.

the room temp swings from night to day, I’m guessing low point in recent months is 17-18c at night.

I’m seeing the logic in localised ambient temp though, especially since I want to add my own T’s in the future. So I’ll come up with a plan for that.

Thanks

Some folks use a cabinet and heat the inside of the cabinet, others dedicate a room.

 

[shaun]

I leave the gch on in the room where my Ts live, even when it is off in the rest of the house.
Usually stays around 70/21