Attitude problems

[SpellKaster4]

So, it's been an interesting night. I came home from work and found Peter's enclosure a mess. Near as I can figure one of my dogs must have ran into the table that Peter sits on. It looked like his enclosure had been shaken a little bit. Substrate was a mess, water was empty, the enclosure wasn't in the exact spot I had left it in, so forth and so on. No big deal though, I like decorating so I'm cool rearranging Peter's room real quick. I grab his enclosure, some water, a spray bottle, catch cup, paint brush, and a dubia as a reward for being a good spider. And then the fun began. Today I learned that Peter has zero f*$#s to give lol. So, I open his enclosure and pull out his water cup and cork wood and start working on convincing Peter to go into the cup so I can get his room in order again. I couldn't help but laugh and I wish I could have recorded it cause it was funny as all get out. Every time I touched him with that stupid brush he would just turn and look at it. If I touched a leg he would just lift it up. If I touched a different leg he'd put the other one down and pick that one up. I'd try poking him in the butt again and he'd just turn around and look at the brush again. He didn't care. He just didn't care. I ended up having to put his wood back in, wait for him to decide to climb on it, pick it up with him aboard, and put both of them in the cup. I get everything looking nice again, even built him a nice little burrow if he wants to use it. I look over and he's walking around in the cup. I think, cool I can put the wood in and make everything look really cool again. I put the wood in and admire my work for a second then go to put Peter back in. I take the cup and tilt it over the enclosure and stick the brush in to try and get Peter to walk in. What's he do? He hops on the brush and starts walking up it... So, I turn the brush around thinking he'll keep walking and just walk on in to his room. Nope. He stops halfway, looks around, and heads back the way he came. So I turn the brush around again... and a third time. And finally Peter goes back to his room and immediately crawled under his wood and is currently pouting about his room being changed without his permission. And here I thought I had a little bit before the moody teen years. XD If you look closely at the picture you'll notice Peter's butt sticking out of his pouting spot. He's been there for about ten minutes now so I'm guessing it'll be tomorrow at least before I see him out and about again lol. Poor guy.

 

[Whitelightning777]

It's not good having the enclosure banged around like that. Maybe Velcro it to whatever shelf or table it's on.

One reason I have the enclosures I have is because of Nyx, my ex feral rescue cat who actually knows how to hunt.

Since she's arguably the brightest of the bunch of personalities in my home, she had the greatest chances of royally messing them up.

Lid retention is also just as important as cage stability. Kritter keepers can work but I'd beef it up a bit.

2 small eyelet hooks and a rubber band or small bungee cord? Plastic can be drilled readily with a Dremel.

 

[SpellKaster4]

Yeah, I'm going to be moving Peter to a spot where he won't be disturbed like that again. It was such a weird thing cause my dogs never mess stuff up in my house. Thankfully the lid on this enclosure is already pretty sturdy. It has a magnet in the corner of it. It's pretty small but it's really strong. Right now I've got Peter in my office with my computer which is in its own room. I might keep him in there from now on. I spend most of my time in there anyway so this way I can watch him while I play games or surf the web. I have a coffee table that's in a corner of my living room that's blocked off by my sofas. I might put him there once he's grown into a larger enclosure that can't be bumped around so easily. Thankfully he's okay, that's the main thing I was worried about when I saw what happened.

 

[Enn49]

That tale really made me laugh, I could picture Peter's every move .

 

[Whitelightning777]

Wait until he gets bigger and starts attacking the water dish when you fill it. These guys think that if it moves, it's dinner. I always crack up when mine comes out for a shower each time I overflow the water dish or water the frog moss. The slower and more gently I add water, the longer it takes her to figure out that it's not a feeder.

Who knows?

Maybe I'm supposed to take a hint and toss in a few more insects to the garbage disposal. I think all 8 of her legs are hollow.

 

[SpellKaster4]

I seriously can't wait for Peter to get that big. It's going to be so fun.

 

[Whitelightning777]

It's just a few months if you feed him 2 or 3 times per week. Do roaches if possible. They have a higher nutritional value then crickets or meal worms. In my opinion, a wide variety of foods helps a lot.

Horn worms as an occasional treat are also a crowd favorite. When he gets large enough, small earth worms will also get high customer ratings.

 

[SpellKaster4]

It's just a few months if you feed him 2 or 3 times per week. Do roaches if possible. They have a higher nutritional value then crickets or meal worms. In my opinion, a wide variety of foods helps a lot.

Horn worms as an occasional treat are also a crowd favorite. When he gets large enough, small earth worms will also get high customer ratings.

I started him out on crickets but have since switched over to dubias. Thankfully I work at a pet shop so I can get all kinds of feeder insects super easy XD. Have you ever fed wax worms? I know they make good occasional snacks for reptiles but shouldn't be a constant cause they are fatty.

 

[Whitelightning777]

I think I've done a few of those when meal worms weren't available. They don't last as long in the fridge. Roaches of multiple types, earthworms, crickets and hormworms have all worked.

My scorps are much more finicky eaters. I haven't tried anything but crickets, roaches and mealworms for my arboreals.

My arboreals might not be able to handle larger prey items.

My baboon has done a similar diet to the arboreals mainly due to size in all cases. I'm not sure that they could handle a larger horn worm or Earthworm.

 

[Arachnoclown]

I think I've done a few of those when meal worms weren't available. They don't last as long in the fridge. Roaches of multiple types, earthworms, crickets and hormworms have all worked.

My scorps are much more finicky eaters. I haven't tried anything but crickets, roaches and mealworms for my arboreals.

My arboreals might not be able to handle larger prey items.

My baboon has done a similar diet to the arboreals mainly due to size in all cases. I'm not sure that they could handle a larger horn worm or Earthworm.

Arboreals are true "birdeaters"...they can handle pretty much anything you throw at them.
Back 20+ years ago There was a shortage of feeders for a long period of time in my area. I fed my Avics and other Ts small 3" feeders mice. They pounced on them instantly.

All my baboons (adult and juvies) eat giant hissing cockroaches right now...I also had fed my baboons in the past mice during the shortage I mentioned. I don't think a baboon of any type is scared to take down anything.

I haven't seen a T in my collection turn down a hornworm...they love them. Theres nothing a hornworm is going to do to the T. Ive fed 2.5"-3" Ts hornworms.

 

[Whitelightning777]

The horn worm is twice to three times larger then the spider itself. My H pulchripes and arboreals can handle any roach that isn't too big.

I don't plan on doing feeder mice. I did those for the snake I had agreed ago, no moral objections. Those were pinkies and fuzzies which wouldn't harm a tarantula. Still, I've heard that they are an awful mess to clean up.


By contrast, Earthworms leave no residue behind at all.

 

[SpellKaster4]

The horn worm is twice to three times larger then the spider itself. My H pulchripes and arboreals can handle any roach that isn't too big.

I don't plan on doing feeder mice. I did those for the snake I had agreed ago, no moral objections. Those were pinkies and fuzzies which wouldn't harm a tarantula. Still, I've heard that they are an awful mess to clean up.


By contrast, Earthworms leave no residue behind at all.

I'm really glad you guys mentioned using earthworms to feed a freshly molted tarantula in other threads. I never would have thought of using one on my own.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Whats wrong with a hornworm being 2-3 times the size of the T??? I wouldn't give one to a sling...but I give 2" juvenile T's 4-4.5" hornworms all the time.

 

[Arachnoclown]

I don't use feeder mice either but 20+ years ago you couldn't go online and buy feeders. You had to buy what was in pet shops. If there was a cricket shortage you and your Ts were out of luck. After a few weeks you kinda get desperate to feed your friends.

 

[Whitelightning777]

My H pulchripes has about 1.5 to maybe 2" dls. A 3 inch one might be a bit much. I've seen smaller sizes available & I'll pick one or more up next time I run across one.

I wouldn't want to put a big one next to the hide and have the T come blasting out the other side, maybe out of the cage.

He gets pretty bizzark when rehoused. There's no way I'd ever catch him if he got out in the room.

He isn't a fighter at all, but he can run like the wind. He ran around the outside of the enclosure within the tub and almost up the tub for almost a minute. I let him burn himself out and then it was catch cup time.

Heck, it was almost like letting a dog outside for a run.

 

[SpellKaster4]

My H pulchripes has about 1.5 to maybe 2" dls. A 3 inch one might be a bit much. I've seen smaller sizes available & I'll pick one or more up next time I run across one.

I wouldn't want to put one next to the hide and have the T come blasting out the other side, maybe out of the cage.

He gets pretty bizzark when rehoused. There's no way I'd ever catch him if he got out in the room.

The guy who helped me get started was telling me yesterday about how he was rehousing his GBB and it managed to escape. He always puts the enclosures in a giant tote to make a kind of containment room but it ran right up the wall and into the room. He said he spent twenty minutes running around the room moving stuff and trying to get it into a catch cup lol. It's not funny but it kinda is. He was like let that be a lesson to you, this was the one I didn't think would be a problem and they can be lightning fast when they want to be lol.

 

[Whitelightning777]

He's currently in a 3 gallon Terra Blue enclosure. Since he's male, I don't think he'll ever outgrow it. He spends all his time hiding in the skull now that he settled in.

 

[Whitelightning777]

The guy who helped me get started was telling me yesterday about how he was rehousing his GBB and it managed to escape. He always puts the enclosures in a giant tote to make a kind of containment room but it ran right up the wall and into the room. He said he spent twenty minutes running around the room moving stuff and trying to get it into a catch cup lol. It's not funny but it kinda is. He was like let that be a lesson to you, this was the one I didn't think would be a problem and they can be lightning fast when they want to be lol.

The GBBs are just as fast as OWs, which is why people try them first. Being semi arboreal no doubt adds to the hilarity factor.

Those guys do great feeding videos. There's so many cool ones but I'm basically out of room.

My T stirmi will no doubt outgrow his enclosure and so I gotta figure out where I'm putting a 10 or 15 gallon tank. If I sex the molt and it's female because I guessed wrong, 15 gallon for sure, probably one of the ExoTerra ones because I don't think Terra Blue makes one that big.

I might end up having to hang a book shelf for it.

 

[SpellKaster4]

The GBBs are just as fast as OWs, which is why people try them first. Being semi arboreal no doubt adds to the hilarity factor.

Those guys do great feeding videos. There's so many cool ones but I'm basically out of room.

My T stirmi will no doubt outgrow his enclosure and so I gotta figure out where I'm putting a 10 or 15 gallon tank. If I sex the molt and it's female because I guessed wrong, 15 gallon for sure, probably one of the ExoTerra ones because I don't think Terra Blue makes one that big.

I might end up having to hang a book shelf for it.

This is a little off topic but roughly what size do you think is the earliest you can use a molt to sex a tarantula reliably? I'm really curious as to what Peter actually is but I'm assuming I'm going to have to wait a couple of molts before I can find out.

 

[Whitelightning777]

The gurus can do it early. With this many things are possible. This model has a backlight and different surfaces for a slide etc.

It also depends on whether or not you get an intact molt. Every single molt I've pulled has been FUBAR.

Look for the fusillae which signifies a male with a perfect ventral shot. It's more reliable then trying to decide if there's a ventral fold.

No fusillae, female.