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Changing enclosure - advice needed

humble_human

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Hey there,
So after learning more about what my G.Rose Atticus needs - we decided that we're going to downsize her tank (form a 40 gallon to an 8 gallon) and add WAY more substrate. My question is this - is it okay to move her while she has barricaded herself in her half log? I don't believe she's molting or anything. Thanks in advance :)
 

octanejunkie

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The rule of thumb with enclosure sizing is 3-4x the DLS (diagonal leg span) of the T and 1.5-2x DLS free climbing height.

How large is Atticus?
 

DustyD

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I am relatively new to tarantulas, having kept them for about nine months. Me personally, I would wait and see if Atticus comes out. She’s in there for a reason.

So unless there is something in her environment that is causing her to hide, I would wait.

I am hoping that someone with more experience will comment.
 

humble_human

New Member
3 Year Member
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22
Location
Van Nuys, CA

humble_human

New Member
3 Year Member
Messages
22
Location
Van Nuys, CA
I am relatively new to tarantulas, having kept them for about nine months. Me personally, I would wait and see if Atticus comes out. She’s in there for a reason.

So unless there is something in her environment that is causing her to hide, I would wait.

I am hoping that someone with more experience will comment.
True...she's been in there for a few weeks now. I'm a little worried. Should I be putting crickets in or no? Do G.Roses hibernate?
 

octanejunkie

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Currently there are no crickets. I usually buy them weekly but she's been holed up so I paused cuz I didn't want them to hurt her if she was going into pre molt mode. It's been a few weeks since she's eaten.
Has it been a few weeks because she's refused food, or a few weeks because you've chosen not to feed her?
 

DustyD

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Hibernate may not be the technical term, they have been known to go without food and or in hiding for months or a year or more. I think there have been reported cases of even longer.

Try and feed her what you usually do outside the hide. I might try pre-killed if you normally feed live.

One if my G. pulchra slings about 1.5" spent 5-6 weeks in hiding under a loose cork bark hide with no webbing. I panicked and lifted up the cork bark and found it safe and sound and freshly molted.
20210701_051813.jpg
 

humble_human

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Van Nuys, CA
Has it been a few weeks because she's refused food, or a few weeks because you've chosen not to feed her?
At first she had refused to eat so when she does that, I usually take a pause on giving her crickets but now that she's got her den all webbed up, maybe I should put one in and see if she eats it?
 

humble_human

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3 Year Member
Messages
22
Location
Van Nuys, CA
Hibernate may not be the technical term, they have been known to go without food and or in hiding for months or a year or more. I think there have been reported cases of even longer.

Try and feed her what you usually do outside the hide. I might try pre-killed if you normally feed live.

One if my G. pulchra slings about 1.5" spent 5-6 weeks in hiding under a loose cork bark hide with no webbing. I panicked and lifted up the cork bark and found it safe and sound and freshly molted.View attachment 63098
Yeah, I think I'll do that. - I'll head to PETCO tomorrow and get 10 crickets, gut load them and then give her one. When you say "pre-kill" do you buy them that way or do you kill them yourself?
 

DustyD

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I kill or disable the feeder insect. I have done it with superworms and roaches, but so far not crickets.

I had suggested prekilling as Atticus would not have to hunt for the prey if she were hungry. And if not, then it is easy for you to find and there is no chance of a deceased cricket getting inside the hide. A live one, maybe.
 

octanejunkie

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I kill or disable the feeder insect. I have done it with superworms and roaches, but so far not crickets.

I had suggested prekilling as Atticus would not have to hunt for the prey if she were hungry. And if not, then it is easy for you to find and there is no chance of a deceased cricket getting inside the hide. A live one, maybe.
Offering an adult tarantula prekilled food should not be necessary. A healthy T would overlook a dead feeder unless it were desperate, in my experience.

Here's some "food for thought" about feeding

If your T is not eating there's a reason. Of it's going into or is now in premolt, let it be and rehouse it after it molts.

Keeping tarantulas is a lot less complicated than we make it sometimes.
 

Oursapoil

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Some excellent points made here and I do not disagree with them but I would also want to offer a different point of view on feeding Ts. Please keep in mind that I do not claim my way is better, it just seems that it is more convenient for my son and I, and also seems to work quite well with our Ts.
The way we are going at it is fairly simple: (Plagiarize warning) - The Spider knows best.
So we decided to take a laid back approach to it (please note this is for our juveniles and adults, I wouldn't recommend it for slings) and let the Ts decide on their feeding schedule. The feeding response will dictate when food is given and when it stops.
As an example I am working with about 80 Ts including only 2 slings. On weekends, we usually fill up a cup of dubias of different sizes from our colony and will offer food to all Ts that are not obviously in heavy premolt or just done molting.
  1. If the first dubia triggers an immediate takedown, a second one will be offered later on that day. I will continue to offer food everyday as long as it is taken right away.
  2. If the dubia is not taken down right away I will leave it overnight. If it is gone the next day I will add another one as long as it'll be eaten overnight.
  3. If the first dubia is still there the next morning, I'll remove it and will not offer food to this T for a minimum of a week, sometimes even 2 or 3 depending on the Ts size and abdomen appearance.
The abdomen appearance is a huge factor for us (I am known to like my Ts on the plump side :p ) so once a T no longer show interest in food and has a nice and round belly, all we have to do is make sure it always has fresh water.
As we raised most of our Ts from a young age we got fairly familiar with recognizing when specific Ts are ready to be offered food again and never overstress if a T decides to go on a diet for a few months as they usually have some "reserves" on them.

I could be totally wrong but could imagine that this system could be similar to what some Ts experience in the wild as food might not always be available on a specific schedule and Ts might take advantage when food is abundant to stock up for when it might become scarce. I also have a strong belief that our Ts are more relaxed and in display more often when they are less bothered or moved around which sometimes happens when they are fed or offered food every few days.

There are my two cents and I am always happy to hear people's thoughts.
Cheers.
 

octanejunkie

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Some excellent points made here and I do not disagree with them but I would also want to offer a different point of view on feeding Ts. Please keep in mind that I do not claim my way is better, it just seems that it is more convenient for my son and I, and also seems to work quite well with our Ts.
The way we are going at it is fairly simple: (Plagiarize warning) - The Spider knows best.
So we decided to take a laid back approach to it (please note this is for our juveniles and adults, I wouldn't recommend it for slings) and let the Ts decide on their feeding schedule. The feeding response will dictate when food is given and when it stops.
As an example I am working with about 80 Ts including only 2 slings. On weekends, we usually fill up a cup of dubias of different sizes from our colony and will offer food to all Ts that are not obviously in heavy premolt or just done molting.
  1. If the first dubia triggers an immediate takedown, a second one will be offered later on that day. I will continue to offer food everyday as long as it is taken right away.
  2. If the dubia is not taken down right away I will leave it overnight. If it is gone the next day I will add another one as long as it'll be eaten overnight.
  3. If the first dubia is still there the next morning, I'll remove it and will not offer food to this T for a minimum of a week, sometimes even 2 or 3 depending on the Ts size and abdomen appearance.
The abdomen appearance is a huge factor for us (I am known to like my Ts on the plump side :p ) so once a T no longer show interest in food and has a nice and round belly, all we have to do is make sure it always has fresh water.
As we raised most of our Ts from a young age we got fairly familiar with recognizing when specific Ts are ready to be offered food again and never overstress if a T decides to go on a diet for a few months as they usually have some "reserves" on them.

I could be totally wrong but could imagine that this system could be similar to what some Ts experience in the wild as food might not always be available on a specific schedule and Ts might take advantage when food is abundant to stock up for when it might become scarce. I also have a strong belief that our Ts are more relaxed and in display more often when they are less bothered or moved around which sometimes happens when they are fed or offered food every few days.

There are my two cents and I am always happy to hear people's thoughts.
Cheers.
Too long to read but he has many tanks running so it must be working.

Bottom line - find what works best for you and your spiders and stick with it
 

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