Changing enclosure - advice needed

[Oursapoil]

Too long to read but he many tanks running so it must be working.

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

 

[humble_human]

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 ) 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.

First off, thank you so much for taking the time to share with me your process - I don't take that lightly and I really do appreciate it. I was doing something similar with Atticus. Usually she pokes her front side out of her half log when she's hungry - I take it as her way of saying "alright Ma, send in the food". I think its usually around these colder times that my anxiety kicks up a little and I worry about her, so taking the time to learn more about her has been helping ease that anxiety for sure.

Yesterday I bought 10 crickets, gut loaded them and put 3 in her tank overnight. I plan to check on them today and see if any have been caught in her webbing. I did nudge her log a little the other night just to make sure she was still alive and she did one of her quick moves *phew*.

 

[humble_human]

Zoo med enclosures 20 year old rosie's. Grammostola porteri and rosea. They never reached 6" View attachment 63129View attachment 63130View attachment 63131View attachment 63132What a beauty! Do they really play with the pong ball? I've been seeing that more.

 

[Oursapoil]

First off, thank you so much for taking the time to share with me your process - I don't take that lightly and I really do appreciate it. I was doing something similar with Atticus. Usually she pokes her front side out of her half log when she's hungry - I take it as her way of saying "alright Ma, send in the food". I think its usually around these colder times that my anxiety kicks up a little and I worry about her, so taking the time to learn more about her has been helping ease that anxiety for sure.

Yesterday I bought 10 crickets, gut loaded them and put 3 in her tank overnight. I plan to check on them today and see if any have been caught in her webbing. I did nudge her log a little the other night just to make sure she was still alive and she did one of her quick moves *phew*.

One thing I didn't mention is that I crush the dubias' heads before putting them in the enclosure (to stop them from playing dead or digging). I would be careful with crickets if you believe your T might be close to a molt as crickets will most definitely chew on your T if they get a chance to. I know it is easier said than done but try as much as you can to leave your baby alone when she bunkers herself, it is usually a good sign she needs time for herself

 

[Arachnoclown]

@humble_human

I've noticed Grammostola like the balls the most.

 

[Oursapoil]

@humble_human

I've noticed Grammostola like the balls the most.

It is all nice and fun to teach your Ts how to dribble....until you'll try to remove an egg sac from them