Hi, today I purchased a mexican red knee tarantula, he/she is 18months old, and they are housed in a small storage box with ventilation holes. They have a small water bowl, substrate of a 50/50 mix of top soil and coco fibre, a half plant pot hide, and two small decor pieces. She/he feeds on small locusts, only one and once a week. I have set up exo-terra thermometers and hygrometers, her/his humidity is 68% and her/his temperature is 22 degrees Celsius. She is misted every few days. Can you guys give me some advice to make sure I am providing everything she needs and that everything I am doing is correct? I feel like shes a little small for her age and that her enclosure is too small. Thinking of upgrading to a medium sized flat faunarium (exo-terra), the dimensions of the enclosure I was thinking of is 14” (length) x 8” (width) x 6” (height).
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First-time keeper, any advice or information please?
- Thread starter darkchloe
- Start date
- Messages
- 10,910
- Location
- Malton, UK
Hi and welcome to the hobby.
B. smithi are a great choice for a first tarantula. Yours looks fine to me, Red Knees don't grow very quickly and all Ts, even those of the same species grow at different rates according to sex, feeding, temperature etc. There is no need to spray just overfill the water bowl occasionally so the substrate around it gets slightly damp and it will be fine. Your container is ok too, they seems to do better in smaller containers.
B. smithi are a great choice for a first tarantula. Yours looks fine to me, Red Knees don't grow very quickly and all Ts, even those of the same species grow at different rates according to sex, feeding, temperature etc. There is no need to spray just overfill the water bowl occasionally so the substrate around it gets slightly damp and it will be fine. Your container is ok too, they seems to do better in smaller containers.
Agreed.
Also ditch the hygrometer and thermometer. Those gauges just stress you out trying to keep the levels at what the caresheets recommend. If it's comfy inside for you in a short sleeve t-shirt they'll be fine for temps, and the humidity will be fine doing what @Enn49 said.
- Messages
- 1,091
- Location
- New Mexico
Your water dish looks like a milk jug cap. If this is so, then your B smithi is well beyond 18 months at that size, it is likely 3-6 years already. But no worries as females can live nearly 30 years and males( depending on mature molt date) up to 12.
I keep my adult female in a10gal tank, and my juvenile male, about the same size as yours, in a plastic storage box 8"x12"x8"
I keep my adult female in a10gal tank, and my juvenile male, about the same size as yours, in a plastic storage box 8"x12"x8"
