Hello and some advice please :)

[Dave Jay]

I too live in a small town, although it's grown a lot lately. Hopefully you'll find what you need. Even the cheap import store had the blocks here. Brunnings is the brand here, I believe it's international.

 

[Dustin Amack]

Thank you for the advice.. I think I need to visit a hardware store today and see if they can help me! Everything is difficult to come by in a small town, so hopefully they will have something for me! Thank you for the help, I'll make sure to check the label for added fertilizer.

I'm also in a small town. I've found it difficult to get anything here without adatives. All of my products and and supplies I get online. I knw Tom Moran uses a top soil in his enclosures but I cant find any aroudn without fertilizers. I use cocco fiber and vermiculite and it seems t work very well.

 

[PanzoN88]

Hi @PanzoN88. I've had my B. albopilosum for about a month now and they look like an amazing specie to have. I just got news that my G. pulchripes is on its way today, so will have it tonight! Very excited about that! Good to know that they are easy to keep, as I am still very new to this.

It's an addicting hobby, i've been at it for 4-5 years now (i used to be terrified of spiders, now i am at 23, with seven more coming soon). G. pulchripes can get huge, they are not fast growers, i house mine in a small sterilite bin with dry coco fiber substrate, a piece of cork bark for a hide, water dish that i overflow every now and then. They will do just fine at room temperature (as well as the others that you have).

(We love pictures on this forum)

 

[DThompson]

Very addictive hobby! I’ve been wanting a tarantula for years and finally did it!
I’m attaching a photo of my B. Vagans, but she looks weird here. She’s webbing like crazy, that’s why she’s standing weird.. I’ll upload a pic of my G. pulchripes as soon as it arrives.
Thank you for everyone’s help, I really appreciate it!

 

[DThompson]

Latest edition to my T family.. Can someone please explain the bald patch on the abdomen? I have a lot to still learn apparently

 

[PanzoN88]

Latest edition to my T family.. Can someone please explain the bald patch on the abdomen? I have a lot to still learn apparently

Just like @Shampain said it is a hair kicker, perfectly normal. Look at my B. sabulosum (female), she kicks hair readily (after biting the tongs that is).

 

[DThompson]

It’s a hair flicker, nothing to worry about it’s a type of defence

Thank you.. Must have been very unhappy at some stage to be flicking that much hair

 

[DThompson]

Any disturbance and some NW will flick immediately, they’re all individuals It certainly doesn’t mean you’ve scared it other than just opening the enclosure

Thanks, that’s good news.. I don’t want it to be unhappy or something I do that causes her to do that, but if it’s normal it makes it better!

 

[PanzoN88]

Thanks, that’s good news.. I don’t want it to be unhappy or something I do that causes her to do that, but if it’s normal it makes it better!

If you see something like this, it is normal as well (if you've never seen a tarantula in premolt):

 

[MassExodus]

Just wanted to add, some tarantulas kick theirselves bald laying defenses in their enclosures. I've seen a few of mine do it. Most do it in the mail from stress, also

 

[DThompson]

If you see something like this, it is normal as well (if you've never seen a tarantula in premolt):

View attachment 28307

Thanks.. Apparently I’ve seen one in premolt, just didn’t know it. Woke up to my T lying on its back and I nearly got a heart attack!

 

[DThompson]

Just wanted to add, some tarantulas kick theirselves bald laying defenses in their enclosures. I've seen a few of mine do it. Most do it in the mail from stress, also

That’s very interesting, thanks for sharing the info!

 

[Whitelightning777]

Now that it's molted, I say just keep the water dish full for a week and totally hands off for a week.

Adding substrate is probably a good idea but you don't want to stress or damage a tarantula when it's still hardening up!! That can be potentially lethal.

Lugardi makes specialty substrate and you get that online from Amazon. Eco Earth is far more reasonable in cost. There is the brick type which I avoid and the regular type which is in a normal plastic bag which I use.

 

[PanzoN88]

Lugardi makes specialty substrate and you get that online from Amazon. Eco Earth is far more reasonable in cost. There is the brick type which I avoid and the regular type which is in a normal plastic bag which I use.

the price of that substrate is ridiculous, you could buy a new sling with that amount of money. The brick isn't that bad. The op is in a different country.

 

[Arachnoclown]

@DThompson Welcome to the forum!!!

 

[Dave Jay]

I did look up the brand of coir peat I use, it's an Australian company Brunnings, they joined with a British company Gardman about a decade ago so you might find those brands in South Africa given the British involvement there.

 

[Whitelightning777]

I thought they shipped worldwide and it was only one tarantula.

 

[Dave Jay]

I thought they shipped worldwide and it was only one tarantula.

Not sure about the one tarantula bit mate, but it's hard to recommend brands on the Internet, the same product may be branded differently in different countries . I had thought Brunnings products were imported as they are cheap and often found in the "$2 shops" which are usually full of cheap imported cr.p.
Most likely the Brunnings products carry the brand name Gardman overseas just as the Gardman products are sold here as Brunnings brands. I'm not that interested in doing major research on it, it's just that after testing different brands of coir peat, that is the one I'd recommend because it is ground to a fine consistency and doesn't contain clumps of long coarse fibres like all of the other brands do in their larger blocks. Here Brunnings coir peat blocks are even sold in Woolworth supermarkets, so if the OP happened to see Brunnings or Gardman coir peat ,I'd say buy it; but don't make it a lifequest! I'm sure it's not the be all end all of coco peat, it's just the best one here. And about a third or less of the price of the ones at the pet shop that look to be, and probably are the exact same thing with nice pictures of reptiles etc on the label.

 

[DThompson]

Thank you for all the help and tips! I managed to find a coco peat block and it seems to be good quality. I checked through it to make sure there’s no sharp pieces in there. Just letting it dry out a bit and then I’ll add it to the small T’s enclosure. Luckily the substrate is fine in the enclose of my T that just molted, so I’m leaving her alone for a week or so. And good news, my B vagans is a female! Managed to check her molt.. She was 12cm got a nice pic of her just after the molt. It was so amazing to see the molting process!

 

[DThompson]

My small B. Albopilosum just molted any idea what the sex might be based on the pic? Looks like a male to me..