New T & my first enclosure.

[m0lsx]

I am just back from a trip to buy a young Brachypelma albopilosum. I am told he is a Nicaraguan curly hair HO form. Has google served well & does HO, mean it is a Honduran form?

I combined the trip with a visit to The Range, who sold a much much better range of plastic enclosures & other bits & pieces than Pets at Home a few hundred yards away & PaH sold some lizards, crickets etc, so I was surprised their housing options were so limited.

A plastic 8 X 5 X 6 inch deep enclosure, plus a bag of Tropical Substrate & half a coconut shell to act as cover for him was just over £10. So it felt like a really good buy. Although I did want a slightly smaller enclosure & coconut Substrate, but brought what they had in stock.

Once home I moistened up the Tropical substrate & mixed it with some Coco soil which I had brought from Poundland this morning & then I slowly filled the enclosure packing it down firmly as I went. I also squeezed as much of the excess water out of the substrate as I could before using it in the enclosure.

The substrate feels reasonably dry to the hand & holds together reasonably well, but I am not 100% happy with it. As I would have preferred something that binds together better, so the little T can burrow if they want too. I choose not to use the Coconut shell , instead I used half of a small terracotta flower pot. Poundland had a pack that contained two small flower pots, some chilli seeds & some dehydrated compost pellets. I binned everything but the flower pots & used my multi tool to cut them in half & then I sanded the edges smooth. So two half flower pots for 50p.

The water bowl is a small drink bottle top. As I see most of you here uses these.

For a first attempt at an enclosure I feel reasonably happy, although the lower substrate against the plastic looks a little more moist than I like, but that should help with the humidity. I also want to find a substrate mix that binds together better.

I am sure I have made a few mistakes, but all of the posts here, have helped me get this far. So thank you everyone who posts here.

I have just noticed the little one is in his flower pot. So feel I feel happy with that idea.

 

[Nunua]

I would have a larger water dish for the tarantula that size (I use bottle caps on slings only), but otherwise the enclosure looks perfectly fine for your new B. albopilosum, and yes "HO" refers to Honduran aka 'hobby form' Substrate is a bit moist as Brachypelma spp. like it dry, but it's not a problem (also, it's unavoidable when not prepping days beforehand or drying in the oven) - just let it dry naturally. The T may stick more on the walls while the substrate is drying but it's normal. They can be picky sometimes
Tarantulas are masters what comes creating tunnels - Even a bit looser substrate is fine as tarantulas use their web to create walls. I'm currently using the basic cocofiber because I'm too lazy to mix it with potting soil, vermiculite etc. and every single burrower has created perfect tunnels / tunnel networks even after the substrate has become a bit more loose after drying

 

[m0lsx]

I would have a larger water dish for the tarantula that size (I use bottle caps on slings only).

Thank you.. I will use something like a milk bottle cap when one becomes available.

 

[Enn49]

@m0lsx Just to put things right here, HO is Honduran or hobby form and the Nicaraguan is the true form and most hairy.
I use Instant Coffee jar lids for T that size

 

[Nunua]

@m0lsxJust to put things right here, HO is Honduran or hobby form

Thanks Enn, I completely missed the brain fart mistake.

 

[m0lsx]

I use Instant Coffee jar lids for T that size

He is only about 5 cm (2 inches.)

 

[Nunua]

He is only about 5 cm (2 inches.)

Ts won't drown and the bigger (wider) dish could make it a tad easier for them to drink as they need to place their mouth on the water to be able to use their suction stomach I even have a dish of a size of a coffee jar lid on my small C. versicolor sling and it's totally fine with it.

 

[m0lsx]

Ts won't drown and the bigger (wider) dish could make it a tad easier for them to drink as they need to place their mouth on the water to be able to use their suction stomach I even have a dish of a size of a coffee jar lid on my small C. versicolor sling and it's totally fine with it.

Thank you, that is something else I have learned.

 

[Jess S]

Congratulations and you've done a smashing job on the enclosure, and given me awesome tips of where to go and save pennies!!

Just one thing I'm unclear on. You say you were told it is a Nicaraguan curly hair HO form? That's 2 different species of B. albopilosums. Do you think the seller just made a mistake with the name, or were they saying it's a hybrid of the 2 species? To my very untrained eye it looks like a Honduran and I believe that's the general consensus on here. I hope it doesn't come across that I'm creating issues, but I genuinely would like to know, as this is a species I'm interested in getting one of these days.

 

[m0lsx]

You say you were told it is a Nicaraguan curly hair HO form? That's 2 different species of B. albopilosums.

That is what he told me it was. But my guess would be that it is Brachypelma albopilosum Honduran or hobby form.

 

[Arachnoclown]

This is why I hate the term "hobby form"....its a made up term to describe a species by the hobbiest. Honduran or Nicaraguan....that's it.

This term "hobby" has also been used to describe hybrids in the other forum. When they couldnt identify a redrump it was determined to be a "hobby"redrump.
It was also said alot that Honduran Is the most available In the hobby so your curly is probably a "hobby form" because Nicaraguan is rare. Well that's not true either...I've always had more Nicaraguan species available to me.
Rant over...