Please help

[Steph]

i have a Brachypelma smithii that is a little over a year old that I have in an enclosure that is 4"x4"x5" (it's the mid-sized box that Jamie's Tarantulas sells). My question is, I don't know if he/she (I usually refer to her as a female) has gotten herself in a bad spot or not. At least 2-3 weeks ago she completely closed herself off from the surface of the coconut substrate in her box. Prior to that, there was always a tunnel that she'd dug that provided access from the surface down to her burrow. The fruit flies I'd give her would find their way down to her via the tunnel and when she molted, she'd come up to the surface to do that, then return to her burrow.

Should I try to gently dig an opening down to her burrow? I wrote to Jamie's Tarantulas about this, but still haven't heard anything back. I just don't want the sling getting dehydrated. I still spritz the surface w/ water every 2-3 days or so. Any feedback on this would be welcomed, as I've never raised a baby before. Thank you, Steph

 

[DTG]

How deep is the substrate? Did you just recently have a cold spell? Did the room you keep the spider get a little cooler in the last few weeks? In the wild Brachypelma smithi will seal up the opening to their den in the wintertime. It gets cool where they live in the wild, and food is not available to them for the winter months. Dehydration can be a problem, but if you are spritzing the surface, it will keep the humidity up. You can spritz the side of the container, so if the spider is thirsty it can drink from there. If the spider is not eating, it can dehydrate quicker than when it feeds, so it might not be a bad idea to spray a little more often, just make sure you do not soak the cage. I hope this helps and any more information you provide can help to determine what is going on with your sling and if you are doing the right thing

 

[DVirginiana]

I may be wrong but 4"x4"x5" sounds like it may be too big for a sling still eating fruit flies. I've got baby wolfies eating cricket legs that are still in condiment cups.

Edit: The reason I bring that up is that having too much space can sometimes cause animals to behave oddly since they feel insecure. Don't know if that's what's causing your problem, but figured it couldn't hurt to throw it out there.

 

[Enn49]

At a year old I would have thought it would need larger than fruit flies. My 2 B. smithi are both around ½'' and are taking small crickets

 

[Steph]

At a year old I would have thought it would need larger than fruit flies. My 2 B. smithi are both around ½'' and are taking small crickets

Actually the fruit flies the sling's been eating (and handling quite adeptly) are about half an inch long. She takes 'em w/gusto

 

[Steph]

How deep is the substrate? Did you just recently have a cold spell? Did the room you keep the spider get a little cooler in the last few weeks? In the wild Brachypelma smithi will seal up the opening to their den in the wintertime. It gets cool where they live in the wild, and food is not available to them for the winter months. Dehydration can be a problem, but if you are spritzing the surface, it will keep the humidity up. You can spritz the side of the container, so if the spider is thirsty it can drink from there. If the spider is not eating, it can dehydrate quicker than when it feeds, so it might not be a bad idea to spray a little more often, just make sure you do not soak the cage. I hope this helps and any more information you provide can help to determine what is going on with your sling and if you are doing the right thing

The substrate is about 2" thick and since I got the sling around last May, she's been kept in the same location as she is now and doing quite well. You mentioned cold spells. I live in northern Idaho; approximately 3-4 weeks ago we had the coldest temps of the winter so far (getting to around zero degrees at nite), and it was around that time that the sling closed herself off, so very possibly it could've triggered that response in her. The cold spell lasted about a week to a week and a half. So despite the humans turning up the heat more, the ambient air temp, I myself felt, was cooler. I'll continue to spritz the substrate, but if the sling wanted to drink from the side of her box, she'd have to burrow out of her den to creat an opening to get to the box's sides. Thank you SO much for the info & your help. I very much appreciate it Steph

 

[Steph]

I may be wrong but 4"x4"x5" sounds like it may be too big for a sling still eating fruit flies. I've got baby wolfies eating cricket legs that are still in condiment cups.

Edit: The reason I bring that up is that having too much space can sometimes cause animals to behave oddly since they feel insecure. Don't know if that's what's causing your problem, but figured it couldn't hurt to throw it out there.

I went on the size suggestions given by the folks I got the sling from for putting that size baby into. Really awkward sentence there, sorry. So that's something to consider. Thank you see also my response to DTG.

 

[Enn49]

Actually the fruit flies the sling's been eating (and handling quite adeptly) are about half an inch long. She takes 'em w/gusto

Ahh, I've not used fruit flies and I just imagined them to be tiny. I know that what are known as fruit flies in the UK are less than a quarter inch fully grown.

 

[DVirginiana]

Yeah, the fruit flies I'm used to are so tiny you can hardly see them.

 

[Enn49]

Yeah, the fruit flies I'm used to are so tiny you can hardly see them.

They're annoying little things too.

 

[swimbait]

Actually the fruit flies the sling's been eating (and handling quite adeptly) are about half an inch long. She takes 'em w/gusto

A half inch?? That is a MASSIVE fruit fly

 

[DTG]

As far as having too big of a cage, that should not be a problem. Nature is quite a bit bigger than a 4X4 cage LOL. We tend to have setups that we think are the best for our tarantulas, but if there is a problem, the spiders tend to let you know very quickly by a behavior change. This behavior is probably not an issue with cage size as the animal did fine up until recently by the sounds of it. Another thought I had was maybe the spider is premolt and just enclosed itself so it can molt. Spraying on the side of the tank was just a suggestion. If the spider feels dehydrated, it will open up the hole and go to the water. I keep my spiders in smaller enclosures, because I feel that makes them more secure just like Dvirginia said, but I know people who are very successful keeping their spiders in what I would consider huge containers. To each their own

 

[Tomoran]

i have a Brachypelma smithii that is a little over a year old that I have in an enclosure that is 4"x4"x5" (it's the mid-sized box that Jamie's Tarantulas sells). My question is, I don't know if he/she (I usually refer to her as a female) has gotten herself in a bad spot or not. At least 2-3 weeks ago she completely closed herself off from the surface of the coconut substrate in her box. Prior to that, there was always a tunnel that she'd dug that provided access from the surface down to her burrow. The fruit flies I'd give her would find their way down to her via the tunnel and when she molted, she'd come up to the surface to do that, then return to her burrow.

Should I try to gently dig an opening down to her burrow? I wrote to Jamie's Tarantulas about this, but still haven't heard anything back. I just don't want the sling getting dehydrated. I still spritz the surface w/ water every 2-3 days or so. Any feedback on this would be welcomed, as I've never raised a baby before. Thank you, Steph

Many slings will bury themselves and close off the entrances to their burrows when in premolt; that is quite common. I also have an aphonopelma schmidti juvenile that buries herself for most of the winter. Continue to add a little water to the corner in case she comes up for a drink.

Do not try to dig her up or open up an entrance to the burrow. They know what there're doing, and by digging her up you will only stress her and possibly interrupt a molt. She'll come out when she is ready, likely with a bit of extra size.

 

[Steph]

Ahh, I've not used fruit flies and I just imagined them to be tiny. I know that what are known as fruit flies in the UK are less than a quarter inch fully grown.

I understand. And I'm no help to tell you the scientific name of the fruit flies I get from Jamie's Tarantulas as I don't remember their name. If you're curious, I believe their website is jamiestarantulas.com.

 

[Steph]

A half inch?? That is a MASSIVE fruit fly

Yeah, I've had them quite a while, and they've grown quite a bit. Some of the smaller individuals in the group aren't quite that big yet, but there are maybe 4 or 5 that are the big ones. When my sling is eating, it's fun to watch her grab hold of 'em

 

[Steph]

Many slings will bury themselves and close off the entrances to their burrows when in premolt; that is quite common. I also have an aphonopelma schmidti juvenile that buries herself for most of the winter. Continue to add a little water to the corner in case she comes up for a drink.

Do not try to dig her up or open up an entrance to the burrow. They know what there're doing, and by digging her up you will only stress her and possibly interrupt a molt. She'll come out when she is ready, likely with a bit of extra size.

Thanks so much for sharing that info. I sure do love this forum, I learn so much, and people are so helpful. I won't try to dig her up myself, I'll just continue to provide her water. Thank you!

 

[Steph]

As far as having too big of a cage, that should not be a problem. Nature is quite a bit bigger than a 4X4 cage LOL. We tend to have setups that we think are the best for our tarantulas, but if there is a problem, the spiders tend to let you know very quickly by a behavior change. This behavior is probably not an issue with cage size as the animal did fine up until recently by the sounds of it. Another thought I had was maybe the spider is premolt and just enclosed itself so it can molt. Spraying on the side of the tank was just a suggestion. If the spider feels dehydrated, it will open up the hole and go to the water. I keep my spiders in smaller enclosures, because I feel that makes them more secure just like Dvirginia said, but I know people who are very successful keeping their spiders in what I would consider huge containers. To each their own

Yeah, when the sling doesn't have herself closed off, it's fun to see the changes she makes in the substrate, like widening the tunnel after she's molted to give herself more leg room. She's quite the little excavator. I'm still amazed at how much digging she can do in a 24-hour period. I'm gonna stick w/ continuing to provide water and let her emerge when she's ready. As I said in a reply to Tomoran, I sure do love this forum. Everybody is so helpful. After all the great info people have provided since yesterday, I feel much better about what my sling is doing. I've learned so much. I have the Tarantula's Keeper's Guide, which I learn a lot from, but this forum adds a whole other dimension to sharing information

 

[Enn49]

It's amazing what diverse subjects you can learn about just because you keep Ts