Rio Grande Gold in Corner for Weeks

[marmar2897]

Hello,

I am new to tarantula keeping. I have a major dislike for roaches and found out years ago that spiders kill and eat roaches which started my curiosity about them. I've always wanted a tarantula so my brother bought me one this past Christmas. I brought her home on Dec. 27th and transferred her to an enclosure I had purchased for her when adopting her. It was so easy, she literally just walked right in with no trouble.

She mainly stayed in the hide. I tried feeding her twice, a week in between feeding attempts, but she refused. I tried to feed her crickets from the pet store. She mainly stayed in her hide and, one morning, I found that she had buried herself. I googled her burying herself and thought maybe she was about to molt. The guy at the pet store said she may be about to molt.

I'm calling her a female because she has the colors and markings of the female Rio Grande Gold. The guy at the store said it is very likely she is a female. I wanted a female because I would like to have my spider for a very very long time.

My boyfriend did not like the enclosure because he said it looked like a shoe box so he bought a bigger enclosure. This new enclosure has a hygrometer, a thermometer and I am able to set the temperature. This was important since my boyfriend and I were burning up at night because we were scared to turn the air down too much for fear that Tuca (her name) might freeze. I got her a heating pad attached to the side of the enclosure so when it gets below 70 degrees, it will turn on and heat it back up.

I dug her out of her grave (I know you're not supposed to) to transfer her to this new enclosure. It stressed her out when I did.

She is not a climbing breed, but we chose an enclosure that is taller. I thought it might be okay since I saw that she climbed the wall.

I went out a bought some moss and two light weight sticks for her to climb on but have decided to wait before placing them in.

The substrate is vermiculite and coco fibre. The coco fibre is new and came with the box. Humidity always stays optimal.

I put two hides in there for her but instead she has found a corner of the enclosure and has placed herself, basically, in time out for weeks now. I finally gently nudged her with my tongs. It scared her so I've left her alone since then, not even feeding her. It doesn't look like she has moved from her corner but her water bowl keeps needing to be refilled. I don't have a picture of her in the corner but she is facing the corner, her legs covering her eyes and is just nestled there. I will update with a pic this afternoon.

So my questions are: Is she okay? Is she in premolt? Does she not like her enclosure? Her substrate? Did I give her a stroke by digging her out?

She is also in the living room where the TV is on all day and our dogs bark. Could she be stressed from the noise? Should I move her to a back room? I put her there because so she can be seen. If I put her in a back room, it's look like we don't care about her. Why would we adopt a pet and put it in the back room? But, if that makes her happy, I will do it.

Thanks for anyone's help!

 

[Enn49]

The chances are she's just stressed from being moved.
Unfortunately your new tank is not suitable for a Terrestrial tarantula, there is to much risk if she climbs that she could fall and injure or even kill herself. A Terrestrial tarantula needs to have a maximum of 1.5 times its diagonal leg span between the top of the container and the substrate to reduce the risk of injury if it falls.
I'd suggest you move her back into you original container and leave her 2-3 weeks before feeding again just make sure she has water at all times..

 

[Jeef]

I've have had an Aphonopelma moderatum for about two years and I think in that time it has been out and about a collective 5 weeks. Maybe 6. I wouldn't be shocked if yours discovers one of it's hides and it either buries itself or just never comes out like before.

After months of looking at a box of dirt, sometimes you see a little hole, and if you are really lucky, a leg! Then you can watch crickets run in and never come back out.

That is my experience at least. They are absolutely gorgeous spiders, you just don't get to see them much. I keep mine in a large critter keeper (14.5 x 8.75 x 9.63 inches) and that is probably too big for mine. That is what I had on hand when I got her and I refuse to dig her up to put her in a smaller enclosure.

 

[marmar2897]

So I didn't get another enclosure simply because the low profile one at the store would not accommodate the temp reader.

I did fill it with more substrate which decreased the distance between the ceiling and floor.

She still has her two hides and looking at the pics, I might have went too heavy on the moss. Haha..

Anyway, here she is in one of the hides she ran into because I touched her butt.

I'm glad to know that the species likes to stay hidden and not just mine. I won't worry as much if I don't see her for a while.

Thanks for your responses!

 

[DustyD]

Edit: Well I was writing this while you were posting. So take what you can from it. Some people do put terrestrial Ts in cube shaped enclosures like 12x12x12. I had one in an 8x8x8 and I had to bank it up. But yours looked taller than it is wide.

Hi, thanks for coming here. Don’t take this harshly, please, I too think changes are needed. Especially the height.

Your enclosure seems too tall for a terrestrial tarantula. Falling is a concern. Even though there are vents by the door, you may not have the best air flow for a terrestrial as side airflow is considered more beneficial.

Very beautiful T. I can’t address the needs of your tarantula, but I have several arid/semi arid terrestrial T’s so it is pretty similar.

As for temp, the general recommendation is low to mid/high 70s with it going a bit higher or lower as some Ts are quite hardy.

I don’t heat my whole room but rather use other heating devices.

I have used heat pads in the past, but have not directly attached them to the enclosure wall, rather affixed it to a pane of glass and separated them by up to an inch. Tarantulas sometimes like to bask in the heat and I would be concerned about burning them.

Now I mostly use heating cables at different heights and rarely see the Ts basking on the walls.

For arid dwelling Ts, humidity is not such a vital issue as it might be for other species. I keep G. pulchra, G. rosea/porteri and G. pulchripes and humidity in the winter can go down to 16 percent and up to about 70 percent in the summer and I have had no problems. But no need to throw them out.

 

[marmar2897]

Hi, thanks for all the info. I checked on Tuca this morning and found she has, again, buried herself. So funny!

The heating pad doesn't affect the temp too much. One morning it was even 68 degrees in the enclosure and the pad hadn't turned on yet. It only turns on when the temperature falls below a certain level and then turns off when it warms back up. It's connected to and controlled by the enclosure's thermostat. I put my hand in to see what it felt like when the pad was on and there's a definite temp difference from one side of the enclosure to the other so I'm guessing if Tuca get's too hot, she will venture to the cooler part until the pad turns off. Now, though, I'm wondering if I should relocate the pad since it is positioned near one of her hides, the hide that is currently entombed in. If she wants to stay in there, it cannot get too hot for her.

And now that the enclosure has more substrate, it is more box shaped. Hoping this alleviates the height issue. The airflow could be better. There's a ceiling fan diagonal from her enclosure that's always on. Will that help with airflow?

But now I'm wondering how to feed her if she wants to be buried? I don't want to disturb her but she hasn't eaten anything for a while. I read on another post that she will come out when she is ready, so does that mean she will come out when she is hungry?

 

[marmar2897]

The back of the enclosure has a decorative Styrofoam wall. If I paste the heat pad onto the back wall, will it be able to heat the enclosure through a glass and Styrofoam barrier?

 

[Noodlelove]

Hello,

I am new to tarantula keeping. I have a major dislike for roaches and found out years ago that spiders kill and eat roaches which started my curiosity about them. I've always wanted a tarantula so my brother bought me one this past Christmas. I brought her home on Dec. 27th and transferred her to an enclosure I had purchased for her when adopting her. It was so easy, she literally just walked right in with no trouble.

She mainly stayed in the hide. I tried feeding her twice, a week in between feeding attempts, but she refused. I tried to feed her crickets from the pet store. She mainly stayed in her hide and, one morning, I found that she had buried herself. I googled her burying herself and thought maybe she was about to molt. The guy at the pet store said she may be about to molt.

View attachment 69609

I'm calling her a female because she has the colors and markings of the female Rio Grande Gold. The guy at the store said it is very likely she is a female. I wanted a female because I would like to have my spider for a very very long time.

My boyfriend did not like the enclosure because he said it looked like a shoe box so he bought a bigger enclosure. This new enclosure has a hygrometer, a thermometer and I am able to set the temperature. This was important since my boyfriend and I were burning up at night because we were scared to turn the air down too much for fear that Tuca (her name) might freeze. I got her a heating pad attached to the side of the enclosure so when it gets below 70 degrees, it will turn on and heat it back up.

View attachment 69610

View attachment 69612

I dug her out of her grave (I know you're not supposed to) to transfer her to this new enclosure. It stressed her out when I did.

She is not a climbing breed, but we chose an enclosure that is taller. I thought it might be okay since I saw that she climbed the wall.

View attachment 69611

I went out a bought some moss and two light weight sticks for her to climb on but have decided to wait before placing them in.

The substrate is vermiculite and coco fibre. The coco fibre is new and came with the box. Humidity always stays optimal.

I put two hides in there for her but instead she has found a corner of the enclosure and has placed herself, basically, in time out for weeks now. I finally gently nudged her with my tongs. It scared her so I've left her alone since then, not even feeding her. It doesn't look like she has moved from her corner but her water bowl keeps needing to be refilled. I don't have a picture of her in the corner but she is facing the corner, her legs covering her eyes and is just nestled there. I will update with a pic this afternoon.

So my questions are: Is she okay? Is she in premolt? Does she not like her enclosure? Her substrate? Did I give her a stroke by digging her out?

She is also in the living room where the TV is on all day and our dogs bark. Could she be stressed from the noise? Should I move her to a back room? I put her there because so she can be seen. If I put her in a back room, it's look like we don't care about her. Why would we adopt a pet and put it in the back room? But, if that makes her happy, I will do it.

Thanks for anyone's help!

As the newbie I can tell you this she did not have a heart attack because you dug her out if she would have that would be such an aberration because I have been the blight of this board because I keep doing that to Jessica my first tarantula because she keeps hiding by burrowing and I never see her. But I'm really really not doing that very often anymore like I haven't done it in 5 months. I'm sure she's fine I'm very new to the hobby and I haven't killed mine and it's been over a year they're still fine alive and healthy. Most Spiders are really hardy, although I'm sure there's fussy species. I made sure to get low maintenance ones and yet I still worried myself sick over their well-being. They've survived me and are thriving. Your kid is a beaut btw and I really enjoyed reading your post. You sound like the best owner ever. It makes me really happy to be on this board with people who love these kids so much