Surprise Tarantula today!

[Dave Jay]

Some of my scorpions can be slow to catch prey so I like to add carrot if they don't catch it immediately, but it's a habit carried over from keeping lizards, they'll sit there and let crickets chew a hole in them so avoiding having hungry prey seems a good idea to me. It certainly can't hurt, although on another forum the resident "experts" say it will cause mould problems, never happens, if a tiny piece of washed carrot causes a mould problem then you need to reconsider your whole set-up if you ask me! All it does is dry out if your ventilation is insufficient, always does for me even in wet rainforest type enclosures.

 

[IMAGINE1391]

Another thing that is bothering me is the T has spent 99 percent of the time latched on the side of the glass enclosure wall. Looked it up and most people mentioned the substrate could be too moist but I put all of mine in dry so it can’t be that.

 

[PanzoN88]

View attachment 34336 Another thing that is bothering me is the T has spent 99 percent of the time latched on the side of the glass enclosure wall. Looked it up and most people mentioned the substrate could be too moist but I put all of mine in dry so it can’t be that.

It could be that it's not acclimated yet, give it a couple of weeks and it should go down in that time.

 

[IMAGINE1391]

It could be that it's not acclimated yet, give it a couple of weeks and it should go down in that time.

That’s another reason why it’s hard to feed it as well. I’m gonna give it a few days at least before I mess with her/him again.

 

[PanzoN88]

That’s another reason why it’s hard to feed it as well. I’m gonna give it a few days at least before I mess with her/him again.

I noticed something that could pose a problem, I noticed that you have a screen top on the enclosure, if your B. hamorii climbs up any more, it could get caught in the screen or chew right through it.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Well...you didn't say it was on the glass 99% of the time when you asked when you could feed it. I would have said to wait till it came down.
Give it a day or two...it will come down. A few of my Brachypelmas do this when I rehouse them.

 

[IMAGINE1391]

I noticed something that could pose a problem, I noticed that you have a screen top on the enclosure, if your B. hamorii climbs up any more, it could get caught in the screen or chew right through it.

Anything I can put on it to prevent the T to get caught in it? I don’t think it could chew through it. It’s not mesh screen it’s pretty thick. But yes I have worried about it getting it’s leg stuck on it.

 

[IMAGINE1391]

Well...you didn't say it was on the glass 99% of the time when you asked when you could feed it. I would have said to wait till it came down.
Give it a day or two...it will come down. A few of my Brachypelmas do this when I rehouse them.

Lol! I suppose that would’ve been an important piece of information.

 

[PanzoN88]

Anything I can put on it to prevent the T to get caught in it? I don’t think it could chew through it. It’s not mesh screen it’s pretty thick. But yes I have worried about it getting it’s leg stuck on it.

Plexiglass with holes drilled in it.

 

[IMAGINE1391]

Plexiglass with holes drilled in it.

Thanks for the tip. I’ll be looking for that

 

[IMAGINE1391]

And she just got off the glass by the way

 

[Arachnoclown]

Is that a plastic top with holes on it right now???

 

[RonC]

Did you pack the substrate or just pour it in? Some Ts don't like walking on fluffy substrate.

 

[IMAGINE1391]

Is that a plastic top with holes on it right now???

No it’s an all metal screen top. It’s not that real fine metal mesh. It’s kinda thick where all the holes are.

 

[IMAGINE1391]

Did you pack the substrate or just pour it in? Some Ts don't like walking on fluffy substrate.

I packed it down the best I could with my hands. I pushed down on it just about as hard as I can every where because that coco fiber can be pretty soft and fluffy

 

[Arachnoclown]

No it’s an all metal screen top. It’s not that real fine metal mesh. It’s kinda thick where all the holes are.

Those holes look way too big for your spider to get caught on...I think you'll be fine.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Mine doesn't burrow at all in any fashion whatsoever so there's no real need to give it much substrate. I have mine in a smaller 3 gallon rather then a 5 gallon but she would probably do fine either way.

As she grows, you can gradually reduce the level of the substrate so she can reach upward and climb a little bit of she wants to do so.

She also shows no arboreal tendencies at all either. Since my cage, TerraBlue professional series, has a fully bonded screen, it's practically impossible for claws to get caught up in it.

She seems to be 100% terrestrial. One reason they might be attracted to one side of the cage is a temperature difference.

It took mine between 48 to 72 hours to get fully comfortable in her new cage, which has totally different dimensions then her old one. I did move her hide from the old to the new cage as well as some of the substrate.

My cage is also directly under my home wireless Internet router which is directly over her hide. She spends most time directly underneath the router on top of the hide.

The only moisture in her cage present is within the water dish. Being a dry species, there's no reason to moisten the substrate whatsoever. This also makes maintenance and cleaning much easier as well.

Since mine is out in plain sight so often, I've arranged the decor so that I have maximum camera access for pics and videos.

Note: I thought it was a B smithi at the time of sale. It was originally purchased and sold under the old scientific name.

I think your cage is just fine.

 

[IMAGINE1391]

Mine doesn't burrow at all in any fashion whatsoever so there's no real need to give it much substrate. I have mine in a smaller 3 gallon rather then a 5 gallon but she would probably do fine either way.

As she grows, you can gradually reduce the level of the substrate so she can reach upward and climb a little bit of she wants to do so.

She also shows no arboreal tendencies at all either. Since my cage, TerraBlue professional series, has a fully bonded screen, it's practically impossible for claws to get caught up in it.

She seems to be 100% terrestrial. One reason they might be attracted to one side of the cage is a temperature difference.

It took mine between 48 to 72 hours to get fully comfortable in her new cage, which has totally different dimensions then her old one. I did mine her hide from the old to the new cage as well as some of the substrate.

My cage is also directly under my home wireless Internet router which is directly over her hide. She spends most time directly underneath the router on top of the hide.

The only moisture in her cage present is within the water dish. Being a dry species, there's no reason to moisten the substrate whatsoever. This also makes maintenance and cleaning much easier as well.

Since mine is out in plain sight so often, I've arranged the decor so that I have maximum camera access for pics and videos.

Note: I thought it was a B smithi at the time of sale. It was originally purchased and sold under the old scientific name.

I think your cage is just fine.

Good info! Yeah I think mine just needs to get acclimated with her new environment and she’ll be fine. Now I’m looking for my next one!

 

[IMAGINE1391]

Success!!! Just fed her and she took it! And she has not been on the glass today and I even believe she was under her hide at some point digging...definitely a bit of substrate was dug under there up against the glass. So some good activity!

 

[RonC]

Some of mine explored their enclosure when first rehoused and climbed the sides. After a while they settle in, stop wandering, and burrow. I had one that checked the size of every ventilation hole in the enclosure. Guess they all passed, its still in there. Adding a tiny bit of water to the substrate before putting it in the enclosure makes it pack a little firmer. At this point I wouldn't bother the T messing with the enclosure too much.