IMG_2006
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IMG_2006

Current Setup for B smithi, water dish left upper corner, cork bark burrow, and some damp sphagnum moss on the terracotta pot to keep the humidity up. I am a total beginner and this is my first spider. Can anyone give me some advice as she doesn't spend any time on the ground.
She could be climbing because the substrate is too humid. Or also, the tarantula could be stressed out from the new environment. For desert tarantulas I dry out the substrate before putting it in. You might want to be careful because it looks like that is a very long fall for your T. What size is it?
 
I agree with tarantula 49 that cage looks a little too tall definitely a fall hazard as far as the substrate keep it dry I overflowed my water dish every now and then maybe once every week and a half two weeks otherwise the setup looks good just looks a little too tall can you tell us the dimensions of it
 
Read the forums on terrestrial setups. Your T could fall and die as there's not enough substrate. You want a maximum of 1.5 times their diagonal leg span from substrate surface to lid/cover.
 
Thanks guys, I think I kept her too dry? weird for a smithi but today she is in the burrow for the first time and was laying near the damp corner this morning when i woke up. I bought her from a collector who had many different T's and she came with this terrarium. I dont think it is well suited to this terrestrial species. There was half the amount of substrate in the terrarium when I bought it. I filled it up with twice as much substrate but I guess it settled quite a bit. The tank is front opening (sliding the glass) so It hard to fill it past a certain line (as in the photo) but I tried to build up the bank toward the back. She is 2 years old about 2.5-3 inches body size. The dimensions of the tank are 30cm x 30cm cube. The substrate at the shallowest (toward the front sliding door) is 6cm and then at the deepest part at the back of the tank 12 cm. its hard to see but the hide is slanted downward. Should I be providing additional heat source for her? I've read that lamps can cause them to climb unnecessarily and heat mats can cause them to burrow and cook themselves to death on the mat. my room is constantly heated to normal room temperature avg 22 degrees Celsius. Im not sure with media but I will try to post more pictures and link them
 
No additional heat source, if you are comfortable your T will be too. As long as you have a water bowl, you cannot keep a B smithi too dry IME.
 
Don't think you need a heat source. 22 Celsius is fine. As for height, as long as the height from substrate to top isn't 1.5 legspan you are fine. If your tarantula has settled in you should just leave her.
 

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Brachypelma
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