Finally Versi! You got the message!

[iEatRazorz]

So several weeks ago I ditched the AMAC containers I was using to keep a C. versicolor and P. fasciata in. Didn't like them for a few reasons. I moved them both into deli containers. The fasciata took to it's new and home the versi decided to web the lid to the container... I tried a couple different setups and finally got one that it's not webbing the lid shut in.

I glued leaves to the top of both ends of a piece of forked drift wood. I took a lighter to the leaves to get them to slightly sag so that way the lid wouldn't be pressing directly on them too much. The idea was to create a false lid. I also figured out that those vial lids hold a bottle cap snugly in place. The first web it built was in between the lid and one of the leaves, the second was under which I'm stoked about. I hated destroying it's home with every feeding.

Blind luck or known trick?

 

[Nonnack]

Looks really nice, and I think this will work. Avi loves to make nests under 'something', usually its lid. If you don't like to destroy its webbing solution is to use container thats open from side, or to put something it can hide under in top of container, like you did with those leafs.

 

[aphono]

Nice looking setup. What did you use for making the holes? Is that a lid inside another lid for water? Pretty clever idea..

 

[Swede Baboon]

Looks solid. Good work

 

[iEatRazorz]

Thank you for the positive feedback

I sat there for a good half hour staring at the container like how am I going to do this lol.

The white piece is a vile lid and the dish is a water bottle cap. The lid has a lip that hugs the cap and keeps it in place. When I change the water I can pluck out the cap and put a new one. Similar to what some people do with the small clear deli cups.

 

[iEatRazorz]

Nice looking setup. What did you use for making the holes? Is that a lid inside another lid for water? Pretty clever idea..

I used a heated turkey poker

 

[efmp1987]

Is you versi a fussy eater? I'm having trouble getting mine fat. lol. so annoying. Theyre supposed to be opportunistic feeders, not picky.

 

[iEatRazorz]

Is you versi a fussy eater? I'm having trouble getting mine fat. lol. so annoying. Theyre supposed to be opportunistic feeders, not picky.

Kind of. I usually just touch the opening of the web with a prekilled food item, a little smaller then it mouth to butt, and if that doesn't draw it out I'll leave it by the water. I've caught it by water enough that I think it's a good place to leave prekilled. If it's still there the next day I remove it. I just let Ori do what Ori does.

 

[Andrea82]

Nice, and good thinking re: positioning the leaves like that
@efmp1987 C.versicolor can be picky eaters, but they also don't fatten up like other species do. Avicularia, Caribena, Ybyrapora species are less bulky than
terrestrial spiders. They need to be lithe built to stay agile between the trees. Imagine an A.geniculata jumping from branch to branch...that's not gonna work, it'll go splat on the floor in no time
So versi doesn't get a fat abdomen like a terrestrial. although I must say when they grow up, they can become quite fat for an arboreal.

 

[efmp1987]

Nice, and good thinking re: positioning the leaves like that
@efmp1987 C.versicolor can be picky eaters, but they also don't fatten up like other species do. Avicularia, Caribena, Ybyrapora species are less bulky than
terrestrial spiders. They need to be lithe built to stay agile between the trees. Imagine an A.geniculata jumping from branch to branch...that's not gonna work, it'll go splat on the floor in no time
So versi doesn't get a fat abdomen like a terrestrial. although I must say when they grow up, they can become quite fat for an arboreal.

On the contrary my P. met is what I would call a hog. The abdomen is twice as long as the carapace. Time for some Jenny Craig diet

 

[Moakmeister]

Arboreals aren't as strong as terrestrials, but they can jump further because they're lighter. They also have much better eyesight, or at least it seems that way given their behavior.

 

[Andrea82]

On the contrary my P. met is what I would call a hog. The abdomen is twice as long as the carapace. Time for some Jenny Craig diet

I purposefully left other arboreals out of the equation I have seen pics of fat Poecilotheria before

 

[aphono]

I used a heated turkey poker

Thanks. I tried a soldering iron.. but hated how it made opaque 'donuts' around the holes. Reduced visibility a bit too much for my taste.

 

[iEatRazorz]

Thanks. I tried a soldering iron.. but hated how it made opaque 'donuts' around the holes. Reduced visibility a bit too much for my taste.

The turkey pokers can do same thing if you get them too hot. You don't want them going red. You can do about 5 holes before it cools down too much. I'd also suggest doing it outside if you can or using a fan and opening a window. It does give off quite a bit of fumes.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

The idea was to create a false lid.

My trick is to keep the very top of the enclosure free of anchor points so that they have no choice but to web lower down, it's worked with all 3 of my C. versicolor, my A. variegata had other ideas (she initially made a web tube at the back but then webbed up the top when close to moulting) but she's since been rehoused to a front-opening enclosure so she can web up top all she wants now.

It's worked with Psalmopoeus sp. too, they only build their dirt curtains as high as the anchor points allow for (good if you don't want an exit or two right up by the lid).

 

[Ryunss]

My versi was being a full on douche when it came to building the web on the lid of the container and so I moved the anchor points further down and instead of using them she just used the lid...... and so now I have resorted to making the enclosure effectively a jungle, and she has finally not built the web on the lid!!!