Hei guys kinda worried about my beauty :(

Ordog istvan

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
6
On saturday 09 06 2018 i got this baby poecilotheria metallica from a store and build this terrarium for she or he don t know exactly what is yet. I know not a T for begginers but i don t really care. Saw a few pictures with this T and it just look amazing i had to buy it, startet to make a lot of resarch i wish for my T a good life with me in my room. Everythig went fine last days and i was more then happy. Has now i think like 2/3cm and in the box i got this awesome T i noticed that he/she was already moultet. Ok tried yesterday night once to feed it but refused it and i just let this small cockroach in terrarium and don t know what happend cause i didn t see it anymore there, could be somewhere in terrarium even now didn t search everywhere, now my T stays in the same place like yesterday night and it only moved his body a little bit and when moves looks kinda weird like has pains or smth the body kinda balance from left to right when moving i m affraid now to touch it to see if gets speed or smth should i worry is she or he dying??? :( p s the worker from shop said that i need this lamp for plants and help to keep some heat in terrarium ?
 

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Demonclaws

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 5, 2017
Messages
141
The spider looks larger than 2/3 cm. :troll:

Jokes aside, your enclosure is too large for a tiny spider. Put it in a smaller cup with a vertical corkbark slab or tube, and a water dish. Poecilotheria tends to burrow, you probably won't see it often. Don't increase the humidity, just make the soil slightly moist. Please do searches on this forum for Poecilotheria care and setup. Seems like you were looking at the wrong places.
 

Theneil

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 18, 2017
Messages
1,292
Keep a portion of the substrate damp by just pouring in some water periodically.

Enclosure is really big for the spider. i would put it in something much smaller like a deli cup until it puts on some size. it should help it to feel more secure as well as to help find food.
 

Greasylake

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jul 23, 2017
Messages
1,324
The enclosure is way too large. At that size one of those tall 16oz cups would work just fine. Ditch the lamp immediately. It's a death trap. How long ago did the spider molt. The fangs will not be hard enough to catch prey until about a week after the molt, feeding before that and you can risk the spider breaking them off. Huddled in the corner like that, it looks very very stressed. P. Metallica's are not a beginner T at all, and really aren't even a good beginner pokie. My advice would be to give it away or sell it and get something more beginner friendly.
 

Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
Joined
Jan 15, 2017
Messages
675
Enclosure is much too large. Not enough clutter to hide in. A heat lamp will almost certainly kill your spider. Don’t track humidity, it’s a waste of time.

Spiders can go for a LONG time without eating. And centered around molting periods, you might as well just forget about food. They fast before a molt, and you should not attempt feeding directly after a molt.

And I agree with you: It’s not a beginner species. But I’m not the type of person to tell another what to do. But what commonly happens with getting a P. metallica as a first spider is the husbandry will be completely wrong. People get this spider with dreams of having a fantastic display spider, and put them in large, barren enclosures. And since the spider is so valuable, beginners will “baby” it by giving it way too much, and too much of the wrong things (heat lamp, hygrometers, etc).

They are less forgiving of mistakes for a lot of reasons.
 

AnimalNewbie

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 2, 2018
Messages
453
On saturday 09 06 2018 i got this baby poecilotheria metallica from a store and build this terrarium for she or he don t know exactly what is yet. I know not a T for begginers but i don t really care. Saw a few pictures with this T and it just look amazing i had to buy it, startet to make a lot of resarch i wish for my T a good life with me in my room. Everythig went fine last days and i was more then happy. Has now i think like 2/3cm and in the box i got this awesome T i noticed that he/she was already moultet. Ok tried yesterday night once to feed it but refused it and i just let this small cockroach in terrarium and don t know what happend cause i didn t see it anymore there, could be somewhere in terrarium even now didn t search everywhere, now my T stays in the same place like yesterday night and it only moved his body a little bit and when moves looks kinda weird like has pains or smth the body kinda balance from left to right when moving i m affraid now to touch it to see if gets speed or smth should i worry is she or he dying??? :( p s the worker from shop said that i need this lamp for plants and help to keep some heat in terrarium ?
Before I say anything I’m going to give u a bit of constructive criticism. This was an extremely ignorant plan with you buying one of the most venomous Ts just because it’s pretty. There are literally tons of better choices than the p. Metallica like the GBB T. The setup is way way too large for it and this species despises any light source and doesn’t need a heat lamp. Don’t chase heat and humidity requirements. It’s not a reptile. Pet stores are horrible for info so keep that in mind in the future. If it just molted wait a week to feed it as it’s exoskeleton is still soft.
 

NukaMedia Exotics

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Too large of an enclosure, and it would be better to remove the heat lamp.
 

Scarabyte

Arachnosquire
Joined
Dec 8, 2017
Messages
112
No need to keep track of ambient humidity, slightly damp sub will be fine. No heatlamp needed, roomtemp is fine. Heat lamps can kill T's.
Set that tube up vertically, going up the side. She won't use it on the ground.
Otherwise add some fake plants, and make sure she has a waterdish.
The enclosure looks suuuper big, but if you can't rehouse just make sure to add vertical climbing room.
 

Ordog istvan

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
6
Love u all guys! i get and deserve every criticism what u have for me. had only good intentions and wished the best for my T, we learn from mistakes. tomorrow i go back to store and search for a small terrarium for a good while i just hope it s not to late. Wish u all the best and thank u!
 

Theneil

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 18, 2017
Messages
1,292
Love u all guys! i get and deserve every criticism what u have for me. had only good intentions and wished the best for my T, we learn from mistakes. tomorrow i go back to store and search for a small terrarium for a good while i just hope it s not to late. Wish u all the best and thank u!
Good. Be careful when you rehouse. It is the most likely time for something to go wrong.

Keep a few catch cups at the ready and i recomend youtubing rehouse videos to see different methods people use to keep the spider and themselves safe as well as preventing escapes.
 

Ordog istvan

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
6
Too large of
Good. Be careful when you rehouse. It is the most likely time for something to go wrong.

Keep a few catch cups at the ready and i recomend youtubing rehouse videos to see different methods people use to keep the spider and themselves safe as well as preventing escapes.
But how can affect a big enclouser my T ? Still don t get this :(
 

Scarabyte

Arachnosquire
Joined
Dec 8, 2017
Messages
112
But how can affect a big enclouser my T ? Still don t get this :(
Too big enclosures make feeding difficult, can stress T's out, esp slings.
Better to keep them in something smaller
about 1.5-2x their legspan for an arboreal wide, 3x-4x their legspan tall.
At least that's normally what I use for my avic.
 

Vinny2915

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 24, 2017
Messages
116
Big enclosures stress them out because a tarantula, like many other small animals (not just arachnids) survive due to their ability to hide from predators. In such a big open space with such a large amount of "dead space" (empty areas without things like bark, leaves, etc) they will be unable to hide easily and thus, become stressed. If you were to fill this dead space more your t will never find food. Solution? Smaller container. To be honest with you, forget about terarriums just get a tall deli cup (I think they are either 16 or 32oz) and put in some cork bark and you're good to go. I'm not going to say sell it becaude I wouldn't but a P.metallica as a first t is a very foolish idea. #1 it is highly venomous, it won't kill you but it can seriously wreck you, #2 it is very expensive so if it dies you're not only out of a specimen but a pretty good amount of money as well, #3 it is very fast and unpredictable this means higher chance of a bite.
 

Theneil

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 18, 2017
Messages
1,292
1. Too much OPEN space will make the spider feel exposed and at risk of predation.

2. Makes it harder for the spider to find food. In a small enclosure the food has no choice but to be in close vicinity to the spider.

3. Many spiders will choose a very small area of the enclosure to call home and often they will not go far from it which may potentially prevent it from going to the water dish when it gets dehydrated

4. Makes things easier for you. It is easier for you to monitor the well being of your new pet. They can be hard to find in such a large enclosure

5. Not generally a concern for an arboreal such as yours, but fall risk is increased with increased enclosure height.

i'm sure others can chime in more reasons but i think these are the main ones.
 

Hoops71

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 14, 2017
Messages
45
Get rid of the heat lamp asap! General rule of thumb is (and this is becoming quite the cliche now!) whatever temp you're comfortable in whilst wearing a T-shirt (or leopard print thong and cowboy boots..whatever floats your boat!) is comfortable for most T's. One of the first things I learnt was to ditch the paranoia about temps and humidity. T's are hardier than pet shops lead you to believe.
 

NukaMedia Exotics

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But how can affect a big enclouser my T ? Still don t get this :(
First of all it can actually cause the spider actually stress. On top of that it makes it harder for the T to hunt down prey, and its just a bunch of unnecessary space. Too much height also makes it a hazard for your T to fall from the sides or roof.
 

boina

Lady of the mites
Active Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2015
Messages
2,217
There has been a Facebook post going around in Germany showing a P. metallica and since then about everybody wants one. I saw a girl at the Hamm expo buy a metallica who didn't even know the difference between male and female. I've talked a few people out of getting one, too... that Facebook post has a lot to answer for...

@Ordog istvan no, it's not a beginner tarantula, because they are not easy to take care of. You are on the very best way to kill your new tarantula as fast as possible. It's usually a good idea to know more about a new pet than that it is pretty, something like very basic care. Your setup is really upsetting, it is so completely, utterly wrong that I don't even know where to start. You didn't even bother to research the bare basics. You really don't care at all.

In case you do decide to care, here are the basics:

1. This is an arboreal tarantula, and this species lives in holes in trees. It doesn't need leaves, it needs an upright (UPRIGHT!) piece of bark to hide behind.

2. It will practically be impossible to feed in an enclosure as large as that. Yes, they live in larger places in the wild, but in the wild they usually die.

3. "Humidity" kills spiders. You need moist substrate and not some arbitrary humiditiy number.

4. Heat lamps kill spiders. Period.

5. How the hell did you expect a tarantula as tiny as yours could possibly make use of the "hides" you provided? At the very lest you should provide hides in the right size... Without a proper hide your tarantula may not feed at all and simply die form stress.

6. ... at this point I simply give up. I'll just see myself out of this thread.:meh:
 
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