Homecoming for Anastasia and questions

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
An update, got the cotton ball out. she must have got her fill of water, she didn't even notice.
There's sort of a matt that came out of the old nest right in the center of the tank. She wandered around some today, but always came back there to sit. So I got some of the jungle mix, thinking the plantation mix is too fine. Put some in one end, she went up there and sat a few hours and then down to her matt. I'm going to add substrate in portions, but I'll move that matt so she'll have it. Going to give her a break for a couple days, she doesn't like the cage handled.
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
Since I haven't arm an answer for this yet: In my (albeit limited, compared to many others here) experience, the white stuff is probably spider poopies. Is it a chalky white?

As for the clumps of substrate, they could just be lumped together by dampness or hard to see webbing, but upon closer inspection it might be leftover food. The meals don't dissolve completely when the Ts are done--the leftover bundle, or bolus, is made up of the chitinous material that couldn't be digested. You should remove these as you see them to lessen the chances of mold in your enclosure.

As others have said, more substrate it's a necessity.

Congrats on your beautiful new T!
I'm replying here now because i did clean the carry home box. It's poo not mold, crusty like humming bird poop. I found a dead crumpled- not eaten, cricket by the water dish, she was very protective of it when she found it.
I read today about t's having silk producers in their feet. Being a newby, I believe that, she makes mats and clumps of substrate. Could be spinnerets but if she climbs glass, it'd be eisier on her/science for spinners on/in her feet.
 

REEFSPIDER

Arachnobaron
Joined
May 6, 2016
Messages
412
I would just stop fussing with her all too much mate. If she's laid a mat it may be preparing to molt and you don't wanna disturb it for that.
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
Anas first formal feed- unwatched or not
Today was supposed to be feed and move. Her feed time was longer than expected, 3hrs for a cricket. Another 1/2 hour to get settled and wash up. By then I was pooped. Hopefully the next day or so I'll get the tank filled up high enough to lower your folks concerns.
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
I would just stop fussing with her all too much mate. If she's laid a mat it may be preparing to molt and you don't wanna disturb it for that.
RESPIDER
Thats the cunnudrum
She's got a new house, maybe too big, water dish/thats new/ food, more than once a week/ kicked hairs that may need to be replaced. I'd guess she needs to molt to grow into all this. But I'm told she may want to climb and fall and crack her case. Plus today i dropped a couple meal worms for her which imedeatly burrored into the ground and could return as some kind of nasty beatles, thinking I need to clean and replace the ground she lives on.
 

Estein

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
153
I read today about t's having silk producers in their feet. Being a newby, I believe that, she makes mats and clumps of substrate. Could be spinnerets but if she climbs glass, it'd be eisier on her/science for spinners on/in her feet.
Awesome that you're taking the time to find more info about these amazing creatures. As far as the feet go, any silk she produces will actually come from her spinnerettes--the structures on the feet once thought to be silk spigots are now thought to be chemoreceptors. Here is the corresponding paper for you. Happy reading! :)
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
Awesome that you're taking the time to find more info about these amazing creatures. As far as the feet go, any silk she produces will actually come from her spinnerettes--the structures on the feet once thought to be silk spigots are now thought to be chemoreceptors. Here is the corresponding paper for you. Happy reading! :)
Thank you, that would seem to end the augument. Wikepedia left me with a sense it was uresolved. May be some one could give them that link.
Those electron microscope photos crack me up.
 

scott308

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 6, 2008
Messages
74
Always crush the heads of mealworms, as they will burrow as you have learned. If the spider molts with mealworms loose in the enclosure, it can turn out very badly for a helpless tarantula. Also, there isn't any need to feed multiple prey items at once, except perhaps for some of the larger, more aggressive feeders. I would never suggest putting two mealworms in a Brachypelma tank. Even crickets can be bad news for a molting spider. If you feel there is ANY chance it may be in premolt, you need to be cautious when feeding. Crush the head of your cricket before dropping it into the tank. Alternately, you could leave the head intact, but you would need to remove it if not eaten soon. Never leave a cricket that has not been maimed in the enclosure of a tarantula suspected to be in premolt unsupervised. If you crush the head, it is safe to leave in overnight, as it will not be capable of biting the tarantula. If it is still there the next day, you should remove it and not offer food again for a few days.

Congratulations on your new spider! Brachypelmas are gorgeous spiders that should have a place in every keeper's collection. Enjoy!
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
Always crush the heads of mealworms, as they will burrow as you have learned. If you feel there is ANY chance it may be in premolt, you need to be cautious when feeding. Crush the head of your cricket before dropping it into the tank. Alternately, you could leave the head intact, but you would need to remove it if not eaten soon. Never leave a cricket that has not been maimed in the enclosure of a tarantula suspected to be in premolt unsupervised. If you crush the head, it is safe to leave in overnight, as it will not be capable of biting the tarantula. If it is still there the next day, you should remove it and not offer food again for a few days.

Congratulations on your new spider! Brachypelmas are gorgeous spiders that should have a place in every keeper's collection. Enjoy!
Thanks Scott
I knew I'd have to do something about two crickets and three worms that went missing.
I emptied the tank today, spread that husk out on a tarp and didn't find a single critter. So it's mulch for the artichokes. The reason for over feeding, I was told she didn't need a water bowl, but she chased me off the bowl after her third drink and drank again after that. One of those crickets went over for a drink- she killed him and left him lay right there. So I thought maybe she was starved also.
Pat
I wouldn't say I'm a collector, one of my hobbies is watching nature, the front yard has a honey bee box, two geese, some fish and humming bird feeders. I spent a half hour yesterday filiming a male English garden spider doing his mating dance, what fun!
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
I learned alot the first time she fed, it took 3 hours, she spent 10 minutes washing her hands face and brushing her teeth. I thought she was eating a meal worm till i watched the vid of the worms getting away. (old eyes don't pick up detail too well). She touches the pellet with her palp. Eventhough her eyes are top of her head. she's careful not to step on the pellet.
 
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tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
More fun, feeding day was Friday, Saturday she spent all day naping facing up hill next to the glass. I was hoping that would be a good place to roll over and molt. In the afternoon i woke up from a power nap and she was 6 inches off the deck, on the glass. I expected her to crash and burn when I opened the lid. She bolted down 1/2 way and stopped. It appears to me she's as capable as a gecko on glass. Put her in her carry box and went to petco for some coconut. Today watered up the bricks and filled the tank. She travelled about but could not settle in. I retrieved her, this time with a sweat shirt and tig gloves. But she didn't fling hair. She's got a fair amount of power, I could feel it through my glove. She went back in the carry box and I went off to bake dirt. 1 hr. at 350* 1hr.@235*, I'm not much of a cook, this is the first time i've baked dirt with a side of bark. In my mind it needs some butter, seasoning and maybe bacon. She's back in the tank, won't come out of the carry box, but I'll leave her alone till feeding time, she must be exhausted as I. OBTW I had a vid of all that but after posting on utube it was too dark to see anything.
 

Haksilence

Bad At Titles
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Dec 6, 2015
Messages
405
The reason for over feeding, I was told she didn't need a water bowl,
whoever told you that dont ever listen to a word they say about therophosidea ever again. youre in the right place now. this board is virtually the world authority on keeping tarantulas. many of the members here are dedicated scientists and taxonomists devoted to tarantulas. unless you read it here on a thread from the last 2-3 years dont believe it.
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
therophosidea
Sorry haksilence I had to look it up. One thing I've learned about being retired and having a computer hooked to Al Gores world wide web. It may seem like your living in a library, but there's way too much information. Therophosidea isn't in websters or my American heretage- it is on wikipedia. The girl who sold me the tank "seemed/sounded" like she was up on it but I put a small water dish in anyway. And glad I did.
Life was much different with a card catolog.
 

Haksilence

Bad At Titles
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Dec 6, 2015
Messages
405
Yeah my spelling is historically atrocious.
I've been crippled by spellcheck
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
Remodeled home and ? on pre molt for B-smithy.
Read/watched info on pre molt. Is her abdomen going to get a bald spot for sure? She doesn't have one now. It's already black, will it turn light? Any one have pictures?
Watched a youg fellow with an adult T stuck to the top screen on his tank.
I put plexi glass inside the top, trusting she wont go after the corks. IMG_6985.JPG IMG_6986.JPG IMG_6987.JPG
 

Octagon

Arachnoperson
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
39
Hi, fellow smithi owner! I enjoyed your video and commentary. Glad to see your plexiglass lid...when I first started out, I had screen and my T got a claw stuck in it and I found her hanging upside down from it. I managed to get her down before she fell, thank goodness. I shudder to think of it now. Screen is a disaster waiting to happen, especially if there is too much distance from the top of the substrate to the top of the cage.

Re bald spots: T's get them if they kick off all their hairs in that area. If a T doesn't kick off enough hairs, it won't get a bald spot.

The bald spot shows their bare skin, which is normally beige coloured. When they are in premoult, their abdomen skin turns black and if they have a bald spot, that exposed area will therefore be black.
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
Re bald spots: T's get them if they kick off all their hairs in that area. If a T doesn't kick off enough hairs, it won't get a bald spot.

The bald spot shows their bare skin, which is normally beige coloured. When they are in premoult, their abdomen skin turns black and if they have a bald spot, that exposed area will therefore be black.
Thanks, thats good to know, she's given up on me-thinks I'm a pest. Been in hiding.
 

Haksilence

Bad At Titles
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Dec 6, 2015
Messages
405
Is her abdomen going to get a bald spot for sure? She doesn't have one now. It's already black, will it turn light?
Other way around, they will almost always develope a bald spot in my experience, and the bald spot will usually have a cream/flesh color and will darken to a very dark charcoal color as they near a molt. When the bald spot is very dark that's when they are a few days out. If she doesn't have a bald spot you won't be able to tell the color difference, you won't be able to see under their setea
 
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