Newby, little help please.....

[Chris S]

We recently acquired our first T, Mexican Red Knee (Smithi I believe). We read in depth about care, feeding etc. We let it settle in for a few days and it (don't know gender) went to work after a couple of days and built a nice barricade in front of the log and settled in. The T is about 1 1/2 long or so not including legs, maybe less (my best guess). We picked up some crickets at the store today we got a few small ones, not pin heads, and there was a medium sized one in there as well. Dropped two in this evening, one of them was the medium sized one and the cricket went into the den and became dinner within about 5 minutes. The other little cricket was in the den and basically got stomped on and half buried and is dead. So with all that said here is my question......Everything I have read says to remove dead crickets or uneaten crickets the next morning. This half buried/dead cricket is in the T's den and can only be accessed if I lift the house and disturb everything. Do I leave it in there or do I carefully lift the home and usher the T out of the way (gently) and remove the cricket? Thank you in advance.

 

[AnimalNewbie]

Just leave it. It’ll eventually probably take it out and remove it. However pics of the setup would be ideal

 

[YagerManJennsen]

Yep just leave it. Is the T in premolt?

 

[Chris S]

Well, our T took care of it over night, it is gone. I do not believe it is in premolt but that is only based on what I know from what I have read to look for. Thanks for the replies.

Here is a pic of the set up. It’s a 5 gal. Tank which is probably a little big. I read all about falls and thought I was good at first. Then it decided to climb the class at first and the fall looked greater than 1.5 so I added more substrate without disturbing the barricade in the front of the house/log. I also did away with the screen lid and made my own after reading about the mesh screen issues.

 

[WoofSpider]

That is a rather unnecessarily large enclosure. Personally, I would rehouse it into something smaller just for ease of care, but there doesn't appear to be too much of a fall risk.

BTW Brachpelma smithi was reclassified as Brachypelma hamorii.

 

[Chris S]

I thought maybe it was a little big. It’s 14x8x5h. Unless it’s bad for it I will probably leave it alone. It’s eating well and settled in. One other question.... the hide is now fairly low in the substrate since I added more to reduce height. I did not disturb the barricade it built. Is it safe to assume it will move necessary substrate when it’s ready to come out? I really don’t want to reset the hide unless it’s necessary. Thx.

 

[MrTwister]

The enclosure is fine. An oversized enclosure will not harm the T in anyway. It may be a bit more difficult to feed as prey has more room to stay away from the spider, the T may hide more, but nothing really that major.

 

[Lokee85]

I thought maybe it was a little big. It’s 14x8x5h. Unless it’s bad for it I will probably leave it alone. It’s eating well and settled in. One other question.... the hide is now fairly low in the substrate since I added more to reduce height. I did not disturb the barricade it built. Is it safe to assume it will move necessary substrate when it’s ready to come out? I really don’t want to reset the hide unless it’s necessary. Thx.

You should definitely consider rehousing into something smaller, like a small critter keeper, and wait to use the 5 gallon as the permanent (adult) enclosure. Overly large enclosures often cause excessive hiding and burrowing to the point of hindering growth. Plus, prey is harder for them to find. They tend to grow faster in smaller enclosures where they feel more secure and have easy access to prey.

 

[Theneil]

Sounds like a 1.5 inch BODY lenght so probably 4+ inch legspan? I think it's jumping the gun to say that the enclosure is too big since we haven't even seen the spider yet...

 

[Chris S]

You should definitely consider rehousing into something smaller, like a small critter keeper, and wait to use the 5 gallon as the permanent (adult) enclosure. Overly large enclosures often cause excessive hiding and burrowing to the point of hindering growth. Plus, prey is harder for them to find. They tend to grow faster in smaller enclosures where they feel more secure and have easy access to prey.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Sounds like a 1.5 inch BODY lenght so probably 4+ inch legspan? I think it's jumping the gun to say that the enclosure is too big since we haven't even seen the spider yet...

Well, it ate 4 crickets last night. Not really concerned about the hunting but will keep an eye on it. Was more wondering about the depth of the hide and the fill in front of the hide. I just wanted to make sure the log isn’t buried too much. Im guessing it will dig out if it wants too?

 

[cold blood]

you want the hide buried....the biggest mistake people make with hides is too much open space. 4 crickets is like a months worth of food though....lol. Not a huge deal, but the faster you fatten it, the more it will fast and hide in the long run. There is no hurry to plump it quickly, take your time.

 

[Theneil]

i think it should be fine. The T has plenty of room to excavate things how it likes and should be able to dig itself out just fine.

 

[Chris S]

Thanks everyone. Crickets were really small. Still trying to gauge everything. Figured it wouldn’t eat if it wasn’t hungry. Now I know. Thx.

 

[Lokee85]

Sounds like a 1.5 inch BODY lenght so probably 4+ inch legspan? I think it's jumping the gun to say that the enclosure is too big since we haven't even seen the spider yet...

Actually, you can see the spider under the log in post #6, that's the only reason I suggested rehousing.

 

[cold blood]

Actually, you can see the spider under the log in post #6, that's the only reason I suggested rehousing.

Good catch.

Op, this is an example of what I was describing about the hide...there is entirely too much space under it. The space should be just enough for the t to fit under. I generally bury the whole hide almost to the top and just use a couple fingers to open a small space for the t to squeeze into...they excavate from that point.

Don't look at a hide as a permanent home. think of t more like a front door....its not a home, it should be looked at as a starting place for a burrow or den.


Often they look just like holes when they are excavated.....here's a couple....these all contain a rather large wood (or ceramic) piece. In many you can barely even tell.

albo

• cold blood
• Nov 4, 2017

mm gbb

• cold blood
• May 18, 2017
• 4

MM GBB just prior to getting the job done.

Resized952017031195214505

• cold blood
• Mar 12, 2017
• 3

C. schieoedtei

This is the best look I ever get of her...shame, because she is stunning.

Resized952017030895212634

• cold blood
• Mar 8, 2017

Nhandu chromatus

2017031095222350

• cold blood
• Mar 30, 2017
• 6

Resized952016111395202627

• cold blood
• Nov 17, 2016
• 2

 

[cold blood]

Also, it does appear like a re house would be a good idea.....its really just a tremendous waste of space. Larger over-size enclosures are really good at encouraging a lot of hiding.....and I would bet you would prefer to see t regularly. Now its not going to necessarily harm, but it will make things easier for the t...and you as well. Easier to monitor, easier to feed, easier to spot clean. A smaller enclosure really is a win-win.....your choice though, you did make good alterations otherwise. The lack of clutter will keep feeders from hiding, the removal of the mesh makes it safer, the addition of sub makes it safer as well and you are still asking for improvements. Its nice to see, keep up the effort

 

[boina]

I like the enclosure, size and all. The hide is a bit big, as @cold blood said, but that's my only criticism. I have a 5" B. hamorii in a 10 gallon and she's perfectly fine, always out, moving around occasionally and eating great. Since this isn't exactly a sling a see no problem with a bigger enclosure.

 

[Theneil]

Actually, you can see the spider under the log in post #6, that's the only reason I suggested rehousing.

Oh, i guess there is a shadow in there. LOL.

 

[Chris S]

Good catch.

Op, this is an example of what I was describing about the hide...there is entirely too much space under it. The space should be just enough for the t to fit under. I generally bury the whole hide almost to the top and just use a couple fingers to open a small space for the t to squeeze into...they excavate from that point.

It was fairly tight originally. The T did the excavating.