Substrate Help

[TheSwarm88]

Hello Everyone,

Basically having a special moment here, I have noticed that in my Chilean Rose enclosure the substrate has dried out from bottom to top, I was wondering should this be dry or do I need to replace or water the substrate?

Not sure what the colour or dampness should be, my T is happy but never goes into its hide just like to chill out around the enclosure but worried it's something I've done with the substrate as my spiderling T loves it's hide.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Allan

 

[EulersK]

You mentioned a sling - about what size are we talking about? Even a slings though, this species does quite well in very dry environments. For anything 1.5" dls or larger, I'd give nearly bone dry substrate. Given where you live, you could stick with never offering supplemental humidity beyond providing a water dish. For slings, spritz the side of the enclosure once per week (or so) to offer drinking water.

Could we see a picture of the enclosure?

 

[Ungoliant]

Basically having a special moment here, I have noticed that in my Chilean Rose enclosure the substrate has dried out from bottom to top, I was wondering should this be dry or do I need to replace or water the substrate?

How big is your spiderling? As a juvenile or adult, Grammostola rosea should be kept on dry substrate with only a water dish for moisture.

Edit: EulersK FTW

 

[EulersK]

How big is your spiderling? As a juvenile or adult, Grammostola rosea should be kept on dry substrate with only a water dish for moisture.

Edit: EulersK FTW

Nah, EulersK is just at work with nothing better to do than lurk AB's classifieds.

 

[TheSwarm88]

You mentioned a sling - about what size are we talking about? Even a slings though, this species does quite well in very dry environments. For anything 1.5" dls or larger, I'd give nearly bone dry substrate. Given where you live, you could stick with never offering supplemental humidity beyond providing a water dish. For slings, spritz the side of the enclosure once per week (or so) to offer drinking water.

Could we see a picture of the enclosure?

Thank you for your reply,

This is the enclosure and my T

Any help would be amazing

 

[TheSwarm88]

How big is your spiderling? As a juvenile or adult, Grammostola rosea should be kept on dry substrate with only a water dish for moisture.

Edit: EulersK FTW

She is about 5cm body span, and it's ok to let her substrate go completely dry then?

 

[TownesVanZandt]

She is about 5cm body span, and it's ok to let her substrate go completely dry then?

Yes, the substrate can safely be completely dry for a G. rosea at that size. To be honest the problems with your enclosure is not so much whether the substrate is completely dry or not, but the height from the substrate to the top of the enclosure. Terrestrial tarantulas are not great climbers and a fall might injure or even kill the spider. As a rule of the thumb there should not be more than 1.5-2 times the legspan from the substrate to the top. In your case you have a big enclosure and you would need to fill it with much, much more substrate. What´s easier is to use a different type of enclosure, more suitable for a terrestrial tarantula.

 

[TheSwarm88]

Yes, the substrate can safely be completely dry for a G. rosea at that size. To be honest the problems with your enclosure is not so much whether the substrate is completely dry or not, but the height from the substrate to the top of the enclosure. Terrestrial tarantulas are not great climbers and a fall might injure or even kill the spider. As a rule of the thumb there should not be more than 1.5-2 times the legspan from the substrate to the top. In your case you have a big enclosure and you would need to fill it with much, much more substrate. What´s easier is to use a different type of enclosure, more suitable for a terrestrial tarantula.

Ah thank you. Yeah I'm waiting for a new enclosure to come in the post as I've brought a couple and they are not very good as I can't see the beautiful spider.

What does your enclosure look like?

 

[EulersK]

Thank you for your reply,

This is the enclosure and my T

Any help would be amazing

Yeah, @TownesVanZandt covered it pretty well. It appears as if you have an Exoterra enclosure - that is, it has a front opening. Unfortunately for you, that means that you have no way to raise the substrate level. These creatures don't handle falls very well, and with a setup like that, you're asking for an accident. I've seen setups like yours with spiders that lives for years, and I've seen similar situations where the spider lasted a week. You're very much rolling the dice with this enclosure. If you can return the enclosure, I'd do that. If not... post a picture of the whole tank and I'll see what I can suggest to help you out. I work a lot with DIY myself, so we might be able to make something work.

Your substrate and spider look fine, so really don't worry about that. While you sort out the process of modifying/returning this enclosure, I'd house the spider in a latching shoebox. Something along these lines:

Not pretty, I know, but it's lightyears more appropriate for the spider than what you've got right now. You can buy those boxes for a couple dollars at Walmart. Take a look at this video on how to set up a proper terrestrial enclosure (clicky).

 

[Anoplogaster]

Yeah, @TownesVanZandt covered it pretty well. It appears as if you have an Exoterra enclosure - that is, it has a front opening. Unfortunately for you, that means that you have no way to raise the substrate level. These creatures don't handle falls very well, and with a setup like that, you're asking for an accident. I've seen setups like yours with spiders that lives for years, and I've seen similar situations where the spider lasted a week. You're very much rolling the dice with this enclosure. If you can return the enclosure, I'd do that. If not... post a picture of the whole tank and I'll see what I can suggest to help you out. I work a lot with DIY myself, so we might be able to make something work.

Your substrate and spider look fine, so really don't worry about that. While you sort out the process of modifying/returning this enclosure, I'd house the spider in a latching shoebox. Something along these lines:
View attachment 229379
Not pretty, I know, but it's lightyears more appropriate for the spider than what you've got right now. You can buy those boxes for a couple dollars at Walmart. Take a look at this video on how to set up a proper terrestrial enclosure (clicky).

Yup! Definitely don't want so much vertical space. But don't worry, you can save that exo terra for an arboreal spider down the road

 

[Ungoliant]

If you can return the enclosure, I'd do that. If not... post a picture of the whole tank and I'll see what I can suggest to help you out.

Or get a nice starter arboreal.

Empty enclosures are a difficult temptation to resist.

 

[cold blood]

Another suggestion, for this species, is to leave the floor more barren, otherwise prey just has instant hiding spots. There are other spiders you will get in the future where this nice look you created will come in handy.

The terrestrial set up you saw is a classic set up, which can be equally applied using almost anything that holds substrate and can be ventilated...some enclosures just require more sub than others....some require a ridiculous amount.

Judging by the dry sub question, I am guessing that you were previously adding moisture....aside from a water dish, everything else should be bone dry. Add moisture and they can start climbing and even stop eating...sometimes for months, just because of moisture. I learned this myself the hard way many years ago. Don't mist, don't over fill the water dish. Feed 2-4 times a month, one prey item at a time.

This species handles cooler weather than most other ts, has a much lower food requirement than most other ts (possibly the lowest) and is among the, if not the slowest growing species.

They can go years (up to 6) between molts as adults and will test a keeper's patience at every turn sometimes.....but they also live a really really long time...mines at least 30 and still strong. Ive heard (and believe) speculation that they can live over 40, but no one really knows for sure just how long a female is capable of living.

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• cold blood
• Oct 25, 2016

My old G. potato