When to move enclosures

[arachnophobespiderkeeper]

so, my B.Albo has grown quite a bit. The problem is, due to her burrowing, I cant actually tell if she's outgrown her enclosure or not. When she sits in there, she usually sits with her legs very close to her body, so its hard to measure how big she is with legs included and how that lines up with the enclosure. So my question is: Should I move her to a new enclosure, and risk it being a bit big for her. Or should I leave her until it's pretty obvious that her enclosures too small and risk her being in the enclosure despite it being too small for a bit? Her new enclosure would have a hide, and be more long and wide then it is tall, so she'd likely be using the hide rather then burrowing like her current one. And i'd be able to get better pictures of her and tell her size better for when she needs an upgrade to a perminant home.

But the downside is if i move her too early, she'll be pretty small compared to the container. So what do you guys think?

 

[Lucashank]

I think the general rule is the enclosure should be around 3-4x the leg span for floor space, and the height should be 1-2x for a terrestrial.
I keep mine in very spacious enclosures compared to many keepers I've seen here though. Many using deli cups until adulthood.
It would be of great help if you could provide an approximate size of tarantula vs. enclosure, or a picture.
I'm not the most conventionally experienced keeper here though.

 

[arachnophobespiderkeeper]

I think the general rule is the enclosure should be around 3-4x the leg span for floor space, and the height should be 1-2x for a terrestrial.
I keep mine in very spacious enclosures compared to many keepers I've seen here though. Many using deli cups until adulthood.
It would be of great help if you could provide an approximate size of tarantula vs. enclosure, or a picture.
I'm not the most conventionally experienced keeper here though.

Thats the problem really, I cant actually get a pic of the T because they squish their legs against them and are always in the burrow, so it's almost impossible to get a picture. I can try my best to get measurements, though i'd probably only be able to get accurate body measurements, not legs.

 

[grumpycow3]

try putting a locust. cricket or whatever you feed with in the cage at the other end and block off the burrow while it gets the prey.

 

[Deeser]

It really comes down to the space you have to offer and being able to ensure access to food.

The size recommendations for length and width in a terrestrial enclosure are always minimums so the T can comfortably move around. Height requirement of 1.5x DLS should be respected though to prevent harmful falls.

Most spiders like having cozy small dark spaces, but in nature they are in a wide open world in which they get to choose where that dark little nook will be. We often just don't give our Ts the choice. (Which really isn't a problem either).

That said, as long as the enclosure has enough sub and things to hide under + water bowl, I would worry more about being too small than being too big.

 

[arachnophobespiderkeeper]

try putting a locust. cricket or whatever you feed with in the cage at the other end and block off the burrow while it gets the prey.

she doesn't leave her burrow for food though :/ i need to put food down her burrow. food outside wont draw her out. im not even sure if she'd notice since the burrow is very deep

 

[Graves6661]

Use a straw and see if you can force her out or tickle her out enough. I used to do this to get my C. marshalli out of her burrow.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

The general rule is that the enclosure should be around 2x DLS wide and 3x DLS long, the height of the enclosure itself doesn't matter provided you make sure that the gap between the top of the substrate and the top of the enclosure is no more than 1.5x DLS to prevent injury from falling.

The "tickle method" is a good way to coax them out of burrows, just get something long/light/thin (I use thin plastic cable ties as they have just the right amount of flexibility) and lightly drag it across the substrate just inside the entrance to simulate prey movement and the T should come out to investigate, or you can use it to poke around in the burrow (just be careful doing this) until the T comes out.

 

[miss moxie]

Have you tried sending her free movie tickets? When she comes out to go to the movies you can measure her then.

B. albos grow pretty quickly compared to the other Brachys, so even if the enclosure turns out to look "big" on her, it won't stay that way for long.