# A. Baergi/Hentzi setup?



## Vodzimir (Aug 1, 2009)

Ugh, I hope this is the right place for this.

I won't go into all the details here, but our town's resident Arachno-guy has made me a 'surprise gift' of either an Oklahoma or a Texas brown (He just called her a "Chocolate Tarantula") that he was keeping in a dixie cup.

I used the search to look for more info here, but I didn't see anything about housing them. I haven't found a whole lot of info about them in captivity on the 'net either, other than people calling them "eeriely docile".

This is my first T, and I've read a ton about T care in general, but I wanted to make sure that her enclosure was ok, or what I can do to improve it.

I have her in a 10 gallon with "Bed-A-beast" substrate, a sterilized wood/bark hide, a rock that's anchored to the floor of the tank and a shallow water dish. I'm keeping the substrate damp, but I don't know if she'd prefer it drier? I've been feeding her Discoid roaches.

Here's some pics; (the green thing is a blanket. I keep the half of the tank over her hide covered, because she seems more nervous if I don't.

Top






Side






Closeup of Bat; she's had the bare spots since before I've had her - those are from kicking hairs, yeah?


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## Kenton Burris (Aug 1, 2009)

Cool. Welcome to the addiction .:clap: 

You should put a lot more substrate in that tank since it is pretty tall. If the T climbs on the glass and falls it could easily rupture it's abdomen. There should be at the most, 2x the legs span of the T vertically from the top of the tank. Other than that it looks pretty good.


Cheers.


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## Vodzimir (Aug 2, 2009)

Alright, thanks so much! :worship:  I will load her up with more bedding ASAP!


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## Drachenjager (Aug 2, 2009)

A. hentzi. Either Oklahoma or Texas brown is acceptable as a common name. 
Bone dry substrate, water dish and more dirt. 
I hate bed a beast. i prefer peat moss . anyway. I kept my first ones on native soil. never a problem. 
they will burrow or use a hide. and are generally too docile for their own good lol


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## Vodzimir (Aug 3, 2009)

Okay. I was misting it a little bit for humidity, but I will _definitely_ stop doing that since she likes it drier!

I will also get alternate substrates to at least put in layers on top of the BaB, because I don't have quite enough to fill her tank as high as it needs to be at the moment.

Thanks much for the info, she will definitely be MUCH happier (well, hopefully) once her tank is corrected!

I do agree with them being too docile for their own good, haha. She's been putting up with me changing her tank around like a champ.


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## Julia (Aug 3, 2009)

Welcome!  And I must say....I love your enthusiasm and commitment to proper care.   

How big is she?  And are you sure it's a girl?  (Or are you just saying "she" in a nondescript way?)

Now be careful!  Before you know it, you'll be making a post entitled, "I just got my 100th T...."


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## Vodzimir (Aug 3, 2009)

Thank you! :] I'd like for her to be happy in her own T-kind of way, so I do want to make sure she's in a good enclosure.

She's maybe 3" measured diagonally from the "knee" of her second leg to the "knee" of her fourth leg. I say 'about' cause she's roughly as long diagonally as my finger, and my finger is roughly 3". I was really surprised she let me get that close with a hand without trying to take it off, but like Drachenjager said, she is almost _too_ docile.

I say 'she' because she had a failed egg sac (She kicked it out of her hide and into the middle of the tank) around three days after I got her. I feel awful about that, but the guy I got her from never mentioned breeding her at all. Either he thought it failed, or she was a wild-caught T and he didn't know she had eggs either.


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## curiousme (Aug 4, 2009)

SilentHero said:


> Cool. Welcome to the addiction .:clap:
> 
> You should put a lot more substrate in that tank since it is pretty tall. If the T climbs on the glass and falls it could easily rupture it's abdomen. There should be at the most, 2x the legs span of the T vertically from the top of the tank.
> 
> Cheers.


Others may say differently, but we prefer to have only a body length to body length and a half.  Especially for an A. hentzi, since there's not much chance of it bolting out of the enclosure when you open it.  It will have problems if it tries to climb the glass, as it would be clumsy at it.  Falls can be disastrous, so better safe then sorry IMO!  Just my two cents!


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## Kenton Burris (Aug 4, 2009)

curiousme said:


> Others may say differently, but we prefer to have only a body length to body length and a half.  Especially for an A. hentzi, since there's not much chance of it bolting out of the enclosure when you open it.  It will have problems if it tries to climb the glass, as it would be clumsy at it.  Falls can be disastrous, so better safe then sorry IMO!  Just my two cents!



Well, all of my terrestrial's tanks have much less than 2x body length. However, In the past I have kept a few adult Ts with 2x their body length between the lid and they have done fine. I recommend much less, but 2x should the the most they should have. And when I say "body length" I really mean the body length of the T itself and not the leg-span.


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## codykrr (Aug 4, 2009)

im not going to discredit anyone...but being as i keep alot of A. henzi myself....i wouldnt keep them dry by any means...here in missouri where there found you can life rock after ock and find them.  and under each one its almost always made itself a home in a soil bowl thats very moist. and are often seen on the surface after a nice shower.  i would acually keep them moderatly damp. and around 65 to 70% humidity.  here in missouri its very humid(80 to 95 % ) except winter. even oklahoma species can be found under large rocks where its nice and moist.  like i said not trying to say anyone is wrong. just sharing an observation. and if im not credible enough ask brianS, backwoods or any others from the mo, bughunt.

im sure it wouldnt hurt to keep them "dry" as long as there is some humidity but i prefer to keep hem more on the moist side.


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## Vodzimir (Aug 5, 2009)

Thanks for more info Cody, Silent and Curious!

She's been sitting on top of her hide lately, so I dampened things down again slightly. That hasn't really changed her demeanor -- she hasn't been in her hide for more than the 30 seconds after I put her back in the enclosure. This only seems odd to me because in the wild the females don't usually leave their burrows if they can help it, right?

I offered her a roach (close to the size of the crickets she'd been eating to try and avoid startling her too bad) and she soundly ignored it, so I don't suppose it's because she's hungry.


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## codykrr (Aug 5, 2009)

i always lay a slab of cork bark flat in their enclosures, they eventually burrow underneath it.

also it may not be eating sue to the fact she hasnt yet settled in. give her a month and offer her ood again. it can take a while for this species to adjust to home renovations.

also if you need more info im sure backwoods, me or brianS wouldnt mind helping. we live where there found and have seen many in nature. you should check out the missouri bug hunt thread in the field section.


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