A. hentzi wandering - enclosure issues?

[viper69]

Hmmm how weird! Maybe my husband high jacked my account again. He doesn't keep track of my husbandry or the Ts and their behavior. But this is the first time I signed onto AB today ??? I'm confused now.

We aren't, we read the proof! Guilty as charged, you're walkin' the plank!

 

[MrsHaas]

We aren't, we read the proof! Guilty as charged, you're walkin' the plank!

I'm innocent I swear!
I'll bet it was U the high jacked my account...

 

[G. pulchra]

I think were all confused

 

[MrsHaas]

I think were all confused

Yup, I was hubby high jacked. Confusion now laid to rest lol

 

[Jeff23]

Maybe @Jeff Allen will have a few screen questions for ya

I honestly don't know if this is sarcasm or not.

lol. No sarcasm but we did have confusion over lollipop emoticons

The discussion in another thread is the round aluminum metal mesh covers that fit on Jamie's Tarantula's AMAC boxes. I know some of the screen covers like what comes with aquariums and are used on house screen doors are a thinner gauge material. I just bought some of that screen door material for my new cricket tub, but I would never use it for a T enclosure after learning from threads on this site. I currently own several arboreal AMAC boxes from Jamie and am curious if anyone else has a long history with them (or an equal gauge mesh material). We know it is possible for it to be chewed apart since pictures of one incident are available in another thread. My curiosity is the time window. If it takes a week or weeks to do it at least there is reaction time to fix the problem. The largest containers Jamie offers do not have the screens in them which is good since that is going to be a much larger spider. If I find that use of these screens are going to be a risk I suppose I would need to switch to standard AMAC boxes or the 32 ounce deli cups for smaller spiders.

 

[Jeff23]

http://imgur.com/a/PgRzp

The above link is an album with pictures of her and her enclosure.

Since I am still new to the hobby, I can't give much advice, but that is a nice looking hentzi. The are high on my wish list along with a couple other Aphonopelma - hoping to get some slings in the near future.

 

[Jake94]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I guess I'll just count myself lucky to be getting to see her every now and then. And yeah Viper69, I've been trying to follow the suggestions of the old timers on here regarding handling. I do my best to keep it to a minimum, but she's so docile and seemingly calm that I make mistakes like the picture sometimes.

 

[viper69]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I guess I'll just count myself lucky to be getting to see her every now and then. And yeah Viper69, I've been trying to follow the suggestions of the old timers on here regarding handling. I do my best to keep it to a minimum, but she's so docile and seemingly calm that I make mistakes like the picture sometimes.

Understood, new and experienced T owners don't hold Ts. It's not restricted to senior owners at all.

We had someone in your situation have their pet walk off the person's hand a few weeks ago.

I guess it's a question of what's more important to you- life of your Pet or a bit of personal enjoyment that puts your pet's life in lethal jeopardy?

And if one won't control themselves, there are far safer ways to do what you are doing. Good luck

 

[Jake94]

Understood, new and experienced T owners don't hold Ts. It's not restricted to senior owners at all.

We had someone in your situation have their pet walk off the person's hand a few weeks ago.

I guess it's a question of what's more important to you- life of your Pet or a bit of personal enjoyment that puts your pet's life in lethal jeopardy?

And if one won't control themselves, there are far safer ways to do what you are doing. Good luck

Man, you are a very off-putting individual. I respect your extensive knowledge of tarantula husbandry; you are no doubt a great asset to the hobby, and especially this forum. However, unlike many of your 'peers' in this community, you act elitist and condescendingly towards so many people whom are only asking for advice or help. I really believe that helping tarantulas is your intention, but shaming beginners would seem contradictory to that. Maybe there are more masochists in this hobby than I am aware of, but I know having my nose rubbed in my mistakes would make me less inclined to come seek help in the future.

 

[Jeff23]

Man, you are a very off-putting individual. I respect your extensive knowledge of tarantula husbandry; you are no doubt a great asset to the hobby, and especially this forum. However, unlike many of your 'peers' in this community, you act elitist and condescendingly towards so many people whom are only asking for advice or help. I really believe that helping tarantulas is your intention, but shaming beginners would seem contradictory to that. Maybe there are more masochists in this hobby than I am aware of, but I know having my nose rubbed in my mistakes would make me less inclined to come seek help in the future.

I don't think viper69 is shaming you or acting elitist. He is simply stating a fact based on the picture you provided. I think the animal lover in all of us has this desire to elevate our connection with our pets. So a huge number of people roll the dice by holding their T's. I would be included on this list if I had not visited this board multiple times before ever buying my first T. viper69 simply wants you to enjoy your T for many more years.

I have been trying to make a habit of moving my containers down to the floor when I work with mine (especially as a beginner). I will probably be willing to let one walk on my hand but this would only be when it helps for movement to a new enclosure or during cleanup of the existing one for "active" docile tarantulas. I think the Euathlus sp. Red comes to mine as another T that will create this type of scenario.

 

[viper69]

I have been trying to make a habit of moving my containers down to the floor when I work with mine

That's EXACTLY what I did when I first started. Thank you for reminding me of a T-safe practice that I have forgotten to mention all these years

 

[viper69]

Man, you are a very off-putting individual. I respect your extensive knowledge of tarantula husbandry; you are no doubt a great asset to the hobby, and especially this forum. However, unlike many of your 'peers' in this community, you act elitist and condescendingly towards so many people whom are only asking for advice or help. I really believe that helping tarantulas is your intention, but shaming beginners would seem contradictory to that. Maybe there are more masochists in this hobby than I am aware of, but I know having my nose rubbed in my mistakes would make me less inclined to come seek help in the future.

Hey Jake, I appreciate your comments. Let me write a few things so you perhaps have a better understanding of my point of view, @Jeff23 did sum up some of my thoughts.

I tend to be objective more often than not when I analyze what someone is doing and what they have written.

I also tend to be succinct/direct/blunt more often than not as well. That approach is not for everyone. If we were in person my approach would be different, I would have the chance to actually learn about you as a person. However given that I read a lot of posts and reply a reasonable amount to both on the board and to random PMs from new people and friends, there's not a lot of time for me to understand each person's psyche and craft a message that fits that person's mind so as not to be offended. As a result, people get the "straight talk" from me. It's honest, and straight to the point.

Jeff23 said the rest that I would have written.

 

[Jake94]

Hey Jake, I appreciate your comments. Let me write a few things so you perhaps have a better understanding of my point of view, @Jeff23 did sum up some of my thoughts.

I tend to be objective more often than not when I analyze what someone is doing and what they have written.

I also tend to be succinct/direct/blunt more often than not as well. That approach is not for everyone. If we were in person my approach would be different, I would have the chance to actually learn about you as a person. However given that I read a lot of posts and reply a reasonable amount to both on the board and to random PMs from new people and friends, there's not a lot of time for me to understand each person's psyche and craft a message that fits that person's mind so as not to be offended. As a result, people get the "straight talk" from me. It's honest, and straight to the point.

Jeff23 said the rest that I would have written.

You didn't owe me an explanation, but I really appreciate it. I get where you're coming from. I was having totally unrelated emotional difficulties when I wrote what I did, and your even-tempered reply shows that I got the wrong impression initially. I hope you'll accept my apology for being so brash.

 

[Garth Vader]

I recently acquired an E sp red and she's curious, docile, all of that. I can understand the urge to handle a T like that. I've handled her a few times (during rehousing and when I was checking her enclosure to remove uneaten food and she just walked out). She just walks all over my hand and up my arm. I worry what could happen if she got spooked- she could run into my hair and spook me, fall on the ground, and so on. I dont think it is worth it. At all. I'd be devastated and feel like a total butt head if something bad happened to her.

Also- @viper69 if I can offer my opinion, I think you are an important voice on AB. I appreciate your straight talk and you've helped me a lot since I joined AB. Your knowledge is extensive and so helpful. You're one of the main reasons I purchased an E sp red. Now I'm perusing your helpful posts on Avics. Hey! You may be to blame for my new addiction!

 

[REEFSPIDER]

lol. No sarcasm but we did have confusion over lollipop emoticons

The discussion in another thread is the round aluminum metal mesh covers that fit on Jamie's Tarantula's AMAC boxes. I know some of the screen covers like what comes with aquariums and are used on house screen doors are a thinner gauge material. I just bought some of that screen door material for my new cricket tub, but I would never use it for a T enclosure after learning from threads on this site. I currently own several arboreal AMAC boxes from Jamie and am curious if anyone else has a long history with them (or an equal gauge mesh material). We know it is possible for it to be chewed apart since pictures of one incident are available in another thread. My curiosity is the time window. If it takes a week or weeks to do it at least there is reaction time to fix the problem. The largest containers Jamie offers do not have the screens in them which is good since that is going to be a much larger spider. If I find that use of these screens are going to be a risk I suppose I would need to switch to standard AMAC boxes or the 32 ounce deli cups for smaller spiders.

Crickets will chew threw the door screen your planning to use for your cricket bin.

 

[Jeff23]

I recently acquired an E sp red and she's curious, docile, all of that. I can understand the urge to handle a T like that. I've handled her a few times (during rehousing and when I was checking her enclosure to remove uneaten food and she just walked out). She just walks all over my hand and up my arm. I worry what could happen if she got spooked- she could run into my hair and spook me, fall on the ground, and so on. I dont think it is worth it. At all. I'd be devastated and feel like a total butt head if something bad happened to her.

Also- @viper69 if I can offer my opinion, I think you are an important voice on AB. I appreciate your straight talk and you've helped me a lot since I joined AB. Your knowledge is extensive and so helpful. You're one of the main reasons I purchased an E sp red. Now I'm perusing your helpful posts on Avics. Hey! You may be to blame for my new addiction!

I agree with everything you said. And with E sp red being such a slow grower the pain would be even worse from the replacement angle.

 

[Jeff23]

Crickets will chew threw the door screen your planning to use for your cricket bin.

I agree, but am not worried about it. I have a double layer of screen (one attached on inside and one on outside). It is easy to monitor, so I can power up the glue gun if a hole starts to form. The screen is only used on a section for the lid and the tub is almost two foot deep with very light layer of Vaseline around the upper section and most parts of the lid. I haven't seen any crickets hanging out on the lid so far. My side vents are smaller and are made of the thicker gauge aluminum units from Jamie's. In addition, I am already getting escapees anyway from part of the time when I open the lid and get some new ones for food. Most of the escapees are those 1/8" crickets that I bought. I can barely tell if one has jumped on my arm. Then it gets a free ride out of the container.

Half of my tub is reserved for tubes/egg crates for them to hide (easy for me to dispense). The other side contains a plate that I can swap out containing veggies and cricket food. I am loving this container much better than those store cricket holders (got the general idea from Sana) And those store bought containers won't house 1/8" crickets either (holes are too big).

EDIT* Can someone explain to me how you properly reference another user in your post without using the quote or +quote button?

 

[REEFSPIDER]

I agree, but am not worried about it. I have a double layer of screen (one attached on inside and one on outside). It is easy to monitor, so I can power up the glue gun if a hole starts to form. The screen is only used on a section for the lid and the tub is almost two foot deep with very light layer of Vaseline around the upper section and most parts of the lid. I haven't seen any crickets hanging out on the lid so far. My side vents are smaller and are made of the thicker gauge aluminum units from Jamie's. In addition, I am already getting escapees anyway from part of the time when I open the lid and get some new ones for food. Most of the escapees are those 1/8" crickets that I bought. I can barely tell if one has jumped on my arm. Then it gets a free ride out of the container.

Half of my tub is reserved for tubes/egg crates for them to hide (easy for me to dispense). The other side contains a plate that I can swap out containing veggies and cricket food. I am loving this container much better than those store cricket holders (got the general idea from Sana) And those store bought containers won't house 1/8" crickets either (holes are too big).

EDIT* Can someone explain to me how you properly reference another user in your post without using the quote or +quote button?

Sounds like a good setup. I had a Rubbermaid cricket tub with 1/2" hole drilled and screen hot glued tediously over each hole. I didn't however check my crickets daily and they did get out of it. It probably took them a couple days and I only had like 3-5 escape. Luckily all my live feeders are reared/stored in a re-purposed mini fridge. But I have since stopped using crickets all togeher.

 

[Jeff23]

Sounds like a good setup. I had a Rubbermaid cricket tub with 1/2" hole drilled and screen hot glued tediously over each hole. I didn't however check my crickets daily and they did get out of it. It probably took them a couple days and I only had like 3-5 escape. Luckily all my live feeders are reared/stored in a re-purposed mini fridge. But I have since stopped using crickets all togeher.

I love the refrigerator idea, but so far I haven't had good luck on my T's eating meal worms or super worms. I guess part of it may be due to my poor implementation. I crush the head which makes it stop moving very much. I am worried about leaving them fully alive to disappear into the substrate before the spider knows it since all but one of my spiders are juveniles or slings (molting unknowns).

The one area where I still worry about my cricket container is around the edges of the lid. I may need to put a bead of some safe silicone material on the lid to insure there is no obvious gap in case one gets to that area. I tried to find a tub at the store that already has gaskets for a sealed lid, but everything had the wrong dimensions somewhere. As long as it is crickets and not roaches getting on the loose and the quantity is very low I am okay with it. I may change my mind when some of them start growing wings

 

[REEFSPIDER]

I love the refrigerator idea, but so far I haven't had good luck on my T's eating meal worms or super worms. I guess part of it may be due to my poor implementation. I crush the head which makes it stop moving very much. I am worried about leaving them fully alive to disappear into the substrate before the spider knows it since all but one of my spiders are juveniles or slings (molting unknowns).

The one area where I still worry about my cricket container is around the edges of the lid. I may need to put a bead of some safe silicone material on the lid to insure there is no obvious gap in case one gets to that area. I tried to find a tub at the store that already has gaskets for a sealed lid, but everything had the wrong dimensions somewhere. As long as it is crickets and not roaches getting on the loose and the quantity is very low I am okay with it. I may change my mind when some of them start growing wings

Yeah worms are a pita.
I have dubia and mealworms right now. And I should have added the fridge is not cold.

I cannot stand crickets anymore.
Its the singing, the smell, the crickets.