Any reason for a spider to avoid a hide?

[Blue25]

Hey everyone, my B. albopilosum doesn't go in her/his hide anymore... I got it a couple weeks ago and have it in a 12x12x12 exo terra enclosure. Coconut fiber as the sub. Humidity stays between 60-75 and the temp stays around 65.

I have noticed that it likes to hang out anywhere BUT the hide I got for it. Its a wooden hide I got from a reptile shop and its more then big enough for the spider. Its still a juvenile about 2-3 inches atm. I made sure that the sub was also dug out to offer a little more height. It would go in there at the start when I first got it but now it avoids it... any ideas as to why?

Also it seems to want to eat every time a cricket is near the cage... do I assume that the pet shop didn't feed them often and continue to almost power feed it or back off to a few a week?

 

[Chris LXXIX]

How you can measure the humidity, to begin with? And using which accurate device? The average 'pet shop' ones? Hope not -.-

Don't worry for the humidity, adults and even juvenile B.albopilosum are perfectly fine with a water dish.

I don't know what coconut husk is. You mean coco fiber? That's the same?

 

[JoshDM020]

Why have you got a terrestrial in an exo terra? Those are more for arboreals, if im remembering the style correctly.
Anyways, spiders may or may not use hides. Its kinda up to them and each one has its own "personality" so theres no way to predict what it wants. If you had it in something with deeper sub, it would probably make a network of burrows. Also, ive read these guys are pretty good eaters. And even if the petstore didnt feed it often, so long as they did at least once a month, its most likely not starving.
Edit to add that pictures are your best friend on this forum.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Anyway, an hide is mandatory but don't worry if sometimes remain unused. Still today I have to see my A.geniculata using her. If the spider eat, things are alright, despite the use or not of the hide.

 

[WoofSpider]

Post pictures of your enclosure.

 

[Blue25]

Why have you got a terrestrial in an exo terra? Those are more for arboreals, if im remembering the style correctly.
Anyways, spiders may or may not use hides. Its kinda up to them and each one has its own "personality" so theres no way to predict what it wants. If you had it in something with deeper sub, it would probably make a network of burrows. Also, ive read these guys are pretty good eaters. And even if the petstore didnt feed it often, so long as they did at least once a month, its most likely not starving.
Edit to add that pictures are your best friend on this forum.

The enclosure is 12x12x12 so a cube, normally the ones from that company are taller but this was one not made for height, just a foot by foot by foot enclosure, labeled for terrestrial.

 

[Blue25]

Post pictures of your enclosure.

Will do when I get home from work today.

 

[vespers]

I don't know what coconut husk is. You mean coco fiber? That's the same?

Its sort of the same...same material, different consistency. Usually coco fiber refers to the finely ground stuff like the Zoo Med's Eco Earth or Exo Terra's Plantation soil:
http://www.exo-terra.com/download/high_res/products/images/PT2770_Plantation_Soil_Packaging.jpg

Coco Husk is more chunky and not ground as fine, more mulch-like:
http://www.exo-terra.com/download/high_res/products/images/PT2775_Coco_Husk_Packaging.jpg

 

[Trenor]

Hey everyone, my B. albopilosum doesn't go in her/his hide anymore... I got it a couple weeks ago and have it in a 12x12x12 exo terra enclosure. Coconut fiber as the sub. Humidity stays between 60-75 and the temp stays around 65.

I have noticed that it likes to hang out anywhere BUT the hide I got for it. Its a wooden hide I got from a reptile shop and its more then big enough for the spider. Its still a juvenile about 2-3 inches atm. I made sure that the sub was also dug out to offer a little more height. It would go in there at the start when I first got it but now it avoids it... any ideas as to why?

Also it seems to want to eat every time a cricket is near the cage... do I assume that the pet shop didn't feed them often and continue to almost power feed it or back off to a few a week?

It's not uncommon for NW tarantulas to use their hides less as they get bigger. My girl spends more time on top of her hide or in front of it than she does in it. I also noted that unless they are disturbed most of my non fossorial Ts will stay out of their hides.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Apologies in advance for the rant, I'm not having a go (even if my screw-facing avatar suggests otherwise).

First off, that enclosure is waaaaay too large for a juvenile, it isn't even suitable for an adult, glass Exo Terra enclosures are meant for arboreal species, the cubes might say "terrestrial" but they're made for reptiles, you can't fill them with enough substrate to safely house a Tarantula due to the front vents/doors.

All of my juveniles between 2 and 4 inches are in plastic Exo Terra small faunariums (9” x 6” x 6 1/2”) or small breeder boxes (8" x 8" x 5.5").
A 4"+ B. albopilosum would be fine in a medium flat faunarium (14” x 8” x 6”) for the rest of its life. As you've no doubt noticed, all of these enclosures are half the height of the one you're using or less, terrestrials don't do well with heights, a fall of a few inches can rupture the abdomen and then you'll be left with a dead Tarantula, and none of us want that, especially you.

As for the hide, Tarantulas like dark enclosed spaces, if it's a wide open chasm then your Tarantula won't feel safe in it and therefore won't use it. Give it a smaller hide and don't excavate under it, a Tarantula can dig an appropriate sized burrow for itself, it can't fill in a hole to make the hole the appropriate size (the only things that they excel in filling are their water dishes).
Many NW species just stop using their hides altogether as they get bigger, I prefer to give them the option, I'd rather they have one and never need it than for them to suddenly decide that they need one and not have it.

Tarantulas are opportunistic feeders, in the wild they don't know when their next meal will be so they are hard-wired to eat whatever comes along until they either physically cannot eat anymore or, if they are far along enough in their moult cycle, they have enough food stored that they can just hide away until their next moult.
That being said, they don't need to eat much and they can go months without eating and be fine, a lot of people feed juveniles of that size once a week at most.

I think I've covered everything, I hope that helps.

 

[KezyGLA]

Nothing wrong with using exo terra terrariums for terrestrials if you use them right. Its all about how you set them up.

 

[Blue25]

Thanks for the feedback guys good to know that they wont use their hides all the time just wanted to make sure that it wasn't a more pressing issue.

 

[Blue25]

Apologies in advance for the rant, I'm not having a go (even if my screw-facing avatar suggests otherwise).

First off, that enclosure is waaaaay too large for a juvenile, it isn't even suitable for an adult, glass Exo Terra enclosures are meant for arboreal species, the cubes might say "terrestrial" but they're made for reptiles, you can't fill them with enough substrate to safely house a Tarantula due to the front vents/doors.

All of my juveniles between 2 and 4 inches are in plastic Exo Terra small faunariums (9” x 6” x 6 1/2”) or small breeder boxes (8" x 8" x 5.5").
A 4"+ B. albopilosum would be fine in a medium flat faunarium (14” x 8” x 6”) for the rest of its life. As you've no doubt noticed, all of these enclosures are half the height of the one you're using or less, terrestrials don't do well with heights, a fall of a few inches can rupture the abdomen and then you'll be left with a dead Tarantula, and none of us want that, especially you.

As for the hide, Tarantulas like dark enclosed spaces, if it's a wide open chasm then your Tarantula won't feel safe in it and therefore won't use it. Give it a smaller hide and don't excavate under it, a Tarantula can dig an appropriate sized burrow for itself, it can't fill in a hole to make the hole the appropriate size (the only things that they excel in filling are their water dishes).
Many NW species just stop using their hides altogether as they get bigger, I prefer to give them the option, I'd rather they have one and never need it than for them to suddenly decide that they need one and not have it.

Tarantulas are opportunistic feeders, in the wild they don't know when their next meal will be so they are hard-wired to eat whatever comes along until they either physically cannot eat anymore or, if they are far along enough in their moult cycle, they have enough food stored that they can just hide away until their next moult.
That being said, they don't need to eat much and they can go months without eating and be fine, a lot of people feed juveniles of that size once a week at most.

I think I've covered everything, I hope that helps.

Well now I know not to listen to the things they tell me at pet shops, that was their "recommended tarantula cage" next time I will know to take their advice with a grain of salt. Thank you for the helpful advice.

 

[Stig]

....and as stated, when some gets bigger and older they some times tend to say: " hide?, hide?, see these two Things here in da front skipper !, now sod off and leave me alone"

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Well now I know not to listen to the things they tell me at pet shops, that was their "recommended tarantula cage" next time I will know to take their advice with a grain of salt. Thank you for the helpful advice.

Yeah, they'll tell you any old ish to get you to spunk more money on stuff you don't need.

You could use the enclosure they sold you for an adult but you'd need to modify the lid and stand the enclosure on its back to make it a proper top-opening enclosure. There's a tutorial on here somewhere, I'll see if I can dig it up.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

There's a tutorial on here somewhere, I'll see if I can dig it up.

Here it is, the example shown is for a Nano Tall but this would work

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ex...rom-arboreal-to-terrestrial-pic-heavy.259864/

 

[Blue25]

Yeah, they'll tell you any old ish to get you to spunk more money on stuff you don't need.

You could use the enclosure they sold you for an adult but you'd need to modify the lid and stand the enclosure on its back to make it a proper top-opening enclosure. There's a tutorial on here somewhere, I'll see if I can dig it up.

This might sound a bit harsh but in the wild they can climb stuff a heck of a lot taller then a foot, I know they are clumsy climbers but I have faith that it will be ok in the current setup lol!

Also thanks for the link I will look into it and see if I can get some acrylic.

 

[Trenor]

Here it is, the example shown is for a Nano Tall but this would work

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ex...rom-arboreal-to-terrestrial-pic-heavy.259864/

I've never been a fan of the nano conversions. It's such a good looking enclosure to jack up by modding and laying it on it's side. I much prefer getting a nice clear shoe box to setup for it. Save that nano for an arboreal for the next tarantula.

This might sound a bit harsh but in the wild they can climb stuff a heck of a lot taller then a foot, I know they are clumsy climbers but I have faith that it will be ok in the current setup lol!

The problem is the harder enclosure furniture we put in increases the damage from a fall over just landing on the ground. Add to that glass sides (which is a lot smoother then the rock ledges or scrub brush branches in the wild) greatly increase the chances of a fall making it much higher then in the wild. Finally, tarantulas die from all kinds of things in the wild. I know that's how nature works and there are chances of a fall death in the wild. Even so, I'd rather not put more risk to my pet tarantulas just because the risks exists in the wild too.

I do tend to give my Ts higher substrate to enclosure top space compared to what a lot of people state but I try to ensure it's not a long fall (should they fall). I'd recommend getting a enclosure that is better suited to a terrestrial tarantula (I use modified clear shoe boxes) and then looking for a nice beginner arboreal for that upright enclosure.

My current favorite enclosures for terrestrials.

 

[boina]

I'm still stuck with the humidity and tems the OP mentioned. 65F temps - I find that a bit low for permanent temperature. As a nighttime low it's perfectly fine, but I wouldn't keep most tarantulas at that temp long term. Then humidity - 60-75%. What do you do to reach that humidity and how and where do you measure? Depending on these question there may be too much moisture in that cage. I have an ambient humidity of 60-80% around here, so I keep my B. albopilosum on dry sub, but if you need to moisten the sub substantially to reach that humidity or soak the enclosure that may be too much. Humidity directly over a moist substrate is a lot higher than 5" up, so if you measure higher up humidity can be as high as 95% from evaporation where your tarantula sits on the moist sub. Humidity also gets trapped under a hide when the sub is moist.

Because of all of those whens and ifs humidity numbers are completely meaningless, as others have stated before. You can keep your B. albopilosum on dry or partly moist substrate, but don't soak it just to reach some artificial and incorrect humidity numbers.

This might sound a bit harsh but in the wild they can climb stuff a heck of a lot taller then a foot,

I don't think you have thought this through. In the wild they don't encounter slippery glass walls. In the wild they live deep in burrows to hide from predators and only climb under dire circumstances. In the wild they climb and fall and die and that's it. There are really too many storys of tarantulas that fell and ruptured their abdomen around.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I've never been a fan of the nano conversions. It's such a good looking enclosure to jack up by modding and laying it on it's side. I much prefer getting a nice clear shoe box to setup for it. Save that nano for an arboreal for the next tarantula.

I'm not a fan either, just a suggestion for if the OP was dead set on using his cube as that would accommodate the extra sub required to reduce the fall risk. I'd personally just get the correct sized enclosure and then save the cube for a medium sized arboreal.