B. Hamorii enclosure guidance

[snarboy]

After like 6 years of tarantula keeping research and watching videos I decided to finally get a b. hamorii and g. pulchra. They are both juveniles at this point, and while my g. pulchra is doing great my b. hamorii has been refusing food (which I know is pretty common with brachypelma) and just been sitting on his walls.
I've redone the enclosure after a while of this, I made sure the soil was packed down and moved some of the sphagnum moss to the corners since the soft texture might've been discouraging. then made it more climbable since that's what he wants to do I guess, and he's been climbing and staying up high.
Today I didn't see him in the enclosure and was like oh cool he's finally checking out his hide. But I spotted him in the corner underneath some foliage kind of scrunched up. I not nervous and checked for signs of death but his abdomen looks fine,he just looks like he crawled into a tight little space in the corner.
I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice or if this is pretty normal. I've attached a pic of the enclosure (Jamie's tarantulas enclosure set up, I'm waiting on some other supplies for when I size up the enclosure) and him. My instinct is to add more foliage and climbing stuff as well as give him maybe more places to hide, but I worry about stressing him out by messing with his enclosure when I just rehoused him. Does he just need time to adjust or can I do anything differently? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[kingshockey]

i would clear out some of that junk (moss fake plants) so it has some open space and solid ground most likely it will perch on its hide thats what mine does going on 4 plus years it also took a long time to settle

 

[Matt Man]

dirt, started burrow, hide, water done. Keep the decorations to a minimum, all the more so when it eats up floor space

 

[snarboy]

i would clear out some of that junk (moss fake plants) so it has some open space and solid ground most likely it will perch on its hide thats what mine does going on 4 plus years it also took a long time to settle

Thanks, I actually had him in a set up with just a hide and some dirt, same as my Grammostola pulchra. But he just stayed up in the corner of the wall for weeks so I decided to add stuff. He started climbing and moving around more but now he's scrunched up. He's never burrowed

dirt, started burrow, hide, water done. Keep the decorations to a minimum, all the more so when it eats up floor space

Thanks! Its weird though I've had him in an enclosure with just his cork bark hide, started burrow, and a water dish for weeks since they seem to like that. He rarely ever got on the ground except for water at night, other than that he has just been sat on the acrylic wall. When I added decor he started climbing on them instead of the wall but now he's trying to hide inside them and I didn't exactly set it up for that

 

[kingshockey]

Thanks, I actually had him in a set up with just a hide and some dirt, same as my Grammostola pulchra. But he just stayed up in the corner of the wall for weeks so I decided to add stuff. He started climbing and moving around more but now he's scrunched up. He's never burrowed

mine never has either or used any hides other than perch on them

 

[Tract]

Mine never burrows. Just rearranges the moss and dump some of it inside the hide to block it off or in the water dish most of the time. I caught it sometimes using the moss like a bed. Little weirdo.

I keep mine in a sterelite shoe box with the substrate dry and occasionally moisten one side where the moss is.

 

[Smotzer]

Too much clutter in the enclosure, keep it a little more simpler and wait for it to settle in

 

[darkness975]

Too much clutter in the enclosure, keep it a little more simpler and wait for it to settle in

Agreed. It might take 2 or more weeks. My G. pulchripes took about 3 weeks to finally calm down and unscrunch herself from the corner.

 

[viper69]

I’d put it in a terrestrial setup

 

[snarboy]

Thanks everyone! He is out and about again and on the dirt more but next time I'm doing maintenance I'm going to remove some of the stuff until I size up his enclosure.

I’d put it in a terrestrial setup

This is a terrestrial set up, he's just 1 1/2 inches so he's in a 4x4x6. I'll be upgrading to a longer one when he gains another inch or so

 

[viper69]

This is a terrestrial set up, he's just 1 1/2 inches so he's in a 4x4x6. I'll be upgrading to a longer one when he gains another inch or so

No it isn't. Setups that are taller than they are wide/long are meant for animals that move vertically from a basic sense. However, you have plenty of sub so there is no issue here of death of fall injury. I wrote the above in the event you were not aware going forward. We have TONS of people that don't give a crap/know any better etc and put terrestrials into arboreal setups.

 

[snarboy]

No it isn't. Setups that are taller than they are wide/long are meant for animals that move vertically from a basic sense. However, you have plenty of sub so there is no issue here of death of fall injury. I wrote the above in the event you were not aware going forward. We have TONS of people that don't give a crap/know any better etc and put terrestrials into arboreal setups.

Ah okay thanks for letting me know, that's super weird I got it from Jamie's tarantulas marked specifically a terrestrial set up, I've heard good things about their enclosures before. I did think it was pretty tall for a terrestrial but also they're small so I assumed it's for burrowing, which my g pulchra definitely uses every inch of substrate in that enclosure. But moving forward I'll definitely keep that in mind

 

[viper69]

Ah okay thanks for letting me know, that's super weird I got it from Jamie's tarantulas marked specifically a terrestrial set up, I've heard good things about their enclosures before. I did think it was pretty tall for a terrestrial but also they're small so I assumed it's for burrowing, which my g pulchra definitely uses every inch of substrate in that enclosure. But moving forward I'll definitely keep that in mind

It’s fine for burrowing species. Some will use it, some won’t burrow.

 

[Dorifto]

Maybe it's suitable for some fossorials, but for a terrestrial T I'd get a larger enclosure.

A longer enclosure will allow you to decorate it better and to offer better gradients.

 

[snarboy]

Agreed. It might take 2 or more weeks. My G. pulchripes took about 3 weeks to finally calm down and unscrunch herself from the corner.

After 3 weeks he literally waited until after I posted this to come down and start chilling on the substrate, guess it does just take time!

 

[kingshockey]

just wait until it torments you by fasting and not molting for months

 

[snarboy]

Maybe it's suitable for some fossorials, but for a terrestrial T I'd get a larger enclosure.

A longer enclosure will allow you to decorate it better and to offer better gradients.

I have a suitable sized critter keeper somewhere around here, I've been waiting till he got a little bigger but it sounds like it'd be a good time to move him to that soon. He's settled down and has been chill on the substrate again so I'll get that going pretty soon

 

[Dorifto]

Imho it'd be a better enclosure, even if I personally hate them, due to broken fang issues with them. If your T doesn't chew the grills, it shouldn't be any issues.

 

[snarboy]

Imho it'd be a better enclosure, even if I personally hate them, due to broken fang issues with them. If your T doesn't chew the grills, it shouldn't be any issues.

Yeah I'm not the biggest fan aesthetic wise and with all the safety concerns the lid can cause, they are super cheap though and it'll tie him over until I can drop some $$ on a good acrylic one. I'll just have to keep an eye on how he's doing in it

 

[Dorifto]

Yeah I'm not the biggest fan aesthetic wise and with all the safety concerns the lid can cause, they are super cheap though and it'll tie him over until I can drop some $$ on a good acrylic one. I'll just have to keep an eye on how he's doing in it

Glass glass hahahahaha.

Building your own one? They are pretty easy to build, and will last way longer than any acrylic enclosure.