b smithi doing its best spiderman impression and i'm worried (pictures included for clarity)

[mikeymo]

Hey everyone, i'm a T owner in distress. I've been following the boards for just under a month now and have continually read about T's climbing up their tanks and falling to their deaths. I was so worried that last night i added another few inches of substrate to my tank because my b smithi was scaling up the walls a tiny bit (maybe half an inch).

HOWEVER!!! all adding more substrate did was make it climb even further up the wall (pics included). I used the same substrate to "top it up" but it was a little bit cold (my fault).

I guess my concern is: why do b smithi's climb (is it a sign of stress)? Is my T at a high enough height to fall and hurt itself?

thanks in advance to anyone who answers/gives me some ideas!

 

[syndicate]

what you using for substrate.some of the smithis i kept like to climb here and there.i used to see one of mine upside down walkin on trhe screen top every once in a while

 

[mikeymo]

it's this stuff the pet store used to keep most of their T's in. it's called jungle mix. here's the promo:

Jungle Mix provides a natural living environment for terrarium animals and plants. It is a unique blend of sterilized virgin organic soil, fine grain sand, vermiculite, peat moss, orchid bark and green tree moss. Jungle Mix is organic, natural and perfect for burrowing reptiles and plants. It promotes breeding, nesting and egg incubation.

i just think it's weird that he's climbing. this type of species is suppose to be digging (he's yet to do that) and instead he's doing the exact opposite. Perhaps, i'm worrying about nothing?

 

[bigo]

how moist is your jungle mix? most species that do not like moisture will start climbing to get away from the moisture. your smith should have dry jungle mix or any substrate with a decent size water bowl.

 

[mikeymo]

thanks for the tip! i hadn't even thought of the moisture. the substrate was pretty dry before i added the new stuff. but i think the fresh layer of substrate retained a lot of moisture from the bag. Hopefully once it drys out a bit he'll return to the ground. and i can breath easy

 

[syndicate]

prob worrying bout nothing.larger smithis dont seem to burrow much i dont think in captivity.just make sure u keep her on dry substrate

 

[goferris]

also i think that if you just let it get settled and not change the set up for a while. i have a b albopilosum (not as pretty as the smithi but related) and it stayed up at the top for a couple days as well until it got used to it's surroundings and did a little bit of floor webbing. after that it even started to dig a little. so my advice just be patient.
on a side note i am dealing with the same ordeal with an avic avic. but everyone says to just be patient.

 

[phil jones]

my red knee some times climbs its ok they do then get fed up and come down as for substrate keep it dry my one never digs webs a bit then just sits there what a life !! lol and wait for her dinner :worship: -- phil

 

[spydrhunter1]

My problem with Jungle mix is that it contains orchid bark. Historically orchid bark is made from shredded fir bark (a conifer). All conifers with include pines, firs, etc. contain harmful oils and turpenols. These products are not healthy for small animals including invertebrates.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Your T could definitely still have a bad fall. The ideal "safe height" is to get the distance between dirt and ceiling about equal to their legspan. In other words, that coconut should be almost to the ceiling.

Ts always climb when things change in their enclosure, especially if it's not completely dry and they're a dry-loving species. Don't worry, your T will settle. But you should probably go ahead and add a bunch more substrate as soon as possible, so it doesn't start to settle down and then have to adjust all over again when you put in more substrate.

 

[Ando55]

Bump to all whats said, add some more subtrate to make sure the fall is minimized if it happens, also in my opinion I opted out jungle mix when i saw it in person. I was deciding what to get for my aureostriata because no one carried schultz peat moss, I ended up getting some good in the end and that did it. I don't like jungle mix for it's twigs and pieces of orchid bark, also on a sidenote the oils in it looking at spydrhunter1's post. I hope it comes down, all goes well and we have a happy owner and T.

 

[mikeymo]

thanks to everyone for replying! i've taken all your advice to heart and am acting accordingly!

 

[edesign]

I'll just add my comments here even though it looks like you've taken care of it

Jungle mix is fine, i used it myself for my A. seemani when i first got in to tarantulas...afterwards moved to peat moss and have recently started experimenting with coconut husk (bedabeast if you want a brand name). I've had some species hang out on the walls/upside down if the substrate was too wet for their liking...just let the moisture evaporate off naturally and the spider will come down. Add substrate so it doesn't fall too far blah blah blah you've heard it already lol

nice T too!

 

[Talkenlate04]

Jungle mix is not ok..................I repeat NOT ok. Peat and moss can be mixed, and or peat and loam....... But all that bark and crap is not going to support a burrow if she wants one. And in general holds to much moisture which is why she is spending so much time at the top of the cage. Change out your substrate, and try not to over water the substrate before, after you change the substrate let it dry out...... brachys like it dry with a water dish. Sometimes you can overflow that water dish some but they like it dry keep that in mind.

 

[edesign]

jungle mix has peat moss in it...peat moss holds moisture well until it dries it, then it becomes very hard to hydrate again. I use peat moss almost exclusively now because it's cheaper and i can buy it in larger quantities. I know from experience that it does not take too long to dry out to a suitable moisture level for species that like it dry (my GBB loved it for instance)...jungle mix was no different.

As long as it has a hide it can do without a burrow. Jungle mix is fine even if it has bark in it. Personally, I removed the larger chunks when I used it but the smaller pieces I left in...never had a problem. My A. seemani spent plenty of time digging through it. I glued a flat, plastic rock to two sides of it's cage and packed jungle mix underneath and throughout the tank...it happily excavated a large cave underneath the rock with two entrances/exits. If the keeper is creative enough they don't have to use subtrate that will support a burrow on its own.

to the original poster...do a search with the forum's search engine for "jungle mix". You will find that people do indeed consider it just fine as a substrate.

 

[edesign]

let me clarify as I think I may be misunderstood.

Jungle Mix will work just fine for now once it dries enough which shouldn't take more than a week, not even that since it's been in the tank for a day or two already.

When it comes time to rehouse the smithi mikey can change to a new substrate...but until then his T will be just fine on the Jungle Mix provided it has a place to hide if it wants.