bald and stickness

AfrooDah

Arachnopeon
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Oct 28, 2016
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so i jst bought mexican fireleg bohmei and she has the bald spot quiet large on her abdomen and i often saw her trying to climb the glass on the tank hut she keeps falls is her legs are not sticky enough? or bcs of the glass on the tank? i really sad watching her keep falling from the corner of the tank its like she is struggling bcs the glass very slippery but i did clean it with just water what sould i do? and is that bald spot bcs of she is sick?
 

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KezyGLA

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Can you give pictures of enclosures please? The bald spot is from flicking hairs. It will be climbing about as it take time to settle in.
 

ledzeppelin

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Nothing is wrong! Brachipelmas tend to climb enclosures.. At least in my experience. My smithi is really roaming around and tries to climb glass. Especially when she is going into premolt. If you have a hide provided, and the substrate is dry - which has to be with this species, then there is no reason for panic.

The bald spot is nothing serious. Brachypelma Bohemei is one of the tarantulas with urticating hairs on her abdomen. The tarantula can kick these hairs in self defense, so the predator gets these spiked hairs in their face. In captivity, tarantulas kick these hairs when they are stressed or feel threatened. It is nothing worrysome. It might be going into premolt, which would explain poor stickiness to glass. This exoskeleton is worn out and doesn't "perform" on a 100% anymore. When the bald spot turns dark black, your Bohemei is going to molt! with the molt, she will regain all the hairs on her abdomen, and her grip will get perfect again!

SO, to recap: If there is a hide, the substrate is dry and the T is well fed, then the roaming is perfectly fine. Bald spot is normal.. Just try not to stress your T too much. And lastly, the grip is probably poor due to worn out exoskeleton, and will be repaired with the next molt!

LZ
 

Trenor

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If you just bought your T and it was shipped it's bald spot likely came from the the T kicking hairs while the person shipping it tried to get it in the container. If you bought it from someone local then they most likely still from kicking and the last owner/petshop person got kicked at a lot.

It could be because of premolt but usually, in my experience, the abdomen will darken a lot more than that long before the hairs fall out to that extent.
 

Trenor

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heres the pict of the enclosures
You're going to need a lot more substrate in that enclosure to help prevent against falls. I would also remove the rocks from the enclosure for the same reason. No need for rocks or anything else in the water dish Ts can't drown.

What does the top of the enclosure look like?
 

AfrooDah

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Oct 28, 2016
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Nothing is wrong! Brachipelmas tend to climb enclosures.. At least in my experience. My smithi is really roaming around and tries to climb glass. Especially when she is going into premolt. If you have a hide provided, and the substrate is dry - which has to be with this species, then there is no reason for panic.

The bald spot is nothing serious. Brachypelma Bohemei is one of the tarantulas with urticating hairs on her abdomen. The tarantula can kick these hairs in self defense, so the predator gets these spiked hairs in their face. In captivity, tarantulas kick these hairs when they are stressed or feel threatened. It is nothing worrysome. It might be going into premolt, which would explain poor stickiness to glass. This exoskeleton is worn out and doesn't "perform" on a 100% anymore. When the bald spot turns dark black, your Bohemei is going to molt! with the molt, she will regain all the hairs on her abdomen, and her grip will get perfect again!

SO, to recap: If there is a hide, the substrate is dry and the T is well fed, then the roaming is perfectly fine. Bald spot is normal.. Just try not to stress your T too much. And lastly, the grip is probably poor due to worn out exoskeleton, and will be repaired with the next molt!

LZ
so if i handled her too often it could make her stressed? or is it bcs of the enclosure?
 

darkness975

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so if i handled her too often it could make her stressed? or is it bcs of the enclosure?
Don't handle it because it does not benefit them, only serves to make them think they're under threat.

Also +1 to what @Trenor said. Remove the rocks and add a TON more substrate to that enclosure ASAP before it climbs up there and then falls to its death.

The lack of stickiness is likely because it needs to molt and they cannot grip glass so well when this occurs.

Replace the lid with a pexi-glass one that has air holes drilled into it.

Do all of this today before it gets closer to molting.
 

AfrooDah

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You're going to need a lot more substrate in that enclosure to help prevent against falls. I would also remove the rocks from the enclosure for the same reason. No need for rocks or anything else in the water dish Ts can't drown.

What does the top of the enclosure look like?
how high should i add the substrate on the enclosure?
 

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darkness975

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how high should i add the substrate on the enclosure?
You need to fill it up almost to the top. It should only have a couple of inches or so to fall. This is one reason why we tend to use shorter enclosures for terrestrials. Less substrate needed. In that enclosure you have it is going to look like a giant tank full of dirt. But better that than a spider with a ruptured abdomen slowly dying from a fall.

The lid looks better than I expected. You might not need to change that.
 

AfrooDah

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Don't handle it because it does not benefit them, only serves to make them think they're under threat.

Also +1 to what @Trenor said. Remove the rocks and add a TON more substrate to that enclosure ASAP before it climbs up there and then falls to its death.

The lack of stickiness is likely because it needs to molt and they cannot grip glass so well when this occurs.

Replace the lid with a pexi-glass one that has air holes drilled into it.

Do all of this today before it gets closer to molting.
what do you mean pexi glass? i dont know what it is sorry bcs im really dont know anything about the perfect enclosure for tarantula's and im new to this kind of hobby could you send me the pict what does the pexi glass looks like?
 

AfrooDah

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You need to fill it up almost to the top. It should only have a couple of inches or so to fall. This is one reason why we tend to use shorter enclosures for terrestrials. Less substrate needed. In that enclosure you have it is going to look like a giant tank full of dirt. But better that than a spider with a ruptured abdomen slowly dying from a fall.

The lid looks better than I expected. You might not need to change that.
should i change her cave? or just put some substrate on the top of it? so she is no danger if she falls into the cave?
 

darkness975

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should i change her cave? or just put some substrate on the top of it? so she is no danger if she falls into the cave?
Here is your course of action:

Remove the spider and place her in a temporary container so she is safe.
Remove the rocks and throw them outside or into a vase or something.
Remove the hide and set it aside (lol rhyme).
Fill up the enclosure to almost the top with substrate.
Bury the hide at an angle so that the top entrance part is sticking out and the rest disappears into the darkness. Basically it will resemble an actual burrow in the wild if you can picture a spider digging into the ground and making a home.
Buy a pack of 2oz souffle cups to use for a water dish. Stick one in there and fill it with clean water. After a couple of weeks throw it out and replace it with a new one so you are not stuck scrubbing the dish like a dinner plate.
Return the spider to its enclosure and give it time to settle in from being moved like this.
Done.
Here is my B. smithi in her enclosure. Simple set up, cheap, and 100% functionality.
 

AfrooDah

Arachnopeon
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Oct 28, 2016
Messages
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Here is your course of action:

Remove the spider and place her in a temporary container so she is safe.
Remove the rocks and throw them outside or into a vase or something.
Remove the hide and set it aside (lol rhyme).
Fill up the enclosure to almost the top with substrate.
Bury the hide at an angle so that the top entrance part is sticking out and the rest disappears into the darkness. Basically it will resemble an actual burrow in the wild if you can picture a spider digging into the ground and making a home.
Buy a pack of 2oz souffle cups to use for a water dish. Stick one in there and fill it with clean water. After a couple of weeks throw it out and replace it with a new one so you are not stuck scrubbing the dish like a dinner plate.
Return the spider to its enclosure and give it time to settle in from being moved like this.
Done.
Here is my B. smithi in her enclosure. Simple set up, cheap, and 100% functionality.
thankyou sir
 

KezyGLA

Arachnoking
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Apr 8, 2016
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That is why I asked for a pic. I feared there would be a huge gap between the lid and the sub. Fill it until there is 6" from the lid and falls should not pose much of a risk.

Brachypelma boehmei are nutorious for flicking their urticating hairs at the slightest disturbances so handling them means your T will probably have a bare behind most of the time.

As Trenor said if it was shipped they tend to kick while getting packed and in trasnsit. They also flick hairs for many other reasons.

I love this sp. you have.

Take good care of it ;)
 

Venom1080

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Sep 24, 2015
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i love your lid, wish i could find some like those in Canada. :embarrassed:

tarantulas cant really climb smooth surfaces while in premolt, but they can still climb rough surfaces due to their tarsal claws on their feet. your spider looks to be in premolt, fill the cage up with more sub and leave it be with a water dish. i really dont recommend handling it, ever. it stresses the spider out and makes it kick hairs at you, which itch like mosquito bites.
 

viper69

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Dec 8, 2006
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No tarantula needs or wants to be held.

I own this species, and you are not going to like being flicked urticating setae at your direction at all. I put a cricket in w/my adult female today, she flicked at the cricket. This species has zero tolerance for disturbance, good luck you are going to need it.
 

dragonfire1577

Arachnodemon
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Oct 7, 2015
Messages
697
You don't need to swap that lid with plexi glass, it's not mesh and looks good, just fill the tank up a bunch with dirt so you don't have more than 1.5 times the spiders leg span of vertical space and you should be good to go.
 
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