boluses and cleanliness

[Gillian]

Hi all,
Well, I have the hardest time finding those damn boluses. So, I've been cleaning my t enclosures roughly once a month. I have tried, believe me, with a magnifying glass, and still, cannot find the boluses. Does anyone have any ideas?
As far as my psycho rosie, I'll probably have to continue to clean her cage monthly. She poop shoots the sides of her enclosure.
Peace,
Gillian

 

[MrT]

Originally posted by Gillian
Hi all,
Well, I have the hardest time finding those damn boluses. So, I've been cleaning my t enclosures roughly once a month. I have tried, believe me, with a magnifying glass, and still, cannot find the boluses. Does anyone have any ideas?
As far as my psycho rosie, I'll probably have to continue to clean her cage monthly. She poop shoots the sides of her enclosure.
Peace,
Gillian

Gillian, only for you would I take pics. of food boluses.
On the large one you can see a cricket leg.
Look in the corners of the cage.

Ernie

 

[Shadrach]

I'm sorry but I have no Idea what these things are can someone fill me in? I'm sure I may feel stupid in the long run but right now I feel the need to as this question so help enlighten me!

 

[Immortal_sin]

they are the leftover parts of the tarantula 'spitball' if you will, that it leaves after sucking all the nice juicy parts from a prey item!

 

[Paladin]

hopefully they dont cause mold in my T tank cause my rosie built a fortress infront of its half log and there are some inside with her...oh well we'll see

 

[Steve Nunn]

Originally posted by Gillian
Hi all,
Well, I have the hardest time finding those damn boluses. So, I've been cleaning my t enclosures roughly once a month. I have tried, believe me, with a magnifying glass, and still, cannot find the boluses. Does anyone have any ideas?
Gillian

Hi Gillian,
Unless you're feeding vertebrate prey to the T's you really don't need to take out the leftovers, very rarely will they go moldy. More often than not the natural bacteria in the substrate will tear down the bolus (a big part of the reason nobody should fry their substrate). If you are getting mold in the enclosures chances are there's not enough ventillation. Info originally from Rick West.

Steve

 

[kellygirl]

Re: Re: boluses and cleanliness

Originally posted by Steve Nunn
If you are getting mold in the enclosures chances are there's not enough ventillation. Info originally from Rick West. Steve

question: how do you optimize ventilation in various containers besides the obvious 'poke more holes' method? for instance, how can i better ventilate a deli cup or vial for my spiderlings? i do seem to have a problem with mold gathering on unseen cricket leftovers...

kellygirl

 

[Steve Nunn]

Re: Re: Re: boluses and cleanliness

Originally posted by kellygirl
for instance, how can i better ventilate a deli cup or vial for my spiderlings?
kellygirl

Hi Kelly,
Slings are a whole different story. Lots of humidity, not as much ventilation as adults, with enough regular substrate changes to keep the mold at bay, at least until the slings are large enough to handle drier conditions. The main thing to make sure of is that the slings have loads of humidity, absolutely essential, regardless of species.

Hope this helps,
Steve

 

[kellygirl]

Re: Re: Re: Re: boluses and cleanliness

Originally posted by Steve Nunn
The main thing to make sure of is that the slings have loads of humidity, absolutely essential, regardless of species.

even greenbottles?

kellygirl

 

[Steve Nunn]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: boluses and cleanliness

Originally posted by kellygirl
even greenbottles?

kellygirl

Even though they are one of the toughest of the T's, greenbottle blue slings need high humidity too. There's not one single species that won't benefit from high humidity as a sling.

Steve

 

[Gillian]

Re: Re: boluses and cleanliness

Originally posted by MrT
Gillian, only for you would I take pics. of food boluses.
On the large one you can see a cricket leg.
Look in the corners of the cage.

Ernie

Ernie,
*lol* Thank you.. In that case, I now know what they look like...

Steve,
But, isn't it unsanitary to leave leftover food and/or feces in there with them? Or, is it just slings I need to be worried about?

Thanks guys..
Gillian

 

[Steve Nunn]

Re: Re: Re: boluses and cleanliness

Originally posted by Gillian
Steve,
But, isn't it unsanitary to leave leftover food and/or feces in there with them? Or, is it just slings I need to be worried about?

Thanks guys..
Gillian

Hi Gillian,
Left over food will always go off and should be removed, but finished food such as a bolus won't do any harm at all, so long as it's invert prey remains. As for fecal matter, it's just an excretion of guanine (with tiny amounts of adenine,some uric acid and hypoxanthine). A T's digestive system is extremely efficient
regarding the excretive waste product, very little salts, very little water, very little energy. The only problem with it are the skid marks left on the glass, which are easily removed. Any waste left on the substrate is quickly dealt with by the 'good' bacteria in the substrate.

The biggest problem with keeping in captivity is human intrusion, the more of it, the worse it's going to be for the spiders. The less you clean the enclosure, the better it will be for the spiders, far less stress. Also, most of the T's will lay down a thin layer of silk across the surface of the substrate, when that surface is upset by uneeded cleaning, the spider feels the need to lay down more because it relies on this silk to be there. The silk is an expansion for the spiders senses, it feels confidant on that surface. Have you ever noticed when you clean an enclosure and replace the substrate the spider will pace the enclosure for a few days, sometimes weeks before it settles down. There's no silk in a fresh cleaned enclosure to make the spider comfortable, it has no familiarity with 'that' area. This all adds up to uneeded stress.

I know many keepers will go ahead and clean away anyway, but frankly, it's just a waste of time and certainly no good for the spider, it just may look nicer.

Hope this helps,
Steve

 

[Gillian]

Re: Re: Re: Re: boluses and cleanliness

Steve,
Oh...now how badly do I feel.. This explains how my psycho rosie behaves, after I clean...exactly as you describe. How frequent do you reccomend I clean my sling's enclosures, as well as my adults?
Peace,
Gillian

 

[Steve Nunn]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: boluses and cleanliness

Originally posted by Gillian
Steve,
Oh...now how badly do I feel.. This explains how my psycho rosie behaves, after I clean...exactly as you describe. How frequent do you reccomend I clean my sling's enclosures, as well as my adults?
Peace,
Gillian

Hi Gillian,
No need to feel bad! Rosies don' tend to lay a lot of silk, but they do cover their subsrate with a thin sheet, it's just nearly invisible. Clean the adults as little as possible, only if you see fungus popping up everywhere or a mold outbreak. This usually means the good bacteria in the enclosure is no longer surviving or at best losing the battle. Time for new 'un-fried' substrate.

The slings are definately different. Because they are usually kept in small humid jars, all processes escalate dramatically. I follow the same procedure as above, I just have to do changes more regularly due to the higher humidity. To minimalize stress on the slings I make sure the jars aren't that much larger than the spiders legspan, thus reducing the time it takes for the spider to lay silk down again. This also leads to very quick prey capture, so nothing else is roaming around making a mess.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Gillian]

Steve,
Thanks..Btw, I just snapped a pic of my rosie, in her enclosure. I need to go use my parent's flatbed scanner, so I can post it here. She lays down the thickest layer of silk. In the pic, I peeled back a bit, so you can see the difference between plain substrate opposed to her webbing.
Peace,
Gillian

 

[genious_gr]

Originally posted by Paladin
hopefully they dont cause mold in my T tank cause my rosie built a fortress infront of its half log and there are some inside with her...oh well we'll see

Sth like that???

 

[Steve Nunn]

Originally posted by Gillian
Steve,
Thanks..Btw, I just snapped a pic of my rosie, in her enclosure. Peace,
Gillian

You're welcome I look forward to seeing that pic.

Steve