Climbing material for my Avic Avic

Legman

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Sep 18, 2016
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I bought my Avic Avic a Reptile Bogwood piece. It is apparently a polyresin. I was wondering if anyone had an idea as to why she doesn't want to climb into or on it at all. She just keeps climbing on the outside wall of her tank.
 

Andrea82

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How long is the Avic in its enclosure? If you just rehoused it, it may take some time to get comfortable.
A piece of corkbark or driftwood may work better, and is a cheaper solution
 

Legman

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How long is the Avic in its enclosure? If you just rehoused it, it may take some time to get comfortable.
A piece of corkbark or driftwood may work better, and is a cheaper solution
I got her from a local pet shop about 2 weeks ago. We set her up with a wood chip substrate and a corkbark climbing piece. Scarlet loved it climbed all over it and in it. I noticed however a slight smell of mold and found a very tiny bit of it in a corner on a few chunks of uneaten grasshopper. Tossed everything and bought new Eco earth substrate and the polyresin piece. We put her directly onto the piece and she climbed off of it to the wall a little while after. She seems to like Eco earth substrate more than her old stuff so that's good. This all happened about two days ago.

We've her set up with two temperature/humidity gauges one digital one analog. She has been hanging around or near the water dish a lot since.
 

Andrea82

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Mold in an Avics enclosure usually means there is not enough ventilation. Could you post a picture of the entire setup?
Avics care nothing for what is used as bedding, since they will rarely be on the floor. If they are on the floor for long periods of time, that means something is wrong...
 

Legman

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Mold in an Avics enclosure usually means there is not enough ventilation. Could you post a picture of the entire setup?
Avics care nothing for what is used as bedding, since they will rarely be on the floor. If they are on the floor for long periods of time, that means something is wrong...

Thanks for the tip on the ventilation. Took off the thing on top of her cage. Also when I had the corkbark I was misting more because I was struggling with keeping her humidity up. That's also why the bit of a covering on the top. She hasn't been directly on the floor much just mainly on the outside wall above the water dish.
 

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Andrea82

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Is the only ventilation at the top?
For Avics, crossventilation is very important. With only topventilation, you will be having trouble maintaining humidity, which can already be the case, since you posted about her being near the waterdish a lot of the time.
Switch to something with ventilation in the sides and not so much on top.
Also, Avics like it cluttered. I would put a lot of fake plants and leaves in the middle and top of those branches. This will provide her with lots of anchorpoints for webbing, and some cover to feel secure. Use the search function on this forum for avic enclosures, to get an idea of how it is supposed to look.
Also, ditch the hygrometer, digital or other. They are useless, and tend to create trouble instead of preventing them ;)
 

Legman

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Is the only ventilation at the top?
For Avics, crossventilation is very important. With only topventilation, you will be having trouble maintaining humidity, which can already be the case, since you posted about her being near the waterdish a lot of the time.
Switch to something with ventilation in the sides and not so much on top.
Also, Avics like it cluttered. I would put a lot of fake plants and leaves in the middle and top of those branches. This will provide her with lots of anchorpoints for webbing, and some cover to feel secure. Use the search function on this forum for avic enclosures, to get an idea of how it is supposed to look.
Also, ditch the hygrometer, digital or other. They are useless, and tend to create trouble instead of preventing them ;)
TTKG has that in there I just like to keep it as a reference of some sort. Plan on getting a better cage with front opening doors and vents on the bottom. Thanks for the plant idea I've got something she might like till the new cage. Still wish I knew why she doesn't like her new climbing material.
 

Andrea82

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Maybe because it is artificial? I have no idea how much they can be bothered by that, maybe because of the scent or something? Maybe someone else can explain why.
 

mistertim

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They wouldn't know or care if something is artificial or not. Maybe put some more anchor points up top, like some fake leaves or a vine, etc. It also could just be an Avid being an Avic and doing its own thing. My A. versicolor spend quite a while before she started webbing up the cork bark in her enclosure. If you're worried about it being fake, get a piece of cork or some natural wood and try that.
 

YagerManJennsen

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Take the wood chips out, even if they rarely go down to the substrate, it is still a bad choice. Plus if your avic molts on the wood chips she could get punctured easily, same goes for if she somehow falls (sharp pokey things and tarantulas don't mix). Go the the pet store and pick up a bag of cocoanut fiber, take the chips out and use the cocofiber it is so so so much better, your avic will thank you for it. Get a piece of cork back and glue some fake leaves on it for webbing anchors. Keep avics dry *care sheets are a deaths sentence if you didn't know already*
If you plan on setting her up in an exo-terra just know this, there are many cheaper and much better options out there for avics such as sterilite like so:
 

Andrea82

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Take the wood chips out, even if they rarely go down to the substrate, it is still a bad choice. Plus if your avic molts on the wood chips she could get punctured easily, same goes for if she somehow falls (sharp pokey things and tarantulas don't mix). Go the the pet store and pick up a bag of cocoanut fiber, take the chips out and use the cocofiber it is so so so much better, your avic will thank you for it. Get a piece of cork back and glue some fake leaves on it for webbing anchors. Keep avics dry *care sheets are a deaths sentence if you didn't know already*
If you plan on setting her up in an exo-terra just know this, there are many cheaper and much better options out there for avics such as sterilite like so:
He already changed the substrate ;)
 

Venom1080

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cross vent is important for Avics. my avics usually build their own hides out of webbing, none of my avics hide behind their hides, they just make a big web in front of it. your hide looks nice for a Psalmopoeus or Pecilotheria, not a Avic.
 

Trenor

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I would guess that there isn't enough cover for the Avic to fill comfortable in the enclosure so it's looking for a better spot (walking the glass/enclosure). All my Avics like it when it's cluttered with a lot of web points. When I first place them in the find a thick section of leaves and they hide. After they settle down the look over the enclosure, pick a spot (usually some of the most cluttered), and start webbing.

These are arboreal tarantulas. To us, the insert looks like a limb structure but for the T it probably feels like a very hard rock. If you decide to leave it in I would add more leaves/limbs for the Avice to web on. If it were me I'd replace that insert with a cork sheet on the back wall and add a lot of fake leaves in the enclosure. They like to make funnels to live in unlike some other species that likes to hide in hollow spaces.

Here is a look at one of my Avic enclosures when it was 1st setup.

Here it is as of this morning.



Good luck.
 

viper69

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TTKG has that in there I just like to keep it as a reference of some sort. Plan on getting a better cage with front opening doors and vents on the bottom. Thanks for the plant idea I've got something she might like till the new cage. Still wish I knew why she doesn't like her new climbing material.
I would read this post I wrote on Avics based on the things I read in your posts. If you have questions PM me or ask here

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/avicularia-husbandry.282549/#post-2461399
 
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