Critique my adventure so far

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Hairy Osbourne, the juvenile LP, who we will refer to as male for now, has been with us for 51 days. He came to us in a big plastic deli cup where he lived for the next week. We felt he needed better digs so we rehoused him into a dollar store tupperware container while we searched for what would be his adult enclosure. The dollar store home was sufficient, but not very clear or nice to look at. The new substrate I put in there was wetter than I thought it was, and I thought it would dry out but it never really did, so I was constantly disturbing him to scoop out moldy spots that popped up. Nonetheless, he molted in there for the first time in our care which was a roller coaster of a day for me, but all turned out well and he ate 8 days after and every 3 days since. I knew I needed to fix his subtrate situation because he had been wandering around too much and hanging out on top of his hide looking like a toupee rented from a discount costume shop, but I needed a better enclosure before that could be done with minimal annoyance to Hairy. We ordered what ended up being a pile of cheap made in China garbage. When it got here we immediately sent it back and opted for a large critter keeper from the pet store, still not my first choice but it works. He showed his appreciation that night by thoroughly burying himself under the log hide leaving only a tiny window for me to check on him. But before that happened, and here's the part that makes me look bad and feel even worse, I have a plastic craft store ornament, the kind you fill with whatever, that I put in the corner of his new home with the hope that he would crawl inside of it so I could cap it and hang him in the tree for a few quick pics. Well, instead he promptly climbed on top of the ball, and upon descending, the empty ball rolled and he face planted into the subtrate. From there he went and stuck his head in his hide and stayed there. I know he doesn't have feelings but I was definitely embarrassed for him. Plus feeling pretty stupid that I didn't realize he is heavier than an empty ball. I took it out immediately, and he's fine. If I can find a way to secure the ornament better I may give it another try, but ultimately his well being is much more important than a good photo. That was days ago, he's eaten and shown himself so I know he's good, thankfully. He even gave me best present a tarantula can give it's keeper, poop in the water dish! I can't even tell you guys how excited that made me, lol.

He seems happy now so I'm happy. I'm expecting him to stop accepting food again and give us another molt soon. He's 3 inches now, so he'll definitely be able to be sexed as soon as I have a molt or a good ventral pic to post for examination. Heres a couple recent pics, taken with my 5 year old phone. I know his home is very plain, a fake plant or some pothos is needed (for me, Hairy probably doesn't care).
Like the title says, critique, comments, and questions are encouraged and welcome.

 

[vancwa]

He/She will soon outgrow the critter keeper. I use Sterilite containers w/ clear lid and snaps. They come in many different sizes and are not that expensive. Yea Walmart. An ornament? Please do not torture your T.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

He/She will soon outgrow the critter keeper. I use Sterilite containers w/ clear lid and snaps. They come in many different sizes and are not that expensive. Yea Walmart. An ornament? Please do not torture your T.

Sterilite containers are awesome, I agree. If I had multiple Ts that needed to be stacked, that would surely be the way to go. We have the materials and are currently designing a suitable size enclosure based off of other designs. I'll be sure to post that for critique as well.

I wouldn't call it torture if he climbs into the thing on his own accord, it's no different than putting him in a deli cup while doing a rehousing. Your concern is much appreciated though, and I thank you for your input, as you're practically my neighbor and someone whose posts and responses I enjoy reading.
Like I said, I already feel terrible about the little mishap that already occured and I won't do it if I can't do it safely.

 

[vancwa]

Thank You Neighbor! I was too overly sensitive. My apologies!

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Not at all, no need to apologize

 

[PidderPeets]

That enclosure looks fine as is, and it could probably last another molt or two in there. I would not put it in anything larger just yet. I think I kept my girl in a standard sized kritter keeper until she was maybe 4".

At 3", it does NOT need food every 3 days, and you probably should have waited longer than 8 days before feeding after a molt. You want to wait until the fangs are solid black after a molt before feeding again, and I know for a fact my female's fangs weren't ready that soon after her 3" molt. They may still try to eat even when their fangs aren't ready (especially with food driven species like this), but that risks damaging their fangs.

I wouldn't expect another molt quite yet. I'm betting it's just not hungry because of how often it's being fed. At that size, I'd give it 1 feeder once every 1 to 2 weeks.

And obviously, I would suggest not putting it in an ornament.

Please don't take any of that offensively, as that was not my intention. Just offering some constructive criticism that I thought might give you and your pet the best life together

 

[Vanessa]

Abdomen looks good - I'm actually good with feeding this species weekly at this size since they are such fast growers. I've always housed my Lasiodora in larger enclosures than a slower growing species of the same size. Not only because they moult more frequently, but because they gain a lot of size each moult. Putting them in larger enclosures cuts down on the frequency of rehousing them.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

@PidderPeets you never offend, you're always very helpful and informative in a nurturing way from what I've seen.

The plan is for him to stay in the critter keeper for another couple molts, but I don't like it, the lid really. We'll hopefully have the new home ready well ahead of time.

I don't think he needs to eat every 3 days either, but he will and he hasn't stopped yet, and probably would take another roach right now even though he just ate yesterday. A couple feedings have been 4 days apart, but yeah 3 on average. I agree it could be less but at the same time the roaches are pretty small right now.

As far as eating after a molt, I did my homework and was pretty assured that rule for juveniles was 8-10 days as long as the fangs are black, which they were. Please correct me if I'm wrong, in no way am I trying to be argumentative.

And I'm not going to put him in there. But if he gets in it and I gently move it to the tree for a minute and gently put it back, I believe he'll be fine.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I don't think he needs to eat every 3 days either, but he will and he hasn't stopped yet, and probably would take another roach right now even though he just ate yesterday.

They're opportunistic so they'll basically eat anything they can subdue as they don't realise that they're in captivity and have a constant supply of food. It's a good idea to not overfeed as they become more susceptible to fall and drag injuries if they get too fat.

and you probably should have waited longer than 8 days before feeding after a molt.

8 days is more than enough at that size.

I did my homework and was pretty assured that rule for juveniles was 8-10 days as long as the fangs are black

Close enough, I wait 7 days for smaller juvies, 10 days for larger juvies, and at least 14 days for subadults/adults.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Close enough, I wait 7 days for smaller juvies, 10 days for larger juvies, and at least 14 days for subadults/adults.

Thank you, that's what I thought. I'll be sure to tell my husband you backed me up on that.
One thing I'm not quite sure of yet, is about what size or stage is he considered sub adult?

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Thank you, that's what I thought. I'll be sure to tell my husband you backed me up on that.
One thing I'm not quite sure of yet, is about what size or stage is he considered sub adult?

The term is used more for males that are approaching adult size but aren't yet sexually mature, for a female I'd say around 5-6", any bigger than 6" would technically be an adult as it should be sexually mature by that point.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Thank you again.
There's still a chance he could be a she, but my gut is telling me not to get my hopes up. The next molt, given it's not destroyed like the last one, or the next time he's on the side of his new clear house, I'll be posting for help on that.

 

[PidderPeets]

I don't think he needs to eat every 3 days either, but he will and he hasn't stopped yet, and probably would take another roach right now even though he just ate yesterday. A couple feedings have been 4 days apart, but yeah 3 on average. I agree it could be less but at the same time the roaches are pretty small right now.

As @The Grym Reaper already said, they're opportunistic feeders, so they'll probably eat until they're about ready to pop. So it's our responsibility to make sure they don't. Lol. If you want to keep that feeding routine up, it's technically fine, but just make sure you keep an eye on the abdomen size and reduce feedings before it gets too big. And don't get worried if it eventually ends up fasting. I know it's less common with this species, but mine has fasted before, so it can happen.

I did my homework and was pretty assured that rule for juveniles was 8-10 days as long as the fangs are black, which they were.

Perfect! As long as you checked the fangs and they were black before you offered food, you got it right. The "x amount of days" is a rough guideline, but don't adhere to it like it's absolute fact

8 days is more than enough at that size.

I feel like mine took longer than that. But then again, mine is abnormal. But as long as the OP's had black fangs, that's all matters

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Thank you so much @PidderPeets , I'll definitely cut back on feedings. When we got him the guy said he'd just molted not too long ago, and I had no idea what or how much he ate before that, so we thought he'd eat for us but apparently he was already fasting because he didn't eat but molted 19 days later. It was hard to get my husband to wait the whole 8 days because he was convinced it was starving. But I knew better. I think he'll start fasting again soon, because of how much we fed him and because his abdomen is starting to get a stretch marky appearance that I noticed before his abdomen turned black and shiny before he molted last time.

These are pics of the same spider in the 19 days before his first molt with us.