Emergency rehouse, B.albopilosum

[PhilMcWonder]

Had a situation with my sling today.
As some of you may know my B.albopilosum sling molted recently. I have been waiting and letting it recover a little before I feed it again. However, I realized today while maintaining my Ts what seemed to be fungus or mold at the bottom of the enclosure. Upon closer inspection I realized something I had not noticed before...

The last meal I gave my sling before it molted.
It had not eaten it's prey. It killed it and buried it.
The corps of a tiny hornworm was mostly covered with dirt at the deepest part of my sling's burrow. A white-ish yellow growth was starting to revile itself from the dirt.

Immediately I prepped a new enclosure and moved it over.
My B.albopilosum is now on bone dry cocofiber in a plastic container I had leftover.
He/She seems to be okay and is now exploring the new enclosure. But I am worried about my sling after that. I am hoping it didn't get sick or anything from being exposed to contaminants.

He/She is a 1 inch sling



These are the pictures of the sling after the rehouse.
Ill keep people posted by so far it looks okay...
The old sling enclosure has been dumped, washed out, and is currently drying.

 

[Rob1985]

This is exactly why I don't use feeders that can dig and don't leave feeders in with if they refuse food, unless it ends up in the burrow, but even then then a red runner or a cricket will often quickly boogie out of the burrow if they aren't eaten and I can grab it.

 

[PhilMcWonder]

It was a horn worm. Horn worms climb, they don't dig. The tarantula killed it and buried it. My guess is that It wasn't hungry because pre-molt and so it just killed the prey so that it could molt in peace. I thought it ate it's food, but apparently it didn't.

 

[MissouriArachnophile]

If you had springtails in there would a been fine. Probably. My b. Albo lives among the shrooms every once in awhile.

 

[Thekla]

My B.albopilosum is now on bone dry cocofiber in a plastic container I had leftover.
He/She seems to be okay and is now exploring the new enclosure. But I am worried about my sling after that. I am hoping it didn't get sick or anything from being exposed to contaminants.

Don't leave it on bone dry substrate! As slings they need and as a species they appreciate a bit of moisture in the substrate.

And I'm sure your little one will be fine. A bit of mould is inconsequential. Tarantulas wouldn't have lived and evolved for millions of years if a bit of mould would harm them.

 

[Rob1985]

Don't leave it on bone dry substrate! As slings they need and as a species they appreciate a bit of moisture in the substrate.

And I'm sure your little one will be fine. A bit of mould is inconsequential. Tarantulas wouldn't have lived and evolved for millions of years if a bit of mould would harm them.

I agree with the adding moisture to the substrate. Remember, slings don't have the "coating" on their exoskeleton that helps protect them from the environmental changes, so they require a bit more moisture. However, I've had small amounts of mold in an enclosure and just removed it without rehousing to prevent stress. I wouldn't frown upon rehousing though, but just remember it does stress to the T.

 

[Paul1126]

but just remember it does't ass stress to the T.

You may want to reword that

 

[PhilMcWonder]

I am not leaving on bone dry.
Just what I moved it onto while I was panicking.
I intend to get it back on the same type of soil I had it in. I was using reptisoil (Soil, sphagnum moss, carbon, sand) It holds moisture and is pretty good for burrowing.

I worry about getting coco fiber wet because i was told it molds up pretty quick.

 

[PhilMcWonder]

If you had springtails in there would a been fine. Probably. My b. Albo lives among the shrooms every once in awhile.

Absolutely need to get a springtail colony.

 

[PhilMcWonder]

I am not leaving on bone dry.
Just what I moved it onto while I was panicking.
I intend to get it back on the same type of soil I had it in. I was using reptisoil (Soil, sphagnum moss, carbon, sand) It holds moisture and is pretty good for burrowing.

I worry about getting coco fiber wet because i was told it molds up pretty quick.

You know what, on second thought I'm only gonna have it in there for a day or two while I wash it's sling enclosure a few times and get new Reptisoil. I suppose moistening up the coco fiber wont hurt.

 

[Vanisher]

People have a tendency to panic with mold and fungus! I would say that it is not as bad as people think! Especially fungus! I would say fungus is pretty harmless to the tarantula, if it is not extreamly plenty of it. You dont have to panic over this! I have had that much fungus in my terrarias that small mushroom grew up on the peat! I just spot cleaned it.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

But I am worried about my sling after that. I am hoping it didn't get sick or anything from being exposed to contaminants.

Why? Mould is a non issue and one of the most unnecessarily panicked about things (along with grain mites) in the hobby.

I had black mould pop up in my P. cambridgei male's enclosure (he kept dumping sub in the water dish causing it to wick out), I eventually rehoused him after a few months because it wouldn't go away and I didn't like the look of it but it didn't cause him any problems whatsoever.

 

[boina]

Mold is completely harmless. Whatever was growing in there wouldn't have harmed your tarantula.

 

[PhilMcWonder]

I thought it could make them sick.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I thought it could make them sick.

No, the conditions that help mould to grow (excessive moisture and poor ventilation) are more likely to harm a tarantula than any mould that actually forms as a result.

 

[Teal]

You completely overreacted. Just so you know lol

 

[Rob1985]

I thought it could make them sick.

There's no evidence of the mold itself making them sicks. However, if there's mold there also might be predatory mites as well. Like I mentioned before, anytime I start to see mold I just pick it out and see if it comes back. I feel like you're overthinking this a bit, idk how long you've been keeping or how many T's you have, but just take a deep breath and set it up in the new enclosure. Rehousing is stressful on the T. The less you rehouse, the happier the T.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

predatory mites

I think maybe you mean parasitic mites (predatory mites only eat other mites).

In any case, you're extremely unlike to encounter those unless you purchase a wild caught animal that already has them.

The only mites that the vast majority of hobbyists will encounter are grain mites (which basically do the same job as springtails, only slower), they might annoy your T if numbers get out of control and a lot of people find them unsightly but they're basically harmless otherwise.

 

[Rob1985]

I think maybe you mean parasitic mites (predatory mites only eat other mites).

In any case, you're extremely unlike to encounter those unless you purchase a wild caught animal that already has them.

The only mites that the vast majority of hobbyists will encounter are grain mites (which basically do the same job as springtails, only slower), they might annoy your T if numbers get out of control and a lot of people find them unsightly but they're basically harmless otherwise.

Yes that's what I meant.