Enclosure advise for my Nhandu coloratovillosus sling (and confession of my

Violins77

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 10, 2018
Messages
6
Greetings to you all, it's been a while since I have posted here. Some of you may have read my post on reddit, but I'll recap for those who didn't. I came to the hobby back in 2018 and as much as I liked it, I didn't have the best experience partly because my husbandry was not really as good as I thought it was (even if I did read a LOT and listen to pretty much all of Tom Moran's podcasts). I ended up losing pretty much all my Ts except my first LP, which is still alive today but only about 3.5 inches for a 6 years old spider. Most of my Ts were lost when they were juveniles, and I think it I did not provide enough humidity during the harsh Canadian winter where I live. I always thought that the basement where I put them in was humid, but I realized that it is not nearly enough, and that the water dish needs to pretty much be refilled every two days in that location as it evaporate so quickly. The critter keeper I kept them in was probably not adequate as it provided too much evaporation too quickly for the condition my house was in. I did lost my T. Vagans who lived 4 years, but this one I'm pretty much convinced was a mature male (even if only 3.5 -4 inches if that's possible?). I lost two of them because of bad molts (which maybe was because lack of humidity), and I lost my adult B. Hamorii and G. Rosea after about 4 years, but their age was unknown, they might have been old.

Anyway, I bought a new house now, and while we were packing boxes, I moved my LP upstairs and redid her enclosure. She (or he) really seem to like it more there, and while I was doing the husbandry I realized how much I missed the hobby. Part of why I didn't get new Ts was because I felt incredibly bad for losing some of them by my fault, and I thought of myself as a bad keeper (which I was in a way). But I decided to give myself another chance and got 10 new slings last week, bought a ton of clear plastic DIY enclosure to put them in, and I really intend to have my husbandry on point this time. Feel free to let me know if you agree of disagree with my actions, I won't take it badly.

I've been told on reddit that I should post my enclosure here if I'm not sure, and that's what I indent to do, so let's start with my Nhandu coloratovillosus. By the way, I know this is not a beginner species, but I've been doing this for a while and I feel confident in my ability to deal with any attitude and rehousing.

This is the enclosure. I understand it is on the smaller side, but since I just got him I was planning to let it molt once before moving him, unless I'm told this is really way too small. Please let me know. Thank you :)


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cold blood

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
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13,371
That's not even close to a sling, haha.

I would re house it to something a little bigger, like a kritter keeper or something. Looks like it just molted....you could fatten it up and when it starts refusing food, then re-house it if you like.

Nice big holes in the lid, perfect for dropping in a mealworm or something.

For the record...

 

Violins77

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 10, 2018
Messages
6
Thank you. Yeah I guess I did not see it on my order but I rechecked and got a 1.25 inch one. It was super cheap though!

It could have just molted, there was 2 molts in the bowl when I got him, but it's already eating like a pig. Good idea, I'll wait until premolt and rehouse him when he stops eating!

Q: Would you call it a juvenile then of not a sling?
 

Mirandarachnid

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 11, 2017
Messages
542
If the Lego is your water dish you should sink it so that the rim is close to level with the substrate so that the spider can drink from it more easily. Whenever you rehouse it you could give it a little condiment cup for a water dish.
 
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