Funky P. murinus; stinky T

Case

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 13, 2002
Messages
54
Not long ago I bought about a 2.5" P. murinus. To make a long story short, it's a total wuss. It acts like I would expect a G. rosea to act. But I know different Ts have differing personalities, and sometimes change as they grow. So I wasn't too worried about that.
But what does kind of concern me is that its enclosure (a PetPal) has begun to stink. The best word I can think of to describe the smell is 'funk.' If I had to be more specific, I would venture to say it is reminiscent of...hmmm...toe jam, perhaps.

Substrate is a mixture of fresh peat and vermiculite.
The spider has webbed over an area of surface peat, making sort of a "dirt blanket," and stays underneath it all the time. It's not really a burrow, because the substrate is real loose and it'd probably have a hard time burrowing.
I have put a couple or three adult crix in there, and all have disappeared. I don't see any boluses (or is it boli? :)) or decaying cricket matter. The substrate is dry.
Is the spider sick? I dug it out yesterday to see if it was alive, and it crawled out when I disturbed its area, and climbed up the side of the petpal, only to go back into hiding a few minutes later.
Anybody else have any stinky T's? What's up with that?


Case
 

sunnymarcie

Celestial Spider
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
1,294
How long has the T been in the petpal?

Do you mist it? If its too wet, that could be causing the "funk"
 

SwEeTeSt-KiLLeR

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 26, 2003
Messages
11
i have a G. Rosea and there are times when i walk in my room and i can smell her..and its kinda like u described..toe jam..nothing that would knock you out..but times is stronger than others

its a dirt substrate and is actually a new enclosure for her..only 3 weeks..nothing dead and rotten
iwas gonna post about the smell...but thought maybe it was just me :}

maybe if u find out i will too
 

Case

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 13, 2002
Messages
54
The spider's been in the PetPal for about 3 weeks now. I did put a little water in there initially, but haven't been misting it or anything. OBTs like it pretty dry, don't they?
I'm thinking I might change out the substrate and give the cage a good washing to see if that helps.

Case
 

sunnymarcie

Celestial Spider
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
1,294
Are you using cork bark?
I just took a sniff over my OBT's and I can smell the bark:)
Not a bad smell, just an odd one :rolleyes:
 

Case

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 13, 2002
Messages
54
Nope, just peat moss, vermiculite and the spider are the only things in the enclosure.
 
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