G.Pulchripes sling help

[Samuelh3942]

I got a G.Pulchripes about a month ago and it is about 3cm, and it’s been in the same enclosure the whole time but it always I mean ALWAYS is on the side of the enclosure in a stress pose. What can I do to make it not stressed?

 

[DaveM]

Please post photos of the spider in the enclosure to give us more information about your setup.

 

[Samuelh3942]

This is a photo of the whole enclosure

This is the T with the pre made burrow
And that’s the lid
I keep it on damp coco fibre because I can’t seem to dry it out and feed it every 3-4 days

 

[Liquifin]

Everything seems fine to me, just give it time and it will adapt. Slings can tolerate a bit of moisture for this species as I've kept slings with half-moist and half-dry substrate just fine, so just let the substrate dry itself out and don't worry too much. Everything about the enclosure and sling seems normal and nothing seems out of place or worrisome.

 

[DaveM]

I wouldn't call that a stress pose. I don't see any glaring errors in your setup. If the spider is eating every 3-4 days, that's a good sign that it's not doing badly. It is normal to keep slings of this size with some moist substrate, though it should be shifted to dry substrate when it has grown.
You could add some dry substrate to one side of the cup and tamp it down very firmly to give the spider secure, dry footing. You could add some very small waterbowl, like a bottle cap, to assuage worries of dehydration on drier substrate.
Otherwise, I don't think you have cause to worry. One month is not such a long time. As long as the sling is eating well, I think it will settle in just fine.

 

[Samuelh3942]

Okay I will just keep to what I’m doing, thanks! Btw does anyone know how to dry out coco fibre as I have a B.Smithi and I can’t put it anywhere yet as all my substrate is damp.

 

[DaveM]

Okay I will just keep to what I’m doing, thanks! Btw does anyone know how to dry out coco fibre as I have a B.Smithi and I can’t put it anywhere yet as all my substrate is damp.

Spread the coco fiber on a tray. Heat in your oven on the lowest heat setting until it's as dry as desired.

 

[cold blood]

The coco fiber doesn't need to be dry....in fact as a sling, it should have a bit of moisture. With that ventilation, it should dry pretty quickly.

For your other t, I would just leave it out over night...I will never personally suggest heating your sub to remove moisture, it sterilizes the sub, you really don't want that. If your ventilation is good, I wouldn't even worry about it and I would just let it dry naturally unless its a total swamp.

Your set up here is fine, your t doesn't look stressed and I see no reason for concern.

 

[DaveM]

I'm an impatient person, so I dry things in the oven. If you're worried that oven-heated substrate will be sterilized, or too devoid of beneficial bacteria to resist colonization by mold: dig around in your yard with bare hands until your hands get really filthy. Then go inside and handle your nicely oven-dried coco fiber. Run your fingers through the fibers, caress them, kneed them, fondle the substrate until you wish coconuts didn't exist in this world, and then your substrate will be more heavily bacteria-laden than it ever was in its dry, compressed-brick form or in the subsequent fluoride-chloramine-treated-water-rehydrated, too-damp state.

 

[Samuelh3942]

The coco fiber doesn't need to be dry....in fact as a sling, it should have a bit of moisture. With that ventilation, it should dry pretty quickly.

For your other t, I would just leave it out over night...I will never personally suggest heating your sub to remove moisture, it sterilizes the sub, you really don't want that. If your ventilation is good, I wouldn't even worry about it and I would just let it dry naturally unless its a total swamp.

Your set up here is fine, your t doesn't look stressed and I see no reason for concern.

I haven’t changed the substrate since it’s been in there and with a month of being well ventilated, it is still damp. Actually, I’ve had to change it once because it went mouldy. Why shouldn’t I dry it in the oven?

 

[DaveM]

I haven’t changed the substrate since it’s been in there and with a month of being well ventilated, it is still damp. Actually, I’ve had to change it once because it went mouldy. Why shouldn’t I dry it in the oven?

@cold blood 's point is that sterilizing the substrate (not that you're realistically going to kill all microscopic life in a household oven), gets rid of beneficial bacteria that could compete, and maybe outcompete, a potential outbreak of mold.
Mold spores are hard to kill, much harder to kill than bacteria, and they will find their way back into the enclosure soon enough even if the enclosure were truly sterilized. SO, the strategy some pursue, is letting the natural bacteria (plus other detritovores like mites and nematodes) continue to live in the substrate, so that the mold won't have an uncontested free-for-all if it comes back.
It's not a problem [for me at least] in drier enclosures, or if you reinnoculate your quasi-sterile substrate with dirty hands!

 

[DaveM]

Slightly off-topic, but amusing enough that I think it's worth mentioning here: the story of the Red Rains of Kerala.
In Kerala, India, there were events where the rainwater appeared red in color, due to red cell-like particles coming down out of the atmosphere with the rain.
Some overeager astrophysicist/astronomer-type scientists, who examined red water samples, announced the discovery of extraterrestrial life (don't panic everyone! they were mistaken!).
The evidence was three-fold:
1) there had been a [possibly of interstellar origin] meteor burst in the atmosphere over Kerala recently
2) the little red cell-like structures stained negative for nucleic acids (DNA / RNA, which all Earthly life [as we know it] possesses)
3) the cell-like structures remained viable after autoclaving (cooking at high temperature and pressure), and they continued to divide, reproducing themselves (a hallmark of all known life forms)

SO, what were they? Extraterrestrials? NO. They were algae spores from an Indian [i.e. Earthly] growth of a [technically green algae] alga species that had a strong red pigment.
So, why no DNA? The astrophysicist/astronomer-type scientists were not biologists and screwed up the nucleic acid staining -- i.e. there was DNA, just not stained properly.
So, why did the spores survive cooking at high heat and pressure? The astrophysicist/astronomer-type scientists were not biologists and didn't know that algal [and fungal] spores are hard to kill. If they had only heated the samples a little longer, they might have saved themselves much embarrassment.

 

[Baby T]

Doesn't look particularly stressed to me but I always offer my slings a small hide. Makes them feel less vulnerable imo

 

[Samuelh3942]

Doesn't look particularly stressed to me but I always offer my slings a small hide. Makes them feel less vulnerable imo

What could I use as a hide that small? I just tried to make it a burrow but it doesn’t go there

 

[viper69]

I don't see a thing that looks odd. That posture is no different than if you were leaning against a wall, not stress.

 

[Baby T]

What could I use as a hide that small? I just tried to make it a burrow but it doesn’t go there

I brake off small bits of cork bark for mine. Then half bury it in the substrate on an angle. Everyone else here seems to think it's fine though so I'd listen to them. Just my personal opinion

 

[MBArachnids]

I got a G.Pulchripes about a month ago and it is about 3cm, and it’s been in the same enclosure the whole time but it always I mean ALWAYS is on the side of the enclosure in a stress pose. What can I do to make it not stressed?

I am not saying this is the case, nor am I against it completely. You do seem very excited about your T and it does come forth as if you check on your T quite often. I would suggest not checking on your T every so often and just giving the little guy some space.

Good luck

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

Hi
You can put some Dry Spaghnum moss for it to feel secure around.I do that for my little slings
T albopilosus in 1oz condiment pot

Brachypelma Emilia in 1oz condiment pot

Pseudhapalopus sp colombia in 1 oz condiment pot

All slings pictured are freshly housed.They all webbed or dug around the moss to make their homes now.
My G Pulchripes juvenile female is quite scatty still even at 3.5 inch size with proper hide and all and will often go on the side if any disturbance near the enclosure(me walking in the room for example) instead of going in the burrow.Its been like this since sling.
Regards Konstantin

 

[Samuelh3942]

Hi
You can put some Dry Spaghnum moss for it to feel secure around.I do that for my little slings
T albopilosus in 1oz condiment pot
View attachment 355055
Brachypelma Emilia in 1oz condiment pot
View attachment 355056
Pseudhapalopus sp colombia in 1 oz condiment pot
View attachment 355057
All slings pictured are freshly housed.They all webbed or dug around the moss to make their homes now.
My G Pulchripes juvenile female is quite scatty still even at 3.5 inch size with proper hide and all and will often go on the side if any disturbance near the enclosure(me walking in the room for example) instead of going in the burrow.Its been like this since sling.
Regards Konstantin

Thanks Konstantin, I will definitely try the sphagnum moss, thanks!

 

[Samuelh3942]

I brake off small bits of cork bark for mine. Then half bury it in the substrate on an angle. Everyone else here seems to think it's fine though so I'd listen to them. Just my personal opinion

Okay thanks I will try it!