GBB information needed

SpiderVooDoo

Arachnopeon
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Mar 6, 2016
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It's been a while since I've been on here...A year ago my adult green bottle blue passed away...My husband and I went to the HERPS exotic pet expo in New Orleans where we adopted a new green bottle blue into our little family..Her name is Bella...I've never raised slings before...Her little body is a good inch..Inch and a half...So she's still a little girl(all signs point to female)...As I researched I am under the understanding that GBBs are terrestrial...My old adult one surely was...Are GBB slings/juveniles aboreal and become more terrestrial as they get older and or bigger? Bella first nested back in her plant where I couldn't get to her to clean up her dinner mess...After some rearranging of the Spider house..She has taken to climbing the fake rock back wall(relax it's a Styrofoam insert) and nesting up off the substrate...Will she come down and set up shop on her dirt and in her hidey rock? Any other tips advice or suggestions would be most welcome.... Please and thank you
 

Paiige

Arachnobaron
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Oct 2, 2016
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335
They're all a little different, but yes some GBBs do like to pretend they're arboreal. Doesn't mean they are, though. Give it the same setup you would for any other terrestrial, but add in plenty of fake plants for it as anchor points for webbing. Make sure all your terrestrial bases are covered (not much distance for it to fall, just in case), a water dish, more floor space than height, etc. There's a good chance it'll make a little nest among the plants for itself but again they're all different.
 

KezyGLA

Arachnoking
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GBB have semi arboreal tendencies. I have offered large enclosures with semi arboreal set up and the majority seem to web quite high up. Some high up in the top corner of the enclosures. They are one of the easiest Ts to keep. Throw in lots of anchor points, fake plants etc and let them do their thing. Keep mainly dry as slings and completely dry as juv to adult.
 

Trenor

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I've found them to be both depending on how you set them up. They are heavy webbers as you know. So lots of webbing anchors are always a plus. Mine didn't like the substrate to be damp and stayed up on the hide or in webbing till it dried out some.

At 1.5 inches I'd set it up in a deli cup myself or a small RUB that is the right size (not too big). Add in substrate/hide/water dish. Use fake plants to make a lot of web anchor points for it. Then watch it eat and grow.

This is a base setup for a terrestrial tarantula. For a GBB I'd add in more plants so it can web. (this is a bigger box than you will need atm)

All of mine made web tunnels and web hammocks to stay in. They rarely used their hide preferring to their own tunnel hides.



This juvi male made his home up high out of web and hasn't been on the ground (that I've seen) since. I was trying the bamboo skewers over plants for webbing anchor points. He has been doing great. Since this photo the webbing has got a lot heaver.

Let me know if I can help with anything else. Good luck.
 

cold blood

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that 1.5" is a body length....so the actual size of the t is a complete mystery....at least to me.
 

SpiderVooDoo

Arachnopeon
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Mar 6, 2016
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7
I've found them to be both depending on how you set them up. They are heavy webbers as you know
I've found them to be both depending on how you set them up. They are heavy webbers as you know. So lots of webbing anchors are always a plus. Mine didn't like the substrate to be damp and stayed up on the hide or in webbing till it dried out some.

At 1.5 inches I'd set it up in a deli cup myself or a small RUB that is the right size (not too big). Add in substrate/hide/water dish. Use fake plants to make a lot of web anchor points for it. Then watch it eat and grow.

This is a base setup for a terrestrial tarantula. For a GBB I'd add in more plants so it can web. (this is a bigger box than you will need atm)

All of mine made web tunnels and web hammocks to stay in. They rarely used their hide preferring to their own tunnel hides.



This juvi male made his home up high out of web and hasn't been on the ground (that I've seen) since. I was trying the bamboo skewers over plants for webbing anchor points. He has been doing great. Since this photo the webbing has got a lot heaver.

Let me know if I can help with anything else. Good luck.
So mine is still tiger stripes with pink legs..Well she has blue feet an the first segment of her legs are blue... Seeing as slings are new for me...And pardon the New Orleans reference but when will she go from her tiger suit to her Mardi Gras colours? How often will she molt?...Yeah the basics would be helpful...I have her in a really nice exoterra small animal setup with front doors lol...I've got the very basics down good..Drop her a small cricket every other day..Spritz twice a week...Temps sit at home 75 and her humidity sits at 40%most of the time...I know she's a happy lil Spider...I guess it's the nervous mommy in me that would prefer her closer to the ground in case she falls..Tho her substrate would make for a soft landing
 

Trenor

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Most people in the US go on what we call DLS 'diagonal leg span' when we measure Ts. If your T is 1.5 body length then it is bigger than I thought and I'd go with a setup the size I showed in the bamboo photo or maybe one a bit shorter.

So mine is still tiger stripes with pink legs..Well she has blue feet an the first segment of her legs are blue... Seeing as slings are new for me...And pardon the New Orleans reference but when will she go from her tiger suit to her Mardi Gras colours?
GBBs will switch colors a few times from the sling stage to adult colors. This is one of the reason I like them so much. Mine got it's adult colors at the juvi stage.

How often will she molt?...
Slings can molt every month with the time between molts going longer the bigger they get. Eventually they will molt yearly.

I have her in a really nice exoterra small animal setup with front doors
I like top opening enclosures for this species like this.
Front opening enclosures are more for arboreal Ts. With a webber like a GBB you'll likely be tearing out a big portion of webbing when when you open the door.

Could you post a photo of your T and a full one of the enclosure so I can see how it is set up?

Drop her a small cricket every other day..
If the body length of your T is 1.5 inches a cricket or two a week should be fine. My juvi male gets one med dubia roach a week.

Spritz twice a week...
No need to do this. If you want just lightly overflow the water dish to make a small damp spot. Then let it completely dry out before doing it again.

Temps sit at home 75 and her humidity sits at 40%most of the time
The temp is good for GBBs. I wouldn't worry about humidity at all. Just keep the water dish full.

I guess it's the nervous mommy in me that would prefer her closer to the ground in case she falls..Tho her substrate would make for a soft landing
It doesn't hurt to limit some of the height between the substrate and the top of the enclosure. I've not had issues with falls myself but they can happen. I used a tall box for the bamboo GBB enclosure to see where it wanted to make a home at. With multiple levels it's setup with webbing it should be ok from falls IMO.
 

cold blood

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How often will she molt?...Yeah the basics would be helpful...I have her in a really nice exoterra small animal setup with front doors lol...I've got the very basics down good..Drop her a small cricket every other day..Spritz twice a week...Temps sit at home 75 and her humidity sits at 40%most of the time...I know she's a happy lil Spider...I guess it's the nervous mommy in me that would prefer her closer to the ground in case she falls..Tho her substrate would make for a soft landing
How often it molts will depend on many factors, even then, 5 kept the same might still molt at different times...there's no way to gauge molt frequency accurately. We can guess based on size...but you gave body size...so I can't help with speculation...what is the DLS (diagonal leg span)?

Do not feed it every other day....at most twice a week....once a week is fine.

Don't worry about humidity numbers in any way, its pointless, especially for a t that despises moisture....too much can actually kill them. Never, and I can't stress this enough, NEVER mist a GBB....keep it bone dry with a water dish...so simple.

Generally anything with a front opening door, should be used only for terrestrials....but seeing as its the small one, and the GBBs webbing prowess, this t should be fine, even if its not ideal.
 

cold blood

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Dang @Trenor , were we on the same page there or what...lol....same basic content written at basically the same time:)
 

Lucashank

Arachnosquire
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The picture below is what my GBB was in since I got her as a sling, it was a Betta tank I bought from PetSmart and I modified it for the tarantula. Dry coco husk substrate and a milk cap for water. I sprayed one side of the enclosure enough for the substrate to get moist maybe once or twice a week. I kept her in there until the molt after her in the picture below.

In this picture, I have a 10 gallon tank with a sliding lock lid. For substrate I mixed coco husk and sand about half and half. I did my best to use sticks to make it similar to a bush, which is what they commonly use for homes in the shrublands of Venezuela. I would spray the side of the enclosure that the cap of water was on once a week or so and on occasion, I would lightly spritz her webbing. I must have later pictures on another hard drive, but trust me, she webbed extensively.


Basically, just give her some room and some stuff to web on, have a water dish, and feed her once or twice a week.
 

boina

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Dealing with Americans and Brits who use leg span and Germans who use body length I've found that a good rule of thumb is body length in cm = DLS in inches. 1.5" body length = 4 cm body length = 4" DLS. Works pretty well for most terrestrial species, NOT for arboreals.

Btw. OP, I'd really go easy on the moisture. This is a species that may die from too much humidity, but won't ever die from being too dry once it has left the sensitive sling stage behind, as long as it has a water bowl.
 

Chris LXXIX

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Oh yes, this thread is about C.cyaneopubescens. Sorry :embarrassed:

- Fake leaves, anchor points, 'love hate moist substrate', done.
 

Trenor

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Dealing with Americans and Brits who use leg span and Germans who use body length I've found that a good rule of thumb is body length in cm = DLS in inches. 1.5" body length = 4 cm body length = 4" DLS. Works pretty well for most terrestrial species, NOT for arboreals.
If it's 4" DLS then it should have it's adult colors already or at least mine did by that time. For a lot of tarantula species males can be a lot leggier than the females of the same species. I've never worked with BL much so I've never tried to work out a conversion for it.
 

cold blood

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Dealing with Americans and Brits who use leg span and Germans who use body length I've found that a good rule of thumb is body length in cm = DLS in inches. 1.5" body length = 4 cm body length = 4" DLS. Works pretty well for most terrestrial species, NOT for arboreals.

Btw. OP, I'd really go easy on the moisture. This is a species that may die from too much humidity, but won't ever die from being too dry once it has left the sensitive sling stage behind, as long as it has a water bowl.
Yeah, stop that misting at once, it will kill this species! Keep things dry.


Interesting boina, I would have expected it much smaller than 4"...goes to show how accurate of a picture body size presents.:p

Here's a huge flaw with body size....

I have a 5" male with a 2" body size...it molts and is now mature...now its DLS is nearly 6", but its body size is actually smaller at 1.75"....Did this t shrink or grow with its last molt? See the flaw.

Not to mention all kinds of species are built differently, some are bulkier, others are much leggier, the same body size for multiple species would all have different DLS, but according to body size, they are all the same.

DLS will instantly tell a person what to house the t in if you are getting one in the mail.....I look at it this way, put the spider down, how much space does it take up when spread out...that's how big the spider is...or its DLS. I mean a 4" spider doesn't take up the 1.5" that body size would imply.....DLS, to me is just a much more straight forward, consistent way to measure....than a measurement I need to add legs to in my head to know how big it is. JMO

If it's 4" DLS then it should have it's adult colors already or at least mine did by that time. For a lot of tarantula species males can be a lot leggier than the females of the same species. I've never worked with BL much so I've never tried to work out a conversion for it.
A 4" GBB would definitely have full adult colors...heck, it would be practically mature at that size.

I do not think this t in question is 4".
 

boina

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Yeah, well the 'conversion factor' does not work for males, obviously. It basically works well for the average Brachypelma and similar, give or take a bit and it's only an estimate. It should work more or less for a GBB... I was kind of wondering when I read 1.5"... Mine is smaller than that (3.5 cm body length or close to 4" DLS) and mine has it's adult colors, with a little more pattern on the abdomen.

Oh. and I'm not getting into the discussion about DLS versus body length - the Germans insist very loudly that body length is better - personally I'll do whatever the person I'm talking to uses.
 

Tim Benzedrine

Prankster Possum
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I always thought that body length would be a more accurate gauge to size tarantulas by. Merely because leg-span can vary with the posture of the spider, if nothing else. Of course, body size doesn't sound as impressive as leg-span, I guess. ;)
 

viper69

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It's been a while since I've been on here...A year ago my adult green bottle blue passed away...My husband and I went to the HERPS exotic pet expo in New Orleans where we adopted a new green bottle blue into our little family..Her name is Bella...I've never raised slings before...Her little body is a good inch..Inch and a half...So she's still a little girl(all signs point to female)...As I researched I am under the understanding that GBBs are terrestrial...My old adult one surely was...Are GBB slings/juveniles aboreal and become more terrestrial as they get older and or bigger? Bella first nested back in her plant where I couldn't get to her to clean up her dinner mess...After some rearranging of the Spider house..She has taken to climbing the fake rock back wall(relax it's a Styrofoam insert) and nesting up off the substrate...Will she come down and set up shop on her dirt and in her hidey rock? Any other tips advice or suggestions would be most welcome.... Please and thank you
Go to the Science portion of this board, and you look for a thread I started specifically on this. There is information there from a scientist who has observed GBBs in the wild.
 

Ungoliant

Malleus Aranearum
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Well she has blue feet an the first segment of her legs are blue... Seeing as slings are new for me...And pardon the New Orleans reference but when will she go from her tiger suit to her Mardi Gras colours? How often will she molt?
Since we're doing sling pics and setup examples:

When I got my GBB sling in on 9/17/2016, she was about 0.75" and looked like this and lived in a large deli cup.



After she molted a week later, she had grown substantially (my records say 1.5"), and her coloring was the same as in the photo above).

On 12/7/2016, I decided to move her into her juvenile enclosure, a small Exo Terra Breeding Box (8" x 8" x 5.5"). It has dry coconut fiber for substrate, a large water dish, and lots of fake branches and leaves for anchoring. She has gradually created elaborate web tunnels under the leaves but has so far mostly avoided the high points.


She mostly hangs out in her web, but sometimes she sits at the edge on the ground to hunt, as seen above. Once in a while, she goes into exploration mode where she wanders in circles around the cage on the walls.

After her second molt in my care (1/4/2017), she was 2.25". Her legs turned blue, but she still has a gold carapace and a tiger butt.

 
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