GBB on Cage Floor

[Lil Paws]

Maybe I fed her too much. She looks kind of plump right now. Maybe her abdomen feels so heavy she feels more comfortable in the little "tub" she dug out than hanging on the bark or her web. She looks comfortable and relaxed in there.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

So it seems that there is debate over the setup—even between you seasoned keepers?

Aw, "seasoned" ... here in Italy is used for depicts 'old geezers' without anymore hope (unless they still have the stamina for rattling the cage of ladies).

Sure, sure... experts about something indeed, but still 'old geezers'. I'm just a year older than you, ih ih

ah ah jok

No, actually there isn't technically a debate on that issue: majority keeps C.cyaneopubescens as terrestrials, with (of course) a lot of anchor points (from classic fake plants to use your imagination), someone eventually offering just a bit of height, nothing more. Here and there 'jumps out' a sorta of 'arboreal' set up.

 

[JoshDM020]

Lookin a little damp, there, unless the substrate is just always that dark. Id probably let that dry out. Even as slings, these guys dont need as much moisture as other spiders.

 

[darkness975]

So it seems that there is debate over the setup—even between you seasoned keepers? I'm going to probably side with caution for now and stick with a setup that is squarish in proportion with lots of anchor points with about 1/3 substrate to offer a bit of a cushion in case there is a fall, but if she gets antsy like she did before I'll play with height and other parts of the setup.

She has become my favorite. She is almost always out and about, and has so much personality. I love the way she lifts her feet high as she walks. I bought her because I thought the adult markings were very unique, but the baby colors are so neat. She looks like a little tiger in slippers.

I sent you a pm

 

[dangerforceidle]

Aw, "seasoned" ...

I just found a photo of Chris!

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I just found a photo of Chris!

I bet that's not even a real Italian food brand, eh eh

 

[dangerforceidle]

Club House sounds Italian to me.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Club House sounds Italian to me.

Yuk, even 'Olive Garden' sounds Italian for someone

 

[dangerforceidle]

Yuk, even 'Olive Garden' sounds Italian for someone

Olives come from the Mediterranean area. Italy has gardens, I assume.

It all checks out.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Olives come from the Mediterranean area. Italy has gardens, I assume.

It all checks out.

All we have is gardens, I'm a Lombard breed so here near Switzerland 'olive' are a foreigner thing

jok, we have olive in the North as well, Liguria region.

But 'Olive Garden' is fake scam Italian food, it will kills you

 

[Trenor]

Well, I'm going to toss in my thoughts in on this topic. I've never been a stickler for the whole 1.5 DLS rule of thumb. Some of my setups have quite a bit more floor to ceiling space and I've had no trouble with my Ts falling.

What I do find interesting is for both GBBs that were given more height both of them choose to go up, web and live. Mine had three layers of webbing and never went back down to the ground except to chase down some food that worked through its web. Even though it had a nice burrow/cork hide and just as many webbing points on the ground it ignored the floor and choose to set up in the higher place. One thing I don't like about the Exo enclosure is the front opening door which would take away a webbing wall and could weaken the web hammock.

Should you give them a crazy tall enclosure? No, but one with some height is fine IMO.

 

[darkness975]

Well, I'm going to toss in my thoughts in on this topic. I've never been a stickler for the whole 1.5 DLS rule of thumb. Some of my setups have quite a bit more floor to ceiling space and I've had no trouble with my Ts falling.

What I do find interesting is for both GBBs that were given more height both of them choose to go up, web and live. Mine had three layers of webbing and never went back down to the ground except to chase down some food that worked through its web. Even though it had a nice burrow/cork hide and just as many webbing points on the ground it ignored the floor and choose to set up in the higher place. One thing I don't like about the Exo enclosure is the front opening door which would take away a webbing wall and could weaken the web hammock.

Should you give them a crazy tall enclosure? No, but one with some height is fine IMO.

I think the 1.5 times the DLS height thing is more like a rule of thumb that is a lot easier to explain to new keepers than what you and I and others that have been keepers for much longer can do with eyeballing height discrepancies.

 

[Trenor]

I think the 1.5 times the DLS height thing is more like a rule of thumb that is a lot easier to explain to new keepers than what you and I and others that have been keepers for much longer can do with eyeballing height discrepancies.

I totally agree. I have also seen people taking it way too literally. I looked for a few minutes this morning but couldn't find the photo. The person had 90% of the enclosure filled with dirt to get the 1.5 X DLS (3/4 inch) distance for a terrestrial sling. Which is totally ridiculous. I've also seen several photos of enclosures that had 3 inches of floor to ceiling height for their 1.5 inch T. Then they wonder why it webs up the lid and acts like a jack-in-the-box running out whenever they open the enclosure up. You could easily go twice (or more if they are webbers) that and I really don't think a small sling would be in any danger from a fall.

It's like the bone-dry substrate quote. When pressed on that, I found most people who said bone-dry added in moisture (usually by overflowing the water dish) to the substrate. While new keepers did not because we told them bone-dry when we did not do that ourselves. It was just the fast answer people got used to parroting on here. We throw rules of thumbs out (with little or no qualifiers) which makes them sound like they are absolutes. We do this to get a quick answer out. Soon those people think that rule of thumb is an unbreakable law which gets quickly parroted back by the next generation on the boards. I feel we should present these rules of thumb with qualifiers to help new people realize that they are not unbreakable rules with no room to deviate. This would help new keepers more IMO.

 

[Lil Paws]

I totally agree. I have also seen people taking it way too literally. I looked for a few minutes this morning but couldn't find the photo. The person had 90% of the enclosure filled with dirt to get the 1.5 X DLS (3/4 inch) distance for a terrestrial sling. Which is totally ridiculous. I've also seen several photos of enclosures that had 3 inches of floor to ceiling height for their 1.5 inch T. Then they wonder why it webs up the lid and acts like a jack-in-the-box running out whenever they open the enclosure up. You could easily go twice (or more if they are webbers) that and I really don't think a small sling would be in any danger from a fall.

It's like the bone-dry substrate quote. When pressed on that, I found most people who said bone-dry added in moisture (usually by overflowing the water dish) to the substrate. While new keepers did not because we told them bone-dry when we did not do that ourselves. It was just the fast answer people got used to parroting on here. We throw rules of thumbs out (with little or no qualifiers) which makes them sound like they are absolutes. We do this to get a quick answer out. Soon those people think that rule of thumb is an unbreakable law which gets quickly parroted back by the next generation on the boards. I feel we should present these rules of thumb with qualifiers to help new people realize that they are not unbreakable rules with no room to deviate. This would help new keepers more IMO.

To be fair, she was originally a 1" spider with about 2.5" of climbing space until she molted and gained a good half an inch of size.

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but I've come across very little written/typed information that really gives a really clear view on what kind of substrate height ratio GBBs need (beyond all your wonderful advice—thank you).

Yes, they are officially terrestrial, but they like to climb so it is very confusing—especially with the terrestrial substrate rule (which also seems to vary a bit depending on who you ask or what you read). I've kept about 15 species of beasties (a number of them were exotic—all were/are vertebrates) so I know about how subjective some parts of husbandry can be and how part of it can come down to the owner's beliefs as well as the individual animal. But surely there could be a spelled out substrate-to-air ratio that keeps a GBB happy, yet prevents it from combusting into flames after a fall. It seems like an important enough thing to assign a solid value to beyond "eyeball it," know what I mean?

 

[Lil Paws]

Just so you guys know, I tend to side more with caution with my pets (some of my friends would call me a "helicopter pet mom"—it should be obvious from my first attempt at a GBB setup XD), but I do have to play Devil's Advocate. Have any of you known of any actual cases of a GBB actually being injured and/or dying from a cage fall?

 

[Trenor]

To be fair, she was originally a 1" spider with about 2.5" of climbing space until she molted and gained a good half an inch of size.

I wasn't calling out anyone for enclosures. Just recalling from memory some of the more over the top photos where people were trying to achieve the magic 1.5 X DLS number I'd seen since I've been posting here.

But surely there could be a spelled out substrate-to-air ratio that keeps a GBB happy, yet prevents it from combusting into flames after a fall. It seems like an important enough thing to assign a solid value to beyond "eyeball it," know what I mean?

This is not likely to happen because as you have seen there are several views on the "jumper" scenario and how likely it is to happen.

I think the 1.5 DLS rule works better for large adults than it does for juvies and slings. A 6 inch T with 9 inches airspace is not bad however a 2-inch spider with 3 inches of airspace is not enough IMO. Also, a 2-inch falling is likely to take a lot less damage than a plump overfed full grown female. A catch-all for terrestrials at all sizes just doesn't really work. Not all of them behave/live the same. Is the tarantula a webber where it has more of a safety net to break its fall? That can change things too. I would not give a ton of airspace to my big bottom B.albopilosum mature female but my GBBs get a lot more and use it. N.incei are another that I give a lot of airspace to. They are dwarfs and have 7ish inches of airspace. They have webbed it all and make use of it all. They are on the ground more than my male GBB but are often in the webbing up high.

That being said I'm less worried about falls and I think they are more durable than a lot of other people believe.

Just so you guys know, I tend to side more with caution with my pets (some of my friends would call me a "helicopter pet mom"—it should be obvious from my first attempt at a GBB setup XD), but I do have to play Devil's Advocate. Have any of you known of any actual cases of a GBB actually being injured and/or dying from a cage fall?

I've not had any of my Ts show signs/injuries from having fallen. Nor have I ever seen any of my Ts fall while climbing.

 

[darkness975]

Just so you guys know, I tend to side more with caution with my pets (some of my friends would call me a "helicopter pet mom"—it should be obvious from my first attempt at a GBB setup XD), but I do have to play Devil's Advocate. Have any of you known of any actual cases of a GBB actually being injured and/or dying from a cage fall?

There are plenty of instances of all different species having undergone this, do a search on the forums and you'll find a lot.