Getting Grammostola pulchra sling, have question

[Andrew Clayton]

Hello, I have acquired a 1.25" Grammostola Pulchra, I provided a water dish, some hides, I wet a corner (too much or too little, not sure). I am using sphagnum peat moss substrate that I flattened as best I could. It has not moved and I am concerned that it is going to die. When I first got it, it was on the glass for a good 15 hours, when I went to sleep and woke up it was on the middle of the substrate but I wanted to move some things around and it ran off into the corner and it's been here for even longer. Please take a look at my pictures.

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I'd downsize on enclosure, these aren't fast growing by any standards. Generally advised to have no more than 1.5x their DLS (diagonal leg span) in height from the surface of substrate to the ceiling of the enclosure, this is to reduce damage incase of a fall. 3 to 4 x their DLS in floor space is sufficient, these are not active animals that need a ton of space to roam.

 

[droll]

I'd downsize on enclosure, these aren't fast growing by any standards. Generally advised to have no more than 1.5x their DLS (diagonal leg span) in height from the surface of substrate to the ceiling of the enclosure, this is to reduce damage incase of a fall. 3 to 4 x their DLS in floor space is sufficient, these are not active animals that need a ton of space to roam.

I already filled most of the terrarium with substrate, I don't want to fill it much more because I want a reduced risk of it bolting and escaping. I don't think the size is a big enough concern for me to rehouse it either, I've read online that it isn't a huge deal. I haven't even been able to feed it yet because it's been sitting in the corner. I'll give it time like Charliemum suggests and I'm sure it'll be okay if there are no super big glaring issues.

 

[Andrew Clayton]

I already filled most of the terrarium with substrate, I don't want to fill it much more because I want a reduced risk of it bolting and escaping. I don't think the size is a big enough concern for me to rehouse it either, I've read online that it isn't a huge deal. I haven't even been able to feed it yet because it's been sitting in the corner. I'll give it time like Charliemum suggests and I'm sure it'll be okay if there are no super glaring issues.

If you're going to keep it in there I'd add more substrate, trust me falls are no joke, especially for a heavy bodied species like a Pulchra. A quick search on here (the #1 place on the planet to get T information) will give you a ton of horror stories, for fall damage. Wherever you're getting information from, forget it, get you're information on here, it ha all the most up to date information for all T's and anything you can't find, just ask and you will generally get what you're looking for, if you're willing to accept the advice.

Have a read at these.

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arachnoboards.com

So you want a Tarantula? Here is some beginner Advice I wish I knew.

This is written completely from my own experiences. Any input welcome. So you want to get yourself a Tarantula Hopefully it's a New world. So what is meant by new world?, you may ask. The New World, is, the Continent of America, these Tarantulas are generally more docile and advised to start...

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[ladyratri]

This is my pulchra girl, Lava, right now... She's closer to 3" legspan. For reference of size and level of clutter:


And her neighbor, G. iheringi "Magma", who is a bit bigger even:


It's pretty unlikely to bolt out of the enclosure, especially once it has adopted a decent hiding place. What it is likely to do at that size is dig itself a burrow and hunker down in there for months at a time. If having it hide away underground for, not exaggerating here, a year is going to make you nervous, then downsizing will be very much worth it.

Hit the "Lava Life" link in my sig for the enclosure stages my pulchra went through, and what her burrowing looked like in the current bin.