Give a new P. murinus owner some terrarium advice!

[Treklock]

Alright, so I had no plans of buying a new T today, but when I saw this beautifully colored, healthy looking P. murinus for cheap, I had to take it home.

So now here I am with this awesome T in a very boring terrarium. I didn't buy any accessories yet and stores are closed for today. I was thinking of a few things to buy tomorrow (most importantly a hide) but in the meantime, I thought you guys, who have more experience with a semi-arboreal, could give it a shot and give me some reccomandations. Be creative and have fun!

Here's what it looks like now:

 

[vtecgsr]

Here is my murinus enclosure... In my opinion its not smart to put places for this species to hide that like pots or cork bark cause it will hide in there all day and you will never see it... So i have some simple tree limbs in my tank along with rocks... You can see her on the left...

Nice murinus btw...

 

[ballpython2]

Alright, so I had no plans of buying a new T today, but when I saw this beautifully colored, healthy looking P. murinus for cheap, I had to take it home.

So now here I am with this awesome T in a very boring terrarium. I didn't buy any accessories yet and stores are closed for today. I was thinking of a few things to buy tomorrow (most importantly a hide) but in the meantime, I thought you guys, who have more experience with a semi-arboreal, could give it a shot and give me some reccomandations. Be creative and have fun!

Here's what it looks like now:

As you can see from your picture your P. murinus is trying to burrow... so what you should do is change that substrate and make it all peatmoss so it will hold as a burrow and won't cave in. when you make it all peatmoss make sure you make it deep enough so if your spider looks up from the burrow it will have a long way to look up. the deeper you make the substrate the deeper your P. murinus will feel comfortable at the bottom of the burrow.

In my opinon you should use hides because hides make the tarantula feel safer and if every thing around him is dark and he cant see out, he will assume you can't see it. if your spider is going to be aboreal more than terresterial then yes by all means don't give it a hide at all and it will make its own web...but then again is it making its own web because he wants to? or is he making his own web because the owner hasn't giving it a place to hide because he wants to see it all the time even though tarantulas are noctual and they dont like bright lights thats why people give them hides so they can feel secure...Do you see in this picture how it looks like he has it close to a window because their is BRIGHT day light, light in his background? T's don't like it. but all because people dont do stuff by the book it doesn't mean he is doing anything wrong...I keep all my T's in a walk in closet and there is a window in there...I put a BLACK towel over the window to block out all the light so basically the only time light gets in the is when I have to check on them at night.....Also if you notice with his T it is as far away as it can get from the sunlight...it has no where else to go..so he is going to web up his self...

 

[vtecgsr]

Oh and on another note, DO NOT underestimate the speed of this thing. I would detain it with a delicup or something before puttin my hand in the cage...

 

[vtecgsr]

As you can see from your picture your P. murinus is trying to burrow... so what you should do is change that substrate and make it all peatmoss so it will hold as a burrow and won't cave in. when you make it all peatmoss make sure you make it deep enough so if your spider looks up from the burrow it will have a long way to look up. the deeper you make the substrate the deeper your P. murinus will feel comfortable at the bottom of the burrow.

In my opinon you should use hides because hides make the tarantula feel safer and if every thing around him is dark and he cant see out, he will assume you can't see it. if your spider is going to be aboreal more than terresterial then yes by all means don't give it a hide at all and it will make its own web...but then again is it making its own web because he wants to? or is he making his own web because the owner hasn't giving it a place to hide because he wants to see it all the time even though tarantulas are noctual and they dont like bright lights thats why people give them hides so they can feel secure...Do you see in this picture how it looks like he has it close to a window because their is BRIGHT day light, light in his background? T's don't like it. but all because people dont do stuff by the book it doesn't mean he is doing anything wrong...I keep all my T's in a walk in closet and there is a window in there...I put a BLACK towel over the window to block out all the light so basically the only time light gets in the is when I have to check on them at night.....Also if you notice with his T it is as far away as it can get from the sunlight...it has no where else to go..so he is going to web up his self...

That makes sense... Maybe i should use a hide, but i would just rather be able to see my T. Also that window was open only for that picture. My room is typically dark during the day.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Maybe i should use a hide, but i would just rather be able to see my T.

You will end up doing whatever you want, but I hope you understand that this is pretty traumatic for the T. They need to be able to hide to feel secure, or it's like a constant state of panic. I've seen some very, very sad H. lividum huddled in petshop enclosures with nowhere to hide, ditto for emperor scorpions.

 

[xinxiaoyun]

my little pterinuchilus murinus
I bought it two days ago.
I put a cricket in order to attract it and take a better photo.
But after a second of the picture taken,the cricket was caught.

 

[phil jones]

You will end up doing whatever you want, but I hope you understand that this is pretty traumatic for the T. They need to be able to hide to feel secure, or it's like a constant state of panic. I've seen some very, very sad H. lividum huddled in petshop enclosures with nowhere to hide, ditto for emperor scorpions.

well done :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: --- phil

 

[Sunar]

More substrae so it can burrow if it wants. I'd also lean a stick up in one corner so it has something to anchor a web onto if it wants to web besides just the walls.

They should be allowed to burrow if there is no hide at least. Would you like it if someone took your house away and expected you to just live on the lawn forever so they could see you and you wouldn't get any privacy? By reading up before you got the T you should know they like to burrow alot or hide in webs. If you wanted a more visible T then you should have bought one.

~Fred

 

[RottweilExpress]

Luckely P. Murinus RCF is a bombastic webber, so even if a hide is adviced (or necessary) they will make a cozy home for themselves regardless of the conditions you give them initially.

 

[ballpython2]

Can someone please tell me where I can get a good priced adult / sub adult P. murinus from?....not not an adult than just anything over 2 inches??

This is the last Tarantula I want to get for some time....but i cant seem to get a hold of one...

 

[vtecgsr]

You will end up doing whatever you want, but I hope you understand that this is pretty traumatic for the T. They need to be able to hide to feel secure, or it's like a constant state of panic. I've seen some very, very sad H. lividum huddled in petshop enclosures with nowhere to hide, ditto for emperor scorpions.

I can understand the logic here, with the security of a hide im sure it would feel much safer. But being WC im sure there has been much more tramatic experiences than being visible. Im just afraid it would get too comfy in its hide and id have a pet hide/hole...

 

[Stylopidae]

If you can't see a spider, you're doing something right. Tarantulas generally do whatever they can to avoid being seen.

Deeper substrate and a waterdish. Food every so often. That's pretty much it.

I wouldn't put sticks in there, you're inviting a falling accident. The heat lamp is unneeded, I keep my entire collection at room temperature and they're all thriving.

 

[Bothrops]

I don't understand.

I can see a deep substrate in vtecgsr's terrarium. At least deep enough for that P. murinus :?
She could dig if she wants to...

 

[vtecgsr]

If you can't see a spider, you're doing something right. Tarantulas generally do whatever they can to avoid being seen.

Deeper substrate and a waterdish. Food every so often. That's pretty much it.

I wouldn't put sticks in there, you're inviting a falling accident. The heat lamp is unneeded, I keep my entire collection at room temperature and they're all thriving.

If my substrate were any deeper the spider would bump his head on the top haha:} ... The substrate is plenty deep, there is a waterdish on the right, and thats not a heat lamp its a red light for night viewing...oh and the tree limbs are not much greater than 1.5 of the spider's legspan if not greater at all... its hardly a risk, maybe the pic makes it seem higher i dunno...

 

[musihuto]

just a note...

it is generally preferable to allow T's to witness natural day/night photoperiods. it provides them with a cue as to the season, among other things.

cheers!
- munis

As you can see from your picture your P. murinus is trying to burrow... so what you should do is change that substrate and make it all peatmoss so it will hold as a burrow and won't cave in. when you make it all peatmoss make sure you make it deep enough so if your spider looks up from the burrow it will have a long way to look up. the deeper you make the substrate the deeper your P. murinus will feel comfortable at the bottom of the burrow.

In my opinon you should use hides because hides make the tarantula feel safer and if every thing around him is dark and he cant see out, he will assume you can't see it. if your spider is going to be aboreal more than terresterial then yes by all means don't give it a hide at all and it will make its own web...but then again is it making its own web because he wants to? or is he making his own web because the owner hasn't giving it a place to hide because he wants to see it all the time even though tarantulas are noctual and they dont like bright lights thats why people give them hides so they can feel secure...Do you see in this picture how it looks like he has it close to a window because their is BRIGHT day light, light in his background? T's don't like it. but all because people dont do stuff by the book it doesn't mean he is doing anything wrong...I keep all my T's in a walk in closet and there is a window in there...I put a BLACK towel over the window to block out all the light so basically the only time light gets in the is when I have to check on them at night.....Also if you notice with his T it is as far away as it can get from the sunlight...it has no where else to go..so he is going to web up his self...

 

[Hamburglar]

I put a hide in with mine and it burrowed behind it. However, it did dig a little back door into the hide so it has an escape route if necessary.

 

[IdahoBiteyThing]

IMHO: Add plants (fake are fine). OBT's can indeed be semi-arboreal, and mine loves to hang out in his hammock in the sky. My fave plant for this purpose is a string of plastic philodendron-type leaves that attach to the glass w/ suction cups (I also secured it to the glass w/ a little hot glue). Get a vine that is long enough to reach from the substrate to the top of the enclosure (don't use a tall enclosure however, they're not THAT arboreal, don't want to create a fall hazard). The leaves enable the OBT to hide behind them and feel more secure than on an exposed branch. You could even attach the leaves to a large slab of corkbark placed against the side of the tank, creating more hiding options for your T. And DO heed the advice regarding OBT's; they are extremely defensive and fast, with venom guaranteed to ruin the rest of your week! <another good reason to create an environment where he/she will feel safe and secure. Good luck, these are beautiful, cool spiders. TF

 

[monitormonster]

You will end up doing whatever you want, but I hope you understand that this is pretty traumatic for the T. They need to be able to hide to feel secure, or it's like a constant state of panic. I've seen some very, very sad H. lividum huddled in petshop enclosures with nowhere to hide, ditto for emperor scorpions.

I saw the same exact thing yesterday at a pet store....A Cobalt Blue with nothing but half an inch of dirt and a water dish in its cage. I almost bought it just out of pity

 

[CedrikG]

Hi,

Pterinochilus murinus are native to ... Angola, Burundi, Tanzania, Dem. Rep. Congo (Zaire), Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Sambia and Simbabwe

I would care of your Pterinochilus murinus this way :

I usually use the Zimbabwe as reference on the kind of climate to keep them. Zimbabwe has dinstinct Dry and Rain season, its not because it is from Africa then you have to keep bone dry at full time :




November to marsh : Rain season.

In these months, heres how I am keeping them :

3 weeks to one month : regular misting, 3 to 4 misting a week, light misting you know ... you dont want to flood the terrarium, and you got to have a good ventilation. I usually moist the substrate a little and thats it, most of the time I mist the opposite of the spider hides, to offer the spider a dry and moist side, and to increase the humidity in there.

Then, I give the spider a break of 2 weeks, where I dont mist, I let the container dry's up.

and I continu like this for the Rain Season.


-----


April to October : Dry Season

In these dry months, here's how I am keeping them :

3 weeks to one month : 1 to 2 light misting a week, to the opposite of the spider hide.

then, 2 week's a little bit more wet, I mist 2 to 3 time a week, very light misting, somethings that will dry up in the next few hour's. Just to make sure the spider is well hydrated.

and I continu like this for the rest of the Dry season.

You can keep it at 26 degres celcius the day, 23 the night.

I would offer your Pterinochilus murinus this kind of environement, they like it very much and they wont bother a long time on the glass, or doing a cocoon in the corner.