Grammostola Pulchripes, is it in premolt? (Photos attached)

[Tom32]

I can't explain your friend. However I can tell you mold is relatively harmless. You spot clean it out if it grows at all. I've never ever had mold in over 99% of my Ts in my life time, and I didn't have to micromanage any one of them at all.

Also, air currents in captivity often bother or freakout Ts btw. Good luck.

Thank you for calming me down in regard to the mold. Thats good news. Since the enclosure (I attached a photo in post #6) has no ventilation I added an acryllic glass with holes on the top and in the front. I am measuring the humidity at the ceiling and if it is reaching 92% the fan laying on top (1 centimeter away) is slowly (120mm fan at aroung 8 Volt, so its really mild) sucking the humid air out until it reaches around 70% (30 seconds). The Tarantula does not seem to notice the airmovement.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I will try to keep my dirt dry and watch it. Maybe the fan is unneccasary, but after the first days, it smelled and feeled a bit too humid.

I am here to learn. I will watch it closely and maybe ditch it and see what happens.

Best regards,
Tom

You can just block the airvents at the bottom...keep it simple.

Okay, the photo is in Post #6. The ceiling is closed and just a strip at the back has around 5 centimeters with some holes in it. I guess this won't be enough fresh air for the T...

 

[cold blood]

Okay, the photo is in Post #6. The ceiling is closed and just a strip at the back has around 5 centimeters with some holes in it. I guess this won't be enough fresh air for the T...

terrestrial ts kept on dry substrate require very little ventilation.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Thank you for calming me down in regard to the mold. Thats good news. Since the enclosure (I attached a photo in post #6) has no ventilation I added an acryllic glass with holes on the top and in the front. I am measuring the humidity at the ceiling and if it is reaching 92% the fan laying on top (1 centimeter away) is slowly (120mm fan at aroung 8 Volt, so its really mild) sucking the humid air out until it reaches around 70% (30 seconds). The Tarantula does not seem to notice the airmovement.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I will try to keep my dirty dry and watch it. Maybe the fan is unneccasary, but after the first days, it smelled and feeled a bit too humid.

I am here to learn. I will watch it closely and maybe ditch it and see what happens.

Best regards,
Tom

Wow 92% humidity? That’s crazy good for an amphibian not a tarantula.
might be a good idea to get it a clear plastic shoebox enclosure until you get this stuff sorted out . I always got extra enclosures. Kritter keepers we’re my second favorite til they quit selling them locally .

 

[Tom32]

I guess its due to the cocofiber-brick that needed water to expand. I mixed it with Other substrate and with a small amount of clay (for better digging). It may just dry out and than it will be fine and the fan won't run anymore.

 

[viper69]

I would like to know if you mean air current directly in the enclosure? Or air current in general?

For example: a mini fan blowing opposite direction and away from enclosures. No air being mechanicaly aimed at the enclosures, but air motion in a room. The fan not being close to the enclosures either.

Air currents that end up landing on them, like a fan. or anything else. I've seen it happen in my own experience and I did not use a fan directly on one

Thank you for calming me down in regard to the mold. Thats good news. Since the enclosure (I attached a photo in post #6) has no ventilation I added an acryllic glass with holes on the top and in the front. I am measuring the humidity at the ceiling and if it is reaching 92% the fan laying on top (1 centimeter away) is slowly (120mm fan at aroung 8 Volt, so its really mild) sucking the humid air out until it reaches around 70% (30 seconds). The Tarantula does not seem to notice the airmovement.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I will try to keep my dirt dry and watch it. Maybe the fan is unneccasary, but after the first days, it smelled and feeled a bit too humid.

I am here to learn. I will watch it closely and maybe ditch it and see what happens.

Best regards,
Tom

All the beginner questions are asked and answered here decades ago- just search/research come back w/specific questions
No venting- kills Ts sooner or later, they breathe like us.

I've never measured humidity in my life, you are going overboard. Dry sub, ventilation, hide, water dish

 

[Tom32]

Air currents that end up landing on them, like a fan. or anything else. I've seen it happen in my own experience and I did not use a fan directly on one



All the beginner questions are asked and answered here decades ago- just search/research come back w/specific questions
No venting- kills Ts sooner or later, they breathe like us.

I've never measured humidity in my life, you are going overboard. Dry sub, ventilation, hide, water dish

I added a second ceiling today. The venting holes are very small to prevent the spider from trying to squeeze through. But I made many, so there should be enough fresh air. The Air-Intake is at the bottom of the front side. The Air can leave the enclose at the back of the ceiling. The second ceiling has the holes on the sides to prevent a current forming if the fan is running. The fan itself is only running, when the humidity reaches 92% Its attached to the top and sucks air on the lowest setting possible.. Since the soil is drying up now, my guess is that the fan will stop beeing needed, when its dry enough. There is no current inside (nothing moves, not even the lightest fibers in front of the frontmesh. Sensors show that humidity is going down slowly, so I guess this will be fine. The spider does not seem to care.

You can just block the airvents at the bottom...keep it simple.

Like I wrote: I added a second ceiling. The enclosure is inside a board and my son likes watching from the front. I will try to take a photo tomorrow. Also handling feeding and cleaning the waterdish is only possible from the front. If the soil is too high, I would need some sort of barrier for the soil there. It's more convenient this way.

Best regards and thanks for all your comments,
Tom

 

[viper69]

I added a second ceiling today. The venting holes are very small to prevent the spider from trying to squeeze through. But I made many, so there should be enough fresh air. The Air-Intake is at the bottom of the front side. The Air can leave the enclose at the back of the ceiling. The second ceiling has the holes on the sides to prevent a current forming if the fan is running. The fan itself is only running, when the humidity reaches 92% Its attached to the top and sucks air on the lowest setting possible.. Since the soil is drying up now, my guess is that the fan will stop beeing needed, when its dry enough. There is no current inside (nothing moves, not even the lightest fibers in front of the frontmesh. Sensors show that humidity is going down slowly, so I guess this will be fine. The spider does not seem to care.




Like I wrote: I added a second ceiling. The enclosure is inside a board and my son likes watching from the front. I will try to take a photo tomorrow. Also handling feeding and cleaning the waterdish is only possible from the front. If the soil is too high, I would need some sort of barrier for the soil there. It's more convenient this way.

Best regards and thanks for all your comments,
Tom

Whatever works- overly complicated though. You are the only person I know who has gone to such lengths for a basic species.

 

[Tom32]

So, this is her today. Below her is a small burrow she made. I removed a cricket which she didn't wanted. But she ate a single small Shelfordella lateralis.