Grammostola pulchripes Sling Setup

[Envoirment]

Hi everyone,

I recently gave in to buying a 1cm G.pulchripes after contemplating about it for a while. I was just wondering if my set up and plan for it will suffice:

The substrate isn't as dry as it appears in the first pic - the flash just makes it look that way. The substrate is very slightly damp (nearly dry) and I put a few drops of water in the corner. The water bowl is very shallow too - took only a few drops from a pipette to fill it up. Will the water bowl be fine for the sling? And are my ventilation holes alright? Sorry that they look rather rough, had to use a sharp pair of scissors (made sure they're not large enough for it to escape this time!). I filed down as much as I could on the inside to make it smooth. The substrate is ~1.5" deep incase it wants to burrow.

I plan to feed it 2-3 times a week, either chopped up mini meals worms or crickets. I read that you can give them cricket legs to feed on - is that true? If so that would save a lot of hastle as I can just take a leg off a cricket I feed one of my other taratulas. Then refill its water bowl whenever it's empty - plus add a few drops to the substrate once or twice a week (in different places each time). In terms of temperature - I've managed to keep my room at 24-26C (75-79F) during the day and no lower than 21C (70F) at night the last couple days.

 

[BobBarley]

Hi everyone,

I recently gave in to buying a 1cm G.pulchripes after contemplating about it for a while. I was just wondering if my set up and plan for it will suffice:

The substrate isn't as dry as it appears in the first pic - the flash just makes it look that way. The substrate is very slightly damp (nearly dry) and I put a few drops of water in the corner. The water bowl is very shallow too - took only a few drops from a pipette to fill it up. Will the water bowl be fine for the sling? And are my ventilation holes alright? Sorry that they look rather rough, had to use a sharp pair of scissors (made sure they're not large enough for it to escape this time!). I filed down as much as I could on the inside to make it smooth. The substrate is ~1.5" deep incase it wants to burrow.

I plan to feed it 2-3 times a week, either chopped up mini meals worms or crickets. I read that you can give them cricket legs to feed on - is that true? If so that would save a lot of hastle as I can just take a leg off a cricket I feed one of my other taratulas. Then refill its water bowl whenever it's empty - plus add a few drops to the substrate once or twice a week (in different places each time). In terms of temperature - I've managed to keep my room at 24-26C (75-79F) during the day and no lower than 21C (70F) at night the last couple days.

Those holes look way too big for me. I would add in more substrate as well and a hide. The substrate so that it can burrow and the hide so that it can hide. Substrate should be much more than 1.5" my G. Pulchripes loves to burrow. I would just keep the substrate altogether dry with a full water dish, but that is just my opinion. The water dish is fine for the sling. Those temps sound good. Good luck!

 

[Andrea82]

Looks alright to me, I personally would provide a little hide,like a fake leaf or something like that.
How high is the container? Make sure there is no room for climbing on the walls. The space between the top of the container and the substrate should be less than 1.5-2 times the DLS of the sling.
And how big are the holes? With a sling of 1cm, I would make the holes less than 0.5cm.
I prefer to put tholes in the sides,not in the lid. It allows ventilation without compromising the humidity for slings.

 

[Andrea82]

Bob beat me to it while I was typing,lol

 

[Envoirment]

Thanks! I'll add another 0.5" of substrate and put in a little hide for it. The container is around 2.5" deep, so I''ll add more substrate to decrease the wall height. The holes are all 0.3-0.4cm in diameter except one (which is ~0.55cm) - so I'll close that one up with a piece of card or something.

How humid should the slings be kept? My room is usually 40-60% and with a small water dish I suspect its a little more humid in its enclosure.

 

[Haksilence]

Don't worry about the numerical value for humidity, just keep his water dish full and the humidity will be fine for it, unless you live in an incredibly dry climate, then you can put a few drops on the sub once a week or so. Like others have said, add a hide. I've used Powerade caps for sling hide in the past and currently and they work well. Take a pair of scissors and cut away a "door" and place it on the sub. I like to dig part of the sub up then put the cap over it to give them more room underneath but they will do what they want with it ultimately.

Picture for referance.

 

[Envoirment]

Thanks for the tip! I added in some fake plant leaves I had leftover and some more substrate - seems the little guy appreciated it as the first thing he did was walk under a leaf.

 

[cold blood]

The ventilation should be on the sides, or you won't get the micro-climate you need. If you are going to give it that much room, you may as well offer a hide. I don't give them too much ventilation when they're that small, just a few pin holes.

Yes, cricket legs will work just fine.

 

[viper69]

Hi everyone,

I recently gave in to buying a 1cm G.pulchripes after contemplating about it for a while. I was just wondering if my set up and plan for it will suffice:


The substrate isn't as dry as it appears in the first pic - the flash just makes it look that way. The substrate is very slightly damp (nearly dry) and I put a few drops of water in the corner. The water bowl is very shallow too - took only a few drops from a pipette to fill it up. Will the water bowl be fine for the sling? And are my ventilation holes alright? Sorry that they look rather rough, had to use a sharp pair of scissors (made sure they're not large enough for it to escape this time!). I filed down as much as I could on the inside to make it smooth. The substrate is ~1.5" deep incase it wants to burrow.

I plan to feed it 2-3 times a week, either chopped up mini meals worms or crickets. I read that you can give them cricket legs to feed on - is that true? If so that would save a lot of hastle as I can just take a leg off a cricket I feed one of my other taratulas. Then refill its water bowl whenever it's empty - plus add a few drops to the substrate once or twice a week (in different places each time). In terms of temperature - I've managed to keep my room at 24-26C (75-79F) during the day and no lower than 21C (70F) at night the last couple days.

1. Suffice- no. Give it a hide if you want your T to thrive and feel secure. Right now it's in a prison cell.
2. Water bowl is good.
3. Those holes look too big, but hard to say when I can't see them next to the T. They can squeeze out of "anything" that their carapace can fit through.
4. Don't be a lazy exotic animal owner, give it live food. Small Ts will "scavenge feed". Yours doesn't require dead food at all. It's large enough to eat live food! It may or may not respond to dead food on its own.
5. Temp range is good.

 

[Envoirment]

1. Suffice- no. Give it a hide if you want your T to thrive and feel secure. Right now it's in a prison cell.
2. Water bowl is good.
3. Those holes look too big, but hard to say when I can't see them next to the T. They can squeeze out of "anything" that their carapace can fit through.
4. Don't be a lazy exotic animal owner, give it live food. Small Ts will "scavenge feed". Yours doesn't require dead food at all. It's large enough to eat live food! It may or may not respond to dead food on its own.
5. Temp range is good.

1. It has one now and certainly seems "happier"
3. I fixed the holes a bit, so he shouldn't be able to get out now. Thanks for the carapace pointer - will keep it in mind for the future.
4. I would if I could, but don't think my mother would appreciate small flies/crickets. She just about puts up with the larger crickets/mealworms! She's not a fan of small insects - especially as we recently had a massive fungusl gnat outbreak thanks to a couple plants. Hundreds of them flying around. And he responded to the chopped up mealworm I put in yesterday. Woke up today to see his abdomen 3x the size it was last night! Greedy little thing, but that's good news to know he's a big eater.