green bottle blue care questions

xBurntBytheSunx

Arachnoprince
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i am thinking of ordering one of the 1" gbbs from invertepets and i have a bunch of care questions before i actually make a final decision.

is care for a 1" T much different than an adult? how much should i feed it? does it need a water dish? will it web up the lid of a critter keeper? what kind of stuff should i put at the bottom of the keeper besides peatmoss, sticks or bark or what?

i have a larger kritter keeper, 6" by 12" at the bottom, and 8" tall, will that be big enough to keep an adult gbb?

any info would be much appriciated, most of the care guides i've read haven't been very specific
 

WYSIWYG

SpiderLoco
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Originally posted by xBurntBytheSunx
i am thinking of ordering one of the 1" gbbs from invertepets and i have a bunch of care questions before i actually make a final decision.

is care for a 1" T much different than an adult? how much should i feed it? does it need a water dish? will it web up the lid of a critter keeper? what kind of stuff should i put at the bottom of the keeper besides peatmoss, sticks or bark or what?

i have a larger kritter keeper, 6" by 12" at the bottom, and 8" tall, will that be big enough to keep an adult gbb?

any info would be much appriciated, most of the care guides i've read haven't been very specific
Any sized kritter keeper is just way too big for a 1 inch T.
You'd be better off buying one of the smallest disposable Ziploc-type containers found in the paper plates section of your grocery store. Just make sure to get the deepest one you can find in that size as these little boogers love to escape at every given opportunity! Also, at 1 inch, they don't need a water dish as they get plenty of moisture from their food. (I think vials, even the 40
or 50 dram vial is too small for a 1 incher unless you plan to turn it on its side and can put it on some kind of base so it won't roll). There is a small round Ziploc container that is for like 1 cup of soup that would work for your new sling.

Also, if you go to petbug.com, they have an excellent care sheet for GBBs. :)

Wysi
 

vulpina

Arachnoprince
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GBB's when they are smaller like slightly higher humidity than when they are adults. As adults you can pretty much keep them like a Rosie.

Andy
 

caligulathegod

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Here's what I use. 1/2 Gallon Rubbermaid containers I bought at Wal-Mart for $2. I used a corn on the cob holder (with the spikes) to systematically poke holes (inside going out) on one side about every inch until it covered one whole side.

I then filled it near the top with a mix of peat and vermiculite and compressed it down. It fills about half the jar. With my blondi sling, I also put in some of those water crystals for house plants and mixed in water to keep the humidity up. The crystals soaked it right up so that the soil is not wet but moister than dry soil would be.

It's about the same diameter as those deli cups everyone recommends and yet is tall enough that I can open up the lid and not have the sling run up my arm or worry about squishing it when I close the lid ( I was so afraid those little ziplock thingies would accidentally flip all the contents all over the place. it takes a bit of effort to get the lids off without disturbing the contents). It's also big enough that I can get my hand in there or tongs to clean out any mess (boluses {boli?}, etc.). I can mist against one side of the container without it disturbing the T too much (although my smithi did her first hairflicking last time I got some overspray on her. So cute) It's also nice and sturdy. My T's feel pretty secure in there and I don't have to worry about them blowing off. My smithi has decided to do her backhoe imatation and has started excavating (in pic on right).

My GBB has been in one of these since it was 3/4 of an inch and will stay till it's big enough for the 5 gallon ter.
 

xBurntBytheSunx

Arachnoprince
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how often do you feed your 1" t's? and those of you that have a gbb, do you think a 5 gallon tank or so is big enough?
 

caligulathegod

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I wouldn't put it in a 5 gallon tank until it's at least 3-4 inches, maybe bigger. A one incher I'd put in something like I posted or some of the others suggest. Personally, I prefer the Rubbermaid container because it's about the same size diameter as the deli cups and is still nice for display.
 

Bry

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Caligula, I like the 1/2 gal. rubbermaid setups a lot. I haven't owned any particularly small slings, partly because I was concerned about their size, but also because the size of the small containers seem like they would be somewhat frustrating to work with, for many of the same reasons you mentioned previously. Those also seem to give a good amount of vertical space for arboreal slings. I think I'm definitely going to start working with slings. :)

Bry
 

arachnopunks

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Originally posted by xBurntBytheSunx
how often do you feed your 1" t's? and those of you that have a gbb, do you think a 5 gallon tank or so is big enough?
A GBB s'ling will eat more than you really even think it can. Ours ate whatever we gave her and could easily take adult crickets at one inch.

They web intricate tunnels between sticks. She webbed over her water dish and everything else we put in there. I would recommend a few sticks. Keep it simple because she will web over everything. She would actually drink water off of her web near the water dish where I missed more than from the dish itself.

I agree with the others...a 5 gallon might be too big at this point, but withing the next molt or 2, it will ber perfect. I think we used a mini-petpal when she was that size. Just make sure her abdomen is too fat to squeeze through any of the holes. Also, I have received spiderlings that were supposedly 1 inch and were really quite smaller. It is better to be safe than sorry.


-Jill
 

caligulathegod

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Here's another shot where you can see the holes. This is my smithi inside, but the GBB has the same setup, just webbed up. My smithi is 3" and is quite cozy.
 

WYSIWYG

SpiderLoco
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Originally posted by caligulathegod
Here's another shot where you can see the holes. This is my smithi inside, but the GBB has the same setup, just webbed up. My smithi is 3" and is quite cozy.

I think your smithi looks like it could use some more room.
Since floor space is more important than height for a terrestrial, your container would probably work better if you turned it on its side. It looks to me like there isn't much room for your smithi to move around much. I have about the same size as yours and he is in the 2nd smallest critter keeper I have and he'll need to be moved to larger quarters soon. :)

If you decided to try turning your container sideways to see how it works, you'd want to make sure to have some kind of base so that it couldn't roll.

Wysi
 

xBurntBytheSunx

Arachnoprince
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i just realized i didn't say what i meant....once the T is grown do you guys think a 5 gallon kritter keeper is big enough for a gbb?
 

WYSIWYG

SpiderLoco
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Originally posted by caligulathegod
'nother
Yeah, it looks much better though where did the water dish go? I thought I saw one in there, which would mean she wouldn't have much room to move around without falling into the water dish.

Maybe I imagined it? :)

Wysi
 

WYSIWYG

SpiderLoco
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Originally posted by xBurntBytheSunx
i just realized i didn't say what i meant....once the T is grown do you guys think a 5 gallon kritter keeper is big enough for a gbb?
It should be ok. I read they grow up to 4.5 inches in size. If it got much larger than that, I'd be more inclined to either put it in a sweater box or a 10 gallon aquarium. :)

Wysi
 

arachnopunks

Arachnobaron
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Originally posted by xBurntBytheSunx
i just realized i didn't say what i meant....once the T is grown do you guys think a 5 gallon kritter keeper is big enough for a gbb?
Our adult is in a 10 gallon. There are some pics on here somewhere of her set up....she actually just produced an eggsack.


-Jill
 

caligulathegod

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My research stated that they don't get water dishes until at least 3". She'll graduate to a water dish with next molt. I keep the humidity right and she gets plenty of juicy crickets. I might move her to a pet pal with the mext molt, too.



Oh, those caresheets are at www.petbugs.com. not petbug.com.
 

WYSIWYG

SpiderLoco
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Originally posted by caligulathegod
My research stated that they don't get water dishes until at least 3". She'll graduate to a water dish with next molt. I keep the humidity right and she gets plenty of juicy crickets. I might move her to a pet pal with the mext molt, too.



Oh, those caresheets are at www.petbugs.com. not petbug.com.
That's true. I wasn't worried about it NOT having a water dish at that size. I was just trying to figure out why it looked like I saw one in your first pix. What WAS it? It's some round-looking object off to the right side of her. :?

Wysi
 

caligulathegod

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Oh, that's a saucer. I'm in a studio hotel in Milwaukee on transfer and it's on the countertop. I'm gone for months at a time (weekends home, if I'm close enough), so I bring my Ts with me. My GF loves me, but not enough to give my Ts the proper attention ;) (Especially the blondi) Plus I collect Ts because I genuinely love to see them and be with them. They bring me no joy when they are 500 miles away :( Two of those Rubbermaids fit snuggly in a petpal for easy travel and it keeps them very secure. You'd think they were made for it.
 
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