Help with my Brachypelma Hamorii

Matz

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Sep 23, 2023
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So a few days ago I decided to get my first tarantula and everything was okay when it arrived. The problem is that I didnt have much time to do the coconut fiber and it end up soaking wet. At first I thought it was okay as the humidity that people talked about on internet was pretty high, but then I noticed that it really wasnt as one of the woods that i put in there was full of mold. At this time my T hided in another piece of wood that was made for her to be well, her hide, and closed completely the entrance. I know that this is okay but im worried now that the soil could be too wet and that it could hurt the T in any way as the wood of its hide seems to be also growing mold. I dont want her to be hurted by the mold or just the excess of humidity.
So I was thinking about removing the part of the soil where she is missing and replacing it with new, drier soil. ButI dont know if this would stress her even more as she is locked on its hide. These are the only photos that i took before she hided.
 

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Matz

Arachnopeon
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Sep 23, 2023
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Oh yeah, well, mostly my question is what should I do with my T. If it is okay to leave the soil like that or maybe change just one part of it to a more drier one.
 

Hardus nameous

Yes, but only on Tuesdays!
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If the spider has sealed itself in the burrow I wouldn't disturb it until it comes out.
Does your enclosure have good ventilation? Could you maybe direct a fan at it (just to exchange air, not hurricane force) to dry it out?
 

viper69

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Oh yeah, well, mostly my question is what should I do with my T. If it is okay to leave the soil like that or maybe change just one part of it to a more drier one.
Soaking wet? Horrible idea. Would have been better off on dry paper towels.

Remove all wet, replace with dry
 

ArynAlba

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I agree with what Hardus nameous said--even though the substrate is too damp (this is a rather dry species,) I wouldn't go digging it out to replace the soil. Worst case scenario is that you'd disturb your T while it is molting, which would (in my opinion) be more detrimental than having wetter substrate than normal. If the substrate is absolutely swampy/sopping, that's one thing--but if it's just more damp than optimal, I'd agree with just increasing more ventilation.

Side note: the sandblasted grape vine can tend to mold in humid enclosures--it should be fine for a Brachypelma species like yours once it's all dried out, but just keep an eye on it in the meanwhile. This species should ideally be kept pretty dry, with just a water dish that you keep full (and I personally overflow mine super occasionally, just to keep the lower layers of substrate *slightly* damp.)
And this is just a personal preference, so please take it with a grain of salt! But I've found that eco earth/coco fiber tends to mold in higher humidity enclosures, and it tends to get all "pilly" and dusty in dry ones; I just haven't found that it works well for burrowing. I'd recommend either using it in a mix (with sand and another, finer substrate--such as organic top soil/peat), or going for a sand-organic topsoil/peat mixture (if you'd rather go for premade, I personally really like ReptiSoil and other substrates that are similar.) Coco fiber is perfectly fine sometimes, but I just personally prefer other soil-type substrates. It's up to you, though!
 

Ultum4Spiderz

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Oh yeah, well, mostly my question is what should I do with my T. If it is okay to leave the soil like that or maybe change just one part of it to a more drier one.
Use an oven or something to dry out the coco fibers. Although I’m not sure which temps and how long maybe search 🔍 it here??
 

ArynAlba

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Use an oven or something to dry out the coco fibers. Although I’m not sure which temps and how long maybe search 🔍 it here??
When I'm sterilizing wood and leaves for my isopods, I personally do 250F for about 30 minutes or so! Depending on the layer of soil, you could probably go longer as long as you check on the soil (and ideally churn it up so all layers are getting evenly dried). Just make sure to let it cool down before placing it in the T's enclosure, of course. But I've found that 200-250F is generally what's recommended, since it's hot enough to effectively dry things out (or kill any unwanted things, if you're using it for sterilizing,) but not so hot that you'd burn whatever you've got in there (within reason, of course--you'll still want to keep an eye on it and such.)
 

TarantulaMan138

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Jan 15, 2023
Messages
68
So a few days ago I decided to get my first tarantula and everything was okay when it arrived. The problem is that I didnt have much time to do the coconut fiber and it end up soaking wet. At first I thought it was okay as the humidity that people talked about on internet was pretty high, but then I noticed that it really wasnt as one of the woods that i put in there was full of mold. At this time my T hided in another piece of wood that was made for her to be well, her hide, and closed completely the entrance. I know that this is okay but im worried now that the soil could be too wet and that it could hurt the T in any way as the wood of its hide seems to be also growing mold. I dont want her to be hurted by the mold or just the excess of humidity.
So I was thinking about removing the part of the soil where she is missing and replacing it with new, drier soil. ButI dont know if this would stress her even more as she is locked on its hide. These are the only photos that i took before she hided.
If you want you can actually replace all of her substrate with something even dryer if you can find clean clay even that would do mixed in with something like repti soil or you can also use your coconut fiber which is mostly what I have in my hamorii enclosure but they definitely do not like too much humidity so you can keep it mostly dry and what I personally like to do is to fill up her water dish and let it run over maybe five times the amount of her water dish and let that be enough humidity for her entire terrarium and I will do this once a month to once every 6 weeks and that is enough humidity for a Hamorii seeing as how they are from very arid areas. If you look closely you can see the extra bit of water around her water dish (the darker brown) also most tarantulas will close off their hide when they don't want to be bothered lol just doing regular tarantula things, no need to worry.
 

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