How can I build the best habitat for my E.Cyanognathus?

[HybridOne890]

Hello,

I have recently received feedback from all the wise users on this site to not trust online caresheets. Since the great majority of you are experts in the hobby, I would love to recieve your input.

I have a beautiful E. Cyanognathus (blue fang) sling that has molted twice and is about 1in or so in size now, I keep it in a Jamie's Tarantulas terrestrial sling enclosure. I mist every 2 days or so in an effort to keep high humidity as I have read that these require very high humidity. Given that these are fossorial species, I find water bolus it brings up and clean it out ASAP.

Since I was told not to trust these caresheets tho I am not sure if this how I should be keeping it... It seems to be happy and has dug a very complex den under the provided substrate. It also has a very small heat source that by no means is too hot. I know this cause my p.irminia had the same source and she is a very healthy looking, colorful female now!

I am open to any and all advice on how to keep this beautiful T happy and healthy, I just want to ensure it lives a good, happy life!

Here are pics of its (freshly misted) enclosure!

 

[EulersK]

What is your heat source, exactly?

Firstly, I'd like to say that you've got a great start. I'm going to go over a few things, but I'm largely nitpicking - you're doing a good job so far I can't provide specific husbandry on this species, as I've never kept it, but here's what I see right off.

• Do something about that screen. The enclosure is fine, but that needs to go. Tarsal claws can get stuck in there, as can legs, resulting in lost limbs. I had the exact same enclosure, removing them is easy. Take off the lid, and while you work, just have a plate or something on top to keep the spider from escaping. Use something flat, preferably an X-acto blade, box cutter, or blade scraper to slowly cut the glue off of the screen circle. Take your time! You don't want to ruin the enclosure. You'll need to do this on the outside and the inside. When it's out, you have a few options. You can buy plastic vents occasionally at Home Depot/Lowes, but they're much cheaper online. Just make sure that the air holes aren't too large. If you can't do that, then no big deal. Get some packing tape and put two sticky sides together to essentially create a sheet of non-sticky plastic. Then tape/hot glue that to the lid, poke some air holes with a pin, and you're good to go. There would be other solutions as well, but I'll leave that to your creativity.
• Misting should only be used as a source of drinking water, not providing humidity. For that, use a syringe. You can buy one at any CVS/Walgreens, but they're much cheaper if you can find a feed store (for horses and chickens and whatnot) near you. Some users will outright refuse to use misting... I'm not one of those people. I don't provide water dishes until they're about 1" dls, and that means misting is their only form of water.
• You've got anchor points, which is great. You've got (what I assume to be) sphagnum moss, which is also great. Now just make sure you're not crowding your spider. It's hard to tell from the pictures, so use your best judgement here, but I'd say remove some moss. Your spider likely feels cramped, but again, that could just be the angle of the photo. Use your best guess.
• Completely unrelated - what is housed in the enclosure with the screen lid that this enclosure is sitting on? Hopefully not another tarantula, because of my first point!

Again, you're doing great so far. You've got an interesting species, you've got a good enclosure, and you're asking the right people. Now I just hope that someone with experience in this species pops in to help! Best of luck, and welcome to the hobby.

 

[Red Eunice]

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?157418-Blue-Fang-Care-Sheet.
This thread should give you all the info needed to give proper care and housing.
I don't have cyanognathus, yet, but do keep rufescens, uatuman and murinus. Ephebopus sp. should be kept in moist sub throughout their lifespan. The sub I use for these and my other moisture requiring OBs is plain topsoil w/h a small amount of vermiculite added for water retention purpose. A 5 gallon bucket of soil w/h 1/2 cup vermiculite mixed well is my formula.
Ephebopus sp. are awesome, IMO. Enjoy!!

 

[HybridOne890]

What is your heat source, exactly?

Firstly, I'd like to say that you've got a great start. I'm going to go over a few things, but I'm largely nitpicking - you're doing a good job so far I can't provide specific husbandry on this species, as I've never kept it, but here's what I see right off.

• Do something about that screen. The enclosure is fine, but that needs to go. Tarsal claws can get stuck in there, as can legs, resulting in lost limbs. I had the exact same enclosure, removing them is easy. Take off the lid, and while you work, just have a plate or something on top to keep the spider from escaping. Use something flat, preferably an X-acto blade, box cutter, or blade scraper to slowly cut the glue off of the screen circle. Take your time! You don't want to ruin the enclosure. You'll need to do this on the outside and the inside. When it's out, you have a few options. You can buy plastic vents occasionally at Home Depot/Lowes, but they're much cheaper online. Just make sure that the air holes aren't too large. If you can't do that, then no big deal. Get some packing tape and put two sticky sides together to essentially create a sheet of non-sticky plastic. Then tape/hot glue that to the lid, poke some air holes with a pin, and you're good to go. There would be other solutions as well, but I'll leave that to your creativity.
• Misting should only be used as a source of drinking water, not providing humidity. For that, use a syringe. You can buy one at any CVS/Walgreens, but they're much cheaper if you can find a feed store (for horses and chickens and whatnot) near you. Some users will outright refuse to use misting... I'm not one of those people. I don't provide water dishes until they're about 1" dls, and that means misting is their only form of water.
• You've got anchor points, which is great. You've got (what I assume to be) sphagnum moss, which is also great. Now just make sure you're not crowding your spider. It's hard to tell from the pictures, so use your best judgement here, but I'd say remove some moss. Your spider likely feels cramped, but again, that could just be the angle of the photo. Use your best guess.
• Completely unrelated - what is housed in the enclosure with the screen lid that this enclosure is sitting on? Hopefully not another tarantula, because of my first point!

Again, you're doing great so far. You've got an interesting species, you've got a good enclosure, and you're asking the right people. Now I just hope that someone with experience in this species pops in to help! Best of luck, and welcome to the hobby.

Thank you for all the info and advice! Unfortunately what is house over there is an OBT who's enclosure I'm trying desperately to dry out so that it is happy again. I have heard that wire mesh is the worst due to the danger of their tarsi getting stuck. I really want to change these, what should I use instead? All my T's are in glass aquariums. Whatever is safer I will definitely change to since I want to keep my T's unharmed!

Ps
There is sphagnum in there indeed, all in interest of high humidity!

 

[HybridOne890]

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?157418-Blue-Fang-Care-Sheet.
This thread should give you all the info needed to give proper care and housing.
I don't have cyanognathus, yet, but do keep rufescens, uatuman and murinus. Ephebopus sp. should be kept in moist sub throughout their lifespan. The sub I use for these and my other moisture requiring OBs is plain topsoil w/h a small amount of vermiculite added for water retention purpose. A 5 gallon bucket of soil w/h 1/2 cup vermiculite mixed well is my formula.
Ephebopus sp. are awesome, IMO. Enjoy!!

Thank you so much for all the info and that link, I will get in it ASAP!

 

[Chris LXXIX]

The care for genus Ephebopus is the same. Lots of inches of moist substrate, water dish, a piece of cork bark (in diagonal, near the side of the enclosure, better) and, if you want, fake leaves near.

 

[EulersK]

Thank you for all the info and advice! Unfortunately what is house over there is an OBT who's enclosure I'm trying desperately to dry out so that it is happy again. I have heard that wire mesh is the worst due to the danger of their tarsi getting stuck. I really want to change these, what should I use instead? All my T's are in glass aquariums. Whatever is safer I will definitely change to since I want to keep my T's unharmed!

Ps
There is sphagnum in there indeed, all in interest of high humidity!

Go here and look at what I call the Universal Enclosure, about halfway through my first post. It's just a standard aquarium with acrylic on the lid. I'd use one step up from the thinnest acrylic as to avoid bowing on the larger enclosures.
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/inexpensive-arboreal-and-universal-enclosures-diy-projects.283149/