Lasiodora Parahybana!!!

[SpiduhBMX]

So about 2 days ago, i went and got myself a LP! She came with a quite big tank, substrate, hide, plant, waterdish, and her in her allready +- 8 inch 2 year old glory! The people at the pet store kept her WAAAAY too dry. Substrate was bone dry, her waterdish looked like it hadnt been filled or cleaned in months, and she just hadnt been taken very good care of. First think i did when i got her home was clean her water dish, fill it up, and mist the literal crap out of her substrate ( i may have overdone it, question on that later). So hopefully she will be happier now that she isnt living in a desert. Heres a few pics. http://puu.sh/g3zvt/e2fc06ad5a.jpg http://puu.sh/g3wC0/53ced42724.jpg http://puu.sh/g3yrJ/b31f6654e2.jpg http://puu.sh/g0d4y/d06570352e.jpg Now, i have a few questions. Ive read up a bit allready, but i was hoping to get some more oppinions. Ive seen that i need to keep her around 70-80% humidity. Without a humidity meter, how can i tell how humid it is in her enclosure? What can i do to make her enclosure better? More plants? Some rocks? Live plants? A lot of people always say alot of different things when it comes to feeding, i have 2 other t's (G.rosea and B.albo) and a Jumping spider, so i will be feeding them weekly. How many crickets should i feed her a week? Should i give her superworms? I'm in love with Zelda allready and i want to make her very happy! Thanks!

 

[cold blood]

So about 2 days ago, i went and got myself a LP! She came with a quite big tank, substrate, hide, plant, waterdish, and her in her allready +- 8 inch 2 year old glory! The people at the pet store kept her WAAAAY too dry. Substrate was bone dry, her waterdish looked like it hadnt been filled or cleaned in months, and she just hadnt been taken very good care of. First think i did when i got her home was clean her water dish, fill it up, and mist the literal crap out of her substrate ( i may have overdone it, question on that later). So hopefully she will be happier now that she isnt living in a desert. Heres a few pics. http://puu.sh/g3zvt/e2fc06ad5a.jpg http://puu.sh/g3wC0/53ced42724.jpg http://puu.sh/g3yrJ/b31f6654e2.jpg http://puu.sh/g0d4y/d06570352e.jpg Now, i have a few questions. Ive read up a bit allready, but i was hoping to get some more oppinions. Ive seen that i need to keep her around 70-80% humidity. Without a humidity meter, how can i tell how humid it is in her enclosure? What can i do to make her enclosure better? More plants? Some rocks? Live plants? A lot of people always say alot of different things when it comes to feeding, i have 2 other t's (G.rosea and B.albo) and a Jumping spider, so i will be feeding them weekly. How many crickets should i feed her a week? Should i give her superworms? I'm in love with Zelda allready and i want to make her very happy! Thanks!

Stop reading "care-sheets", as you can see they've already confused you to the point of potential disaster. You shouldn't EVER be worrying about a number specific humidity (with a very few exceptions). An adult LP will be just fine on bone dry substrate. I would just moisten a small area and rotate that area periodically...this is NOT a humidity dependent species. I don't think she was kept as bad as you believe at the LPS...it seems quite healthy.

Your feeding schedule will be dependent on several variables, such as temps, size of prey offered, and/or where it is in its molt schedule.

If you keep it relatively warm, which isn't a necessity, you will need to feed it more food, more frequently. If you feed crickets you could feed 6-10 per week...if you feed superworms, maybe 2 per week as they are a large, fatty meal, especially compared to crickets. I like to mix it up when it comes to prey items. Just after a molt, prior to being fattened up, it will be very hungry and want more food, as it plumps up you can slow the feedings and as it nears the pre-molt period you can back off on the amount of food as well as frequency.

You don't need to do anything with the enclosure, very often adding more things, just means more things will get buried by the t. If it desires (like before molting) it will create its own burrow and subterranean lair. Just leave it do whatever landscaping it desires. I keep my LD pretty bare because it buries pretty much everything I put in there for it...same for several of my t's actually.

I hope the LPS didn't talk you into a heat mat or lamp....having others I'm sure you wouldn't fall for that anyway


Enjoy the new big spidey!!

---------- Post added 02-19-2015 at 01:34 PM ----------

Also get rid of the screen top asap...they are not only dangerous to the t, but also over-ventilate and prevent any sort of a climate forming within the enclosure.

 

[SpiduhBMX]

Stop reading "care-sheets", as you can see they've already confused you to the point of potential disaster. You shouldn't EVER be worrying about a number specific humidity (with a very few exceptions). An adult LP will be just fine on bone dry substrate. I would just moisten a small area and rotate that area periodically...this is NOT a humidity dependent species. I don't think she was kept as bad as you believe at the LPS...it seems quite healthy.

Your feeding schedule will be dependent on several variables, such as temps, size of prey offered, and/or where it is in its molt schedule.

If you keep it relatively warm, which isn't a necessity, you will need to feed it more food, more frequently. If you feed crickets you could feed 6-10 per week...if you feed superworms, maybe 2 per week as they are a large, fatty meal, especially compared to crickets. I like to mix it up when it comes to prey items. Just after a molt, prior to being fattened up, it will be very hungry and want more food, as it plumps up you can slow the feedings and as it nears the pre-molt period you can back off on the amount of food as well as frequency.

You don't need to do anything with the enclosure, very often adding more things, just means more things will get buried by the t. If it desires (like before molting) it will create its own burrow and subterranean lair. Just leave it do whatever landscaping it desires. I keep my LD pretty bare because it buries pretty much everything I put in there for it...same for several of my t's actually.

I hope the LPS didn't talk you into a heat mat or lamp....having others I'm sure you wouldn't fall for that anyway


Enjoy the new big spidey!!

---------- Post added 02-19-2015 at 01:34 PM ----------

Also get rid of the screen top asap...they are not only dangerous to the t, but also over-ventilate and prevent any sort of a climate forming within the enclosure.

Ahh, yeah, they prettymuch have confused me. Sorry the pictures arent great, she was skittish so i diddnt really have the chance to take her lid off.
Yeah, ive had my Rosie not take food for about 2-3 weeks, she molted 3 days ago. \o/
I just keep it room temp. 75-80F or so i believe. 6-10?!!? O.O Thats quite a few!
Well i think im gonna replace her plant with a new aquarium plant atleast. The rocks connecting it to the ground are a bit sharp, dont want her to get hurt.
Yeah, no, i'd rather not have a fried spider.
Thanks for the help! \o/

 

[TsunamiSpike]

I was the same when researching before getting my first T. Concentrating on multiple caresheets that I now know are just generic, messed up and pointless. Temp wise the best way to think of it is if the temps comfortable for you, it's fine for the T...(most of the time), but worrying about specifics just causes issues. The biggest killer of Ts is over-caring owners. Like cold blood said, tank decorations are a matter of debate. Supply a hide and a water dish and the T won't care. Supply loads of decorations and make it look pretty, the T still will not care. I found a great piece of cork bark for our LP, creates a nice long tunnel she can hide in and plenty of it that she can sit on top of if she so desires. So far she pretty much just sits there...at the entrance...staring at the other side of the room (I swear she can see the crickets from there!)... But nah seriously, as long as the T has somewhere to hide, something to drink and fed on a suitable diet and rota it's all good. Watch out for grooming, not only is it a good sign it's pretty funny when they do the grooming all one side trick.

 

[gobey]

My LPs are 4" and about 5.5 ~6". They are on dry substrate. My room is at 70 when possible.

They eat 4~8 crickets at a time. 6 average. 2x a week.

 

[horanjp]

+1 coldblood, on a roll with the new keeper advice

I keep my LP slings in a veritable salt flat deli-cup environment...moisten once or twice a week with a little spritz, and they're dry the next day. They do fine. Humidity, temperature, etc is best not a thing you MEASURE, but rather you FEEL. NW terrestrial adults are so so so so very tolerant of less-than-ideal conditions. Probably don't need to do much for your new pet other than clean up and fill that dish. If your room is a comfortable temperature for most hours of the day, you've got all your bases covered. You can add some T-tchotchke if it pleases you, but the spider will likely give exactly 0.00002 f***s about it. Less care sheet, more forum. Enjoy!