Mexican red knee juvenile climbing to top of enclosure

[Tranchbaby]

I have had my red knee for a few months now. Initially she was very reserved and remained mostly in her burrow. I figured probably in pre-molt. She molted about a month ago and has been decently active since. She is a wonderful eater. I've noticed she has been exploring more of her enclosure lately. Today I just noticed she has climbed to the top of her enclosure. Just sitting there hanging out. I had a few inches of substrate in there for her because I read that red knees prefer low levels of it. Her tank is a bit taller than it needs to be for her current size admit-ably so I'm worried about falls now that I see she's climbing. How much substrate is too much for these guys? Also why do tarantulas do this? My mature male does it as well but people on here told me that's normal for MMTs. I wondering now if maybe the humidity in my room is off or something or if I could be doing something different that would make them not want to climb. Any thoughts, suggestions?

 

[Crone Returns]

I have had my red knee for a few months now. Initially she was very reserved and remained mostly in her burrow. I figured probably in pre-molt. She molted about a month ago and has been decently active since. She is a wonderful eater. I've noticed she has been exploring more of her enclosure lately. Today I just noticed she has climbed to the top of her enclosure. Just sitting there hanging out. I had a few inches of substrate in there for her because I read that red knees prefer low levels of it. Her tank is a bit taller than it needs to be for her current size admit-ably so I'm worried about falls now that I see she's climbing. How much substrate is too much for these guys? Also why do tarantulas do this? My mature male does it as well but people on here told me that's normal for MMTs. I wondering now if maybe the humidity in my room is off or something or if I could be doing something different that would make them not want to climb. Any thoughts, suggestions?

Could you send a picture of her and her tank?

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

Hi
There is no such thing as too much substrate.If the tank is tall add more so there is no more height than 1.5 DLS of your T.Can you post few pics of the whole enclosure and your T.
Regards Konstantin

 

[Tranchbaby]

Could you send a picture of her and her tank?

<edited>

I cannot currently send photos as my phone is broken, on my laptop. She is about this size and in a ten gallon tank. About 3 inches of dirt with small rocks, cork bark, dried leaves and grass, some more wooden pieces. Pretty decently littered with dired foliage. I know this set up isn't perfect, do you think the size has to do with her climbing? Or that possibly she's trying to get to my male who's her near neighbor?

 

[Tranchbaby]

Hi
There is no such thing as too much substrate.If the tank is tall add more so there is no more height than 1.5 DLS of your T.Can you post few pics of the whole enclosure and your T.
Regards Konstantin

I will try to borrow a friends phone for photos to send in tomorrow. Mine is currently broken. this is not my T but same size as her. What size tank would you recommend? I think 10 gallon might be okay ground space wise but probably way too tall?

 

[testdasi]

I have had my red knee for a few months now. Initially she was very reserved and remained mostly in her burrow. I figured probably in pre-molt. She molted about a month ago and has been decently active since. She is a wonderful eater. I've noticed she has been exploring more of her enclosure lately. Today I just noticed she has climbed to the top of her enclosure. Just sitting there hanging out. I had a few inches of substrate in there for her because I read that red knees prefer low levels of it. Her tank is a bit taller than it needs to be for her current size admit-ably so I'm worried about falls now that I see she's climbing. How much substrate is too much for these guys? Also why do tarantulas do this? My mature male does it as well but people on here told me that's normal for MMTs. I wondering now if maybe the humidity in my room is off or something or if I could be doing something different that would make them not want to climb. Any thoughts, suggestions?

You might have misunderstood things a bit so please bear with me. Once you understand the principles, you can apply it to all the species.

Tarantulas have 3 main preferences when it comes to living conditions (abbreviated as "FAT")

• Fossorial - like to hang out below ground
• Arboreal - like to hang out above ground
• Terrestrial - like to hang out at ground level

There are some complexity such as "opportunistic burrower" (terrestrial that would dig if no suitable condition e.g. no hide), "semi-arboreal" (terrestrial that doesn't mind climbing, usually the heavy webbers e.g. GBB, OBT etc.) and even the "whatever" kind (e.g. H. maculata that is strictly speaking an arboreal but would burrow at the base of a corkbark tube because of reasons).
Also note that even the same specie would have different preference at different life stage e.g. terrestrial specie spiderlings usually will burrow but grow out of it as they get larger.

So given those preferences, the idea is to create an environment that matches.

• Fossorial - maximum digging space (more substrate)
• Arboreal - maximise climbing space (less substrate)
• Terrestrial - it's kinda complicated (in between)

The "more" and "less" are of course within reasons e.g. you can theoretically fill the tank to the top with substrate but that would make maintenance impossible.

Now the complicated part.
Most terrestrial T's, while are able to climb (e.g. avoiding wet substrate or sometimes for no obvious reason), are poor climbers.
So the idea is to keep enough substrate that would allow the T air space (i.e. between the substrate and the top of the enclosure) so it can hangout at ground level but not so much air space that it would risk falling and get injured.
How much air space? The formula vary between keepers but they tend to fall in the range of 1.5x to 2x the diagonal leg span (DLS).

So it's never about "too much substrate" or "too little substrate" with terrestrial.
If your tank is very high, you add more substrate to keep the airspace within range. If you tank is low, you use less substrate (but please, that does NOT mean no substrate!).
You can even create a slope or create a multi-level design etc.

Hope the principles help.

 

[Tranchbaby]

You might have misunderstood things a bit so please bear with me. Once you understand the principles, you can apply it to all the species.

Tarantulas have 3 main preferences when it comes to living conditions (abbreviated as "FAT")

• Fossorial - like to hang out below ground
• Arboreal - like to hang out above ground
• Terrestrial - like to hang out at ground level

There are some complexity such as "opportunistic burrower" (terrestrial that would dig if no suitable condition e.g. no hide), "semi-arboreal" (terrestrial that doesn't mind climbing, usually the heavy webbers e.g. GBB, OBT etc.) and even the "whatever" kind (e.g. H. maculata that is strictly speaking an arboreal but would burrow at the base of a corkbark tube because of reasons).
Also note that even the same specie would have different preference at different life stage e.g. terrestrial specie spiderlings usually will burrow but grow out of it as they get larger.

So given those preferences, the idea is to create an environment that matches.

• Fossorial - maximum digging space (more substrate)
• Arboreal - maximise climbing space (less substrate)
• Terrestrial - it's kinda complicated (in between)

The "more" and "less" are of course within reasons e.g. you can theoretically fill the tank to the top with substrate but that would make maintenance impossible.

Now the complicated part.
Most terrestrial T's, while are able to climb (e.g. avoiding wet substrate or sometimes for no obvious reason), are poor climbers.
So the idea is to keep enough substrate that would allow the T air space (i.e. between the substrate and the top of the enclosure) so it can hangout at ground level but not so much air space that it would risk falling and get injured.
How much air space? The formula vary between keepers but they tend to fall in the range of 1.5x to 2x the diagonal leg span (DLS).

So it's never about "too much substrate" or "too little substrate" with terrestrial.
If your tank is very high, you add more substrate to keep the airspace within range. If you tank is low, you use less substrate (but please, that does NOT mean no substrate!).
You can even create a slope or create a multi-level design etc.

Hope the principles help.

This is probably the most helpful and elaborate explanation I have received with Tarantulas. I sometimes feel afraid to ask questions on here from fear of looking ignorant but it is hard to learn otherwise on the internet. I haven't found a lot of consistency or much info at all on a lot of the issues I have that I never realized I'd have until I got into the hobby. I really appreciate this and I am sure my T's will as well. I have applied the DLS rule to my males enclosure but I wasn't sure if it would be okay with the red knee. Thanks again seriously! If you have any good substrate recommendations Id love to hear from you again. I was thinking of switching hers out to coco fibre mixed with some wet soil

 

[testdasi]

Thanks again seriously! If you have any good substrate recommendations Id love to hear from you again. I was thinking of switching hers out to coco fibre mixed with some wet soil

No prob at all.

In terms of what substrate, anything soft + non-abrasive + pesticide-free + pest-free will do.
Different keepers have different mix and preference. The preference may even just be cosmetic (e.g. some mix leaf litter for a more natural look).

I stick to pure coco fibre just because it's the cheapest and most compact (can buy in bricks).
If I need humidity, I would mix in sphagnum moss (again same reasons).
Unlike some, I have found coco fibre to hold burrows fine so have never seen a need to use anything else.

Note that your B. harmorii hates wet substrate so using soil is perfectly fine but not wet soil. It has to dry out first (at least on the surface).

 

[viper69]

I have had my red knee for a few months now. Initially she was very reserved and remained mostly in her burrow. I figured probably in pre-molt. She molted about a month ago and has been decently active since. She is a wonderful eater. I've noticed she has been exploring more of her enclosure lately. Today I just noticed she has climbed to the top of her enclosure. Just sitting there hanging out. I had a few inches of substrate in there for her because I read that red knees prefer low levels of it. Her tank is a bit taller than it needs to be for her current size admit-ably so I'm worried about falls now that I see she's climbing. How much substrate is too much for these guys? Also why do tarantulas do this? My mature male does it as well but people on here told me that's normal for MMTs. I wondering now if maybe the humidity in my room is off or something or if I could be doing something different that would make them not want to climb. Any thoughts, suggestions?

Not sure what you read about low levels- context?

Reason I write this is on its surface it sounds like a dumb idea you read given in the wild they are sitting on the deepest amount of sub ever called Earth.

Fill up the tank before it dies.