My Colbolt Blue (Haplopelma Lividum) Story

[Luke Anthony]

Hi all just tought i'd share this short story with you all.
Ok it start of like this i went into a petshop to have alook around to find a colbolt blue in a cage but,it was a mess she had no water or the right subtrate to burrow in and luckly enough i had some spare cash so i asked one member of staff if i could bye her and he seemed happy enough but i did not like the cage that she was in so i asked him to put her in a tub for me and he looked at me if i was crazy and then said to me i will sell you the cage with the spider in it so i new then that they where afraid of it (no wounder she had no water).So i got home with a spider i did not have much info about and a horrid cage,i then got on to the internet looked up for some info on her(spider) and it sounded bad to have as a pet and i was likebut i had to clean out the tank or cage no matter what so i put her into a little spare tank i had but i myself did not have the right subtrate to put her in but anyways on with the story i put some bark in and plenty of it so she could dig and of course water so i put her in she ran straight to the water and stayed there for about 10mins then chilled for a while so i left her in peace the next morning she had dug a nice burrow so then i knew she was kind of happy but i was not because i knew it was not the right subtrate for her to burrow in .Now a few weeks later i have a new Tank and the right subtrat for her YAY i am going to show yous all how i setup her new tank and how i took her from her old tank to the new one so go and make yourself a cup of tea and enjoy the pictures, and all this hype about colbolts been crazy is a load of lie's she was very calm with me never even tryed to bite or be defensive with me maybe she knew i was saving her from hell well she is my little sweety for now

Ok here i added some eco earth soil for her to burrow in.


And in this pic i added fake plants and some bark plus i made her a burrow hill with the same earth.


Now to add some moss to her burrow hill.


In this photo i taped some black bag's to the side of the tank so i can see her by lifting it up like a curtan.


Now its time to take her out i done this by putting an emty criket tub over her burrow hole in the old tank,then i had to take out all the old bark and finaly i needed to tease her out gently with some long tweezers she finaly came out and i sliped the lid of the tub under it and hay presto job done but i did not take any photos because the pic's are to blurd.


Finaly the moment you've been wating for her she is.


A closer view of her is'nt she lovely.


A distante shot off her and the tank.


And of coures been a colbolt she was shy and did not move until everyone went to bed but not me i sat to one side of the cage and funny enought when she moved she climed on the side i was on right up to my face as if to say thanks.


Now at this point she decided to clime all around the top of the tank wich i did not like incase she fell but hay she done it well. sorry for the bad image's i had to turn the lights down for her to move .


So now its the next day (today) and she found the burrow hole i made for her and seemed very happy with it as you can see in this image no sighn of a spider lol.


Ok final photo's here's the trick with the black bag when i pulled it up this is the view i got off her and she looks happy.


Same again.


I tought i'd put this on for a laugh.



Thanks for taking your time to read and view all the picture's i hope you enjoyed it

 

[Mushroom Spore]

all this hype about colbolts been crazy is a load of lie's she was very calm with me never even tryed to bite or be defensive with me maybe she knew i was saving her from hell well she is my little sweety for now

It's probably not "calm" so much as "overwhelmed by stress and poor conditions and unable to really react to much of anything" - it's easy for a human to confuse the two in a tarantula. No big deal right now, just be careful in the future. It wouldn't be good to let your guard down and then one day she decides she's feeling frisky again!

Also I love the pictures of the hole up against the glass. The spider looks so...offended.

 

[Luke Anthony]

It's probably not "calm" so much as "overwhelmed by stress and poor conditions and unable to really react to much of anything" - it's easy for a human to confuse the two in a tarantula. No big deal right now, just be careful in the future. It wouldn't be good to let your guard down and then one day she decides she's feeling frisky again!

Also I love the pictures of the hole up against the glass. The spider looks so...offended.

Lol o trust me i'll never let my guard down were she is thats why i said for now with a smile at the end and yes she has been stressed but not anymore plus she is young too so as she get's older o sorry moults more she will be more defensive and jumpy and yes i recone she might of been offended or brightlight by me moving the black bag but that will stay there forever now, its just so i can see her and thanks for the comment

 

[fartkowski]

Hey Luke
I'm sure she will eventually go back to being feisty
I found with most of my defensive T's, when you first change their surroundings they are alot calmer, but once they settle in, look out.
That's a cool setup

 

[Luke Anthony]

Hey Luke
I'm sure she will eventually go back to being feisty
I found with most of my defensive T's, when you first change their surroundings they are alot calmer, but once they settle in, look out.
That's a cool setup

Lol your so right last night the Colbolt came out of her hole to have another look around and she loved it by running around the tank even bitting the moss and i was like wow look at her go it was like as if she was playing or planning something out i still have not feed her yet as i want her to settle in first and the stuff that she was up to last night she never done it in her other tank so i know for sure now that she is happy i think and thanks for the comment about the setup

 

[reverendsterlin]

what size is that T? For some reason it must seem larger than it is to me, and the lack of blue kind of throws me. When I first saw it I was thinking Haplopelma schmidti, oh well must just be me. Nice T anyway, congratz.
Rev

 

[Luke Anthony]

what size is that T? For some reason it must seem larger than it is to me, and the lack of blue kind of throws me. When I first saw it I was thinking Haplopelma schmidti, oh well must just be me. Nice T anyway, congratz.
Rev

Man you gave me a fright when you said Haplopelma shmidti i dont think i could deal with an earth tiger i've heard they can be worse the a Lividum but not to worry theres plenty of blue the T is only 3inchs so the blue should be coming out soon and if you take a look at the picture of her been at the top of the cage you can see her blue legs and thanks for the comment

 

[Moltar]

Pretty much all haplopelmas are equally monstrous. The variance between one specimen and another can be greater than one species to another. They're all flighty, nervous and scaredy cats. It's only when they feel cornered that they really get fang-happy. At least IME anyway.

Your enclosure looks good, you obviously put a lot of work into it. Personally, I think it needs more substrate (a lot more) and you should get rid of the bark chips entirely. Adding much substrate might be difficult with that tank though so I don't know what you'll do. Just my $.02.

 

[Luke Anthony]

Pretty much all haplopelmas are equally monstrous. The variance between one specimen and another can be greater than one species to another. They're all flighty, nervous and scaredy cats. It's only when they feel cornered that they really get fang-happy. At least IME anyway.

Your enclosure looks good, you obviously put a lot of work into it. Personally, I think it needs more substrate (a lot more) and you should get rid of the bark chips entirely. Adding much substrate might be difficult with that tank though so I don't know what you'll do. Just my $.02.

mm ok i'll add more and try and get rid off the bark i say she hate's it by now lol and i can open the tank at the side and plus the top so theres no problem to add more thanks for the tip and the comment

 

[ThistleWind]

I agree with putting more substrate in. Cobalts can create very lengthy tunnels when given the resources... I've heard. I've never owned one but I'd like to. Just waiting until I get better at making enclosures for proper living conditions.

 

[Luke Anthony]

I agree with putting more substrate in. Cobalts can create very lengthy tunnels when given the resources... I've heard. I've never owned one but I'd like to. Just waiting until I get better at making enclosures for proper living conditions.

Yep i will be adding more but i will keep the moss and loss the bark and your right they can make long tunnels not just down but also across and you should get one as soon as you have the setup ready

 

[Travis K]

Luke you are going to fit right in.

Welcome to the Boards.

 

[Luke Anthony]

Luke you are going to fit right in.

Welcome to the Boards.

Thanks mate for the welcome

 

[ThistleWind]

Man, how do you get something like that out of its hole and into a cup?!

 

[Luke Anthony]

Man, how do you get something like that out of its hole and into a cup?!

Ok what you do is you just put the cup or cricket tub over its burrow hole then dig all the soil out off the tank but not to close to the burrow or you will have a spider bursting out at you like an alien.Then you get a long tweezers and go into the back of the burrow (from behind the spider)and tease him or her out gently it should run out off its burrow if done right, and if that does not work then dig the spider out of its burrow (by now it 'will' be angry) and just cover it with the tub again, and use a tub not a cup its to small you might damage its legs, and there you go bobs your uncle.

 

[Arachnosold1er]

Naw, theres an easier way. Just take your index finger and insert it into the T's burrow, then wiggle it around a bit. When yyou feel the T latch on to your finger you simply pull your finger out of the burrow with T still attached and drop into a deli cup. Too easy right???

 

[Luke Anthony]

Naw, theres an easier way. Just take your index finger and insert it into the T's burrow, then wiggle it around a bit. When yyou feel the T latch on to your finger you simply pull your finger out of the burrow with T still attached and drop into a deli cup. Too easy right???

yep thats to easy try the small finger:clap: