NeVeN's Tarantulas

[NeVeN]

Hello all! These are my lovely pets. I dont have all of them in pictures, but I will make sure that I do, and will post it here, as well as other updates for each and every one of them..
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PLEASE be so kind and leave a comment and/or suggestion on something you see "wrong" or dangerous or not suitable for my tarantulas, as I accept and believe that there are far more experienced T-keepers than me out there!
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Acanthoscurria geniculata (Giant Whiteknee)



Brachypelma albiceps ruhnaui (Amula Redrump)


Brachypelma boehmei (Mexican Fireleg)



Brachypelma emilia (Mexican Redleg)


Grammastola rosea (Chilean Rose) - my small one


Haplopelma hainanum (Black Earth Tiger)



Haplopelma lividum (Cobalt Blue)


Haplopelma lividum, (Malaysia, dark colour form)


Haplopelma schmidti (Chinese Golden Earth Tiger)

King baboon


Lasiodora parahybana (Goliath Salmon Pink)



Nhandu vulpinus


Ornithoctonus aureotibialis - #1


Ornithoctonus aureotibialis - #2


Poecilotheria pederseni(es) (two in the same tank - soon to be three!)


Plus a peaceful fight those two had recently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9_H7D42l0Q


I will post my few others plus my soon-newly arrived Ts pretty soon. Damn imageshack takes some time....!
edit: ok fixed pictures to be clickable.

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My main "tools" for keeping my beloved ones are:

My mini spray bottle (not the real one shown here) unbinds my hands when i want to raise the humidity of any tank needed, quick and easy.


Ofcourse I need water supplies for the dishes and for watering the subtract of each terrarium. at the moment about 1.5 bottle is sufficient every week, as all my tanks are open on top and humidity is hard to keep.


Water gels are excellent to avoid water dishes, as I believe (and seen) T's can clear their thirst by "eating" small bits that i leave in their terrarium.


As for food I mainly use mealworms and larvae (for my bigger T's) as I find crickets hard to keep alive, though lately I see the difficulty of feeding my pokies, as all worms tend to immediately burrow and cant be found.


Comments are much welcome! thanx!

 

[bio teacher]

I see almost all of those pictures have wood chips in the enclosures. You need to get new substrate in those enclosures. Wood chips is very bad for tarantulas. I use 100% peat moss in my enclosures and it is very cheap at local plant nurseries. I believe I pay $3 a bag for it.

 

[NeVeN]

I see almost all of those pictures have wood chips in the enclosures. You need to get new substrate in those enclosures. Wood chips is very bad for tarantulas. I use 100% peat moss in my enclosures and it is very cheap at local plant nurseries. I believe I pay $3 a bag for it.

OMG are you serious? if this is the case I need to make lots of changes!
I use forest bark from exo terra as seen here: http://207.106.112.198/90734204_lg.jpg
and in some tanks i have repti-bark ( http://pet.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pPETS-3756835t400.jpg )
beneath it so i can keep more humid environment!

 

[seanbond]

lord GOD please change that substrate like RIGHT NOW.

 

[NeVeN]

lord GOD please change that substrate like RIGHT NOW.

Damn! you got me frightened! I 've seen pet stores keeping T's in this substrate many many times! It'll have to wait for monday now..

 

[seanbond]

petstores shouldnt even be allowed to carry t's. plenty of info on this site for you to redo the right way.

 

[NeVeN]

petstores shouldnt even be allowed to carry t's. plenty of info on this site for you to redo the right way.

Dont worry its on my first to do list now. I sure do have work to do now.
Btw, bio teacher suggested peat moss from local plant stores. Wouldnt that have like fertilizers or chemicals in it?

 

[crpy]

Dont worry its on my first to do list now. I sure do have work to do now.
Btw, bio teacher suggested peat moss from local plant stores. Wouldnt that have like fertilizers or chemicals in it?

There are some good substrait threads here ,just search

Pure peat moss from any place thats sells plants. But there is also coco husk bedding at most pet stores, it comes in a brick and covers a large area.

Terrestrial "T"s dig allot so bark sucks for them.

 

[Zoltan]

May I add that it is recommended to sterilize the substrate (I use peat and potting soil mixture by the way) before putting it into the terrarium, f.e. "cooking" it in the microwave oven for a bit. Bark chips are not good for substrate (although it's ok if you mix a few bits into a proper substrate, but make sure it doesn't contain poisonous oil like cedar), because terrestrial can't burrow in it (especially awkward for a H. lividum), and I think it is not stable enough for T's. To be honest it's a bit suprising for me that you have quite a few T's and you use a bad substrate with them, but it's not like you bought your first T two days ago and completely new to the hobby. Not meaning to be rude here, but it looks like that some more research about our eight-legged friends could be beneficial for both you and your tarantulas. Good luck with the "renovation"!

EDIT: check out this thread, it might give you some ideas about suitable substrates: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=22249

 

[clearlysaid]

And just to add something else, tarantulas can't use "water gels." They need actual water sources... ie water dishes.

 

[NeVeN]

May I add that it is recommended to sterilize the substrate (I use peat and potting soil mixture by the way) before putting it into the terrarium, f.e. "cooking" it in the microwave oven for a bit. Bark chips are not good for substrate (although it's ok if you mix a few bits into a proper substrate, but make sure it doesn't contain poisonous oil like cedar), because terrestrial can't burrow in it (especially awkward for a H. lividum), and I think it is not stable enough for T's. To be honest it's a bit suprising for me that you have quite a few T's and you use a bad substrate with them, but it's not like you bought your first T two days ago and completely new to the hobby. Not meaning to be rude here, but it looks like that some more research about our eight-legged friends could be beneficial for both you and your tarantulas. Good luck with the "renovation"!

EDIT: check out this thread, it might give you some ideas about suitable substrates: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=22249

Its not "rudeness"! Its advice and help and I'm here just for that!! I'm using this substrate long time now cause of the wrong "advice" i was getting through local pet stores. Btw many burrowers managed the cork barks pretty well... I will check the thread, straight away. And about the cooking, I used to do that as well in the past but for common soil substrate - it also smelled nice in the microwave (lol). And yes.. I do have quite some work to do now!!

And just to add something else, tarantulas can't use "water gels." They need actual water sources... ie water dishes.

I've seen my rose hair sunk her teeth in a big chunk of water gel quite a few times! And I try to combine both gel and water dish in every tank just to be sure! thanx though

 

[Zoltan]

Okay then.
Pet stores are not a reliable source of advice. There are some good sites listed here. We are always happy to help! That is what this site is for.

 

[clearlysaid]

I've seen my rose hair sunk her teeth in a big chunk of water gel quite a few times! And I try to combine both gel and water dish in every tank just to be sure! thanx though

Well, from my experience tarantulas can't actually "eat" the stuff... she may try to get water from the gel but she probably isn't actually able to. You can also check out this recent thread about water crystals. It's good that you keep actual water in the dish along with the crystals, though.

 

[NeVeN]

Well, from my experience tarantulas can't actually "eat" the stuff... she may try to get water from the gel but she probably isn't actually able to. You can also check out this recent thread about water crystals. It's good that you keep actual water in the dish along with the crystals, though.

Went through the entire thread and it really got me thinking.........:?
Good help on that too. thank you man.

 

[NeVeN]

I went to a plant store today to look for turf to replace the subtrate in my terrariums, but they told me there were only pre-fertilized turf available.
Dont know it this is any good or bad to be honest... what u guys think?

 

[crpy]

I went to a plant store today to look for turf to replace the subtrate in my terrariums, but they told me there were only pre-fertilized turf available.
Dont know it this is any good or bad to be honest... what u guys think?

Id stick to Peat Moss, surely they have peat moss.

They have the break down on those bags but I cant see it.

Where do you live?

 

[AlainL]

I went to a plant store today to look for turf to replace the subtrate in my terrariums, but they told me there were only pre-fertilized turf available.
Dont know it this is any good or bad to be honest... what u guys think?

you have to use something 100% organic, no chemical.

Use coco fiber or peat moss.

 

[NeVeN]

@ crpy, what other details cant you see? there isnt much more left other what is visible in the pictures. I live in Greece.

@carpetpython, Unfortuntely i have to wait for an online order for me to get coco fiber. too bad i cant use this.

 

[crpy]

@ crpy, what other details cant you see? there isnt much more left other what is visible in the pictures. I live in Greece.

@carpetpython, Unfortuntely i have to wait for an online order for me to get coco fiber. too bad i cant use this.

Yeah if there is any question on ingredients dont use it to be safe.

I cant see the ingredients

This might be a stupid question but here goes,do you have coconut palm trees in Greece?

 

[NeVeN]

Yeah if there is any question on ingredients dont use it to be safe.

I cant see the ingredients

This might be a stupid question but here goes,do you have coconut palm trees in Greece?

Uhmmm its on the pics!
Composition (-ingredients):
- 30% White Peat / 70% Black Peat
- pH value: 5-7
- EC value: 1-2
- Organic matter: min 75%-99%
- Moisture content: max:65%

..and coconut palm trees can be found here but not where i live (north Greece). Even then these are man-planted trees, not grown by their own..