New Pink Toe Sling, is it ok?

[Alishalits]

I have been looking to get a T for a long while now, I had all the things I needed for a pink tow sling and was about to order; yesterday went in to pet smart for turtle food and saw that they had a little pink toe. Ive read some pretty sad stuff about how petsmart treats their arachnids and reptiles so I had to get the little dude. He’s a lot smaller than he looked behind a pane of glass and a critter tote.. I’m thinking the enclosure I have is way too big for him so I’m going to laser cut a new one today. As of now he’s still in the tote. Yesterday I did put some substrate in a clean big pill container and put him in there as his tote had a mesh-ish top and all the decor was fallen over and his water dish was mostly substrate. I drilled some holes in acrylic for a temporary top and drilled some holes into the tote for cross ventilation. While fixing his decor I was also able to check for old food or any mites and stuff and found nothing. Set the decor up so he can actually hide and climb and fixed his water situation. I put him back in and he seemed fine, this morning i checked on him and I cant tell if his abdomen is much smaller than it should be. I read this is a sign of illness or mistreatment and am wondering if I did something wrong in this whole process. The worker at petsmart said he was fed that same day so Im not sure whats wrong or if there even is anything wrong. Little dude is stressing me out.

 

[viper69]

Your money has reinforced the damn crappy business practices of that vendor- don’t buy from them

Looks dehydrated a bit, and certainly underfed

also do you know if it molted within the past few days?

body posture suggests it’s hardening its exo

Your best choice for a first T would be a NW terrestrial.

read my link in my sig file

come back here with direct, easy to find questions

 

[Alishalits]

there were a lot of old molts in there, none of them seemed fresh though.

I assumed about the dehydration as it was incredibly dry in there, im going to manage the humidity. He also was in the water dish for a while.

Will definitely try to feed him today, my fear is that he’ll reject food because of premolt or stress even though he’s underfed.

Any advice? I’ll take your advice about the vendor and type of T for the future but I want this guy to make it.

 

[curtisgiganteus]

there were a lot of old molts in there, none of them seemed fresh though.

I assumed about the dehydration as it was incredibly dry in there, im going to manage the humidity. He also was in the water dish for a while.

Will definitely try to feed him today, my fear is that he’ll reject food because of premolt or stress even though he’s underfed.

Any advice? I’ll take your advice about the vendor and type of T for the future but I want this guy to make it.

Kritter keepers on their side have worked well for me for the few Avics I’ve had. I have an A avic M1 in a Kritter keeper right now and she’s doing fine. They have good ventilation and you won’t be constantly tearing her web up when you open the enclosure.

 

[ladyratri]

Agree abdomen looks very small, has a "post-molt stretch" look to it. Maybe try leaving some pre-killed prey in with it for 24 hours -- if it molted recently and its fangs are not hard, it will know not to eat. And by trying with pre-killed, there's no chance it will have to defend itself before it is ready.

Don't worry about humidity -- worry about airflow and drinking water. Make sure the water dish stays at least half full, and that there are ventilation holes both at the level just above the substrate and in the lid/just below the top. That size is fine in a 32oz deli cup. Some cork bark at an angle and fake leaves around the top half. No clutter on the ground -- doesn't help the T and just gives feeders places to hide.

Read Viper's Avic care thread

Super cute little one you got. Good luck.

 

[campj]

Where'd the pedipalps go? Or are they just at a weird angle in the picture?

 

[ladyratri]

Where'd the pedipalps go? Or are they just at a weird angle in the picture?

Was wondering the same thing and trying to figure out if I was just crazy or blind.... Another reason to start with pre-killed prey in case it has trouble subduing live feeders.

 

[Alishalits]

Where'd the pedipalps go? Or are they just at a weird angle in the picture?

I noticed this too, I assume they were lost during last molt