Newbie with an OBT

Subieboy1

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
4
Hello people. I used to have some tarantulas when i was little but they were ones my mom got me from PETCO. I decided I wanted to get another one and found a shop out here in LA that had some OBT's. Anyway, I got a spiderling for 15 bucks brought it home and everything has been ok so far. he is a lil bigger than a quarter. I get the little crickets from PETCO usually and he has been eating them, but i put 3 of them in there about a week and a half ago and he hasnt touched them, one died. I put a droplet of water in just to make sure he could drink. I thought maybe he was to big for the little guys and bought some of the larger ones which are way to big and i was going to cut and serve to him. when i went to look at him he was upside down in the middle of the lil container. I thought oh <poop> he is going to do the molt thing i read about. I read that the crickets might chew on him so i was going to try and take them out but when i tried the spider moved and when i put the lid back on he started going upside down again. im worried about him/her.. any thoughts? :? ill try and get some pics up later. thankssss
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Spidershane1

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
170
They go through a period of fasting for usually a few weeks before a molt. You did good by taking out the crickets as they could try to chew on him when he's molting. Next time you notice him not eating for a couple weeks in a row, just skip feeding altogether until the molt so you dont have to disturb him like that again.
As for him flipping back over, thats what they typically do when you bother them during the first stages of molting. He will most likely flip back over in the near future and molt successfully, but give him plenty of peace and quite this time & never disturb him during future molts.
Also, obt's don't require a water dish all the time, but definetley keep one in there if you notice he is going into premolt again. Hydration is key for successful molts. It wouldn't be a bad idea to always keep one in there though.
 
Last edited:

bioshock

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 14, 2009
Messages
164
1st of all id never buy a spider from a petstore unless it was a steal....15 bucks is way to much for a spiderling of this species. Adults of this species can go for 15 easily because their so common people literally give them away. DO NOT give him a water dish, or a bottle cap to drink from because of the drowning issue. Misting once a week would do it. And as for flipping on his back if he was molting he would not of jumped back up. These are a defensive species and it could of been throwing a temper tantrum but who knows. :confused:
 

Spidershane1

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
170
1st of all id never buy a spider from a petstore unless it was a steal....15 bucks is way to much for a spiderling of this species. Adults of this species can go for 15 easily because their so common people literally give them away. DO NOT give him a water dish, or a bottle cap to drink from because of the drowning issue. Misting once a week would do it. And as for flipping on his back if he was molting he would not of jumped back up. These are a defensive species and it could of been throwing a temper tantrum but who knows. :confused:
Sure you can get one for $5 online, but with $35 shipping its probably better to just go to a LPS and pay $15 for a sling. $15 isn't really that much money for a cool spider no matter how you look at it.
Also, they CAN flip back over while molting if they have not yet popped their carapace. OBTs do sorta lay backwards when they get mean, but usually you can tell by the reared fangs and constant slapping that they are not molting.
 

bioshock

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 14, 2009
Messages
164
Sure you can get one for $5 online, but with $35 shipping its probably better to just go to a LPS and pay $15 for a sling. $15 isn't really that much money for a cool spider no matter how you look at it.
Also, they CAN flip back over while molting if they have not yet popped their carapace. OBTs do sorta lay backwards when they get mean, but usually you can tell by the reared fangs and constant slapping that they are not molting.
Umm that made no sense... If its 5 dollars plus 35 for shipping you'd mise well get an adult not a sling. As for me knowing prices for t's these days myself wouldnt pay 15 for a common species im smarter than that. I do not know about a spider flipping back over when its about to molt thing because i do not bother mine when they are molting or about to.
 

Spidershane1

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
170
Umm that made no sense... If its 5 dollars plus 35 for shipping you'd mise well get an adult not a sling. As for me knowing prices for t's these days myself wouldnt pay 15 for a common species im smarter than that. I do not know about a spider flipping back over when its about to molt thing because i do not bother mine when they are molting or about to.
Some people actually prefer to get slings(me, for one) so to pay $35 shipping for a $5 obt sling would be rediculous if I could get one for $15 down the street.
As for me knowing about T's flipping back over- thats not because I disturb my T's, it's because I do my research & have seen many documented cases of that happening.
 

bioshock

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 14, 2009
Messages
164
Some people actually prefer to get slings(me, for one) so to pay $35 shipping for a $5 obt sling would be rediculous if I could get one for $15 down the street.
As for me knowing about T's flipping back over- thats not because I disturb my T's, it's because I do my research & have seen many documented cases of that happening.
Yes it is ridiculous to pay that but I'm very knowledgeable about prices of slings and adults of just about every species. I usually go by what peeps sell them on here for and the supply and demand factor. An Obt sling should not be more than 5 dollars now a days because their too common imo. Not arguing here just stating my opinion and facts.
 

Spidershane1

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
170
Yes it is ridiculous to pay that but I'm very knowledgeable about prices of slings and adults of just about every species. I usually go by what peeps sell them on here for and the supply and demand factor. An Obt sling should not be more than 5 dollars now a days because their too common imo. Not arguing here just stating my opinion and facts.
You are correct that obt slings typically go for $5, but that is the online price. LPS almost always cost a bit more than the websites & buy/sell/trade forums.
If you factor in the shipping which is usually $25-$35 dollars express, then it will end up costing you $30-$40 dollars for that $5 spider. The only time online is really more cost effective is if you are ordering multiple T's, or ordering higher end T's(or maybe you just can't find a certain sp. in a LPS). For one $5-$20 T, you might as well pay a few extra bucks from the lps and save the $30 shipping & wait time, thats all I'm trying to say.
 

Jon3800

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Messages
242
1st of all id never buy a spider from a petstore unless it was a steal....15 bucks is way to much for a spiderling of this species. Adults of this species can go for 15 easily because their so common people literally give them away.
I agree on not buying Ts from a petstore, but really $15 is nothing at all for an OBT sling, your post somewhat upsets me because that's typical of what you see on online dealers here in Canada, I paid $30 for a 3'' juvie female at a petstore. You're very fortunate on the cheap prices because the US breed Ts like crazy down there, and not having to pay two taxes when buying them. I'd rather take $15 for a sling over an adult anyday. We never know the age of an adult, so it could live for 1-4 years, at least that happened with mine. At least with a sling he's got a rough estimate on how old it is. Not every petstores have OBTs readily available, so there not that common.

If you take SpiderShane1's post into account, not all people have access to T dealers or even petstores. Some people need to spend a lot for shipping if the dealer is far away. I'm fortunate to live close to a dealer, but there's dealers where there are slings I'd love to have but have to pay $50 just for shipping. Ridculous, yes, but thats what happens when that dealer is on the other side of the country.

---------- Post added at 01:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:10 AM ----------

Hello people. I used to have some tarantulas when i was little but they were ones my mom got me from PETCO. I decided I wanted to get another one and found a shop out here in LA that had some OBT's. Anyway, I got a spiderling for 15 bucks brought it home and everything has been ok so far. he is a lil bigger than a quarter. I get the little crickets from PETCO usually and he has been eating them, but i put 3 of them in there about a week and a half ago and he hasnt touched them, one died. I put a droplet of water in just to make sure he could drink. I thought maybe he was to big for the little guys and bought some of the larger ones which are way to big and i was going to cut and serve to him. when i went to look at him he was upside down in the middle of the lil container. I thought oh <poop> he is going to do the molt thing i read about. I read that the crickets might chew on him so i was going to try and take them out but when i tried the spider moved and when i put the lid back on he started going upside down again. im worried about him/her.. any thoughts? :? ill try and get some pics up later. thankssss
Normally OBTs are generally very good eaters, but sometimes they will fast. In the 16 years I've spent dealing with these amazing spiders, I think why she never ate all the three because she was scared. For a sling this small, one cricket is more than enough, never introduce more because it will scare the specimen to not eat. I always offer one, never more than that and wait 2-3 days to see if it's still there. I remove it if it's alive. The one that died probably was a territorial bite. Its true that crickets can chew on Ts when they molt, but can also chew a T when it's alive too. Sad fate happened to my Indian Violet.

Another factor might be it's size of the enclosure, the smaller the better. A deli container with air holes, moist eco earth would be fine for this sling.

It sounds like it could be prepping for a molt, OR it could also mean threat postures, a really pissed off specimen would literally lie on its back with fangs exposed and would be hissing. Slings are usually not particular very aggressive, but are VERY VERY Fast. If a T would be molting, it would lie on it's back and not move for several hours, so could be a threat or trying to bolt and lost her balance climbing (anything is possible).

For any species, it's always a good idea to research them before you buy them, so it gives you a heads up on what you're dealing with. I work wonders in this department. As the users before me said, OBTs are very nasty Ts, very fast moving, and it's gotta bad bite. its a nice looking species as it grows fairly quick, but it's one of those cookie jars I would not sink my hands into if you know what I mean :)

Hope it helps
Jon
 
Last edited:

Subieboy1

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
4
Thanks y'all for the responses. Thing is when I saw him lying on his back I figured he was getting ready to molt and there are two little live crickets in there with him and I read about them chewing on the T's while they are molting so I opened up the lid to try and get the crickets out and that is when he moved so I closed the little deli container with the 2 live crickets in there with him. And that's when He started turning back over on his/her back. Soooo I'm worried the crickets are going to chew on him. I'll post some pics when I get home. Thanks for the help!! :)
 

Subieboy1

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
4
Was really hard to get any kind of good pic, but I am pretty sure he molted successfully cause I saw a little leg movement in the burrow. there are still two live crickets in there and 2 dead ones. going to be tricky to get them out. so I should wait 2 days to feed him, take the shell out, and when should I get him a little bigger enclosure, or is this a good size for him? SO how long does it usually take to molt? cause just last night is when he was on his back i disturbed him he moved and then flipped back over on his back. anyway when he comes out and i get a good pic ill post it up!



you can kind of see where his butt is not attached anymore below


 

Jon3800

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Messages
242
1) The molt looks successful congrats. Molts from sling this small take normally 1 hour.
2) He's still good in that enclosure. I'd get him a bigger one next molt like A 16oz deli container works great.
3) 2 days is WAY TOO soon. 5-6 days is more reasonable. Hardening takes a while. At this stage everything on the T is very soft and fragile, fangs included. Feeding him this soon, might deform the fangs so the longer the better. Just make sure it gets plenty of hydration, because they lose a lot of it after the molt.
 

Subieboy1

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
4
And how would you suggest I move my OBT into a larger deli conatiner when the time comes?
 

Johnny1320

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 22, 2010
Messages
48
So, theres 2 live crickets in there.

I know you are not suppose to feed right after a molt, plus the crickets could chew on the T.

So what does OP do in this situation? Remove the crickets while the T is still unhardened and possibly disturbing it that way? Or leave the feeders and hope for the best?
 

NikiP

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 16, 2006
Messages
539
Personally i'd go ahead & move it into something larger. I haven't had any issues keeping my slings in containers that are a bit larger then what most people would keep them in at that size. Especially with heavier webbing species, I find it prevents me from stressing them as much (& I rarely have escape attempts) by having to move with their webbing that usually gets sealed to the opening in smaller containers, I don't have to rehouse as often, & I have plenty of room work, should I need to. If I had a a freshly molted T in one of my decent sized containers, I wouldn't have any fear in bothering my T much to pick out the crickets.

BTW, if you don't have them already, invest in tongs :D Petsmart usually carriers them. I have 10" metal ones for my spiders & 8" rubber tipped ones for my scorpions.

For when you do choose to rehouse, you can pull the entire webbing out & plunk it into the new container. I usually use my tongs to poke the webbing slightly so the spiders run out, then I just put a cup over it, & slide a lid under the bottom.
 

jonnyquong

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
138
The crickets are only an issue during the actual molt. The spider is helpless at that time, but once they're done, they can stay away from the cricket.
 
Top