Questions- I'm New To The T Business

Blaze

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 1, 2011
Messages
11
okay guys let me start out by introducing my two T's. the first one i got is Krystal, a Grammastola Rosea from a LPS. She's pretty big, the pet shop owner says shes a couple years old. (i call it a her because i sure as hell hope its a female {D ) she's a little smaller than the palm of my hand? is that about right for being a 'couple years old'?
anyway, the second T i got was a 1.5 inch Brachypelma Smithi (pyro) from Kenthebugguy. now when i ordered it, i thought it was 1.5 inch leg span so i was like hmmmm good size, but NO! it was 1.5 inches haha :eek: . i didnt expect it to be this small, so i have him in a small critter keeper with a nice little hide. now im not sure if i should feed him crickets? or do i just mist the substrate so he could live off the water? the crickets are a little smaller than him, if not then theyre his size. im really scared of keeping him because hes just so small, and im afraid i'll screw up somewhere and be the cause of his death :8o ... do you guys know when he will reach a good size, to lets say a little smaller than the palm of my hand? ALSO, he has a bald spot on his abdomen? what does this mean?
 

burmish101

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 13, 2008
Messages
492
G. rosea grow exceptionally slow so i'd bet it is quite older than just a few years. They live for a very long time though so by far I wouldnt call it old at all. B. smithi also grow quite slowly, try to feed it crickets as small as you can and for the safety of the spider I would recommend ripping the back legs of the cricket off. Just in case, because a small T can get injured when trying to take down prey that is large for them, i.e. those crix can kick like crazy with their back legs and u can have the T get knocked all over the tank. B. smithi can take several years to reach a fairly decent/juvie size if im not mistaken.

Also you can try misting or use a small bottle cap for a water source. I would not recommend anything large enough for the spider to fall into and drown.

The bald spot may be just from kicking hairs, when you see it darken its an easy way to know that its in premolt, so if its appetite dwindles during that phase u will have nothing to worry about.

Congrats on your new t's, I hope u have allot of fun with them:p you'll get the hang of caring for a smaller T quickly im sure.
 

Blaze

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 1, 2011
Messages
11
thanks burmish :).
another question if you don't mind....
they grow every time they molt?
 

xhexdx

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
5,357
Not so much once they reach their adult size, but as long as they're not full grown, you should see growth after every molt.
 

Slimdean

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
28
if your worried about the crickets, i have to prekill some of my pinheads for my lil cyriocosmus elegans. I just stick them in the freezer for about 15 minutes and he loves it like that. my other 1.5'ish inch h.incei and smaller c.fasciatum though like to take them down themselves.:drool:

I would try both way and just see how your new one takes it.
 

darkavenger

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
12
okay guys let me start out by introducing my two T's. the first one i got is Krystal, a Grammastola Rosea from a LPS. She's pretty big the second T i got was a 1.5 inch Brachypelma Smithi (pyro) from Kenthebugguy. now when i ordered it, i thought it was 1.5 inch leg span so i was like hmmmm good size, but NO! it was 1.5 inches haha :eek: . i didnt expect it to be this small, so i have him in a small critter keeper with a nice little hide. now im not sure if i should feed him crickets? or do i just mist the substrate so he could live off the water? the crickets are a little smaller than him, if not then theyre his size. im really scared of keeping him because hes just so small, and im afraid i'll screw up somewhere and be the cause of his death :8o ... do you guys know when he will reach a good size, to lets say a little smaller than the palm of my hand? ALSO, he has a bald spot on his abdomen? what does this mean?
congrats on your new t's:) I have a B smithi myself an they are very sweet t's. since your brachy is so small just keep the humidity up a bit higher than you
would for an adult because slings dehydrate much easier than adults. However don't obsess over it just keep it from no less than 50% to no more than 80-85% humidity. I usually strive for 65-70%. I keep my t room around 83 degrees during the day and around 70 degrees at night. Whatever is comfortable for you should be good for them temp wise. At that size I would feed it baby crickets. The bald spot on the abdomen is totally normal for new
world t's, and is caused by it's urticating (irritating) hairs falling or being
rubbed off. When it molts again, which at that size will be soon:) the bald spot
will go away. And as for growth rates grammostola and brachypelma are two of the slowest growing but longest lived genus. I hope this helps. Good luck with what I'm sure will soon be your growing collection;) If you have any questions or anything feel free to pm me.
 

2oCHEVYo0

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
67
Honestly, don't worry about misting the cage or any of the for the smithi. I think just the water in a dish you put in there for drinking would be enough humidity for it to survive. The only time I would put any extra water is when they start refusing food. And only a little bit extra. I bought my older brother one 6 years ago or so and it was even smaller than that. Just had water in it's dish and we NEVER had a hiccup when raising it...

Good luck and enjoy both of them, they are both great T's :D
 

Blaze

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 1, 2011
Messages
11
yeah but the thing is, its 1.5 inches long, so im afraid it'll drown in the water dish, thats why im moisturizing the substrate, rather than using a water dish.
 

Jacobchinarian

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
Messages
255
You'd be amazed at what they can take down. Iv seen a 2nd instar pamphobeteus platymma kill and eat a full sized cricket no problem.
 

rockrox1

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
50
Congrats on your new Ts!!! One of my first Ts is also a smithi which is 1" size. a smaller one though. I just put it in a small plastic cup container with a lot of holes and mist it regularly. I fed it small worms found in rice grains but after a molt, I fed it with small roaches the size of its abdomen. you can see the growth of slings when they molt. mine goes from 1" to about 2.5" in just four months with 3 molts.

goodluck on your Ts... and be ready to get addicted!!! hehe
 

Bill S

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 2, 2006
Messages
1,418
.....the second T i got was a 1.5 inch Brachypelma Smithi ...... now when i ordered it, i thought it was 1.5 inch leg span so i was like hmmmm good size, but NO! it was 1.5 inches haha :eek: . i didnt expect it to be this small, .....
I'm a little confused by your description of the size. It's NOT 1.5 inches leg span, but it's 1.5 inches and smaller than you expected? What are you measuring that is 1.5 inches? Most dealers in this country use "diagonal leg span" as the standard, while Europeans tend to use body length. I'm not sure how your spider could be 1.5 inches, not measured by leg span, and be smaller than you expected.
 

Blaze

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 1, 2011
Messages
11
well when I first bought it, i thought that 1.5 inches leg span, was each leg is 1.5 inches, so in my mind i thought "hey its a pretty decent size" thats what i thought haha
 

RatKing216

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 1, 2011
Messages
11
I would put no source of water in there other than the misting. He will get most all of his water from the crickets. I have a 1 1/2" GBB and I feed her mealworms. Also, (if this was said I'm sorry. Didn't read through all the posts yet), I would not keep him in a large Critter Keeper like that! T's that size need to be put in small/medium Deli Cups from your local grocery store until they get to about 3" in size or so.
 

Spidershane1

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
170
Use a bottle cap for a water dish. A 1.5" sling wont drown in it. They are pretty good about the whole 'not killing themselves' thing.
 

murinuskeeper

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 1, 2011
Messages
1
I raised a baby OBT using just misting the container, and worked fine, they can drink from the droplets. After they get somewhat bigger, you can do the shallow water dish. As for feeding, try a very small crix first and see how the baby does with it, as mentioned some babys have no trouble with somewhat bigger prey, just give different crix sizes a try and see.
 

newspidermom

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 13, 2010
Messages
57
I'd say all info you've gotten so far is good. One thing I wanted to ask is are you familiar with the molting process? The reason I'm thinking you're not is because you asked why your smithi has a bald abdomen. As stated by another member this is usually caused by flicking the hairs off with their legs. They use it as a defense when they don't want to be bothered. Be careful tho cause these hairs are as irritating as fiberglass and if you get any on you you will more likely itch like crazy...lol. Nothing a good washing won't fix. Just be careful of your eyes. The bald spot is also a good way of predicting a molt. First they will usually stop eating and if that happens keep an eye on that bald spot. It will eventually turn very dark almost black...almost like your fingernail would if you smashed it...lol. When it becomes that dark they are within about a week of molting. Now here's the scary part for new T owners. When they molt they will flip upside down. So if you happen to see your T on it's back don't freak out and above all else DON'T touch it. If you have a chance to watch...awsome cause it's amazing to watch, but can take several hours. The main reason I'm coaching you on the molt is since your smithi is that small it will probably molt quite often. Maybe monthly. As they get bigger the time between molts is longer. Adult mature Ts usually only molt about once a year. Your Rosie will go thru the same process...just not as often. Hope that helps answer some more questions.
 

Bill S

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 2, 2006
Messages
1,418
well when I first bought it, i thought that 1.5 inches leg span, was each leg is 1.5 inches, so in my mind i thought "hey its a pretty decent size" thats what i thought haha
OK. I guess you know now that "legspan" means the distance from the tip of one leg to the tip of the opposite leg. (Most American dealers use a diagonal between one front leg and the opposite rear leg.) It's just like in birds - wingspan isn't the length of one wing, but the distance between the tips of both outstretched wings.
 
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