Red Knee.. pics of tank and questions!

[ronald might]

Hey..my red knee just arrived!..

Ive still got a few questions to ask though







size:45cm x 45 cm x 125cm


the tank its pretty big .. i plan to split this tank into half and get another T..but for now, its this. the plants are real to keep humidity in the night when my air con turns on.

right side


the right side..the rocks are too retain the cold temps for the hot day from my air conditioning at night..

the left side

the water dish with pebbles






oK..now for some questions...

1. my red knee keeps climbing up and falling! his falling from a height bout 20 cm.. is this dangerous for she?

2. Its still not eating! for the past 3 days! do i have to clear up after he eats? if he eats i mean...how do i know what my cricket looks like after he is done?

3. i use red light to view him as some of you say the normal light would disturb him...can he see red light? (i saw him drinking last night!..its was quite cool! but he was there for like half an hour..is this normal?)

4...any comments on my tank is welcome...

Btw... the rocks are placed bout 4 inches away from the glass..just in case he falls while climbing, he wont be hurt...
any house keeping tips are also welcome.. please do help.... this is my first one!

 

[Tuishimi]

I was wondering if I could move in and live there?

 

[Tuishimi]

For a more serious reply: Everything I read says that the height of the cage for non-arboreal species shouldn't be much more than 150% of the leg span of the spider.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

the plants are real to keep humidity in the night when my air con turns on.

This is probably why the tarantula is climbing; I think Brachys are dry-loving species.

the water dish with pebbles

You don't need pebbles in there.

1. my red knee keeps climbing up and falling! his falling from a height bout 20 cm.. is this dangerous for she?

YES. Your tarantula could be killed doing this, whether it lands on rocks or not. (And it doesn't matter if you move rocks away from the walls, it could just as easily climb up onto the ceiling before falling.) The distance from dirt to ceiling should, as the other person said, be no more than 1.5x the legspan of the spider.

2. Its still not eating! for the past 3 days! do i have to clear up after he eats? if he eats i mean...how do i know what my cricket looks like after he is done?

What do you mean "how do you know?" :? It's pretty obvious when a tarantula has killed and eaten a cricket, what are you feeding it?

EDIT: And I just noticed that you said it hasn't eaten for three days. You aren't trying to feed it every single day, are you? They should only be getting 1-3 crickets a week, tops, and do fine on an even leaner diet.

 

[ronald might]

i left 3 crickets in the tank 3 days ago...

hmmm..so bout the humidity.. i water the plants once in the day and once in the night..is this too much?.the plants i bought only need to be watered once in 2 days..i did the extra to increase the humidity in the night when my air con is turned on..(air conditioning really lowers the humidity) ..i see it laying at the plants most of the time, my first impression and assumption is "hmmm, it must be too dry thats why he heads to the watered plants where there's an increase in humidity." is my assumption wrong??

ive read in care sheets and forums saying that we should put rocks in our water dish to stop them from falling in.. my water dish is bout 1.5 inches deep.. should i change my dish? is it wrong to put peddles in?

bout the height issue..what are the solutions to this problem? should i add more soil? would the humidity be the main problem?

suggestions please! any one!

 

[Snowball]

Your height issue can be solved, as you said, with more substrate. Bring it up so, like everyone else said, there's about 1.5x the spiders length. Brachy's (I'm no expert) don't need NEARLY that much humidity...watering your plants twice within a 24 hour period, I mean. Water dish...you said 1.5 inches deep? It could perhaps be a tad shallower ...And yeah, don't feed em every day !! Do a couple crix every week..maybe even every 1.5 weeks.

Oh another tip..if your T hasn't made an effort to whip up a lunch out of the crix you leave in there...take them out the next day. Don't leave prey in a T tank, should your T decide to molt..former prey=the hunter.

:razz: It's good you were reading the care sheets though...I've always come to AB for advice and I get alot of good advice too. Welcome to the hobby

**Terrestrials like your brachy will climb if things are too wet...you would be wise to use that as your humidty indicator instead of how dry your plants are (or get a hydrometer teehee) GL!!

 

[ronald might]

thanks

..haha....oh boy...my tank is going to be filled with a whole lotta sand then!

i really wonder how those who keep such huge tanks make such their Ts dont climb...

hmmm..i try not watering the plants and see what happens..

brb, crickets catching time.

 

[Snowball]

Sand, eep...Eco-earth..50-50 peat/verm..coconut fibre...(make sure if you use potting soil it doesn't have pesticides and what nots!!) Either of those 3 work great, I use em lots

 

[Mushroom Spore]

ive read in care sheets and forums saying that we should put rocks in our water dish to stop them from falling in..

That's silly and it doesn't happen. Unless your tarantula is a teeny tiny spiderling drinking out of a huge bowl...but even then, tarantulas are pretty good at holding on to the sides. All they do is perch on the edge and lean their mouths in--which they don't breathe out of, they breathe out of the lung openings on the abdomen.

 

[Snowball]

Book lungs I beleive they are called ^^

 

[Drachenjager]

(or get a hydrometer teehee) GL!!

what does knowing the specific gravity of the water in the dish have to do with how much humidity is in the tank? Hydrometer=specific gravity Hygrometer=humidity
also can check humidity with a psychrometer...

 

[ronald might]

hmmm..so ...if i get the right humidity, do you guys think the risk of climbing would be eliminated?

 

[ronald might]

btw..the rocks in the dish is not wrong right? if i continue to leave it there would it post a problem?

 

[IguanaMama]

Hey Ronald! Congratulations on your new pet! You made a great choice and its new home is beautiful.

Regarding the rocks in the water dish issue, this is a non issue. Do what ever you feel comfortable doing. It is neither wrong or right. Not worth mentioning. I believe what you might have read, however, is that rocks or pebbles in the water dish saves the crickets from drowning.

Regarding the humidity issue. Brachys do need humidity. Smithis come from the scrubland in Mexico and dig DEEP burrows seeking RELIEF from the hot and dry air. I would suggest creating a gradient in your tank, an area where the humidity is slightly higher and an area that is dry, so your spider has a choice. Brachypelmas are hardy spiders and can be forgiving with regards to humidity and temperature mistakes, however, to see one through to its full lifespan, offer the girl some dew drops in the am

 

[Becky]

For the humidity, i'd just overflow her water dish a bit. This will add a bit of humidity, but not too much.
With a shallower dish you won't need anything in it.
Don't use sand... it can get stuck in their booklungs and cause damage. Use, as Snowball said eco earth/coir/coconut fibre or peat. If you use peat, make sure you bake it at high temps to kill any pests or mites that may be living in it. Nice looking tank, but i think it's a bit too big. Half of that would be sufficient.
Take remaining prey items out the next day, and leave her a few days before offering any more.
I'd take out all the stones, they dont need to be there. They can be dangerous.

The T may just be exploring her new house, which is why she is climbing. Putting more substrate in, so that she only has the amount of her legspan from the top...e.g. if she has a 6" legspan, fill the tank with subby so that it is 6" from the top. This means she won't be able to climb too much and she wont fall much either. You might wanna get a smaller tank though
Glad you're asking for help

 

[IguanaMama]

For the humidity, i'd just overflow her water dish a bit. This will add a bit of humidity, but not too much.

This is a good idea for creating the gradient I wrote about. I thought I actually suggested it, but I was in a hurry and I guess I left it out. It is what I usually do. If you move your plants around your water dish too, you have it made!

 

[WARPIG]

Don't use sand to supplement your strate (I use 100% peat). When my smithi hit two inches I rehoused it, and initially it roamed its enclosure alot til it settled down.

As far as misting, don't mist the entire enclosure at once, so your smithi can choose moist or dry. I let my enclosure dry out b4 misting again. My smithi's enclosure is prolly the driest of all my 18 enclosures, and he seems fine, he's given me 3 molts in 4.5 months in these conditions, from .5" to a lil over 2".

I feed her twice a week, and if its really warm, 3 times a week, my smithi is a real good eater, but as someone suggested, any crix not eaten overnight, pull them out.

BTW great looking enclosure/smithi!!!

 

[Alice]

agree, peat or potting soil is a good substrate. and i'm afraid - humidity or not - you'll have to fill up that tank a lot. it's beautiful, but it's not too well adapted to the smithi. she will still climb from time to time, and a fall from that hight can be fatal. as for plants: they won't do well in an environment as dry as smithis like it. most keep away from the moist area around the water dish unless they are thristy. you can try succulents or cacti without thorns, they do well in dry environments.

 

[ahas]

It' s a nice tank! Might be too big though.

 

[ronald might]

great guys!

thanks for your remarkable suggestions!

really thanks for your help all! with out it? my b.smithi would be in trouble..ive just done all you guys said... ive placed a de-humiditifier on top the cage to quickly remove all the moisture..i placed it on top for bout 3 hours now...and ive taken it away...hopefully the humidity drops a little for my wrongly act..

point taken for getting a hydrometer (i shouldnt be assuming that the humidity is right...anyone shouldnt be assuming if they dont know much bout Ts..like me for instant) so...hydrometer tmr!

the over flowing water dish is a great idea!

how bout my plants ? can i still water it? ...maybe one pot a day? eg day1. pot on left, day two.pot on center, day 3 pot on right... would this be of help?? to what you guys said bout letting it have a choice? "an area dry and another area of a relatively higer humidity?

seriously..thanks a whole lot....

i might not consider putting extra substrate just yet..(it would be really tedous and i would need like 10 bags full to do that!!!) ..i'll see if this problem is solved with the lower humidity..


thanks again.