T. Blondi missing fangs... update.

[Ace_Man]

my p. regalis/indian ornamental is 6" with a bad attitude... And for goodness sake, freakin wood chips aren't making the spider suffer. If it was, it would web it up, and it's NOT. So go elsewhere with your 'opinions'.

 

[Nightshade]

If I were you I would quit misting the T. blondi. If I misted mine, I'm pretty sure he would stridulate and bare his fangs at me.

If you have a substrate like peat moss, coco fibre, potting soil/black earth, you can just pour water directly into the substrate. Covering over the substrate with a layer sphagnum moss helps to counteract any white mold spots from the moisture.

My juvenile male T. blondi seems quite content with his setup. He has a 12" clay pot to hide in and a water dish similar to yours. I water his substrate least once a week. I've had him for almost 2 years now and he's molted 4 times without any problems.

Not trying to bash you for your Ts or the way you keep them, but if the pede and the ornamental are causing you real difficulties when you have to do maintenance, maybe you should consider trading down. When I brought Blondi home I promised myself I would trade him in for something smaller and easier if I couldn't handle him.

Personally, I've always loved the look of pokies, but their speed and their venom and my limited experience with arboreals (1 year of keeping H. maculata, 6 months keeping P. irminia, one failed attempt at raising an A. avic sling, another failed attempt at raising an S. calceatum sling) are holding me back from getting any.

Just my 2 cents. I hope your T. blondi recovers.

 

[Ace_Man]

i haven't actually had to do maintenance with those two. I just use two tools thru the small openings on the lid and I have actually remodeled the entire tank like that. I can get crickets out too. But most people in their right mind would make sure that an 8" centipede didn't get on them or escape. He eats fine and his tank is fine... so is the ornamental. Thanks for the concern.

 

[citizen_smithi]

Woah this is quite the springer show aint it? Listen mate, i'm sure you keep ya T's just fine and they're all healthy apart from the bad blondi molt which prob isn't your fault anyway. But having said that, it's surely best to have put it on the most recommended substrate for it's species regardless of how well other species have done on it before, for instance just coz my smithi is happy in the dry enclosure it has, I wouldn't use the same exact set up for a seemani jst because it worked with a desert species.

But anyway, I hope the blondi does well next molt and for the record I think you got an undeserved and overtly rude response in this thread, why can't people just be polite about it?

Peace.

 

[crpy]

WOW, sorry about all the crap you been taken ACE, some poeple seem to forget they came through the same door, hang tough in the web man
crpy

 

[Skullptor]

I am pulling for your T to make it.

When I started in this hobby over 20 yrs ago, I was given a book on keeping T's back in 1987. The book is Tarantulas: A complete introduction by Al David. The author suggests using gravel and sand as ideal setup options. Almost every photo has a T on what we now see as not so ideal substrate. On page 58 the author has a smithi on less than 1" of gravel. You can see the glass bottom of the tank showing through in spots. He has a real cactus in there, thorns and all sitting in a small pot unsecured. :wall:

Everyone of these things are considered a no-no today. So IMO your dad is totally forgiven for doing what was considered acceptable at that time. but we have learned at lot since your dads time. I think some are out of line in what they are posting. I think armed with more information on this, you would be willing to change for the health of your T's, so slamming is completely unnecessary.

May I suggest to use some kind of tool that holds substrate, and dump a few scoops in on top of the wood? You can do this with minimal chance of escape and provide immediate comfort.

again, good luck with your T.

 

[pato_chacoana]

ppppsss, infraction? I only answered to his kind post which WASN'T removed....didn't mean to counter attack.

 

[citizen_smithi]

ppppsss, infraction? I only answered to his kind post which WASN'T removed....didn't mean to counter attack.

Hey,I got one too and all I did was stick up for him and when repeating what someone else had said, I censored the word - infraction!

I guess rules is rules though eh, but tough though I thought but gotta think of the kiddies I suppose

 

[Lucara]

As far as my opinions on this..when multiple tarantula keepers all give you the Same advice...theres probably a reason for it. Its not like peat moss will break your bank its $2 at Walmart and you can reuse the chips for one of your arboreal species.
I kind of think of it like rabbits. A LOT of people keep their rabbits on those cages with the metal or plastic grates on the bottom. Obviously your rabbit isnt going to die from sitting on a grate its entire life but the fact that it would be more comfortable on something flat and solid would make your rabbit far more happy. Your T's wont die from sitting on wood chips their entire life but the fact that they will most likely be more comfortable on peatmoss or dirt of some sort should make you think twice.
Try standing on a metal grate for a week. Its really going to get uncomfortable after a while. Try standing on woodchips for a week. Same thing Lol. Thats just my 2cents. =D No harm, no foul.

 

[ajwilki]

Hate to see suffering

Sorry about your T. I know I would freak if anything happened to my Rosie. I hope recovery is swift and sure! I do agree with the wood chips, they are actually not real good for snakes either because they can get stuck in their scales. I actually bought bedding specifically for tarantulas at an exotic pet shop.

 

[ThomasH]

I don't think my post was extreme at all. If someone took out all your teeth and your only livelyhood was catching prey with your teeth and eating with your teeth than would you think of it as abuse? I am NOT an expert I just started in October but in my first minute of research I found that you DO NOT use wood chips for any spider. This person did the wrong thing and it was painfully obvious what to do but he didn't do it. That may not be abuse by definition but it is at the very least considered neglect.

 

[Ace_Man]

NEWSFLASH PEOPLE!!!!!!!! I said earlier in the thread that I bought new substrate. GEEZ.

 

[Ace_Man]

I started in December 2006 with T's, and already knew some stuff before that. I do know that if a T is uncomfotable with what it is standing on, it will cover it with web, which he has not done. And more recently (since I haven't put the new stuff in there yet) I put some of the coconut fiber substrate in there. It was mostly just dirt, but he is still standing on the side with the wood chips... who is it exactly that asked the T if it was uncomfortable anyway?

 

[Nightshade]

I wasn't trying to be preachy with my earlier post. I've been keeping Ts since September 2005 and between then and now I've had 6 sling deaths, so I'm not in any position to know it all.

I can only speculate because my S. calceatum died (got stuck in it's molt in the fall), but if it had grown to 6" I think I would definitely have traded down for another less venomous arboreal. Even though it never reached 2" in size, I just couldn't control my nerves when I had to feed/water/do maintenance.
I wouldn't try again with that species until my H. maculata is finished growing.

The first "difficult" T I got was an H. lividum sling. It grew nicely for two months, then I rehoused it and it died a week later. A month or two after that happened I got another sling and it's grown into a healthy juvenile female.

Sticking with your more difficult inverts gives you valuable experience, but in my opinion there's no shame in backing down from a species if you're not comfortable keeping it. That's all I meant.

Lol, I'm sure I'll never feel experienced enough to share my apartment with an 8" pede.

I don't think Ts webbing is a sign that they're uncomfortable with what they're standing on. Mine scale the walls or sit on top of their hides if they don't like the substrate. When I see a recently rehoused T webbing, I take it as a sign of success.

The bark chips would be more useful as T substrate if you put them through a blender and then mix them with the coco fibre. A mixture of both is closer to the T. blondi's forest floor environment than just one or the other.

The substrate I'm planning on using for my T. blondi's final enclosure is a combination of peat moss & or coco fibre, potting soil, blended cypress bark chips and sphagnum moss on top.

 

[ThomasH]

I think we should all just let this thread die.

 

[pato_chacoana]

I second that......

 

[citizen_smithi]

Yep, webbing is not a bad sign at all - if it was wouldn't that mean that all GBB's hate EVERYTHING they live amongst? Mine have all webbed around and now sit happy as larry 24/7, I agree that it's a sign of a substrate an animal can and wants to settle into. I would think the contrast is a bad substrate would be one a T does nothing with at all, added to constant climbing and bark basking.

Oh and yeah, this thread has an uncomfortable vibe to it, so - nighty night.

 

[arachyd]

If it would stay on topic I'd like to continue to read updates on how the T is doing. It is valuable information. From what I've read this isn't the first one to lose fangs and I'm sure it won't be the last. If it ever happens to one of mine I'd be glad to know what did and what did not help the T to eat.

 

[Ace_Man]

This "problem" is being resolved. So there is no reason to ask me how my T's are being kept anymore. The blondi is fine so far, and his abdomen has actually grown. I am comfortable and confident that I know enough about my animals to keep them. I know other people who have had deaths and I have had none. BTW the blondi can climb the side and he does not, he is making NO attempt to escape this substrate whatsoever, so drop it. Anyway, I will use this thread only to update what happens with the blondi.

 

[Ace_Man]

HERE! Happy now?

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Well, I'm glad I was told to do this... although I didn't see the wood chips being as big a problem as some people thought. This stuff is like a sponge, I had to squeeze the water out of it before putting it into the tank. Most of the tanks I just covered in a layer (the centipede's is the bottom left and I did it all through two holes in the lid that are about two inches in diameter), but a few of them I actually removed the old stuff and replaced it. Great stuff. I only spray my tanks with the same water I drink (bottled aquafina), so now I shouldn't have to use as much of it.