T. Blondi missing fangs... update.

[Truff135]

Well, I added a good bit more substrate in the Blondi's tank. Guess what? NO burrowing... How about that? Still alive though.

Give her some time. My haplopelma lividum, which are known for their giant burrows, took about a month before finally settling in. She cowered in a corner for the longest time. What might help (it helps some tarantulas but not always), is to give her a bit of a pre-made burrow. I used a paper towel tube and shoved about half of it into the dirt, then removed it. That way, they have a base and then can extend and dig around as much as they want. What I also did was put a half-log hide on top of that to make her feel even more secure. Once she had established her burrow, she shoved dirt into the half-log entrance and webbed that off, too (then molted shortly after).
I am not 100% sure, but I thought I had heard somewhere that sometimes blondi will find a previously-occupied burrow and move in, then give it their own "homey" touch. So, giving her somewhere to start might just do the trick.
And please try to settle down with the remarks, we really are just trying to help you and your girl out.

 

[Talkenlate04]

The only thing I am going to add to this thread is I have a big blondi girl and she has NEVER burrowed or shown any desire to burrow.I have not even seen her pick up substrate before EVER!
I raised her from sling, and she is now as of last night around 8.5-9" so IMO a burrowing setup for this species really is not needed unless the owner wants one.

 

[Lucara]

I'm going to have agree with Talken on this. I've got 4 slings, a subadult, and 3 adult blondis and I've never had any problems with molts and I've never given them the substrate to burrow. They rarely use their hides either except to molt in.

 

[Truff135]

So where the heck did I hear about them being burrowers? lol.....That's the problem, I read so many sites and stuff that I can't remember where I read it. *sigh*
Well ace, if she decides not to burrow after all, sounds like she's not the only one . I do still stand by my opinion that it's wise to at least give her (and every tarantula for that matter) the option, so good job on that one! :clap:
Do you have any pics of her right now? I'd like to see how big she is.

 

[Ace_Man]

Another thing, if a T was going to dig, it wouldn't 'know' that it's substrate was only an inch deep. If it wanted one it would still try. Out of 10 T's that I have, only 1 (b. vagans) has tried digging. Which was strange because it already has a nice semi-deep burrow. It dug a little bit in a corner then just abandoned the project.

Not really anything new with the blondi, I just stocked up on crickets and fed him one today. I think he's still eating it. He's not huge, but he's an average-looking size. I can't WAIT until he has his fangs again.

On the brighter side of things... my B. Smithi and my GBB both molted this week!!!

 

[RottweilExpress]

My blondi juvie girl (4½ inch) hates sunshine (even indirect light) and light on her. When I gave her a burrow she zapped into it and has modified it since.

My 5" T. Apo's are the same. They'll be halfway out of the burrow when hungry but that's pretty much it.

 

[jshadowstalker]

i've got 6 adult blondi's ...everyone's in 5 to 6 inch substrate....they never dig. they will use there hides i've given them but they have never done there own tunneling. i agree about spiders not knowing what depth substrate there on, when i get new animals and conflicting info on them. i keep them on shallow medium and wait to see if they dig, if they do they get more substrate. might be wrong way to house them but i let them show me what they want. On a side not i have 7 regalis and i'm scared of being bitten by all of them. i treat them like fish...i look,feed and very carefully do tank mantinence a couple times a year for them. I think because i fear there bite that maybe that makes me a better keeper because i'm very careful with them.i think that half my collection is beautiful yet dangerous...i have no need to prove my courage by holding dangerous tarantulas.

 

[Ace_Man]

T. Blondi is still eating well, and is still getting fatter. Although very slowly. Suprisingly... no molting yet. It'll probably happen when I least expect it.

Oh yeah... and some bad news. I moved my 10 T's, centipede, and snake to my new home with their own room. The night before I moved them, my adult emperor scorpion died. All other pets made the move well though. I bought a new little scorp soon after. The old fella is sittin in an alcohol grave now.

 

[smof]

Sorry to hear about your emp but I'm glad the blondi is doing well. Sounds like s/he is gonna be just fine!

 

[Ace_Man]

Alright, the T. Blondi finally molted. I was very happy... but it wasn't a great thing actually. As a matter of fact, he was better off without the fangs. NOW, he has no use of one leg, it just drags behind him. And he has a soft white spot on the underside of his abdomen. It looks like his fangs are back, but I don't know what will happen to his leg when he molts again. If he makes it to the next one with that soft spot.

 

[Miss Bianca]

una foto.

any pics yet??

 

[Ace_Man]

Seems to be doing okay, but I still don't know what will become of that soft spot, or what will happen to theleg upon molting again.

And my A. Versicolor molted yesterday, I pulled the molt out and it's perfect. The little guy's almost as big as the blondi now.

 

[Ace_Man]

Here's your darn pic. You can see that his leg is folded over. Anyway... he doesn't seem too bothered by it, he can still strike prey with lightning speed. I just hope it doesn't come off when he attacks. He seems to have control over the main joint from the body, but no others on that leg. He has actually been sitting with it down like the rest of them lately.

 

[Tarantula_man94]

other than the fangs missing, you might want 2 change the substrate. that could hurt your T.

 

[desertdweller]

Aw poor thing looks so thin. No fangs to eat with sure can put a crimp in one's eating. It must be such a helpless feeling just having to watch and hope it all turns our all right. I sure hope it does for you.

My P murinus girl lost her fangs last molt and amazingly enough she still gets the cricket!! Holds it in her mouth, god knows how but she is managing.

Sending good eating thoughts for you T. Make that good walking ones too.

 

[Ace_Man]

tarantula man: I had wood chips in with him and now I have Eco-Earth, which is just some dirt and coconut fiber that holds moisture well. This is optimal substrate. Maybe you should do some research on substrates.

desertdweller: He molted already, read the rest... his fangs are back and he's had four large crickets, the leg problem came from the new molt.

 

[Newyork]

I'm glad to hear that she's molted. I hope that leg doesn't give her any trouble. The substrate looks perfect to me. Everyone has there opinions about what works best though, so of course they have to comment. Good luck with your T.

 

[Ace_Man]

pix on page 1 and 5.

Recap... Blondi molted for his 2nd time in my care, getting partially stuck in it and losing his fangs. Gave him living, legless crickets with abdomen cut open, and he ate them without much of a problem. Couple months later he went through his long awaited molt. Only to get stuck in it again. Fangs were back but he lost use of one leg.

Now... I went into the animal room to find he had ripped off his unusable leg somehow. I had nothing to fix the problem...

It's been almost a week without it and he has had no problems, and has not slowed down at all. He's nice and fat, and I've added a good bit more substrate to his tank. I have also been keeping it alot more moist than before. He's only about 3.25" now, so hopefully he will get back the leg eventually. I will post pictures if I can get some good ones.

 

[Rogier]

Saw your last picture, the substrate looks far too dry. If you would investigate the habitat of the blondi you would notice everything is moist or wet. Everything! Humidity needs to be very high, and also ventilation because of the sensitiviness of the blondi (mould for instance). The trick is a very deep, 8 - 10 (adult) inch deep peat substrate which is kept moist. the good thing is that you don't need to water it every week because peat holds so much water and releases it a long time before it is getting dry.

You keep experiencing problems with your blondi, so may be it is time to put your ego on a shelf and wake up and realize that you have still not attained a good environment for this blondi, and pick up all the excellent advice these people giving you here.

Not trying to be harsh (ok a little to get your attention ), just trying to help.

Best regards,
Rogier

 

[Ace_Man]

He will be moved to a bigger tank sooner or later where the substrate can be deeper. But for now I can only get it so deep. STILL, if you have ever seen this product (Eco-Earth), it is compressed when you buy it. It's the size of an average brick, but it will soak up every drop of a gallon of water. It holds moisture better than almost anything I've ever seen. And as I said, I've been keeping it much more moist since the pix on here. I knew that T. Blondi's had to be moist, I guess I just didn't realize exactly how moist. Although the night before his second bad molt that he got really stuck in, I just happened to soak his whole tank more than ever. It still happened. Never had probs with my other 9 T's.