Talk about B-Smithi's drinking glass

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
Can't find the conversation, looks like they purge old ones out, I guess.
Got Anna drinking, the night after eating.
She finally got the fat cricket the night before.
Had a camera close tonight.
Tonight she drinks, you can see she doesn’t want her feet in water.
I’m thinking the folks who have an arachnid who fills the water dish with stuff, try changing the dish shape.
IMO, the "stuff "is to keep the feet out of water. I watched Anna walk a big wad of dirt, to her water dish (when it was new), and drink, and try to keep her feet dry.
Now she’s got the closed cell foam, I get a few crumbs once in a while.
This spring ,when I rearrange her house, I’m going to try a trough, a bath tub shape- she can stratal.
As far as that cricket goes, he lasted more than a week, maybe 10 days. He out lasted two smaller crickets.
Last night she went into the cave, after I turned out the light. Shortly after, came out and turned east, never does.
And grabbed the dinner , she knew some how, where it was and I’d watched her miss it twice, a week before, and eat two smaller ones.
B-Smithi watching is worth twice the price.
Just as a PS, she spent so much time at the dish, my arm got tired holding the camera. She's slow as molassas in the winter.
 

Ghost56

Arachnobaron
Joined
Aug 28, 2016
Messages
443
Looks like she might be going in to premolt. Need to get that sponge out of there though.
 
Last edited:

BorisTheSpider

No this is Patrick
Old Timer
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May 26, 2009
Messages
488
Looks like she might be going in to premolt. Need to get that sponge out of there though.
Agreed . Sponges are harbingers for bacteria . That's why I won't use one in my kitchen . I saw a Myth Busters episode about testing household surfaces for bacteria and almost hurled when they tested a dish sponge .
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
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Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
Id give that T more sub before her HUGE abdomen goes splat from walking up the walls, just not worth the risk.
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
Looks like she might be going in to pre molt. Need to get that sponge out of there though.
Agreed . Sponges are harbingers for bacteria . That's why I won't use one in my kitchen . I saw a Myth Busters episode about testing household surfaces for bacteria and almost hurled when they tested a dish sponge .
What is floating in her dish is called closed cell foam, not a sponge. Sponges don't float.
Only my opinion as a "newbie", it's not a harbinger of bacteria, but an aid to her holding her self off the water surface, as you can see. And maybe possible an aid to seeing where the water surface is. Just my conclusion to "why do they (as she did) carry a pile of dirt to the dish and put it in"?. It appears to me she doesn't want her feet in H2O. The dish and foam get washed every Friday with very hot water. Haven't felt any slime yet, and it's been three months. IMOP it's helpful you might try it.
As far as molting, she's still eating and hasn't changed any of her color.

Id give that T more sub before her HUGE abdomen goes splat from walking up the walls, just not worth the risk.
She's 3 3/4 inches, at the lowest the bottom is 4 1/2 inches, with in recommended limit. But I put a hill on one end and that is where she'd climb, and stand on her hind legs. They obviously don't like to climb with out their hind legs touching mother earth.
When she was climbing I think it was for heat, since the 25W bulb was introduced she doesn't climb.
I don't mean to be contrary, just like to observe creatures.
 

REEFSPIDER

Arachnobaron
Joined
May 6, 2016
Messages
412
I will just say this.
Open cell or closed it will grow bacteria on its surface. You can bet on that. I will let someone else get into your flawed understanding of theraphosids. Welcome to the hobby and listen to the people here who give advice they know alot more than any pet shop or online care sheet.
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
I will just say this.
Open cell or closed it will grow bacteria on its surface. You can bet on that. I will let someone else get into your flawed understanding of theraphosids. Welcome to the hobby and listen to the people here who give advice they know alot more than any pet shop or online care sheet.
As expected
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
You gave me a good chuckle.
I need a scientific explantion, of the difference between closed cell foam and the plastic drinking dish she drinks out of. Which one is going to grow bacteria fastest?????
 

dirtmonkey

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 27, 2014
Messages
16
I can't tell from the video I'm watching on the phone, but does the float move? Does she not mind that?
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
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Jan 12, 2016
Messages
3,686
If you want to play science with your B.smithi's health, that is your choice. But stop presenting it as a good idea just because it is YOUR idea. Do you think long time keepers and breeders just plucked the notion of bacteria out of thin air? Or say it just for fun or the heck out of it? It is their experience talking. You may be older than most of us, but with just one B.smithi, kept for a year, you don't even have a fraction of their experience with and knowledge about keeping Theraphosids.

But you go right ahead. It is your spider to do with as you please.
But since B.smithi take a long time to get to size, and they are already under CITES, it would be a damn shame if she dies because you wanted to test your ideas on her.

Rant over. Have a nice day.
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
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Feb 22, 2013
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3,292
Okay, real discussion time.

Concerning the foam, I can't seem to find anything online that lists it as safe for consumption. It looks like it is used exclusively for furniture and padding for harnesses. So, that part alone would make me worried about the safety of it. Is what you're using made for something like this? If so, I'd like to see the link, because I'd like to research what other pet keepers are saying about it.

As for burying the water dish, that will always happen, with or without the foam. In fact, the spider will likely take out the foam for no real reason eventually. It's really nothing to worry about, that's just part of keeping spiders. I'd say a good quarter of my husbandry time is related to water dishes in some way. People's main concern with bacteria is that a water dish is easy to clean whereas a sponge is not.

I believe that you do have the best interest of your spider in mind, clearly. But think about it - you've got well over a hundred years of cumulative experience on these forums, and the vast majority haven't had an issue with water dishes. Spiders will bury them, sure, but so what? It's not like they need water 24/7. They're a durable creature, they can wait until you get around to watering them :)
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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Dec 8, 2006
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it's not a harbinger of bacteria, but an aid to her holding her self off the water surface, as you can see. And maybe possible an aid to seeing where the water surface is. Just my conclusion to "why do they (as she did) carry a pile of dirt to the dish and put it in"?. It appears to me she doesn't want her feet in H2O. The dish and foam get washed every Friday with very hot water.
Kitchen sponges in a kitchen environment are bacteria paradise. Here's a link for you with some data https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiluOLdwpfRAhVDxmMKHTC4DgUQFgg4MAQ&url=http://www.life.umd.edu/CBMG/faculty/asmith/BSCI223/SpongesAreGross.ppt&usg=AFQjCNGOSZktvYPXL1ev-iXiUX86LVRIpg&sig2=sGfuCEO1WkDsdfiBRPwWew

If it doesn't work, blame google. It worked on my end.

It's a pretty T for sure and it's clear you are attentive to your T in observing it.

However, your foam is not from the kitchen thus is cleaner than a kitchen hah. However it does provide a matrix for bacteria to grow on. I wouldn't use it. Also, is this foam food safe?? because if it isn't it may leach chemicals into the water and if so, may have neurotoxic effects.

There's really no need for it as they don't need it to drink.

As for a T visual aid, it does not serve that function. Their vision is extremely poor. If anything your T just treats it as a rock to lean on, nothing more. Also, Ts can float in water by themselves. There's video of an Avic swimming across a river in S. America on YouTube.

You are right they don't like to get wet if they can prevent it. I use the medium size ExoTerra bowls and they spread their legs over the dish and drink.

OR, you can use these pill bottles, they hold 15mL each. Plus, they cost 1$, cheapest bowls ever.
Pills.JPG
 

REEFSPIDER

Arachnobaron
Joined
May 6, 2016
Messages
412
Hahaha. Maybe when OP is ready to grow up a little and take some criticism and learn from it instead of persuading himself into some belief that he can just create new and proper care methods.
For one you stated "the cricket lasted ten days" anyone with a hint of tarantula care knowledge knows to never leave prey items for more than a day. But again as expected from a tarantula newb you dont do research on properly feeding a B.smithi. i help people around me all the time with tarantulas but i didn't feel like taking the time out to point out the stupidity in your new husbandry tactics. But, it looks like you would rather play mad scientist with foam. Than learn proper tarantula care. AS EXPECTED...
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
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Messages
3,292
Man, what's with the aggression in this thread? @tapkoote is trying something new and actually gave reasoning as to why it's working. I may not agree with it, but that's bounds above the typical stubborn nature we usually see. This entire hobby is built on exploration, as is every exotic pet husbandry. If you need evidence of this, read TKG and see what was once accepted not very long ago.

I still do things that aren't exactly recommended in the hobby - keeping Chilobrachys in shallow substrate comes to mind. I found it out by trial and error, and it happens to work. We should be encouraging new ideas, not shunning them in preference to the old ways. That's favoring antiquity, which as the learned would point out is a fallacy.

To be clear, I still think the sponge is a bad idea for the reasons myself and @viper69 brought up, but come on. No need to gang up on the guy.
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
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Jan 12, 2016
Messages
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Man, what's with the aggression in this thread? @tapkoote is trying something new and actually gave reasoning as to why it's working. I may not agree with it, but that's bounds above the typical stubborn nature we usually see. This entire hobby is built on exploration, as is every exotic pet husbandry. If you need evidence of this, read TKG and see what was once accepted not very long ago.

I still do things that aren't exactly recommended in the hobby - keeping Chilobrachys in shallow substrate comes to mind. I found it out by trial and error, and it happens to work. We should be encouraging new ideas, not shunning them in preference to the old ways. That's favoring antiquity, which as the learned would point out is a fallacy.

To be clear, I still think the sponge is a bad idea for the reasons myself and @viper69 brought up, but come on. No need to gang up on the guy.
I can only speak for myself about the 'ganging up'.
New ideas to be tested don't bother me at all. And that wasn't the reason i felt the need for a rant. It is doing something which is known to cause problems and doing it anyway because maybe it will work this time. And when pointed out it is a wrong idea simply shrugging it off because everybody here reacts 'stupid', as 'expected', that is bothering me.
OP's threads are full of hazy statements, weird observations and generally confusing.
So when this thread came up i felt the need to counterbalance, in case new keepers took the info from his post as a given, and begin keeping sponges in their waterdishes again.

Again, i love new ideas. But a sponge-like thing in a waterdish is as bad as keeping an Avicularia species in a terrestrial set up. It maybe won't harm immediately, but it is known to cause problems.
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
I can't tell from the video I'm watching on the phone, but does the float move? Does she not mind that?
I've watched her climb up on the dish twice. I don't notice it move, if it does she doesn't react. She is very careful how she places her feet.
 

tapkoote

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 3, 2016
Messages
10
To be clear, I still think the sponge is a bad idea for the reasons myself and @viper69 brought up, but come on. No need to gang up on the guy.
Thank you no need to worry, think I was born to swim upstream.
I wasn’t going to post again. But a couple things have changed.
FOOD GRADE, two words that stopped me dead in my tracks.
I know when PVC pipe was first developed, they found the chlorine in the water pulled some chemical out of it and made a compound that was harmful to humans. So no PVC was allowed in potable water systems at the time.
There’s a piece of medical grade foam on the way now.
And the big news, she’s in pre molt. I threw the two free range crickets and their food scraps, out in the yard for the geese.
Her abdomen is black and her hair is sticking out like a porcupine. She was tan this past weekend. Hope she comes out Anna with a new coat and not Andy with new feet.
The cameras are set up and the batterys are charged. If every thing turns out well, I'll post to utube.
premolt.JPG premolt II.JPG
 

Venom1080

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Sep 24, 2015
Messages
4,611
so youre putting a floating sponge in the water dish because you think your wont drink because it doesnt like getting wet?
crazy how wild tarantulas survive without that. lol
thats just a breeding ground for bacteria.
 

Rittdk01

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 4, 2016
Messages
258
^^^i had two pink toes and two rose hairs for two years before joining this site. I kept sponges in the water dishes until I was told different. I look in on my spiders every day and cleaned the water dish and sponges weekly. Now I use condiment cups and have to pull drown crickets out once in awhile.
 
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