Theraphosa blondi; Not the easiest T to get acclimate

[BiologicalJewels]

They are awesome little buggers.
Here's some pics of last night's successful molt in a plastic steralite shoebox.
She's a beauty that will get a new home in about a week.

 

[gambite]

I have a 7", supposedly CB girl in a 10g right now. She never seemed 'happy', and used to climb the walls non stop. More recently, she has webbed herself into her burrow, and I have not seen her leave it for over a month. Sounds like I need a bigger tank! I cant afford glass, though, so I might try the plastic tub thing.

What personality changes have you guys noticed when you rehouse them into a larger tank? Mine is VERY skittish, and bolts full-speed the moment she thinks she can get out of her tank. At least, thats how she was last time I saw her. Might she be more 'relaxed' if I gave her a much larger tank? She really gave me a shock when I first brought her home; I never expected a tarantula of that size the be so fast!

 

[BiologicalJewels]

In my experience, the larger the tank, the warmer the temp (to an extent), and good humidity with the addition of little to no disturbance (let the gal/fella acclimate for at least two weeks in there without opening -even for feeding in my case) and you'll have a T that will be more instinctive and acclimated to it's surroundings. my two cents.

I have noticed that the ones I disturb the least tend to be a little more skittish and defensive than the rest.

OR

 

[DDaake]

I keep my largest WC F in a 40g with 10"+ of sub. I use a small black trashcan about 10" wide and over 12" deep, for her hide. It took a couple weeks for her to settle in and stop roaming. She has spent a good amount time in and out of the hide. Recently she has taken to the spot above her hide and has been there for about 2 weeks. She has a water dish ~4" wide and 1" deep. She's the only one with this amount of space as she is huge. I've had other WC blondis that I've kept in 10-20g enclosures and the only one that ever spent a considerable amount of time roaming is my big girl in the 40 and that was when I first got her. My T room temp ranges from 74-81* and the humidity is kept around 70%. I recently had a 7" female that adapted immediately to a 10g enclosure with a small KK used as the hide(temporarily) and only about 3-4" of sub. As soon as I put her in she went for the hide. She was in the classic, blondi ambush stance, for the entire time she was with me. Only coming out occaisionally to pounce on prey. She was not shy about eating whatsoever. I had others that would just sit like a pet rock and not even come near the hide for quite extended amounts of time after I had recieved them as well as being very shy eaters.

Don't know if any of this will help. It is only my experiences with them so far.
Good Luck, D

 

[Andy]

It seems feasible. I would think it better to let the T decide its prefered temperature, humidity, atmosphere etc, and the best way to do this is to offer as many variations as possible. People argue "its too humid" - "its not humid enough" - but maybe its a requirement for the T to adjust the humidity on a constant basis :?

 

[joshuai]

I also noticed that after a molt they dont like the same hide and roam a lot til they find a new one

 

[Exo]

So would a 20g "Long" be good for a blondi? :?

 

[Fran]

Hmm...I would go a little bigger.

 

[JOHN 3:16]

Hello everyone,

I have two female blondi that I have had for seven (7) plus years. For the last three (3) years they have been housed in their own twenty (20) gal. aquarium. The bottom of the tank have two inches of pebbles and the substract is a three (3) inch mixture of peat moss and vermiculite. They normally perches at the entrance of their drift wood hide, with their front legs extended out side the opening. But I noticed that after I purchased a matured male, they started wondering. I also noticed that after I rehoused them into the twenty (20) gal. tank, their abdomen has not bald (three years).

 

[Fran]

How big were they when you got them?
Did they wonder constantly when they were moved to the 20g?
I think you need to send me that one at 10+" , for further study..........................

 

[JOHN 3:16]

Here is one of my tanks without the foliage with the bed of web.

I bought the spiderlings at one 1.5".

View attachment 81464

 

[Fran]

Thanks!
So you have a CB adult T Blondi

 

[Jmugleston]

It took me a few days, but here's a pic or two.

These are the enclosures I use for my T. blondi. The hide is a small litter pan cut in half. The female is cupped in the photo. She just finished breeding, and the male decided to run into her burrow afterward. I cupped her until I could coax him out.

It seems to be a good set up too.

Exhibit A: T. blondi 1st instars from this year:

 

[Fran]

Yeah,Those are pretty big enough enclosures

Congrats agin for your sac, great job!
I cant wait to get your package