Typical spiderthings

Hafi

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 26, 2020
Messages
23
So a couple days ago i got 3 new T's. Grammostola pulchripes, Tliltocatl albopilosum and Chromatopelma cyaenopubescens. All 3 beautiful little females. I built them some nice enclosures and rehoused them. The gbb gave me a threat posture but apart from that it went pretty well. Fast forward 2 days and the albopilosum seems to really enjoy her new enclosure. She started digging and is currently outside happily munching on a dubia. The gbb of course didnt use the anchor points i provided but instead is starting out her webcastle at the front lid but other than that seems comfortable. The pulchripes however seems to not have gotten the memo that she's supposed to be pretty chill^^ first day she spent as high up as possible just strolling around from top corner to top corner (probably because the moss i used was still a bit wet. Had to soak it in water because it came as one compressed block) Then when the moss dried up she spent the next day on the floor but always hugging the side of the enclosure. Now today she still hasnt found the hide i provided her so i tried poking her towards it with a plastic straw. She gave me a threat posture and slapped the straw so i stopped doing that. She's calmed down but seems a bit stressed but girl you're neither arboreal nor an old world, please behave :p! Anyways just wanted to share. I'll include some pictures of the new enclosures, maybe one if you can spot something that could be done better. Other than that i'll just leave her and hope that she eventually finds her hide. Would also be interested in reading some of your experiences and rehouses that didn't quite go the way you imagined :) also i'll include a close up picture of the albopilosum as i'm not sure if she's a nicaragua or honduras variant. Maybe one of you knows^^
 

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vicareux

A. geniculata worship cult member
Joined
Mar 14, 2020
Messages
496
Congrats on your new spiders!

The enclosures seem to be a bit on the larger side,and it would also be advised to fill more substrate for the T. Albo and G. Pulchripes (I'm not sure about the GBB since i've never kept it,someone confirm please)
I see that you have front opening doors and you can't fill substrate over the door,so what is done in that case - you make a slope going from the back of the enclosure (that's filled almost all the way up on the back),and slope it down towards the door.
This way you'll reduce the risks of your tarantulas getting injured or get killed in case of a fall (As you saw - if your G. Pulchripes fell during its climb around the enclosure,it could've resulted in an injury)

Let the G. Pulchripes find the hide on its own. They need a while to settle,and they won't feel secure if there's someone poking them towards a place.
Also,the T. Albo seems to be of the Honduran locality (Nicaraguan ones have much much more hairs and they look like plush teddy bears :D ).

sub.png
 

cold blood

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,223
Congrats on your new spiders!

The enclosures seem to be a bit on the larger side,and it would also be advised to fill more substrate for the T. Albo and G. Pulchripes (I'm not sure about the GBB since i've never kept it,someone confirm please)
I see that you have front opening doors and you can't fill substrate over the door,so what is done in that case - you make a slope going from the back of the enclosure (that's filled almost all the way up on the back),and slope it down towards the door.
This way you'll reduce the risks of your tarantulas getting injured or get killed in case of a fall (As you saw - if your G. Pulchripes fell during its climb around the enclosure,it could've resulted in an injury)

Let the G. Pulchripes find the hide on its own. They need a while to settle,and they won't feel secure if there's someone poking them towards a place.
Also,the T. Albo seems to be of the Honduran locality (Nicaraguan ones have much much more hairs and they look like plush teddy bears :D ).

View attachment 363999
this doesnt make anything safer, slopes are a terrible idea as they leave half the enclosure a fall risk....slopes are not a way around a tall enclosure.
 

Hafi

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 26, 2020
Messages
23
Let the G. Pulchripes find the hide on its own. They need a while to settle,and they won't feel secure if there's someone poking them towards a place.
Also,the T. Albo seems to be of the Honduran locality (Nicaraguan ones have much much more hairs and they look like plush teddy bears :D ).
Ah thanks for confirming that. That's what i thought but she was given to me as a nicaragua so i wanted some confirmation. Not a problem though since i pretty much got her for free and she seems like a sweetheart either way :)

I see that you have front opening doors and you can't fill substrate over the door,so what is done in that case - you make a slope going from the back of the enclosure (that's filled almost all the way up on the back),and slope it down towards the door.
This way you'll reduce the risks of your tarantulas getting injured or get killed in case of a fall (As you saw - if your G. Pulchripes fell during its climb around the enclosure,it could've resulted in an injury)
The angle on the pic makes the proportions a bit weird. They both have 10 cm legspan. I do have a slight slope in the enclosure. They have about 15 cm on the front and 10 in the back to climb. So worst case if she climbs on the front lid and falls, she'd fall about 5 cm (bit more if she's not stretched). Surely that's not a reason for concern?

Actually you can see it better on the 4th picture. The aluminum part the pulchripes is touching is exactly as long as the distance from the substrate to the top of the front door. So you can see her size there curled up, and that is how far she could fall.
 

Craig73

Arachnoangel
Joined
Jun 2, 2016
Messages
790
Congrats on the new T’s!

Front opening enclosure that don’t accommodate the amount of sub needed for a terrestrial can be modified by adding a cut sheet of plexiglass to the inside secured with a Couple of drops of hot glue. You’d be surprised that even falls from small heights can have detrimental effects.

For the gbb, I personally go with top accessible enclosures. The webbing on the door is going to be a nightmare.
 

Liquifin

Arachnoking
Active Member
Joined
May 30, 2017
Messages
2,110
The enclosures need more ventilation, specifically on the top to allow for cross ventilation. The correct species name of the curly hair is actually Tliltocatl albopilosus and not "albopilosum" anymore. Regarding which T. albo you have, your T. albo is still a bit too small to tell whether it's a Honduran or Nicaraguan at the moment. Just a tip on the T. albo: it's not a "variant", it's a "locality" to be more specific or correct. Welcome to the hobby and hope you the best.
 

Hafi

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 26, 2020
Messages
23
Congrats on the new T’s!

Front opening enclosure that don’t accommodate the amount of sub needed for a terrestrial can be modified by adding a cut sheet of plexiglass to the inside secured with a Couple of drops of hot glue. You’d be surprised that even falls from small heights can have detrimental effects.

For the gbb, I personally go with top accessible enclosures. The webbing on the door is going to be a nightmare.
Theyre all openable from the top aswell

The enclosures need more ventilation, specifically on the top to allow for cross ventilation. The correct species name of the curly hair is actually Tliltocatl albopilosus and not "albopilosum" anymore. Regarding which T. albo you have, your T. albo is still a bit too small to tell whether it's a Honduran or Nicaraguan at the moment. Just a tip on the T. albo: it's not a "variant", it's a "locality" to be more specific or correct. Welcome to the hobby and hope you the best.
Its got plenty of ventilation holes on the top back. Thanks for the albopilosus clarifications.
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
this doesnt make anything safer, slopes are a terrible idea as they leave half the enclosure a fall risk....slopes are not a way around a tall enclosure.
My exact response every time I see that "solution" offered in UK tarantula FB groups, it doesn't negate the issue at all.
 
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