Water Question

patexan

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
47
I have recently given a 5" B. Smithi. Although I have never seen it, it would appear that she somehow gets the water from her dish to the substrate surrounding it. I will fill the water dish, then the next day, hardly any is in it and the substrate around the dish is wet.

Is this normal? If not, does it indicate something I am doing wrong?

Thanks for your help.
 

Ando55

Arachnobaron
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Sep 15, 2006
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Seems like a thirsty smithi to me, what's the size of it's abdomen? especially in comparison to it's carapace; also it can be that or it can be dumping the dish but if it did it would of been upside down as the T would not put it back right side unless we have a super smart sneak T here..;)
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
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Nothing wrong. Take out the dish, clean it and whipe it all arround with some paper towel. Either you have substrate leaning into it, effectively sucking the water out, or you have strands of web hanging into it, accomplishing the same.
 

patexan

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
47
Seems like a thirsty smithi to me, what's the size of it's abdomen? especially in comparison to it's carapace; also it can be that or it can be dumping the dish but if it did it would of been upside down as the T would not put it back right side unless we have a super smart sneak T here..;)
I would say the abdomen is ca. 1-1.5". For reference, she is in a 5 gal aquarium.
 

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Ando55

Arachnobaron
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It's soo purdy!!!!:D Looks really healthy, no need to worry about anything, it can just be walking in and out of the dish after it's drinking or spilling some by going to drink or while drinking, it looks great for sure!
 

Mina

Arachnoking
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Oct 4, 2005
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You're very lucky, what a beauty!! It will be years before my smithis look like that!! (both of mine are tiny little slings) It could also be that water leaks out of those dishes, they don't hold water real well I've noticed.
 

Aurelia

Arachnoprince
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make sure your dish isn't leaking. I had one like that and I had to refill it every night and it would be bone-dry by morning. I replaced it with a shallow ceramic dish
 

Ando55

Arachnobaron
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You can also replace it with a bottle cap or a wider and more shallow gatorade cap as well, then I would want my T to make some tackles in football..:razz:
 

ErikH

Arachnoangel
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Mar 8, 2006
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Nothing wrong. Take out the dish, clean it and whipe it all arround with some paper towel. Either you have substrate leaning into it, effectively sucking the water out, or you have strands of web hanging into it, accomplishing the same.
Yeah, check for webs. My g. aureostriata is good for either bulldozing substrate up against and into the dish, or throwing a few strands of web accross it, and accomplishing exactly what you described: dry dish and wet substrate.
 

mikeymo

Arachnoknight
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Jan 14, 2007
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While this may seem like a silly thing to say; you might also want to monitor how warm it is inside the tank. While it probably won't be a significant loss, you could attribute some water loss to evaporation.

Also, thanks to everyone for the heads up on those pretty (but potentially leaky) water dishes. I bought one the other day but will now probably try to return it. A cap from a water bottle is working just fine for me, however this raises a question:

should i burry the cap into the substrate a bit or just leave it sitting on top? (thanks in advance to any who answer)

and that is a beauty B. Smithi, Patexan!
 

Tony92

Arachnosquire
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Aug 9, 2006
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To go slightly off subject, it's strange the way some people are extremely strict with the way they keep their T's with water supply in tank, I've been keeping Tarantulas for many years & some of my oldest ones are around 14 years old now, ( older ones than that long sold on ) & in that time I've never given them any water at all, I've made 100% sure that the substrate never goes less than moist at all times, & they are fed enough that dehydration never becomes a problem, & the result is all species have thrived, that includes species such as blondis/parahybana/smithi/vagans etc etc inc pokies.
Obviously there comes a time in the wild when all T's will be offered the chance to consume water, but I've not had it result in any losses at all by not providing it, each to there own I expect.
 

thunderthief

Arachnoknight
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Dec 27, 2006
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Even more OT, but Tony92 you're not far from me. Im in Skelmersdale, if you dont mind me asking? where do you go for all things T?
 

rYe

Arachnosquire
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Dec 30, 2006
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While this may seem like a silly thing to say; you might also want to monitor how warm it is inside the tank. While it probably won't be a significant loss, you could attribute some water loss to evaporation.

Yeah I've noticed over time that all my stone water dishes dry out almost over night.
 

patexan

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
47
While this may seem like a silly thing to say; you might also want to monitor how warm it is inside the tank. While it probably won't be a significant loss, you could attribute some water loss to evaporation.

Also, thanks to everyone for the heads up on those pretty (but potentially leaky) water dishes. I bought one the other day but will now probably try to return it. A cap from a water bottle is working just fine for me, however this raises a question:

should i burry the cap into the substrate a bit or just leave it sitting on top? (thanks in advance to any who answer)

and that is a beauty B. Smithi, Patexan!


My house is chilly, temps in the high 60's.

I checked the water dish for leaks today and it does not leak. But on inspection, it did have webbing on it. I have cleaned it out and will monitor for the next few days to see if this does the trick.

Thanks for all the comments.
 

BLS Blondi

Arachnoknight
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Aug 4, 2005
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244
In my experience, strands of silk are often attached to the dish, slowly draining the water dish over time. My T. blondi are famous for this. It seems that T's do this to map out where water is, so they can go straight to the water, instead of walking around hoping to come across it. If you were to look carefully, alot of times, you will see strands of silk attached to the water dish and it leads straight back to their retreat.
 

Selenops

Arachnoangel
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Dec 13, 2006
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I've seen too many inverts drink from my waterdishes.

I use glazed ceramic sort, they're well-constructed, leak proof, and heavy. Usually buy them from Petco for $3-$8 a pop depending on size.
 
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