Why doesn't my Cobalt Blue seem happy?

[Damnathius]

I've had my H. lividum for probably 6 weeks now, if not longer. She is in an 8"x8"x16" screen covered glass enclosure. It has one of those 1/2 hollow logs for her hide, and probably 2" of peat moss as substrate.

The temperature ranges from 70 to 80 degrees, and we live in an evaporatively cooled house, so humidity is usually around 50%, but I place wet towels over the cages in the morning which maintains 70%+ humidity for most of the day.

She doesn't look ill, as there are times when she is out and about the cage, but most of the time she is scrunched up in the "unhappy spider" position. She has not eaten for probably 3 weeks, but when I got her she fed well.

What's up? I know I should have deeper substrate and will get to that, but would that alone cause her to be uncomfortable?

Thanks for any help,

Dave

 

[pelo]

Colbalts are happiest when they can burrow.Get rid of the hide and add more substrate.6-8 inches would do just fine.A 50/50 mix of potting soil and peat will do fine.Pack it down fairly firm to support burrowing.Make a small indentation to coax it to burrow.Moisten the substrate.That will eleviate any humidity issues you have...peace..

 

[Damnathius]

Thanks pelo. I guess I'll give that a try.

 

[Harmeke]

what i do with my cobalt is she has the hide but is in about 6" of vermiculite and she usally webs up a burrow under one of the sides of the hide aginst the glass and i mist every day she is in a 10 gal tank with a screen lid with 3/4 of the top covered by plastic wrap and she has a water dish. that is just how i do it works for me and my cobalt. there are so many ways to do it it might take a few different trys. im going to try a setup with potting soil and vermiculite and see if i can get her to make one of the famous turret burrows they are famous for.

Kyle

 

[Kayv]

i had the same problem check out my thread. well anyway all i did was add a whole lot more substrate and under her hollowed out log i started her burrow off and in the morning when i woke up she had made a near complete burrow. also dont forget to keep the humidity high with them

 

[pelo]

Originally posted by eper-ani
also dont forget to keep the humidity high with them

>>you can get around the whole humidity issue if you do like I do.Prior to setting up my enclosures for my burrowers I drill some holes in the bottom of the enclosure(critter keeps are great for that).I then add about 7-8" of substrate and firmly pack down.I then get a container larger than the enclosure(sinks work great also).I then immurse the container into the water.I only allow about 1/3 of the substrate to saturate with water.The top 2/3 then go from moist to completely dry.This allows the T to pick out it's own humidity level.I've never had a bad molt and the T's actually stay in different parts of their burrows at the humidity level that suits them best.I periodically allow all the substrate to completely dry out to prevent molds and critter infestations.I learned this from another member.Can't recall who..Martin H. maybe??Try it...works great.....peace..