Worried about my Austalian Tarantula

[cold blood]

Jigalojey usually responds in a day or two, Steve Nunn would be the best information source. IMO.

And how quickly does Steve Nunn usually respond?

 

[William Cauz]

And how quickly does Steve Nunn usually respond?

I would like to reopen this thread because my t never came out of her cave and it has been 5 weeks now, i am starting to get very worried.
She has put dirt back up covering most of the entrance but a small amout is just heavily webbed.
I have also found tiny little fly like insects flying around the walls of her enclosure, i think they are fungus gnats cause i had decomposing crickets in there

 

[Jason B]

If nothing smells dead I wouldn't worry. Keep the water dish full. There is quite a few reason it hasn't came out. It could still be in pre-molt, could have molted yesterday and is still soft which is if the case digging it up is the worse thing you could do. it could have molted 2 weeks ago and is going to come out tommorrow. It might not even be ready to molt and just wanted to close itself off from the world.

Heavy borrowing species are what we call in the hobby 'pet holes' and there is a very good reason for this. I have had pet holes where if I saw the T in a 6 month time frame I was doing really good. If you lived someplace I'd recommend buying another T but I'm not familiar with any Australian Ts there aren't obligated borrowers.

There are some tricks that can help you you though, your best bet at seeing your T is at night, so check up on it late at night. Feed its smaller meals, you don't want to starve your T here, but keeping it fed on the light side will help prevent it from going into premolt sooner and closing off its borrow. You might even get lucky enough to upgrade your pet hole to a pet hole with legs.

 

[Andrea82]

Flies are annoying as hell. You could try to let things dry a bit to get rid of those, but I don't know if that is a good idea for your species.
@EulersK has some experience with Australian species, and @jigalojey is from Australia as well, they may be able to help you.

Isn't there an Australian forum or such? It would work better if they had a knowledge-base about their indigenous species if their own. (Not that you're not welcome here, it's just that there isn't a lot knowledge about those species here due to the export bans.)

 

[EulersK]

My only experience is with a single Phlogius sp. "Black Presley", so I'm far from an expert on the subject. All I can really say is what is true for all burrowing species - 5 weeks isn't much to worry about. My Phlogius was blocked away for around three months during her molting process. There's not much you can do about the flies other than letting it dry out completely and for a long period of time. I know that my species could handle that, but I don't know about yours.

 

[jigalojey]

Looks like she is preparing to molt.

 

[William Cauz]

Does anyone know of some Australian Ts that are really pretty. I want to get another tarantula for my birthday coming up but I do not know which one to get

 

[cold blood]

Does anyone know of some Australian Ts that are really pretty.

Nope...There was one just discovered...but clearly not in the hobby....everything you will find will either be black or brown....or maybe grey.

 

[William Cauz]

My tarantula still hasn't come out of her hide, it has just turned winter so I was thinking she may be doing some type of hibernation. Before she blocked up her hide I was feeding her daily or every few few days.
I am starting to get worried what should I do

 

[Jason B]

Well feeding her daily or anything more frequently then something like once every week is a quick way to never see a fossorial. As has been stated its not uncommon for these things to disappear for months. My 2 inch P. Irminia recently disapeared for close to 2 months.. sealed burrow and all. A bigger spider will often take longer.

If you allowed your spider to gorge itself it most likely has no reason to leave its burrow it is quite content to sit in there without a reason to come out. Once a tarantula eats enough food to take it to its next molt it is just waiting for its new exo skeleton to develop for its next molt. Tarantulas aren't like say a bearded dragon, who you feed until they stop eating atleast once a day, some species are known to fast for long periods of time 6-12 months.

I don't know enough about your species to comment on hibernation or even if they are prone to fast. But a general rule is if you let a tarantula gorge itself they tend to get 'comfortable' and wait for their body to catch up. And in the case of fossorials they are most comfortable at the bottom of the burrows. Depending on when its last molt was, and how long it was being fed that at the rate you mentioned. Its quite possible and even likely you might not see her for another couple months. Its also possible she is molting right now or tomorrow and 'anything you would do to check on her' could lead to a bad molt and a possibly dead tarantula.

The only thing to do right now is play the waiting game and make sure she has water.

 

[darkness975]

I agree with the others here. If the Spider was deceased you would know it. The best thing for your Tarantula would be to leave it be, frustrating though that may be.

 

[Xafron]

I guess these questions are more for me than anything.

If there is enough moisture and dead cricket down in that "coco peat" substrate to get the flies going, wouldn't it be a good idea to clean things out anyways? It seems like under those conditions mold and other things could be getting started down there really easily. In which case I would think a fresh start, with dry substrate and less feedings would be useful. And in cleaning it out, he would know whether or not his T is ok.

 

[darkness975]

I guess these questions are more for me than anything.

If there is enough moisture and dead cricket down in that "coco peat" substrate to get the flies going, wouldn't it be a good idea to clean things out anyways? It seems like under those conditions mold and other things could be getting started down there really easily. In which case I would think a fresh start, with dry substrate and less feedings would be useful. And in cleaning it out, he would know whether or not his T is ok.

The issue is that because it is sealed away there is no way to tell if it is in the process of molting or if it is still soft from being post molt. Tearing into the Enclosure when not certain of the status of that can mean death or severe injury to the Spider if it is indeed soft or still molting.

 

[William Cauz]

I just ordered a sling for my b day and I was setting up its enclosure, I was wondering if a
15-20mm sling could squeeze through 3.5 mm holes?

 

[Sammilouise]

What species did you get? I keep my tropical slings (never had arid) in Tupperware without holes to begin with.. probably a good idea.

 

[William Cauz]

What species did you get? I keep my tropical slings (never had arid) in Tupperware without holes to begin with.. probably a good idea.

I got a australian featherleg tarantula (selenotypus sp. Plumipes) i have already drilled holes for its enclosure.

Also what are some ways to feed slings as mine refuses food

 

[Nephila Edulis]

I got a australian featherleg tarantula (selenotypus sp. Plumipes) i have already drilled holes for its enclosure.

Also what are some ways to feed slings as mine refuses food

As long as the holes are smaller than the carapace, you should be good. How are you feeding your sling? Slings can and will often scavenge pieces of crickets and roaches. It might be refusing food because it's getting ready to moult, the food is too large or you disturb it too much when trying to feed it

 

[William Cauz]

As long as the holes are smaller than the carapace, you should be good. How are you feeding your sling? Slings can and will often scavenge pieces of crickets and roaches. It might be refusing food because it's getting ready to moult, the food is too large or you disturb it too much when trying to feed it

I will try putting half a cricket near its burrow

 

[William Cauz]

@cold blood
I failed to follow the rule of only leaving a cricket for 24 hrs then taking it out. in my adult females enclosure I went away for the weekend end I came back and the cricket I left there has layed eggs all over the enclosure. I can see the eggs because on batch is next to the walls of the enclousre and I noticed before I took the cricket out the it was sitting/digging in a small crater shaped hole, overall I found 2 main locations of eggs.

1- are crickets that pop out of the eggs harmful
2- is there a quick and easy way of getting rid of the eggs
3- how many eggs/batches does the mother lay

A quick response will be needed pls

 

[Nephila Edulis]

@cold blood
I failed to follow the rule of only leaving a cricket for 24 hrs then taking it out. in my adult females enclosure I went away for the weekend end I came back and the cricket I left there has layed eggs all over the enclosure. I can see the eggs because on batch is next to the walls of the enclousre and I noticed before I took the cricket out the it was sitting/digging in a small crater shaped hole, overall I found 2 main locations of eggs.

1- are crickets that pop out of the eggs harmful
2- is there a quick and easy way of getting rid of the eggs
3- how many eggs/batches does the mother lay

A quick response will be needed pls

The baby crickets that are newly hatched are way too small to harm even a moulting tarantula. If you're really worried just remove as many eggs as possible, you'll be able to spot them easily even before they're big enough to be a threat to a moulting tarantula