Worried about my Austalian Tarantula

William Cauz

Arachnopeon
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Apr 20, 2017
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25
I recently got a Adult Female Australian Taranula (Selentypus sp.2) from a reptile expo, it has been around 5ish weeks since I got her.
She blocked off the entrance to her hide 2 weeks ago and I haven't seen her since.
My guess is that she is moulting but I am worried.
Could I pls have some advise on what I should do
 

jaycied

Arachnoknight
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Mar 2, 2017
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224
Just leave her be. If she blocked off the entrance she doesn't want to be bothered. Almost certain a new set of clothes are on the table for her. Also I don't know anything about this species but is it possible you just bought a pet hole?
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
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Dec 25, 2014
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I wouldn't worry at all. Water dish always full.

Anyway you can post a couple of pics if you want, uh :-s
 

Red Eunice

Arachnodemon
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Only Australian species I have, "the tenacious trio", is Phlogius sp. Eunice. From time to time seal themselves off from the outside world for weeks and DON'T molt. Sometimes they just want total privacy.
Having 18 fossorial species, I'm accustomed to long periods of them sealing burrows off. I get a bit concerned at 6+ weeks, but without a foul odor present I leave them alone.
Keep a water dish full and refrain from feeding until the burrow opens.
 

William Cauz

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Apr 20, 2017
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Only Australian species I have, "the tenacious trio", is Phlogius sp. Eunice. From time to time seal themselves off from the outside world for weeks and DON'T molt. Sometimes they just want total privacy.
Having 18 fossorial species, I'm accustomed to long periods of them sealing burrows off. I get a bit concerned at 6+ weeks, but without a foul odor present I leave them alone.
Keep a water dish full and refrain from feeding until the burrow opens.
There is a bad smell coming from the container, I think it may just be from the coco peat because when I was creating her enclosure the coco peat smelt bad.
Could it be my tarantula rotting??
 

Chris LXXIX

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There is a bad smell coming from the container, I think it may just be from the coco peat because when I was creating her enclosure the coco peat smelt bad.
Could it be my tarantula rotting??
Sorry... 'coco peat' o_O? I know coco fiber, or peat (I use Irish peat moss, btw) or a mix of those two but not 'coco peat'.

Why you used btw something that had a bad smell in the first place? I wouldn't.

Can you post a pic, btw? In general bad smell isn't a good sign, but I can only speculate without more details.
 

BrockiePelma

Arachnosquire
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Mar 20, 2017
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'australian' and 'tarantula', given how those 2 words are combined, and how the world reacts(or over reacts?) about the species in australia, i'd be more worried about you than your Ts.LOL.:p

'The tarantula knows best on how to tarantula',dont worry,
 

William Cauz

Arachnopeon
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Apr 20, 2017
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Sorry... 'coco peat' o_O? I know coco fiber, or peat (I use Irish peat moss, btw) or a mix of those two but not 'coco peat'.

Why you used btw something that had a bad smell in the first place? I wouldn't.

Can you post a pic, btw? In general bad smell isn't a good sign, but I can only speculate without more details.
Here is a link to the type of substate i used - http://shop.minibeastwildlife.com.au/coco-peat-substrate/

I have attached 2 pictures, one is my tarantula and the other is her enclosure. 20170419_175809.jpg 20170316_074559.jpg
 

Sammilouise

Arachnopeon
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May 9, 2016
Messages
27
Hi Will
I use coco peat for my tarantulas and it's great. I know what you mean about the smell when it's freshly hydrated. I had my sub adult hide away for 6 weeks in November and when it came out I swear it was no bigger, but this week it pushed out its moult from 5 months ago so I guess it grew marginally.
My first tarantula hid for two months, from the night I brought it home, and I eventually opened the entrance to its burrow to check it. It was fine and had moulted and ate that night but I really didn't need to disturb it. Are you thinking you'll heat them in winter?
 

William Cauz

Arachnopeon
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Apr 20, 2017
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Hi Will
I use coco peat for my tarantulas and it's great. I know what you mean about the smell when it's freshly hydrated. I had my sub adult hide away for 6 weeks in November and when it came out I swear it was no bigger, but this week it pushed out its moult from 5 months ago so I guess it grew marginally.
My first tarantula hid for two months, from the night I brought it home, and I eventually opened the entrance to its burrow to check it. It was fine and had moulted and ate that night but I really didn't need to disturb it. Are you thinking you'll heat them in winter?
I have a desk lamp that lets off a fair amount of heat, i use when it gets cold in the morning or at night.
Also should i put a cricket to see if she eats it
 

Sammilouise

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May 9, 2016
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I wouldn't yet, not if its not coming out at night. There's the type of entrance blocking that is just thin webbing which may not indicate anything or the webbed up pile of dirt that in my experience means a moult is coming like this photo. If you smooth out the soil you can see if there are walking marks the next morning
 

William Cauz

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The dirt to her entrance was moved away last night and now it is just fine web the that she usually puts up during the day
 

DrowsyLids

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+1 for it being okay just give it more time. -1 for the desk lamp I'd refrain from using a lamp as en external heat source because you could be slowly cooking your T. If your house gets too cold you can use a space heater
 

William Cauz

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+1 for it being okay just give it more time. -1 for the desk lamp I'd refrain from using a lamp as en external heat source because you could be slowly cooking your T. If your house gets too cold you can use a space heater
what do you recommend as a source of heat that costs less than $20 and has low voltage
 

cold blood

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There is a bad smell coming from the container, I think it may just be from the coco peat because when I was creating her enclosure the coco peat smelt bad.
Could it be my tarantula rotting??
Substrate smells are way different than dead things rotting...I'm inclined to think you would easily notice the difference.

@William Cauz
I know late response, what your using looks ok for that species. Going to alert @jigalojey, he's an Australian too and may have more insight on this matter.
This was a quality tag...provided he logs in:D....He will know exactly what their tolerances are for cooler temps...Someone else who has bred them or kept them for an extended time may also chime in.

I have a desk lamp that lets off a fair amount of heat, i use when it gets cold in the morning or at night.
Regardless of whether it needs the additional heat or not, a lamp isn't the right way to go about that heating, in fact, its the worse way to go about heating, even though yours wasn't an actual heat lamp, its still too hot and will dry the air out quickly....A small low wattage space heater may or may not work depending on what your temps are and if or how much you need to bump...you may not need it at all, you may only need a degree or three here and there.

what do you recommend as a source of heat that costs less than $20 and has low voltage
Another option that I used when I had only a handful of slings was a heat bath...I filled a shallow tub with water, submerged a platform so that I could put the slings in with just the bottoms of their housing under water...I then heated the water in the tub with an aquarium heater. This is a great method because the heated water will provide even heat, without cold spots, or potential hot spots. Its very precise, and economical considering the low volume of water the heater is warming.

Normally I only suggest it for slings, but if you only needed to heat one, it would really just be a matter of getting a fairly shallow tub to put the larger enclosure into, and you wouldn't need a platform like with slings, so set up is even easier. Put the enclosure in a shallow tub, fill with water and place the heater in the most open area to its not touching the tank (I just lay the heater on the bottom) and you can pug it in and set the temp.

The only thing to maintain is adding water to compensate for evap...those heaters need to remain submerged or they heat up and crack.
-----


As for your original concerns...everything actually sounds normal...can't worry when a t burrows away, they are just acting as they do....you should expect this with most fossorials.
 

Red Eunice

Arachnodemon
Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Messages
666
Substrate smells are way different than dead things rotting...I'm inclined to think you would easily notice the difference.



This was a quality tag...provided he logs in:D....He will know exactly what their tolerances are for cooler temps...Someone else who has bred them or kept them for an extended time may also chime in.

Another option that I used when I had only a handful of slings was a heat bath...I filled a shallow tub with water, submerged a platform so that I could put the slings in with just the bottoms of their housing under water...I then heated the water in the tub with an aquarium heater. This is a great method because the heated water will provide even heat, without cold spots, or potential hot spots. Its very precise, and economical considering the low volume of water the heater is warming.

Normally I only suggest it for slings, but if you only needed to heat one, it would really just be a matter of getting a fairly shallow tub to put the larger enclosure into, and you wouldn't need a platform like with slings, so set up is even easier. Put the enclosure in a shallow tub, fill with water and place the heater in the most open area to its not touching the tank (I just lay the heater on the bottom) and you can pug it in and set the temp.

-----

As for your original concerns...everything actually sounds normal...can't worry when a t burrows away, they are just acting as they do....you should expect this with most fossorials.
Jigalojey usually responds in a day or two, Steve Nunn would be the best information source. IMO.

Yes, you're water bath technique was what I referenced to on another thread. Didn't recall exactly how you accomplished it. Thanks for showing and explaining the "how to".

I wish more Australian species were available in the U.S. Given the ultra strict exportation laws they have, I'm thankful for what few species are available.
 
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