new + versi paradox

onewasjo

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 2, 2003
Messages
7
hi. i've been reading the boards for about a month now, so i thought it time to introduce myself.

i'm a newbie T keeper with a grand total of 2 T's in my "collection":D

t-rex: 3/4" a. versicolor sling. sweet and awfully cute, but able to pin down crix its own size with 7 hands tied behind its back! so named b/c my b-friend and i were jazzed about the adults looking like 70's glam rockers.

un-named as of yet: 2.5" a. chalcodes. unbelievably meek but sweet. she's done nothing for a month now (except run away from her food) until this past weekend. i was out of town for a few days for Tday and i came home to an amazing burrow!

i feel pretty well-versed on the basics of their care, but i have a question about my versi:

she was 4th instar when i got her from the awesome dealers at Southern Spider Works and i've had her for a month with no molt.

i sculpted this ... sprout (LOL for lack of a better description) and placed it in the middle of her enclosure. she seems to like it well enough and 2 weeks ago, built a very thick tunnel web between it and the wall. however, this "sprout" prevents me from cleaning her enclosure out without totally wreaking her new web.

for almost 2 weeks i've kept thinking that she was gonna molt any day now and so i'm afraid to clean her enclosure and wreak her web. i'm also starting to get really worried about the fuzzy white mold i see on some of the crix waste at the bottom of the enclosure. plus. i feel like i'm nurturing the mold by misting her enclosure (in anticipation of the molt!) LOL.

ee-gads. what should i do? wreak the web and clean the enclosure out (and re-think its design) or let it ride out until she molts?

i've heard terrible things about versi's and mold...

much thanks for any help!!

ps: wanted to add that this is an amazing resource. props to whoever started this project...
 
Last edited:

Frostbyte

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 31, 2002
Messages
327
Im no expert at all , but I do have a Versi 1.5" and a pink toe 2" . The Versi webs like crazy and the pinktoe hasnt webbed at all . My versi is in a round critter keeper and its hard to even get water to her because the entire top of the cage is one solid web. I dont mist a whole lot . Ive read in other posts that misting isnt that big of a deal. My versi has molted 2x since I got her about 9-10 months ago. I just totally changed her to a larger enclosure only 4-5 months ago. That was the only time I cleaned her cage out. Welcome to the boards also !
 

rapunzel

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 17, 2003
Messages
750
Hi welcome to the board.

What I used for my a. versi was a beanie baby display box...upside down. That way she could go up and web all she wanted to, and I could open the box, add water, clean whatever without disturbing it. Hotglue some corkbark or similar substance up in one corner for the spider to use as an anchor melt in some airholes...add enough substrate just to fill the1/2" deep lid, a waterdish..and done.
I dont have any advice on what you should do about the mold and cleaning however the mold is just going to keep on growing and getting worse. Hopefully she will molt soon and you can clean that out.
Good luck.
 

rosehaired1979

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 14, 2003
Messages
2,900
Welcome to the board I have a 1.25" A.Versicolor and i have had it since it was 1/2" I have 3 Avic counting the Versi i also have a A.Metallica (1") and a A.Avic (3") and they are all good eaters but the Metallica waits till the cricket is dead before eating so i assume it was fed frozen crickets. I cant wait till they grow up :)
 

abstract

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Messages
748
I would:

Get some long tweezers / thongs, and remove whatever bolusus you can w/out completely wrecking the web. Unless it's ACTUALLY molting, I would think the damage that you'd do to the spider would be null.

If you can't reach the boli, just let it be. That puppy has GOT to be due for a molt as small as it is - I wouldn't think a day or two more of mold in the enclosure would hurt it. Just make sure it's ventilated all right.

All speculation, and IMO of course... :p
 

onewasjo

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 2, 2003
Messages
7
Much thanks for the opinions! I am gonna give it a few more days to molt and then I'll be forced to destroy the web and pick out the crix boli with some chopstix. I have folded a paper screen around the little guy's enclosure for privacy. Hope the bugger molts! haha - do you guys do weird things like this too?
 
Top