New T :) - Housing questions

Geography Guy

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 15, 2006
Messages
584
Hi

I got my first B. Smithi yesterday :D . Great T! I do have questions regarding the housing. My T is small, about the size of your thumb or the enter button on your computer. I have it in a 7 inch, maybe a bit more, long critter creeper with 1 inch of peat moss and a coconut house (no water dish yet - haven't found a good sized one). Is this OK? From what I know, the care is similar to a G. rosea (at least from petbugs.com it sounds like it). Though, I have a book called Arachnomania I think and it mentions something about them liking it to be humid though petbugs.com says otherwise. Should I just keep it dry because I personally trust petbugs.com more then that book.

Excellent T though! :D :D :D :D :D :D
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
put it in a cup or something

failing that, increase sub height to almost fill KK

i keep mine a little less dry that rosea. babies are kept on slightly moist sub about 90% of the time. no water dish.
 

scottyk

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
824
Small and simple is good.

I lost a sling that was a bit bigger than yours and being kept the same way. It got crushed/trapped by the hide. I got some help here and have never lost another one.

Get one of those small cubes or a deli cup and keep it in there with just a bit of substrate. Mist weekly and lose the hide and water dish.

Good luck!
 

DrJ

Arachnobaron
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Jan 11, 2008
Messages
588
I would personally acquire a water dish for your T. They really don't require much humidity and are pretty good about keeping their water in, so rarely ever need extra water from the outside...BUT if they are in need of some water, they readily take it from a water dish. I have caught my Brachypelmas (including the smithi) drinking from a water dish from time to time. Not that they do very often, but it is good to keep just in case. I've even caught my Citharischious crawshayi (king baboon) drinking. Really, no matter the T, a water dish is always recommended. That is, if it is 2" or more. And, try to acquire and adequately sized water dish so that a drowning will not occur if your tarantula falls into the dish.

For now, the set-up you have will work, but you will need to eventually move it into a 5.5gal aquarium (or equivalent). However, it is best advised to wait untill it gets bigger...but, that is also a debate that has personal preference involved. I would also recommend glass over the plastic as the visibility is much better...but that also is a personal preference.
 

Mushroom Spore

Arachnoemperor
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Oct 14, 2005
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4,588
My T is small, about the size of your thumb or the enter button on your computer. I have it in a 7 inch, maybe a bit more, long critter creeper
Besides that this is too tall, be careful! Critter keepers are infamous for letting spiderlings squeeze out through the ventilation slits in the lid. I'd get a deli cup and make a bunch of holes with a needle for air until it's about twice that size.
 

Truff135

Arachnoprince
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Oct 22, 2007
Messages
1,033
Hey man!!! Glad to see you on here! :D
You should definitely add some more substrate. They should only have a vertical climbing distance equal to their leg-span. So if your little guy is...about 1.5 inches, he should only have about 2 or 2.5 inches at the very most to climb. You don't want a tarantula with a ruptured abdomen. Believe me, it's no fun at all.
On a happier note, that little guy's one of the cutest things I've seen! I've never seen a b.smithi at that size, only tiny slings and big adults. *Sigh* so there's another tarantula for my "Most Wanted" list! {D
 

scottyk

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
824
Whoops- I read your first post as saying it was 'thumbnail" sized. As others have said, more peat and a small water dish is fine for a T that big. Personally, I'd start it out with a smaller and less heavy hide.....
 

Stan Schultz

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 16, 2004
Messages
1,677
... I got my first B. Smithi yesterday :D . Great T! I do have questions regarding the housing. ... Is this OK? ...
Congratulations. I love the Brachypelma.
Here is my highly opinionated and often controversial view of caring for tarantulas. I'll leave it to the others to dissect these or otherwise rip them to shreds.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showpost.php?p=944847&postcount=12
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showpost.php?p=948964&postcount=15
http://www.atshq.org/forum/showpost.php?p=89179&postcount=13
http://www.atshq.org/forum/showpost.php?p=96780&postcount=9
http://www.thebts.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=17609&postcount=6
http://www.thebts.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=20521&postcount=18
http://www.thebts.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=21046&postcount=11

We really don't know what the life expectancy is for smithis or B. emilia because we've only been breeding them for about 20 years and none of them have managed to reach old age yet! Are you aware that that spider could outlive you?
 

Mrarachnid1st

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Messages
136
Hi

I got my first B. Smithi yesterday :D . Great T! I do have questions regarding the housing. My T is small, about the size of your thumb or the enter button on your computer. I have it in a 7 inch, maybe a bit more, long critter creeper with 1 inch of peat moss and a coconut house (no water dish yet - haven't found a good sized one). Is this OK? From what I know, the care is similar to a G. rosea (at least from petbugs.com it sounds like it). Though, I have a book called Arachnomania I think and it mentions something about them liking it to be humid though petbugs.com says otherwise. Should I just keep it dry because I personally trust petbugs.com more then that book.

Excellent T though! :D :D :D :D :D :D
Arachnomania by Philippe de Vosjoli was written in 1991 and while there is good basic info in that book(i.e. General Information page 4-11) the care info is outdated. Some of the spieces names have changed since the writing of that book. On page 35 there is a segment on watering..take a sharpie and black out this page. The author suggests misting and that water dishes are not necessary. Misting is not the best idea for most terrestrial T's and they do prefer a water dish.

The book is not a total waste it has it good points but given the fact that you have come to this forum you will find more up to date info from personal experience. Though there are many different opinions the fact remains that burrowers like to burrow...meaning give them deeper substrate and arboreals like to climb...less substrate more height in the enclosure.

Pet pals, Kritter keepers (though some will disagree) are just fine and work well with 'slings over a certain size. I have said this before and will say it again....a low temp hot glue gun works wonderfully to fill the larger holes that are in the cage tops of kritter keeper type enclosures. Even if the hole seems big...use a piece of cardboard or better yet plastic to back the hole then fill the hole with glue, let dry and remove the backing material....the hole...no matter how big will be filled with no chance of an escapee.



all in all...you will get better info on here than in that book.....as a matter of fact...completely tear out page 25/26...that info is DEAD WRONG.
 
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