What does she want? Crazy smithii!

bagheera

ArachnoTiger
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The batty Brachy in question here is a 9 y/o female. She is over 7½" ad 2½oz.

I think she is at the 'molt every two years' stage of life, I think. I was told when I got her that she had molted last year. The summer came and went, no molt. She becomes totally passive when picked up.

She is nuts! I have had her for four months and she is in her second enclosure. Both have potting soil substrate. She climbs (I have had to rescue her a few times with claws caught in the screen) incessantly. In her last digs, she hurled a 4" glass petri dish across the cage!

At present she is in half of a divided 10 gallon tank. I gave her a bushy silk plant, thinking she could climb and not get stuck. Well when I last looked at her, she was pushing and pulling on the silk bush.

What is she doing? I am thinking of giving her a full 10 gallon with 6" of coco bark substrate. (I just happen to have one handy, although wher to put it is another matter....)

WHAT DOES SHE WANT? IS SHE UNHAPPY? :confused:
 

ilovebugs

Arachnobaron
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wow. crazy,

do females get antsy like males when they are looking for love?
 

Imegnixs_Cinder

Arachnoknight
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My Smithi acts that way too all the time! Constantly climbing no matter if its humid or dry, warm or cold its like he wants to be an aborial species.
My advice is make sure the tank you have isn't too high and the substrate is soft and there is nothing she can land on if she does fall that might hurt her.
Also you might want to rethink your lid and opt for one that her claws can't grip and get stuck on. Are you keeping her in dry or humid conditions? Smithis like things pretty dry with shallow water dish to drink from. If she is digging she may be trying to burrow, is the peat deep enough for a burrow? If it isnt give her a cardboard tube to use as a burrow (soft toilet roll one so she doesnt hurt herself if she falls on it). Also check your temprature in the tank. What are you using for heat btw? I use heatmat under half the tank so mine can get away from the heat. Also when did she last eat? I find mine climbs more when he is hungry like he is looking for food or something.
Hope thats some help.
 

defour

Arachnobaron
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bagheera said:
The batty Brachy in question here is a 9 y/o female. She is over 7½" ad 2½oz.
Is that fully stretched-out, or in anything approaching normal posture? Big, in either case. I have a female of about the same age that I consider big, and I'm not sure I could get a molt to measure 7.5".

Mine seems to be on a two-year molting schedule, too, as she hasn't molted in the year I've had her, and my adult female brachys typically molt during the summer. She's the opposite of yours in terms of personality, though, tending to just find a spot and play mannequin for a few days. I don't know what to tell you; have you tried keeping her on other substrates? (I take it her substrate is dry?)

Steve
 

bagheera

ArachnoTiger
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I measured her as she dangled from the top! She is on potting soil. No heater at the moment, it runs from 75-90 degrees ambient here. 50% humidity. I keep a full water dish, I took away her glass dish and replaced it with plastic after the hurling incident.
She is yet to dig. SHe grabbed a cricket today. She is more aboreal than either my H mac or P cambridgii--maybe I should swap her with one of those! lol
 
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nightbreed

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Imegnixs_Cinder said:
I use a heatmat under half the tank so mine can get away from the heat.
I never put a heat source under a T tank, the tarantulas natural instinct if it gets to hot is to burrow down, which takes it closer to the heatmat resulting in possible crispy T.
Plus heatmats shouldn't be under that much insulation, I think the recommended limit on most mats is one cm of substrate, otherwise they can overheat badly.

Take care.
 

Crunchie

Arachnoangel
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You have clearly been sold a Chile Rose that has had a smuthis exoskeleton glued to it. Nothing else can explain the craziness :}
 

Imegnixs_Cinder

Arachnoknight
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nightbreed said:
I never put a heat source under a T tank, the tarantulas natural instinct if it gets to hot is to burrow down, which takes it closer to the heatmat resulting in possible crispy T.
Plus heatmats shouldn't be under that much insulation, I think the recommended limit on most mats is one cm of substrate, otherwise they can overheat badly.

Take care.
I have used the heatmats for yrs now and my friend used them in same way for yrs before that and neither of us has had a "crispy T" or had a T die young even. I have never had a tank crack or overheat either.
nightbreed if you don't use heatmats what do you use for heat? I simply can't have my heating on 24/7 and this house gets freezing cold in winter.
 

Imegnixs_Cinder

Arachnoknight
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Changed my set up.

nightbreed, I took on board what you said and I have moved my heat mat to behind the tanks. The mat is 12w but is shared between the 2 tanks. Can you pretty please look at the following to piccies and tell me if its ok? Im a bit worried about it either being too cold in the tanks now or the mats cracking the glass, should I allow a space between the mat and the tanks?
Cheers!
P.S since I changed it the L.P in the smaller tank has pressed itself right up against the glass/heatmat is that a good or a bad sign?



 

nightbreed

Arachnobaron
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Thats almost what I do, what I do though is actually put the mat between the 2 tanks and sandwich it there (if you get what I mean :)) 1 mat to heat 2 tanks, bargain in my book :)

You can put the tanks right up against the glass, they should be fine, the glass doesn't insulate the mat enough for the temps to get so high the glass cracks.

I noticed when I moved the mats to the side my T's pressed themselves up against them at first, I took it as a sign that not enough heat was getting through the substrate, and now the T's were taking advantage of the extra heat :) mine settled down after awhile.


I have to say in all honesty I dont think having your mats under your tanks is a major problem unless a mat malfunctions, I had mine under the tanks for ages but I heard a couple of horror stories (from reliable sources) and thought it was better to be safe than sorry.
 

Ivar

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What about heat stones ? Then you wont have the problem with her burrowing down, and the overheat problem is solved.

Ivar
 

WhyTeDraGon

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heat stones are highly likely to overheat and burn your animal, or even fry them, NEVER use a heat stone. They're also known for starting fires.
 

Imegnixs_Cinder

Arachnoknight
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Thanks nightbreed :) I never had any problem either, but my smithi does dig away all the substrate over the heat mat all the time, so figured would take your advice n change it. I would sandwhich mine too, but the lids of the tanks have a lip on them so not so easy lol. Now Im just hoping the sticky tape holding the poly up holds!
 

nightbreed

Arachnobaron
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If it falls it wont be an issue this time of year, I dont use mats untill late Autumn -Winter, so you have plenty of time to sort out what method works best :)
 

Imegnixs_Cinder

Arachnoknight
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Yeah I guess so! Ex council house here tho so its very drafty even this time of yr lol.
 

nightbreed

Arachnobaron
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Imegnixs_Cinder said:
Yeah I guess so! Ex council house here tho so its very drafty even this time of yr lol.
lol I know what they're like ;)
If you feel comfortable then so should the T's, thats how I judge it, as soon as I start to feel chilly I break out the heat mats :)
 

Imegnixs_Cinder

Arachnoknight
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Arghhh, my smithi is STILL climbing right to the top of the tank! I just found him at the top on side of the heatmat, Im worried he is gonna hurt himself, any suggestions plz?

This is where he is atm, the vermiculite is dry, and the tank is a little humid but not too humid, I cleaned him out couple of days ago but he was doing this before then too. There are no mites or mold or uneaten prey items, he only ever seems to climb on this side of the tank (side with the heat) when he is on the cooler side he will sit on the floor happy as can be. Im baffled! And no he isn't mature, but he is about 5 - 6 inches, never gotten close enough to measure him sorry lol.
 
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Imegnixs_Cinder

Arachnoknight
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nightbreed, he was climbing in the same way then too, I had hoped moving the heatmat would stop him doing it, but it hasn't :(
 

nightbreed

Arachnobaron
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Imegnixs_Cinder said:
nightbreed, he was climbing in the same way then too, I had hoped moving the heatmat would stop him doing it, but it hasn't :(
ah right sorry my bad :8o
How deep is your substrate and how high is she climbing?

EDIT Gadzooks I'm a dumb>edit< I've just noticed your pic, how the heck did I miss that? :wall:

Right raise the substrate and try mixing it with peat or coconut coir, in my experience (limited as it is :)) my T's hate walking on vermiculite.
 
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