hmmm. T (s) not eatting =(

Thrasher

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
214
I have a 3 and half inches strips knee, 2 inches golden knee, 2 inches tiger rump, all in a 2 and half G tank, i got this strip knee last week and its not eatting, and the tiger rump is well-hidden in his cave, and i guess its not eatting as well, i got the tiger rump 3 days ago, and i haven't since her since then, and my golden knee is active and eatting well, i got her 2 weeks ago. is there anything wrong with te strip knee and tiger rump? i mean, there are 2 big KKs with the strips knee and 2 little KKs with the tiger rump. I don't think its the problem with the size of the tank, cuz i have seen people putting big Ts in tiny spaces and they seemed fine. the Temp. is now 90. and water and sponges are well placed. what should i do or i am just worrying too much, when i got this tiger rump in the store, there were lots of KKs in the tank with him and i think her old tank was way too big for her at the store, and the strip knee had one KK in its tank when i bought her, and the size of her old tank in store wasn't that much bigger than the one i have for her. i donno....these are the first Ts i have ever had. thanks
 

MindUtopia

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
2,041
Hi Thrasher,

The first thought I had after reading your post was that the 90 F temp you have going there is a little too warm for them. Try lowering your temp (i.e. taking away a heating pad, putting them in a cooler location, etc.). Also make sure your humidity is okay. Run a search either on Arachnoboards or on the internet (phong's tarnatula's is also helpful) to find out the proper temp and humidity, since frankly I don't know them off the top of my head for those species. You may consider getting a temp and humidity gauge just so you can have an accurate reading of them. Those spiders that are hiding could either be burrowing because your temp is too high (and thus humidity is too low so they are going into the substrate because it's otherwise too hot for them) or because they are about to molt (in this case, don't poke around then because you shouldn't disturb them when molting as I'm sure you already know). That's about the only advice I can offer....but more than anything, honestly, I'd try lowing the temp first. It seems to high. So glad to hear that you are becoming involved in T's. They are so awesome! Welcome aboard!

Karen

Hope that helps,
Karen
 

Whiskeypunk

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
347
1. 90 degrees is way too hot for tarantulas, room temperature, or least 75 to 82 dregrees is fine.

2. Tarantulas will stop eating when they are going to shed their skin. It's perfectly fine. They also cannot eat for at least 7 days after they shed their skin.

3. Uh, sponges? Tarantulas cannot derive any moisture from sponges, they need a filled water dish, at that size a pill bottle, or film canister lid should do, or the sides of their cages to be misted.

4. Um, I'm having some trouble understanding your post, you don't have all three Tarantulas in a 2.5 gallon Kritter Keeper do you?

5. Read This http://www.arachnopets.com/tarantulas/ti.htm and this http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=40987
 

Thrasher

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
214
thanks...I loswered my temp to 80, i have never seen a T molted B4 so i donno what does it look like, and the space (4 inchs by 6and half inches) for my adut stripe knee too small for her? and what should i do to increase the humidity? i really don't want to get anotehr tank for it, cuz 3 Ts in one tank makes me easier to take care of, and i think i will get rid of the heating light, it makes it way too hot. and should i place a sponge in the water dish? or just dish with some tiny rocks in it( they used sponges in the store when i first saw her) and for my tiger rump, its been hiding in his burrow since i bought her, and she was in her borrow when i bought her from the store as well, so i think its just the way the tiger rump lives, and should I make a complete hidden place for my stripe knee? cuz i have a log places with her and it made a burrow but half of its body still can be seem outside of the tank, and how big of the water dish should i get for her?( i am currely using a Poweral cap for her with a piece of sponge in it). and i did a search for the humidity leves for each Ts, but all i could find were the % of the humidity, how can i read em? cuz i do not have my humidy tester with me, so for quick help, can anyone tell me how wet the tank should i get for a 70%to80% humidty? thanks. And this might be a little bit too much to read, and thanks for actually readding this through =)
 

dojang

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 24, 2005
Messages
32
Thrasher,
First off, I agree with MindUtopia that you should probably do a quick search of the internet to find the ideal conditions for each of the different Ts, as they all come from different habitats.

Secondly, in general, 90F is wayyyyy to high for almost any Ts, and will most likely kill them if it stays too hot for too long. Chances are that they barricaded themselves in the burrow to conserve moisture as you are cooking them at this point. Remove them from such excessive heat immediately. 60-70F is usually more than sufficient for any T in captivity.

As for moisture, make sure that there is a water bowl in the cage, but for the love of god, get the sponge out of the water bowl and entirely out of the cage. Spiders cannot get any mositure out of the sponge (as a matter of fact, they can drink it directly out of the bowl). Any literature that you might have come across that suggested to put a sponge in the water bowl was probably suggesting to put it there to keep crickets from drowning. You are much better off with a few pebbles, as a sponge will quickly grow lots of mold and can be very detrimental to the spider's health.

As for other possiblities for why the Ts have barricaded themselves in their hide, a possible molt is one reason, for which you should *NOT* under any circumstances, disturb or attempt to dig the T out, leave them in there.

Otherwise, the only other thing that I can think of at this late hour is that the Ts are just adjusting to their new habitat and may need a few days to acclimate.

But get that temp down, or you'll have some roasted Ts pretty soon.
 

Thrasher

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
214
Whiskeypunk said:
1. 90 degrees is way too hot for tarantulas, room temperature, or least 75 to 82 dregrees is fine.

2. Tarantulas will stop eating when they are going to shed their skin. It's perfectly fine. They also cannot eat for at least 7 days after they shed their skin.

3. Uh, sponges? Tarantulas cannot derive any moisture from sponges, they need a filled water dish, at that size a pill bottle, or film canister lid should do, or the sides of their cages to be misted.

4. Um, I'm having some trouble understanding your post, you don't have all three Tarantulas in a 2.5 gallon Kritter Keeper do you?

5. Read This http://www.arachnopets.com/tarantulas/ti.htm and this http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=40987
Yes i do, i do have all 3 T(s) in a 2.5g tank but each T has its own room( blocked by 3 piece of glasses, and i made sure that they are well placed and they won't get out or anything) I was just thinking that would that be too small for all 3 of them?
 

MindUtopia

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
2,041
Yeah, please don't have all 3 T's in the same tank. T's are carnivorous and will eat each other if left in the same enclosure. Each one needs to be in its own tank! If you want them all to survive (and not just one big fat T!).

Karen
 

MindUtopia

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
2,041
I know some people do the whole glass divider thing, but frankly it just makes me nervous. Critter keepers are like $8, so it's so easy just to get one for each than to take the chance of one getting eaten. All 20-some of ours (dojang and I) have there own tank.
 

dojang

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 24, 2005
Messages
32
Thrasher,
You replied to the posts while I was still writing my reply.

1) Get rid of the heating lamp. They are no good for Ts as they blanket the cage with the same temp all across the tank, and don't give the Ts a cooler place to hide from the heat if it gets too warm. IF you need to keep it warm, use a heating pad, and make sure its only under part of the tank.

2) Pebbles in the top of a soda/power ade bottle are fine. No sponges. The store that had a sponge in the water didn't fully know what it was doing.

3) Make sure that those dividers are securely in place, as you may just wake up one morning to only one, very large spider instead of 3 of them.

IF you want some really good information on how to house and raise Ts, I highly suggest you get a copy of The Tarantula Keepers Guide, by Schultz and Schultz, as it has all the information you would need to raise Ts.
 

Thrasher

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
214
MindUtopia said:
Yeah, please don't have all 3 T's in the same tank. T's are carnivorous and will eat each other if left in the same enclosure. Each one needs to be in its own tank! If you want them all to survive (and not just one big fat T!).

Karen

oh no no, they are in the same tank but each rooms are well blocked with glasses, so they can't get into each others'.
 

Thrasher

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
214
okay thanks all, other than the problems with the T(s) getting out of their pplaces and eat each others, if i MAKE SURE that they can't get out, would I be fine with 3 of them in the 2.5g tank? I was just worrying about if the spacese are too small for them (my stripe knee is full growth I think). And i lower the temps to 80 and i took the spongs out. So i should be fine then? and for the humidty, should i mist a little bit in my tank?
 

MindUtopia

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
2,041
I can't really see your set up so it's hard to say, but we have a barely full grow Chaco Golden Knee (who is about 6 inches) who barely has enough room in her own 2.5 gallon tank, let alone having to share it with 3 other T's. If she is really full grown, I would suggest she have her own at least 2.5 gallon tank if not bigger. That's really too small for such a large T.

Karen
 

Whiskeypunk

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
347
By stripe knee you mean A. Seemani right? It will be full grown at about 6 inches, and I would get it it's own 2.5 gallon kritter keeper or shortly, if it is 3.5 inches. The other 2 at two inches can do all right.

TIP: For terrestrial species like yours, they should have space equal to around 3 times the leg span, so your stripe knee needs about a 10 by 10 enclosure, and at full grown, it will probably need a 5 gallon tank. The 2 inchers should have about 5 to 6 inches to move around.
 

Thrasher

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
214
yeah i think i will get another 2.5g for my Stripe knee tomorrow

and have the baby golden knee and the tiger rump share this 2.5g tank.
 

Windchaser

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 13, 2004
Messages
2,996
Thrasher said:
yeah i think i will get another 2.5g for my Stripe knee tomorrow

and have the baby golden knee and the tiger rump share this 2.5g tank.
Please don't take offense at what I am going to say, but it sounds like you need to do more research regarding the husbandry of tarantulas and how to care for them. Many have suggested that you keep each tarantula in its own enclosure yet you are insisting on keeping them together. It is possible, but not very easy, to divide enclosures. There are many stories here regarding people who have had divided enclosures they thought were bullet proof only to find one very well fed tarantula in the end. Please try to listen to the advice being given you.

As far as habitat goes, I would ignore most care sheets. Temperature ranges and humidity levels are often over stated. You will do fine to keep all of your particular tarantulas on a dry substrate (peat moss works very well) with a water dish. As long as you are not freezing your own butt off, they will do fine at room temperature. All of the species that you have are quite hardy and are easy to care for.

With respect to eating, if you have only recently acquired them, it may take a little time for them to get accustomed to their new environment. In addition, it is not unusual for tarantulas to fast for weeks, even months.

If you have already done so, I suggest you read through the beginner's thread. Also, you may want to pick up a copy of The Tarantula Keeper's Guide by Schultz and Schultz.
 
Top