B. smithi Question - Should I or Not?

BurrowDweller

Arachnoknight
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Oct 21, 2005
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I have a question about a large B. smithi. Currently I work at a pet shop (its mainly a fish store) that carries a few reptiles and arachnids. Unfortunately, most of the arachnos and herps get kept in conditions that are way off from what they need. At least I have gotten the cotton balls out of most of the Ts tanks, but that was a long and hard battle in itself.

We have a large 5"+ B smithi that has been in the store for at least a year, possibly longer. It appears healthy and is quite an aggressive feeder. It has not molted since I have worked there. Everyone but me insist on feeding it pinky mice, I have been giving it crickets and super worms to vary its diet a bit as it does not always take the pinks.

My question is, should I get it or not. I would love to take it out of the sub standard condtions it is in (20 gallon tank, very shallow sand sub, bright flourescent light on it, and not fed or watered properly), but I really would hate to bring something home to the rest of my collection. There is a huge ant problem at work, they are into everything, including the Ts from time to time. I am not sure if we have mites or not.

Do I save the one and risk wiping out the others I have at home, or just pass and hope someone buys it. I doubt anyone in our town will buy it even at the bargin basement price of $99.99 (and I can get it way cheaper than that). The people who know spiders will not buy them from the store as they are not properly cared for (tried telling the owner but was like talking to a brick wall), and we just dont seem to have to much interest in them.

Sorry this has been so long. Thanks for the help,
Anthony
 

elyanalyous

Arachnobaron
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I say get it and then keep it separate for a few months from your others...perhaps someone else can say something else
 

elliot

Arachnoknight
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What are you worried about exactly?

If the T is kept dry (and it seems to be from what you wrote) mites shouldn't be a problem. The fact that it is doing well after a year says that there's nothing to worry about.

If you're worried about something then quarantine it as elyanalyous suggested but I don't see a reason to.

That's a great price for a smithi, especially if you've got a female there.
 

Amanda

Arachnolord
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GRAB IT!!

How did the store get there hands on a B. smithi that size? They're illegal to import WC, so somebody grew it to that size. It's hard to believe that a person who would raise a slow-grower to adulthood would then sell it off to a store with a reputation for poor care.
 

BurrowDweller

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I am not sure where we got the T from. A lot of our stuff comes from Sun Pet in Georgia, but I can't really see anybody wholesaling a big one like that to them. I haven't been able to get a good look at it from below, but it is a little leggy so it might be male. Male or female, it is an insanely low price for it! It is kept dry (although I have seen and told to stop people from misting it). Chances are someone had it and really didnt know what the heck they had and traded it in on a snake or fish. People come in and trade really nice stuff for next to nothing so they can buy something else. Totally amazes me.
 

BurrowDweller

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I will probably bring it home with me tomorrow. Not sure if it is mature yet, definately not a mature male.
 

charlie9

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replying to the B.smithi

i would take it out of that store.
needs a better seb. for that tarantula.
should be in a shorter tank, less than 6 inches, sounds alot older than 1 yr old. i have a b. smithi with a 7 inch leg span and hes 9 yrs old.
i do reccommend a light warm misting as long as conditions are favorable like the temp. around 80 degrees. as far as the mite problem keep him as dry as possible , dont over do it. instead of sand use gravel u can mist and this will dry , mites cant infest this way. hoped i helped you. let me know.
 

BurrowDweller

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I agree the set up its in is totally unacceptable for this T. The only other spider we have is a small Starburst babboon. Took me a week to get them to let put a toilet paper roll in the Kritter Keeper so it could hide and quit webbing up all the walls. It will most likely be there a while as they want almost $40 for it. Being the newest person there my suggestions pretty much go unheded. One of the managers use to work at what was supposed to be a good arachno shop in another town, but from what I have seen they weren't doing things correctly either. Very frustrating to say the least.
 

BigBryan

Arachnoknight
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man your lucky! i wish there were pet stores around where i live that would have something than a pink toe or rosie...:(
 

BurrowDweller

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Why they even have these two at the shop is beyond me, as I said it is hard to sell Ts in our town. The only other Ts I ever see in town are all A. avicularia, and they dont sell either, even at $18.

The good thing about where I live is it is only 45 minutes from Nashville and a very excellent arachno shop, if you want it chances are they have it. Pokies, Brachys, T. blondii, new world, old world, if it has 8 legs they have a great selection. Great choice of age and sizes also! And they are all kept in very good conditions.
 

charlie9

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replying to the message of only just a rosie or pink toe

BigBryan said:
man your lucky! i wish there were pet stores around where i live that would have something than a pink toe or rosie...:(
;) go on scottstarantulas.com they have a variety of spiderlings and tarantulas, and scott knows all about them and knows what hes doing.
 

ajlauer1984

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99 is a low price for b smithi..YIKES

hey everyone i am from missouri and the local pet stores get b smithis that range from 2in - 5in+ sell for 25-55 here, so i dont know what you mean by that is cheap, this store called abba pets here has a b smithi right now that is about 4in and its only 35 so personally i wouldnt pay that kind of money for a spider however the p metallica is a different story. other than the p metalica i wouldnt pay over 75 most spiders....
 

BigBryan

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if you look at dealer prices or in the for sale section of the boards you will see that when the smithi hits 4" a male is like 100 and a female goes for 150 give or take depending where you get it i know females can get pretty high up there when they mature... i already decided where to get my B.smithi slings... i looked at every T dealer on the arachno boards kept track of the prices :D
 

Mushroom Spore

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charlie9 said:
i do reccommend a light warm misting as long as conditions are favorable like the temp. around 80 degrees. as far as the mite problem keep him as dry as possible , dont over do it. instead of sand use gravel u can mist and this will dry , mites cant infest this way. hoped i helped you. let me know.
Tarantulas big enough for a water dish do not need misting, outside of a very few like avics and such. Isn't B. smithi one of those desert-dwellers that starts climbing the walls if you get the substrate wet?

...and I seriously hope you're freaking joking about keeping a T on gravel.
 

BurrowDweller

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If I get it I plan to keep it like my A. chalcodes, dry substrate of 50/50 potting soil and peat moss, water dish and a hide. The A. chalcodes seem to do very well like this and I am guessing the B. smithi will to. The one at work freaks when they mist it. Like the Schultz book says misting can cause all sorts of probs with mites and such, and it just really pi**es off the spider!
 

Arachnoheebs

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B.smithi

I'm surprised it's still there, even if its a male that is a good deal. Think about it this way, we need males to breed as well:D. Since you work there, try for an employee discount say 10% or 15%, it can't hurt. If it happens to be female, well that's even better!
Mark Neuling
Neu World Tarantulas
 

jayco_heat

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The good thing about where I live is it is only 45 minutes from Nashville and a very excellent arachno shop, if you want it chances are they have it. Pokies, Brachys, T. blondii, new world, old world, if it has 8 legs they have a great selection. Great choice of age and sizes also! And they are all kept in very good conditions.[/QUOTE]


where exactly is this stor? do you have a link, or address?
 

Amanda

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I'll drive to Nashville for that! Seriously, if you're not allowed to post the name in the thread, can you PM it? I would love to atleast visit a good shop.
 

BurrowDweller

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I'll post the name here as it has several good reviews already in the store reviews section on here. It is called "The Aquatic Critter". They do have a website but I don't know it off the top of my head, just try googling for it and it should come right up. They also have a great selection of herps at decent prices, especially compared to where I live (normal corn snakes are commonly sold for $59, and people buy them, believe it or not!)
 
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