Cobalt Blue Tarantula

[stephan gouws]

Hey all. The other day I turned 1 year older and as a gift I got this from a friend. To tell u the truth im kinda scared off spiders. With the spider i got a nice cage/encloser with heating mat , water bowl, plastic plant, humidity and temp gage, the the soft stuff he burrows in.
Also i got a Tarantulas and scorpions in captivity book but it doesnt teach much. the thing is i dont think this spider is eating, ive tried worms, crickets, grashoppers they dont seem to get less. Another thing im having a hard time keeping the ground moist to get that tripocal atmosfeer. And this heater mat does it regulate the temp or stay on permanently.
I dont want to let it die and if i cant get it right i would have to give it away.
Another thing whats the best advise for handling it??
Thank you in advance for any help
Stephan

[mike halewood]

Another thing whats the best advise for handling it??

First thing I'd say to that is DONT, Tarantulas shouldnt really be handled. And a H. lividum (cobalt blue) are a very deffensive spider, and arent really ideal for a first spider, maybe a G. rosea or B. smithi wouldve been better.

Now if its already in an enclosure and you arent going to try and handle it, you should be fine.

As for temperature and humidity. The room I keep my T's very rarely goes below 75 so I dont use any extra heat sources.
I also keep my T's on the dryer side with a large waterbowl, so dont mist the substrate at all.
The only T's I mist are my arboreals as I dont (now) use water bowls for them.

This is all from my very limited experience, as I've only kept T's since late last year. Im sure someone with much more experience will be along that can help more.

BTW welcome to the addiction.....

Mike

[stephan gouws]

Hi thanks, that puts a little more light on the subject, the thing is still what about food?

[Neil Richardson]

That species should have as much depth of substrate as possible for it to burrow. If it's happy, you'll never see it again. Mine lives at the bottom of a 12" hole, eats food but i haven't seen it out since i bought it in april.

[Abi Skeet]

Hi thanks, that puts a little more light on the subject, the thing is still what about food?

Could be settling into its new home? or getting ready to moult? I'm new to T's too and thats all I can think of.
Welcome to the group

[mike halewood]

[

Mine lives at the bottom of a 12" hole, eats food but i haven't seen it out since i bought it in april.

Im buying one next week, so heres to pet holes!!

[Neil Richardson]

About the only time since April that i've seen it.

[Phil Rea]

They do like that particular pose don't they Neil. Pic of my female above

[lee smith]

yes they do make nice pet holes, mine is nice and docile (lucky me).

i would suggest giving it a few days to settle in and then see if it wants a cricket.

the hardest thing ive noticed with pet holes is keeping the bottom of the burrow clean of leftovers from meals, but this can be helped by introducing a few woodlice (once the T has finished constructing its burrow and selltled in fully)

i hope this helps

lee

[Joshua Mitchell]

hi

i just recently bought an H. Lividum as my first T.( i know its not really a beginner T. but i thought i would give it a try and see what happens) she did good. we held her and she wasnt aggresive or defensive at all. the day after i bought her she started burrowing. i fed her a couple crickets and she ate them so i kinda thought she was settled it.

well last night i noticed she stared to close in the entrance the the hole with web. and she wouldnt eat a cricket i put in there. but i woke up this morning and noticed she has done some digging

do you think she is starting to moult? or is it something else?

[Phil Rea]

Could well be a moult Joshua. Remove the cricket if it's still in there and you can get to it

[Robert Farmer]

hi

i just recently bought an H. Lividum as my first T.( i know its not really a beginner T. but i thought i would give it a try and see what happens) she did good. we held her and she wasnt aggresive or defensive at all. the day after i bought her she started burrowing. i fed her a couple crickets and she ate them so i kinda thought she was settled it.

well last night i noticed she stared to close in the entrance the the hole with web. and she wouldnt eat a cricket i put in there. but i woke up this morning and noticed she has done some digging

do you think she is starting to moult? or is it something else?

Maybe she's trying to stop you from handling her for fear of severe repercussion? Surprised you got to hold H lividum without any adverse happenings!

[Joshua Mitchell]

hmm well she tore it down last night at around 12. and i looked down the a huge burrowed hole. so im thinking she just wanted privacy haha. But yeah i was also surprised i could handle her without her getting really pissy about anything.

shes a great T. so far though. hopefully i wont provoke her to do anything nasty in the future haha.

[mike halewood]

Heres a vid of my new one, theres a link on the video forum but no harm in putting it here aswell!!!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDVLn8GV9Nk"]YouTube - Haplopelma lividum[/ame]

[Colin D Wilson]

Good timing on the audio there Mike, made me jump it did, and i was expecting it too !!