Help with lividum

[Tom Newman]

I Brought a haplopelma lividum of Exotic Pets .co .uk !!!!! ( Dont go there )
And she jus don't seem right now i checked the humidity all good around 85% Temp bout 77-80 i got rid of the mites woodlice work wonders but since i got her 2 months ago she won't burrow or use hide just sits in the open and has eaten twice she jst don't seem right ???????????????????? Help

[Michael Kingwell]

What substrate do you use and how deep??
Have you helped out by starting a little hole off already????

[Tom Newman]

What substrate do you use and how deep??
Have you helped out by starting a little hole off already????

cocoutfibre as a sub and yes made little hole and nothing just sits central crumpled up

[Tom Newman]

oh yeah its 7in one end and down 2 4in at the other

[Michael Kingwell]

Oh dear. You got a pic, may help other members.
I've only 1 lividum. Use coco fibre with a small mix of sand and vermiculite. I find the sand helps it to bind for the obligate burrowers. Does it not move much at all?? Have you checked for mites around the fang/mouth area????

[Tom Newman]

yeah are u on msn i can't seem to upload on here no mites on the fangs she looks health and shows aggresion i just don't get it im fairly new but all my other sp seem to be fine an thriving im at such a loss

[Peter Lacey]

I can't offer much advice for this but from what I've read it requires a moist environment. Obviously this does introduce the mite issue so as Michael suggests you may wish to see if these are causing a problem.

[Colin D Wilson]

If its any concelation i have a lividium that for the first few months only scooped out a little hollow in the corner of the tank and webbed it up a bit, later having one night of serious digging and tunnelling a little four inch burrow just under the webbing.
It ate around two crickets a fortnight and was reasonably mellowed out, not moving around much. after the tunnel formed it became like the lividium we all know and was defensive, fed ravenousely and more active at night.
I also though it wasn't quite right and was a little concerned in case i hadn't got the conditions quite right, it seems you are keeping yours in the same manner regarding temp and humidity. maybe it's just a case of aclimatising itself as mine seems to have.
I've just been talking to another forum member (Toran) about this species, as he's kept the species a lot longer than me, mainly about its moulting habits as mine seems to show all the signs of premoult then start feeding as per normal again, in this "pressumed premoult" time it slowed down a bit, so this could be a factor with yours.
it seems that they aren't predictable in their mouting habits and go about it in the "as and when" scenario.

[Ray Gabriel]

Deeper substrate, heat from above and drop the temp a bit.

5 L cerial containers work a treat for these

Ray

[Rebecca Norris]

Tom, when you come upto mine next week ill show you how i keep my lividum, then you can replicate it with yours and see if it helps. Like Ray suggests, i keep mine in a 5l cereal container and she's doing fine.

Sorry to hear she's not picking up though... She may start to burrow after a while.. fingers crossed for ya mate x

[Nicola Dolby]

Can I just add in two quick points which will help (I hope). If there's one thing H. lividium's hate its daylight. I have a breeding pair living together here and, apart from the front of their tank I covered the whole of the tank in black bin liners (allowing for ventilation). They love it! Please try this and if with as little disturbance as possible you maintain the essentials, you should be ok. If you have a dark, warm cupboard like an airing cupboard, try putting her in there. It'll calm her and hopefully she'll soon be doing those normal things H. lividiums do. All the best ad remember tarantulas are mostly nocturnal, darkness calms them.