Help with my Mexican RedKnee setup please.

[Steve Coe]

Thanks for your help..

lol @ Roberts scary friend.

Well folks, I have my T setup now and the temps and humidity are holding spot on...

The temp is hovering around 75 and the humidity is in the mid 70's

And the T seems to be enjoying himself.. see the pics....




Thanks to everyone who helped me with this. And I look forward to learning more as my T grows up... hehe

Steve

[Colin D Wilson]

Looks like B. auratum to me, i think these are commonly called "flame knee's".

[Steve Coe]

Argh!! Well, that wouldnt suprise me.

The the girl in the reptile shop sold us stuff she wanted rid of rather than what was best for us or the T.

Can anyone else confirm Colins ID?



And if it is a "Flame Knee" do my temps and humidity need changing?

And is the setup still okay?

TIA for any help...

[Peter Lacey]

yes your set-up is still spot-on. Infact I think it would suit the majority of NW terrestrials.
The only thing I'd query is the tin foil at the back, whilst this might reflect heat it will probably reflect light too. Perhaps not enough to worry about but I think most people go for polystyrene. You can use a bit from packaging or you can buy this to size from any decent tropical/marine fish shop.

[Mark Pennell]

Argh!! Well, that wouldnt suprise me.

The the girl in the reptile shop sold us stuff she wanted rid of rather than what was best for us or the T.

Can anyone else confirm Colins ID?



And if it is a "Flame Knee" do my temps and humidity need changing?

And is the setup still okay?

TIA for any help...

Yes that is B,auratum in my mind one of the better Brachypelma's
They tend to be more active than B, smithi but the requirements are just the same.

And a good sized one as well! well done on such a nice buy!

One thing just add a bit more substrate and bank it up a bit rather than flat, B,auratum love climbing all over the place and high substrate might soften any full.


Cheers
Mark

[James Box]

one thing you can do with the rock backing of exo terra is put the heat mat down behind...that's what i've done for my avic. just kind of handy.
also, if it's B auratum, which it really does look like, and thus likes to climb as Mark says, perhaps leaving the rock background might be good for that as well, with the substrate level appropriately raised to cushion falls.

we've discussed methods of heating a little while ago on this board, and the use of (i think) normal light bulbs was mentioned. personally, i really liked the reasoning for this, as it's a bit more like the natural heat and light of the sun. alot of T's burrow to get away from that heat, so cooler temperatures are not the worst thing in the world, seeing as many T's seek cooler areas underground out in the wild. not everyone does this, but i can see the logic in the argument and will probably try it myself one day!
i personally use heatmats, however, and just got an oil-filled radiator to keep the room warm during these winter months. will be relying more on ambient spring and summer weather as those months approach, however.
also, Stan Schultz has said repeatedly on this board that most T's will be more than fine in a dry set up with the same basic temperature you and i are happy in, so long as they have water and food.
i want to get his book, too, but waiting for the new addition in the meantime i have another highly recommended one by Sam Marshal: Tarantulas and Other Arachnids. very good!

[Steve Coe]

Thanks for the input fellas.

The foil is a temp measure until I can get out of the house and get a sheet of poly (I'm just out of hospital) and I am going to bank the substrate up now.

And I think I will put the backing in the tank and try it for a while.

He is very active and always trolling around his tank now that you mention it. He has even started coming to the doors If I open them.

I'll post a few pix when I;m done..

[Clinton Hogben]

tin foil

yes your set-up is still spot-on. Infact I think it would suit the majority of NW terrestrials.
The only thing I'd query is the tin foil at the back, whilst this might reflect heat it will probably reflect light too. Perhaps not enough to worry about but I think most people go for polystyrene. You can use a bit from packaging or you can buy this to size from any decent tropical/marine fish shop.

I made the mistake of putting tinfoil inside the plastic mesh lid of a viv a few years back to keep up the humidity and reflect the heat down
when i next looked in the morning my Costa-Rican Zebra (Aphonopelma seemanni) had climbed up the top and shredded it into hundreds of tiny bits

She looked like an eight legged Christmas tree covered in tinsel
never again it took ages to clean out but spidy loved it


Clinton

[James Box]

LOL that's really funny!

[Clinton Hogben]

Hi James
Looking back it was quite funny at the time
but thats why we all love our eight legged buddies never fail to surprise you with something completely unexpected
And its all part of the learning curve I never tried that again



Clint

[James Box]

haha! wonder if your T was disappointed!
yeh, they do crazy things sometimes very interesting animals indeed!

[Peter Lacey]

i want to get his book, too, but waiting for the new addition in the meantime i have another highly recommended one by Sam Marshal: Tarantulas and Other Arachnids. very good!

You might have to wait a while, he told me it wouldn't arrive til Dec 08 at the earliest.
I have 3 books which are all worth a read by Breene, Marshall and Schultz. Breene was easy to get through. Marshall is a little more indepth, less than 100 pages to read and thoroughly recommended. Schultz is the daddy, very indepth look at each aspect of the Tarantula and a great resource. Each book is under £10 and Amazon offer used for much lower. The one thing each of these is missing is an indepth species category. They all name common species but I'd like to find a book that covered the variety of species as well as how to keep them in captivity - something similar to what you can find on the net.

[Steve Coe]

Ok fellas...

Gradient and more substrate exo terra background fitted on the inside left of the tank so as not to stop the heat from the pad at the back.



waddya think?

[Colin D Wilson]

I'd still pack more in matey, especially around the waterbowl area (just in case it falls on it - best to reduce the height it can climb)

[Steve Coe]

More... if I stick more in around the water dish there wont be a gradient... just a room with a low ceiling....