Cyclosternum fasciatum - CR Tiger Rump

[Peter Lacey]

well I'm hoping its not going to be too aggressive although it is a hearty eater and grows to be rather large - my second giant \o/
Not all T's web to that degree, most produce a sheet of webbing within their burrow and surrounding area, perhaps coat the substrate with some webbing and strands. Nothing to actually hide the T though.
Your G. rosea will produce the same, thin layers of web around its enclosure but certainly not blanket webbing. The aboreals tend to web more, possibly pulling in leaves and anchoring their web on various elements. Some Ts will web their hide profusely to the point you won't see them. Others will just hide in their burrow and you'll rarely see them.
So, always worth researching your T as much as possible, info on G. rosea is easy to find, unfortunately many other Ts are much harder to find info on or perhaps I just have a desire to read pages on each species that takes my interest.

[Richard Shah]

well I'm hoping its not going to be too aggressive although it is a hearty eater and grows to be rather large - my second giant \o/
Not all T's web to that degree, most produce a sheet of webbing within their burrow and surrounding area, perhaps coat the substrate with some webbing and strands. Nothing to actually hide the T though.
Your G. rosea will produce the same, thin layers of web around its enclosure but certainly not blanket webbing. The aboreals tend to web more, possibly pulling in leaves and anchoring their web on various elements. Some Ts will web their hide profusely to the point you won't see them. Others will just hide in their burrow and you'll rarely see them.
So, always worth researching your T as much as possible, info on G. rosea is easy to find, unfortunately many other Ts are much harder to find info on or perhaps I just have a desire to read pages on each species that takes my interest.

Kl - what is your first giant?
Yes, I think I have researched this as much as possible; I think I'll do fine!!! What do you tend to use for decor? Do you use anything for an artificial burrow (your personal preference I mean, e.g. half a flower pot) or just let them burrow in the substrate themselves?
Rich.

[Peter Lacey]

I prefer to make a nice natural habitat, I initially created 2 nice enclosures of completely different sizes - one for my G. rosea who last night became a 5th instar \o/ (it molted) and another for my 8" female L. klugi. Both decided my laying out of leaves, twigs and grass was surplus to requirements so they re-arranged everything LOL. A few nights ago the klugi was moving huge amounts of earth from her burrow, I thought she might need a hand with my 18" tweezers. She clearly didnt!
The benefit of making your enclosure well furnished is it can look good whether you can see the T or not. However the disadvantage of creating a good looking enclosure or provision for deep burrowing is you're less likely to see the occupant.
If you create a sloping substrate you can easily create a cave by half digging into the substrate and then covering with a piece of cork or slate. Be mindful however that the T may decide to continue burrowing where you left off so make sure it can't collapse and crush the occupant by securing it with large stones/rock.
Here's a pic of the klugi enclosure, she's rather tucked up when I took this so she doesn't look her true size but it should give you an idea of the layout.

Here's a pic of how I originally laid out the G. rosea enclosure and how she changed it within a couple of days, note the water bowl, it was at least an inch under substrate!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7959988@N05/2087490232/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7959988@N05/2095413386/

To get some great ideas for decorating check out this library, ooooh how I drool over these:

http://www.pajki.com/spider_room_3.html

[Richard Shah]

I prefer to make a nice natural habitat, I initially created 2 nice enclosures of completely different sizes - one for my G. rosea who last night became a 5th instar \o/ (it molted) and another for my 8" female L. klugi. Both decided my laying out of leaves, twigs and grass was surplus to requirements so they re-arranged everything LOL. A few nights ago the klugi was moving huge amounts of earth from her burrow, I thought she might need a hand with my 18" tweezers. She clearly didnt!
The benefit of making your enclosure well furnished is it can look good whether you can see the T or not. However the disadvantage of creating a good looking enclosure or provision for deep burrowing is you're less likely to see the occupant.
If you create a sloping substrate you can easily create a cave by half digging into the substrate and then covering with a piece of cork or slate. Be mindful however that the T may decide to continue burrowing where you left off so make sure it can't collapse and crush the occupant by securing it with large stones/rock.
Here's a pic of the klugi enclosure, she's rather tucked up when I took this so she doesn't look her true size but it should give you an idea of the layout.

Here's a pic of how I originally laid out the G. rosea enclosure and how she changed it within a couple of days, note the water bowl, it was at least an inch under substrate!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7959988@N05/2087490232/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7959988@N05/2095413386/

To get some great ideas for decorating check out this library, ooooh how I drool over these:
http://www.pajki.com/spider_room_3.html

Lol! Thanks Peter. How old is your G. Rosea now? I heard it malts often when young; I was just wondering how often?
You have me worried about the enclosure now! I was planning for the tank to be simple, with maybe a few fake plants and maybe a rock for decor (< although the idea of getting a fairly large rock from my garden is off-putting to the fact of what may be living in one of its crevices!) a waterbowl with stones in it and then of course the substrate. I was also thinking about getting one of those exo-Terra caves from the spider shop, and possibly a piece of cork bark from there too. Does that sound ok???
That is only for when the T. is big enough; when I get it, I'm putting it in a small transparent container with airholes, and some substrate covering the bottom of it, with a piece of wet tissue (apparently that allows the owner to know that the T. is actually drinking - which sounds good for me!). Is that k?

Thanks,
Rich

[Peter Lacey]

Richard, what you suggest is quite adequate, it's a more simplistic set-up but I believe neither are the wrong approach. We could discuss all day which the occupant prefers and never come to a conclusion so its a matter for the keeper to decide.
The only thing I'd add is save your money by not buying one of those Exo terra caves. A plant pot or half a coconut shell will look better. You could try the same as me with the cork bark creating a cave or you could use your imagination a little to find something that pleases. I've seen pictures around the net where the hide is created from cork tubing, tree roots, terracotta pots, skulls and masks.
The G. rosea is an opportunist borrower which means it will take up the residence of an existing burrow and perhaps increase the size of that burrow. Some species don't burrow at all whilst others create their own.

My G. rosea is 5th instar which means its molted 5 times. Quite how that relates to age I'm not sure but she's about 2-3cm in size and I've had her for about 2 months, I think.

I guess we've strayed from the original question, any info on C. fasciatum?

[Richard Shah]

Richard, what you suggest is quite adequate, it's a more simplistic set-up but I believe neither are the wrong approach. We could discuss all day which the occupant prefers and never come to a conclusion so its a matter for the keeper to decide.
The only thing I'd add is save your money by not buying one of those Exo terra caves. A plant pot or half a coconut shell will look better. You could try the same as me with the cork bark creating a cave or you could use your imagination a little to find something that pleases. I've seen pictures around the net where the hide is created from cork tubing, tree roots, terracotta pots, skulls and masks.
The G. rosea is an opportunist borrower which means it will take up the residence of an existing burrow and perhaps increase the size of that burrow. Some species don't burrow at all whilst others create their own.

My G. rosea is 5th instar which means its molted 5 times. Quite how that relates to age I'm not sure but she's about 2-3cm in size and I've had her for about 2 months, I think.

I guess we've strayed from the original question, any info on C. fasciatum?

Lol, yeah we have and I'm sorry about that! Skulls! Thats crazy! Lol! Conclusion: I def. see now that the spiderling does malt a lot!!! I really like your idea, so I think I amy take that. If I don't, then plant pot probably it is, or else cork tubing!
I was thinking about buying the Glass Display Terrarium from The Spider Shop, but while I really like the fact that it has 30cm width of space, but it has the same length as its width! I think that's too small a space for an adult T. to live in, and I reckon it's cruel. The tank I have now, for when the T. is a sub-adult, is 8.5"Wx8.5"Hx24"L, but when it becomes bigger than 4", I'm going to buy a slightly wider tank, 30 cm max. .
Thanks a lot Peter, you are my example on this lol!

Sorry again that we strayed away,

Rich!

[Peter Lacey]

Glass terrariums, I take it you mean Exo-Terra's.
I love these, well designed for a multitude of pets, but not the cheapest enclosures. An aquarium would probably do just as well but you need a secure lid or attach fasteners.
I think you're coming from the same place as I was, that its cruel to have a spider in such a small area. That's what put me off taking up Ts years ago. I knew a few people who had them but I was never impressed plus the idea of putting them in small enclosure really seemed cruel. However, if you consider that a T in the wild is not likely to stray much further than its burrow and many British spiders stick to their web you start to appreciate that they don't have much in the need of large spaces. I still struggle to get my head around this put if you search the net there's few instances of large enclosures.

[Richard Shah]

Glass terrariums, I take it you mean Exo-Terra's.
I love these, well designed for a multitude of pets, but not the cheapest enclosures. An aquarium would probably do just as well but you need a secure lid or attach fasteners.
I think you're coming from the same place as I was, that its cruel to have a spider in such a small area. That's what put me off taking up Ts years ago. I knew a few people who had them but I was never impressed plus the idea of putting them in small enclosure really seemed cruel. However, if you consider that a T in the wild is not likely to stray much further than its burrow and many British spiders stick to their web you start to appreciate that they don't have much in the need of large spaces. I still struggle to get my head around this put if you search the net there's few instances of large enclosures.

Price doesn't matter too much - £27 isn't too much to save up for the year or so that the T. will be growing. But what is concerning me is the fact that it is 30x30 cm, and I think that the length should be by far bigger, the width I like though. 30Wx68Lx25H CM would be the ideal maximum for a tank, and £30 would be the maximum I would pay for a tank!
My sister was giving me a whole lecture on how cruel it is to enclose any creature in such a small space, and she was using evidence of how it would make any living thing lose the plot, as it was tested on three humans some hundred years back. I do agree with her to a certain extent, but I took what you said into account too. I just cannot get my head around how what the spider shop sells is big enough.
However, I am fine now; the T. will not reach four inches for a long time now lol!

[Louise~Nichols]

Peter...congrats on the new spidey...wooo you certainly got distracted there...go in for one thing and come home with another, LOL....careful fella, you'll end up with 300 spids and still have the *right* ones on your list to buy!

Anyways....here's a pic of one of my GBB slings, now 4th instar...lil cuties, I've got 13!

[Richard Shah]

Peter...congrats on the new spidey...wooo you certainly got distracted there...go in for one thing and come home with another, LOL....careful fella, you'll end up with 300 spids and still have the *right* ones on your list to buy!

Anyways....here's a pic of one of my GBB slings, now 4th instar...lil cuties, I've got 13!

I gotta say Louise, that's a pretty nice spider! I like the pattern on the abdomen and the contrast of orange and black!

[Louise~Nichols]

Cheers Rich...she's only a baby, these are her juvie colours...when she's grown up she'll be beautiful turquoise at the front end, with a rusty orange rump!

[Richard Shah]

Cheers Rich...she's only a baby, these are her juvie colours...when she's grown up she'll be beautiful turquoise at the front end, with a rusty orange rump!

That's too bad... she looks cool now! Do you know if the spider shop sells different colour forms of Chile Rosea spiderlings - or are they unable to tell? And also, what instar are they at 1cm?

[Louise~Nichols]

Rich..she'll look even more cool as an adult!!

Righty...G.Rosea (chile rose) comes in a few forms...RCF being red, NCF being normal etc...The Spider Shop usually lists if the babies are of a particular type, ie would say *G.Rosea RCF slings* if they were reds.

1cm...well, I'd guess they've not long moulted from being nymphs (ie they're fresh babies)...but my RCF's were 14mm when they moulted into slings! hehehe

[Richard Shah]

Rich..she'll look even more cool as an adult!!

Righty...G.Rosea (chile rose) comes in a few forms...RCF being red, NCF being normal etc...The Spider Shop usually lists if the babies are of a particular type, ie would say *G.Rosea RCF slings* if they were reds.

1cm...well, I'd guess they've not long moulted from being nymphs (ie they're fresh babies)...but my RCF's were 14mm when they moulted into slings! hehehe

Lol! Kl!!! They dnt seem to note tht Louise, anywhere - I may just be acting me though and imitating the blind lol!
14 mm; well they did say 'around the specified size' somewhere else on the site so that may be why lol!

[Peter Lacey]

Lovely Louise, the tiger/chevron patterns are quite visible which is why I decided not to buy the adult C. cyaneopubescens, I told Paul at Cold Blooded I'd rather find a spiderling/juv and watch it grow. If you ever decide to sell one of those 13 (lets face it that's an unlucky number) then plz get in touch. I'd like to house one in a semi arboreal enclosure and watch it produce its massive webbing. The webbing originally put me off but I think I can afford the space
Still no news on C. fasciatum though, rather frustrating to not find much info on these, and she's still hidden away.
Thankfully my new addition arrived today, a juv A. geniculata, who obviously loves to kick!