Spring Cleaning

[Tracy Sherwood-Farnfield]

Hi guys - wondered if you could help.

This weekend I am planning to get inside Ruby's tank for a good clean (well not literally, it is a bit small for me!) and I wanted some advice so that I don't end up with a mad T.

The main purpose is to:
a) clean out the water bowl of all the bits of substrate she has dropped in!
b) clean the sides where the said substrate/water has been walked up the glass!
c) clear out any debris

My concerns are this:
a) will she mind?
b) would it be less/more stressful to leave her in/take her out during?
c) she has covered the substrate with webbing, when I last dived in with my tweezers to grab a bit of debris, the top layer of half the tank lifted up in one piece (with Ruby scooting off one end like I had pulled the carpet out from under her!) do I try and disturb it as little as possible or should I just carry on regardless? I will have to remove the coating she has given the stone in her water bowl (which is currently attaching it to the side of the tank!)

Anything else you think I need to do while I am in there?

[Clinton Hogben]

Hi guys - wondered if you could help.

This weekend I am planning to get inside Ruby's tank for a good clean (well not literally, it is a bit small for me!) and I wanted some advice so that I don't end up with a mad T.

The main purpose is to:
a) clean out the water bowl of all the bits of substrate she has dropped in!
b) clean the sides where the said substrate/water has been walked up the glass!
c) clear out any debris

My concerns are this:
a) will she mind?
b) would it be less/more stressful to leave her in/take her out during?
c) she has covered the substrate with webbing, when I last dived in with my tweezers to grab a bit of debris, the top layer of half the tank lifted up in one piece (with Ruby scooting off one end like I had pulled the carpet out from under her!) do I try and disturb it as little as possible or should I just carry on regardless? I will have to remove the coating she has given the stone in her water bowl (which is currently attaching it to the side of the tank!)

Anything else you think I need to do while I am in there?

Hi Tracy
Ruby will probably sulk when you have cleaned her tank My L Para sits on the glass side of the tank for a few days if i remove her web carpet from the substrata so i try to leave it as long as i can between cleans obviously removing bits of food if left, the water bowl i just get the britta jug out of the fridge and top up unless its really mingy with substrata etc
As for leaving her in / out its down to personal preference its probably less stressful to leave her in the tank if she will let you but beware of escape attempts up the sleeve over the shoulder and down the leg to the floor if she gets really annoyed she will let you know by standing on the back 4 legs and raising the front 4 then showing you her fangs but most spiders take a lot of provocation before they get into a threat pose

she will probably just shoot into her hide and sulk

let us know how you get on

Clint

[Peter Lacey]

If I remember rightly your T is a fairly new addition.
According to many books and opinions you shouldn't need to give the substrate a major clean for about a year. The most important thing to remove is left overs and any fungus or mold that might have developed - if your enclosure is dry its not likely to appear.
The water bowl will provide your T a place to drink and a way of providing some humidity. Unfortunately its also home to those little mites. I inspect my Ts substrate occasionally to see if the mite population has spilled out onto the substrate (get yourself a torch and a magnifying glass). To combat the mite problem just let the substrate and water bowl dry out - your T will be fine for a day or 2 without water, the mites will be history. Refill your bowl and viola! Alternatively just take the bowl out and clean under the tap (no need for soap), replace the water and place back in your enclosure. The mites are likely to be in or around the bowl so cleaning will remove the majority. A small amount of mites isnt a problem - you'd probably find it impossible to completely eradicate them - but I always like to inspect.
Tearing up the substrate surface along with the webbing seems unnecessary and will probably get the same response as someone with dirty boots walking over your new carpet!!!

[James Box]

yeah i'd agree...probably not necessary to clean for a while yet! the thing to do is look for the little balled up bits of cricket she'll leave in the corners or by the water dish. take those out as you see them (hard to get them all), and you'll significantly cut down on the risk of mites and phorids (scuttle flies).
a Colin tip: you can introduce woodlice as well to help with this task, as they'll even eat the mite and phorid eggs, just make sure the woodlice have a week or so quarantine to get any possible chemicals out of their system.

[Tracy Sherwood-Farnfield]

Tearing up the substrate surface along with the webbing seems unnecessary and will probably get the same response as someone with dirty boots walking over your new carpet!!!

LoL, I can see that going down a treat then! I shall keep my house-keeping minimal then and just clean the obtrusive grubby marks off the glass, give the water bowl a good look over and have a thorough hunt for any food bits I may have missed. I have a good daylight lamp for this, which should also help me find any troublesome mites!

From my general reading on the forum, I understand that the webbing indicates areas where my little T feels safe, a bit like a Hansel and Gretel trail of breadcrumbs, so I can understand that she might be a bit disgruntled if I start interfering with her dedicated pathways!

I did notice the other day, when I dropped 2 crickets in for tea (they both fell out at once and I thought, hey, mains and desert why not!), Ruby managed to impale one on each fang and then wrapped them up in a little web parcel to make them easier to cope with as one package, is this a normal practice? Very resourceful if you ask me!

[Tracy Sherwood-Farnfield]

eew! woodlice!

[Tracy Sherwood-Farnfield]

Muddy boots I am afraid!

Well, I hauled the husband upstairs over the weekend to 'assist' in the cleaning (as it was the first time with the lid off for any length of time I just wanted an extra pair of eyes really!) but it all turned into a bit of a palather!

All started well, filled the water bowl (she is used to this now) cleaned up some debris (she wandered up to sit on her retreat out of the way), then I popped some tasty crickets in, that is when it all went iffy.

This was the first time I had fed her with my husband around and there was I explaining that the one coming up behind her would be history once it's long anntenea tickled her rump, when it did just that and she didn't even flinch! The cricket then proceeded to crawl into her retreat, up the other side and up her leg!!! She stood as tall as she could on her 8 little legs in an attempt to get out of the way. I took this as a sign that she was not really interested and that it might be better to remove her bullying lunch. I pinned one down near the side of the tank and hoicked out with a spoon. The other was tricker as it was crawling all over her and where she was sitting, she did not look impressed. A little encouragement moved her to the other side of the tank, with my husband worrying frantically that she was going to make a run for it (I exlained this was unlikely, she was moving slowly and purposefully, and upwards was a predicatble direction as she would feel that was safer) she settled just below the rim and once I had settled the other half that she wasn't going to catapult across the room, I then set about a game of cat and mouse with the offending cricket.

That was fun! It took some time, and movement of the 'furniture' as well as much rearrangement of the 'carpet'. Oh well, got him in the end. Ruby was very good natured about it all, just keeping out of the way in the corner.

However, she spent the night on the side of the tank no doubt surveying the damage below, I can only imagine it is a bit like returning home from holiday to find your 'kids' had a party while you were gone and the left the place in a tip! (In a 'well, they may have taken out the rubbish and filled the kettle, but look at the state of the carpets, and why has the furniture been re-arranged?!' kind of way!)

Hopefully, she'll forgive me in the process of putting the place back together again!

Did I do the right thing by going in to get the little blighters out? I hope so, they were obviously being bothersome and she definatley was not interested.

I will try again at the end of the week, but I am aware that this may mean a moult is approaching...any other signs of this I should look out for, and how long do the preparations go on for?

So, there we go, despite my best efforts, it was muddy boots and bulldozers all round - sorry Rubes !

[Nicola Dolby]

Hi, on the subject of woodlice, I introduced 3-4 into each tank of mine about a week ago. I'm a bit puzzled though as I've found a couple of dead crickets and the woodlice haven't touched them. Could someone please tell me what they will and won't eat?

[Colin D Wilson]

Hi Nicola,

Woodies tend to mainly concentrate on fungus, mould / spores, digested food items (bolus) and ive had first hand experience of them devouring mite eggs.
As for cricket corpses, i'm trying a few experiments (in scorpion tanks as they're messier eaters) with carpet crawler larva and beetles, and also mealworms / beetles...presently with good results !!

[Clinton Hogben]

However, she spent the night on the side of the tank no doubt surveying the damage below, I

I told you she would sulk on the side of her tank TeHe

Hope she comes back down to earth soon

Clint

[Peter Lacey]

LOL, Tracy. If your substrate is dry its not likely you'll find mites - they'll therefore be restricted to the water bowl. Take it out, give it a clean, replace the water, job done.

Its worthwhile getting some large tweezers to remove items, that helps to reduce how much your hands enter the cage, they'll also come in handy if you have an agitated T.

Ts go off their food, they're not used to a regular supply of crickets so they tend to be opportunist. When there's lots around they'll package their food but they're quite happy to go without for a while. My recently molted 5th instar (approx 2cm+) hasn't eaten since Christmas and G. rosea are notorious for fasting.

When I try to catch crickets I tend to use a small container and a brush to coerce them into captivity. If your enclosure isnt high walled you might try putting the whole thing in the bath and get the crickets to jump out of the container and into the bath. If this system works you might want to try a very little water to make them easier to catch but I usually find them easy to catch with the container/brush. I've read in these forums people catching the crickets by the legs with tweezers but I don't seem to be adept at that.

[Tracy Sherwood-Farnfield]

I know what you mean, I had the whole tweezer thing going on but they would always manage to wiggle free the moment I thought I had a limb! Escorting them up the side of the tank with my slatted spoon worked well, but you obviously need enough room to get the spoon round the little blighter. The problem with the second one was he got himself in a corner the wrong side of the cork bark retreat - I couldn't get the tweezers between the glass and the bark and really needed him to hop out the otherside, I succeeded in the end by dropping water on his head down the corner of the tank! I could sense Ruby rolling her multiple eyes at my efforts - when in the mood she dispatches them much quicker !

[kirsty smith]

Hi Tracy!,
Lois (now known as Louis!) was obviously in premoult when i got him,as he never showed intrest in eating,i also made "a bit of a mess" removing un-eaten locusts,but i do have to say rosies seem quite forgiving wee souls! lol!. Louis moult went beautifully, & although i felt panic stricken at the time,its true what they told me on here - they know what theyre doing!,so much so,im saving up for another 3 from the spider shop!. Ruby will be fine!

[James Box]

over time, you'll get more adept at catching crickets. they are right bothers, though! i'm getting better at it, but i still lose the occasional brown (annoying as they are the pests)
i'd suggest the noisier black ones, as they tend to be slower in my experience and easier to catch, you can always throw them in a cupboard somewhere to stop the noise a bit.
the other plus with the black ones is that i'm told they don't constitute a pest locally and will die soon. the brown ones, however, can live for ages on just about anything. that is unless i've gotten it mixed up.
my methods for catching usually involve the long forceps (i've gotten fairly good with them, and they're actually my most accurate tweezers), or just my hand. i tend to scoop them right out the corner of the enclosure, if i'm not too close to a bad-tempered spider (even then, they're usually predictably too lazy to come and get me).
but yeh, don't worry...my rosea's fast fairly often! but they're still fat and "happy."

[J M Clegg]

Just a little observation I have found with Lobster Roaches. As they don't seem to bother with attacking my spiders, even during a moult. I tend to simply throw in between three or six once a week and leave them. This enchourages the spiders to activley hunt their prey rather than feed on demand. Another interesting service the Roaches provide is to clean up. Moulted skins, previously deposited prey remains and even the remains of a male Haplomelma Minax male (who didn't quite make it away from my female after a little love making!!) Have all been hurriedly cleaned up over a couple of days.

So yet another great reason for using Lobster Roaches as food!! They often have a quick clean up before themselves becoming part of the food chain.