Advice wanted behavior of first spider

[Alexander Abrams]

Can I ask some advice? Today I got hold of my first Tarantula that is not a spiderling, a G. aureostriata. I introduced it to the tank pretty soon after it left the shop where it had been kept in quite cramped conditions, and straight away it was climbing the walls before settling into the top corner near the heat pad.
In the shop was it kept in a pet pal with bark chips and under lights, I have used coir that has been dampened and it does have condensation on the sides of the tank under the surface of the medium, it’s filled to about three to four inches. As it’s only it’s first day in it’s new environment I was wondering if this is just settling in behaviour as it’s new to coir which does have a distinct smell that will set it apart from the bark chips, and as it’s not under lights I’m sure the room that’s in is colder than it’s previous home. So I’m wondering if the coir is too wet and if it’s too cold, any advice would be gratefully received?
Thanks
Alex..

[Colin D Wilson]

In my experience of keeping Grammostola

Substrate depth is fine really, more than likely the problem is that the substrate is too damp.
Any temp a couple of degrees (ambient) of around 75 will be about right, a night time drop of a couple of degrees is acceptable.

Ideally the tank would be 3-4 inches of dry sub with a corner kept slightly damp for humidity control (this could be just trickling water in or use of a water bowl and over filling occasionally). The heat mat (if you need to use one) would be best situated on the back of the tank so that area is around 75 ish.

Any questions just post away.

Colin

[Peter Roach]

I have noticed that new spiders will generally climb the sides of the tank when first introduced, ESPECIALLY if the substrate is different from their old tank. They generally settle down after a few days and start rearranging their new home to suit themselves (much to the discust of their owners who want a nice tidy tank )

[Peter Lacey]

I've had a G. aureostriata sling for the best part of 2 months now and I've observed much the same as yourself despite the dry conditions I've created. It filled its starter burrow, its filled its water bowl and remains in sight constantly, it even moulted in the open! They're used to dry conditions in the wild, coming from near desert conditions and as well as being one of the fastest growing Grammostola they're also one of the largest, reaching sizes of 8".
As mentioned above I find most Ts display different behavior initially but settle in over a few days.

[angie starr]

Hey Alexander Congrad's on ur 1st Tarantula

As others have already mentioned, it will take a few days 4 ur little guy 2 settle in and get used 2 his/her new environment. The 1 thing I would say is that it is well worth investing in both a hygrometer and thermometer just 2 make sure u have the Temps and humidity correct (a good investment 4 only £6) Its probably worth looking 4 a good Tarantulas book if u haven't had much/any experience with them in the past. Its good 2 have a reference on feeding, molting and general behaviour of ur Tarantula.

But most of all enjoy ur new little critter (and don't 4get 2 post pic's of him when he's settled in) Good Luck

[Alexander Abrams]

Thanks everyone so very much for the advice, I had a nervous few minutes when I moved the little fella (sex unknown) out of the tank and back into it’s little container so that I could change the coir. It was, I think far too wet, you could wring it out and it was dripping so I baked some in the oven and let it cool and dry, replaced it in the tank along with the half flower pot and water tray, set it up as before and the spider did exactly the same and climbed the walls. To be honest I’m happier now that the substrate is dryer. I brought a starter kit and that came with a hygrometer and thermometer and it was reading about 75-80% with the temp about 25 degrees. I live in quite a cold house at the moment but will be moving in the next three weeks or so.
Once again many thanks, I’ll post pics when all is well.
Alex.

[Peter Roach]

[quote=angie starr;29967] The 1 thing I would say is that it is well worth investing in both a hygrometer and thermometer just 2 make sure u have the Temps and humidity correct (a good investment 4 only £6) [/quote]

Not a good investment IMHO.
At that price they are going to be the cheap dial type which are worse than useless because the keeper assumes that they are accurate and they far from it by a long long long way.
If you want to invest in such things then get a good quality combined DIGITAL hermometer/hydrometer which will be much more accurate and will give you years of good service.
Something like this..... http://www.cornishcrispa.co.uk/produ...roducts_id=681 is ideal.

Personly I use one of these to check on the temperature .... http://www.cornishcrispa.co.uk/produ...oducts_id=2793

I dont use a hydrometer as I dont and never have worried about the humidity. If the spider is of a species that needs a constant high humidity then I keep one end of the container damp and use a larger than normal water bowl. Otherwise I just overfill the water bowl (if used, which is rarely) once a week.

[angie starr]

Each 2 their own I guess I've always found Exo Terra Disc thermometers and hygrometers fine in my inclosures. They read close enough 4 me (If my Pythons electronic temperature thermostat and hygrometer is 2 be trusted) as I have both in his enclosure. But the electronic 1's r without a doubt a closer reading.

[Alexander Abrams]

Sorry to BUMP, just to fill you guys in. I have just placed some tin foil on the outside of the tank, on the other side of the heat mat (which is inside) and wrapped some bubble wrap round on three sides. This was suggested by a friend of mine who has three T’s, as it seems that it might be a little on the cold side and that is perhaps why mine has been in the same spot, motionless for the past day or so, not that I expect much movement.

Thanks Angie for the comments, I’ve read your introduction post, a collection to envy! I have a couple of books and all have been a great help but none have had much written text on the actual spider I have so it’s still a bit of guess work, but just from this post I’ve learnt.

Thanks
Alex.

[Peter Roach]

I think you will find that polystyrene will work much much better than tinfoil and/ or bubble wrap.
Wickes sell sheet polystyrene ... 6ft X 2ft X 1inch for about £3 -4
well worth thinking about.

[angie starr]

Hey Alex
I quite agree with u that there isn’t much info on ur G. aureostriata (not compared 2 most others in this family group) I did do a quick search on the net, searching - G. aureostriata, Grammostola aureostriata and even Chaco Golden Knee but was quite disappointed with the results, I also looked in the books I own and again nothing specific. From what I have read Colin is quite right (as I knew he would be ) the Temp’s should be around 75°F and humidity around 70%, but this is only from the information I’ve looked up (so if any1 knows different plz correct me) I do agree with Peter on using polystyrene sheeting if u feel the temps aren’t as high as they should be, it gr8 insulation. Hopefully when u move in a few weeks the temps shouldn’t be a problem I think (again plz correct me if I’m wrong) like most T’s in the Grammostola family they are quite hardy. The fact u have gone 2 so much effort 2 make sure ur little guy is kept in the right conditions I'm sure he’s gonna be just fine. Most of all enjoy ur little guy/girl and DON’T 4get 2 post some pic’s LOL

With Kind Regards
Angie

[Colin D Wilson]

In this day and age getting the environmental conditions is so easy using our glorious "interweb" compared to 25 - 30 years ago when we had to look through encyclopedias and ask people who had been to the country what things were like.

With any spider, i try to simulate the conditions of the original country. we'll take G. aureostriata as the example here.
We find that the spider comes from Paraguay / Argentina and, taking into account its common name, the Gran Chaco Region is an area that they are commonly found so we'll use that area as the mid point for reference between the two colour forms (Northern/Paraguay & Southern/Argentina) for the spider.
Look on the net and we find the region is a hot and semi-arid lowland region. Enter "rainfall" or "climate" into a search engine and you get the results, i tend to go for Vegetation dynamics for the region as they will include rainfall amounts, soil type (sometimes) and season length.
I use this site a lot......Chaco region example http://www.jstor.org/pss/2845381 (read the introduction)
after you have found all relevant information just replicate it in your little tank and the spider will be as close to its prefered living conditions as possible in captivity.

[angie starr]

A gr8 website Colin very informative and a good way 2 look up any species that is difficult 2 find information on

[Phil Wilson]

Not quite sure if polystyrene sheet alone is going to do the job. As I understand it, the heat mats emit radiant heat - effectively light in the infra-red spectrum. Radiant heat can only heat objects by warming them up - the objects themselves then emit convective or conductive heat. Certain objects are pretty much invisible to radiant heat - that is, it will pass right through it. Glass for instance offers virtually no resistance to radiant heat, which is why some glass used for glazing has an invisible layer, a few molecules thick, of a reflective metal (typically gold) to reflect the radiant heat back into the room.

I'm not sure about the radiant heat properties of the plastic used in these tanks but I'm guessing that it's going to be similar to that of glass. One of the major problems of course with heatmats is that at least half the heat is sent directly out of the tank! A radiant heat trap will reflect most if not all of this back. However, it's probably worth setting up a similar layer of foil on the opposite side of the tank to reflect heat back from the opposite side.

Ultimately both a convective and radiant heat trap should be used. This is how modern houses are insulated. So the polystyrene sheet is a good idea but not on its own.

One important safety consideration. Tin foil should never be used in direct contact with any electrical equipment because of the potential of it coming in contact with a live electrical conductor. Tin foil conducts electricity rather well! It is safe to use on the outside of a tank, assuming the heater is on the inside. If there is any risk of electrical contact then you should use a mylar reflective film - space blanket material. It's not so cheap as tin foil but is safer!

Phil

[Colin D Wilson]

well thats a nice concise first post Phil, with some relevant safety tips included too.

welcome to the forum mate

Colin