advice for newbie please

[stephen wood]

hello, i'm new to the hobby and lookin forward to getting my first t i'm after a bit of advice about the set up, i'm thinkin of getting a B. Smithi, i have a glass tank with dimensions H8" W24" D12" and a heat matt of 12 watts. what is the best substrate for the Smithi and since i live in the isle of man it is very cold so i would need the matt on during the day, i've tried the heat matt but the tank temp does not get as high as i need, i'm using a dial thermometer and will get a digital one soon. Am i using the right wattage heat matt and at night should i drop the temp of the heat matt using a thermostat?
any help would be gratefully received
Stephen

[James Box]

Hi Stephen, welcome to the hobby! one thing you can do is attach polystyrene on the back of the heat mat, it should help reflect the heat back in and reduce heat loss out the back.
i typically use coir (cocunut fibre), which you can get in bricks that swell and breakdown when water is added.
many use compost, some use mixtures including peat and vermiculite as well as sand.
the important thing is that it's chemical free. some don't advise using vermiculite alone because it's far from the natural substrate they'd have in the wild, but others disagree. also, you can mix it in if you like.
the other thing to remember is B smithi like alot of Brachypelma's need to be kept dry, they don't appreciate humidity. so drying out the compost or coir first would be a good idea.

with regard to coir bricks, pet shops stock them usually, but i think you can get them from Wilkinsons or garden centres - just make sure it's chemically untreated.

[Michael Peachey]

Heya stephen, yup as james says eco earth bricks are what you'd want to be looking at. You'll need to ensure that after they have been soaked that you squeeze the water out of the earth because it's very suprising how much they hold.
I would then leave it under a light or over a heat mat for a good few hours. Something that feels dry to us could still feel damp for a tarantula Smithi's especially like they're substrate dry like james says.

A temostat probably isn't nessessary, just make sure the heat mat goes on the end of the tank furthest from your tarantula's bark or flower pot hide what ever you use; this ensures a heat gradient across your tank. Also ensure it's on the side of the tank not under This way the tarantula can escape the heat to it's hide if it want's to.

Mike

[stephen wood]

thanks for the tips folks, i'll try an get some of that coir stuff an i'll let you know how i get on. if you think of any other smithi advice for me that would be great too as i thought i would need to get the humidity in the tank fairly high.
thanks again

[Michael Peachey]

Just a few thin sprays round the glass once or twice a week and it should be fine mate Mike

[Mrs Linda Street]

, glass tank with dimensions H8" W24" D12" and a heat matt of 12 watts. what is the best substrate for the Smithi and since i live in the isle of man it is very cold so i would need the matt on during the day, i've tried the heat matt but the tank temp does not get as high as i need, i'm using a dial thermometer and will get a digital one soon. Am i using the right wattage heat matt and at night should i drop the temp of the heat matt using a thermostat?
any help would be gratefully received
Stephen

Hi Stephen & welcome to the forum. Just a point, that is a massive tank for a Smithi, even a good sized one. If I suspect, you'll buy either a juve or sub adult, I would recommend, when you pick up your substrate to consider purchasing one of Wilkos tanks 12" x 8" x 8" for £5, which is plenty big enough for your needs. And the heat mat on the back of the tank would be more than sufficient. Half a plant pot for it's hide and don't forget a water dish and you're off,

[Andrew Ferguson]

Hi Stephen and welcome to the hobby and to the BTS. A year ago I was in the same situation. I was looking at my first tarantula and opted for the B. smithi. There are times I'd wished I'd bought a C. cyaneopubescens, A. chalcodes, G.rosea (and the list could go on), but I'm very happy I started with a smithi. They are beautiful little tarantulas and once their colours start to show, WOW!!!
Anyway, I've saved a couple of links that were sent to me and you may find this one very useful

http://atshq.org/forum/showpost.php?p=96780&postcount=9

It's wrote by Stan Shultz and many in the hobby have his book and highly recommend it.