Help needed :)

[Craig Moore]

We bought our first T's a couple of days ago -a B Emilia and a Grammostola Concepcion. I have some concerns about the habitat I've provided for my new pets. I'll explain the set up that we have...

2 x medium plastic faunariums placed side by side
1 large heatmat placed across the back of both faunariums
Coir substrate mixed with some vermiculite
1 cork bark hide for the Emilia, half a plant pot hide for the Concepcion
1 waterbowl in each and a Hygrometer to monitor humidity

My main concern is the fact that they don't seem to want to walk on the substrate. Previous research tells me that this means the substrate is too wet, however we did leave it to dry overnight and nuke it in the oven for half an hour at 200 degrees. However, the substrate IS a bit moist in parts. If you look in the pics you can see a white blotch in the corner which shows some condensation. (It looks far worse than it actually is in the pic due to the flash) Do I need to remove the T's and try to dry it again? Or will the substrate naturally dry out of the coming days from the heat mat? I want to cause as little stress to the T's as possible
My second concern is the fact that they are hanging out near the heat mat. Is the T in any danger of being burnt? I have a thermostat attached to the mat which will switch it off if things get too warm in there.
Any advice people can give will be much appreciated (in regard to my set-up, etc.) By the way, the postition of the tanks on the floor and the towel holding the mat in place is temporary until we build the little IKEA table we bought to put them on.

Thanks in advance everyone

[Adz_Smith]

I wouldn't worry too much, chances are the spiders are just exploring their new t's, often I have bought new spiders and they walk up the sides of the tank my B bohemei used to hang upside down from the lid mesh for some reason and the substrate was bone dry with a water bowl. Give them time to settle in and by the looks of the set up looks okay to me, doesn't seem like a mudbath.

[Phil Rea]

Most likely the substrate's too wet for them as yet, you're right. As long as you have sufficient ventilation though, it should dry out naturally

[Craig Moore]

That's good news! Thanks so much to you both. I think they're both having a bit of a sulk to be honest haha..
Have I done the right thing putting the water bowl on the heat mat side and the hide on the cooler end?

[Peter Lacey]

As suggested above your substrate is showing signs of too much moisture but this will naturally dry out, especially considering you have faunariums.
I wouldn't worry too much about them climbing the walls either, they naturally do this, just consider this as an extention of their burrow.
Many people don't use heatmats or provide one mat for many enclosures but there's no harm in having one, especially during the colder months.

[MichaelTabor]

That's good news! Thanks so much to you both. I think they're both having a bit of a sulk to be honest haha..
Have I done the right thing putting the water bowl on the heat mat side and the hide on the cooler end?

nearly all my t's do this when i rehouse them you could put the water bowls on the cooler side just until your substrate has dried out abit this should lower the humidity slightly.

[Craig Moore]

How long do they stay like this for? The Emilia has been in the same stance since 10am this morning, lol..!

[Kurt Baird]

My main concern is the fact that they don't seem to want to walk on the substrate. Previous research tells me that this means the substrate is too wet, however we did leave it to dry overnight and nuke it in the oven for half an hour at 200 degrees.

In my experience of housing T's, it doesn't really make a difference how much you dry it out. They take a while to settle and will avoid any contact with the ground as much as they can. Also, both these species do prefer it dry. But it is nothing to worry about! The substrate will dry out soon enough.

Regarding the heat; they will move away if and when they get too warm. All mine basically live on the heat mats!

[Craig Moore]

Hi everyone - me again!

The substrate has dried out considerably as you can see from my pics below. However, I now have a new concern - the overall well-being of my Tarantulas. I'm quite concerned because they never seem to deviate away from the same spot in the tanks and always seems to be scrunched up. On Friday they actually did a bit of exploring but I have a feeling that this is because they were hungry. We fed them 2 crickets each that night with no problems. However they've started to go back to their favoured spots.
After reading a post about how tarantulas sometimes "stress curl" I'm starting to think that is happening to mine. Could it be the humidity? My hygrometer shows at around 62 for the Emilia and slightly less for the Concepcion. I know they like it dry so how else can I raise the humidity and keep them happy?
Even more worrying was the way the Concepcion behaved before, we lightly touched her leg to manipulate away from a certain part of the tank and she spun round lightening fast, scaring us half to death in the process. She didn't rear up but this is vastly different to how she was last weekend (quite slow and cumbersome) We're now worried we have one of the "psycho Rosies" haha
Can someone please have a look at my updated pics and tell me if my set-up is ok or if there is a way I can make things more comfortable for them?

Thanks all

[Kat Gilbert]

I think she spun around because I scared her, she was minding her own business in the corner and I was concerned of the position she was in. I gave her a gentle touch and she spun around fast as anything, mind you I think I would too if I was minding my own business and somebody did that to me, so that was my fault, bad judgment!

[lee dangerfield]

I had the same problem i found they all love lucky reptile exo terra humas brick substrate[if you can get it]. the heat mat should be fine if they get too hot they move away from it and don't worry..they wont get burnt!
good.
Luck with your new pets and enjoy!!!!!
Lee n Sarah

[Peter Lacey]

Its no surprise it spun round, I really wouldnt worry about that reaction, and unless it rears up or nails you there's no worry.
Set-ups look fine but with many tarantula they find a spot and stick to it. They're not nomadic in the wild, often spending their whole lives within a metre square. The fact they're not permanently hiding is great, shows that they're comfortable with their surroundings.
As long as you maintain the water bowl, occassionally overfil it so soak part of the substrate things should be fine. Some of my Ts never use their hides. As for humidity you really don't need to bother, I don't read humidity for any of my tarantula as most readers are totally inaccurate and most species adapt.

[Craig Moore]

Thanks again to everyone for your reassurances

[ty sinclair]

HI if you put a dish cloth over half of the lid where the water bowl is it should give you a bit more humidity. i have just moved all my tarantula out of them tanks cause of the humidity problems exept for my pink toe cause they need good ventaltion aswell. your set up is fine. keep it simple what you have in the tank is all you need. once your tarantula fins a spot in the tank that it like it will stay there, they dont always sit with there leg span fully spread. but if you keep anoying it, it will die. everything is fine. if you are wanting to hold the rosea dont muck about c when i nudge my rosea it rears up but when i want to hold her i will pick her up with the pams of my 2 hands like you are trying to hold water. I used to have 4 pink toes and a curly hair a couple of years ago my first spiders sadly they all died because i kept annoying them cause i was worried cause they never moved or changing there tanks cause i thought the set up was wrong. but now i have 18 t's bout 13 diff species and i have kept it simple left them alone and they are doing fine. the more u annoy your spider it will end up dieing. hope this helps.

[Craig Moore]

Thanks for the tips, I haven't disturbed them too much. The incident that we mentioned before was a one off, we don't plan on handling them at all really. I was more concerned with the fact that they chose to hang around all huddled up in the corner more often than not. However, as Peter stated I suppose it means they're comfortable.
One thing that I love doing at the moment is having a sneaky peek at them in the middle of the night. The Emilia doesn't tend to deviate too far from her corner but the Concepcion likes to explore a bit. She's actually really funny, seems to do things when she thinks we aren't watching her. Yesterday I came into the room with the light off to answer the phone and she was crawling out the other side of her hide - flailing her legs about like a maniac, haha! Then as soon as she realised I was there she walked sheepishly back to her original spot.