New T.blondi worries.

[wayne balcombe]

i've been out today and bought a new spider, its a sub adult female T. blondi about 6.5inch L/S. dont know anything about its history just that its previous owner didn't want it anymore and handed it over to my local pet shop for re-homing.

i've housed her in a 18x18 inch teranium with a pete/vermiculite mix substrata and sphagnum moss decoration, she's been on the go since i transfered her but something about her doesn't seem right. she's a bit jerky when she moves and looks (if i can use the term) malnourished. her legs seem far too skinny and her abdomen is only about half the size of the celothorax not shrivled up at all though. i'm relatively convinced its due to the conditions she's been kept in over the past few months, too hot and dry and enclosure and not a proper feed in a while i would assume.

with reference to the jerky movements would i be right in saying this can be caused by the spider being in too dry an environment when it last molted causing its joints to be a little less flexible.

i intend on keeping her a little on the humid side for a while and feeding her up a bit once she's settled in to the new enclosure but if theres anything else i can do to help her along i'd be grateful for any suggestions.

wayne.

[Elaine Ross]

Congrats on the new addition

Are you 100% sure its a female? T. blondi dont have tibial spurs so a quick check for papal emboli would be the first thing I would do. At that size it could be a MM although I would expect it to be a bit bigger.

Are you also 100% sure its T. blondi and not T. apophysis? T. apo's tend to be of slighter build than the blondi although I'm unsure of the T. sp. "burgundy".

Dehydration can cause the jerky movements that you have seen so higher humidity (although I wouldnt go down the swamp type conditions as it can cause more issues) and a nice big bowl of water with some decent feeding may help with that.

Good luck

[wayne balcombe]

hi elaine,

thanks for the quick response, it doesnt have emboli, still has the pads of setae on distal segments of its palps, it was sold to me as a sub adult female and looking at the ventral view of its abdomen i would concurr though i wont know for sure untill i can inspect the spermathecae on its next molt.

i never considered T. apophysis as i figure these are not that easy to get hold of and surley whoever owned it would have know but then if u dont have them as a S.ling/juve you wouldnt really be able tell the difference so its a possibility.

i've had blondi's before and i do tend to keep them on the dryer side, i dont hold with the idea they are swamp dwellers and think the reason for this misconception is due to migration during rainy seasons etc but thats another subject entirely lol.

i have her humidity at about 75-80% at the moment temperature at about 26 degrees, i've not fed her yet but will when she has settled into her new home.

thanks again.

wayne

[Peter Lacey]

Personally I go for the more moist approach with T. blondi and T. apothysis. Both of these species come from extremely wet environments and although their burrow may be drier that's not hard to reproduce in an enclosure. I've noticed many people keep these dry and I'm always surprised at the colour of T. blondi on drier substrates. They appear dark chocolate as opposed to rusty browns of my T. blondi on a moist environment. On the last recent moult I decided to try out my theory and found moving it over to a dry enclosure mirrored the dark chocolate of the other blondi's I've seen. Perhaps this is a maturity issue rather than the dampness of the enclosure - I'd be interested to hear other peoples views. I'm going to move her back to a moist, humid environment, obviously not swampy, and see if she returns to the rusty colours on the next moult. Regular maintenance of uneaten food and mould helps to reduce issues but springtails and woodlice are your dustmen of any humid environments which I regard as excellent combatants against mites.

Neither T. blondi nor T. apothysis are commonly sold but they both appear in the classifieds of various forums. T. apothysis appear less bulky and the burgundy colouration in the carapace helps to identify them. Post a pic and I think most people will help with any ID issues.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Wayne, sounds like you might have got one where the previous owner has lost interest in keeping it. She will be restless, most of them are when introduced into a new tank, I'd say the tank is way too big, we've never gone bigger than 18 x 10 x 12.

I think you're right, as I've said on the forum many times before, keeping Blondis in very damp/wet condtions does nothing but cause problems all round. All our's are kept on more or less dry substrate, with regular spraying say 2-3 times/week, and we are having good success, from juveniles to adults. Good luck with her, and keep us informed.

[wayne balcombe]

i'm interested in the idea of using woodlice and springtails in the enclosures but how do i get hold of them, i could walk around my garden hunting them down 1 by 1 but surly there must be somewhere that sells colony's of these for the purpose stated above?.

i know the tank she's in at the moment may seem a little big but i keep to the idea that terestrial species should have a little more floor space, they seem to like it better that way, i find my spiders are more active when kept in bigger enclosures but i suppose its down to idividual keepers preference and the space you have available.

i keep her on a moistened subsrata of 70/30 pete/vermiculite mix with sphagnum moss to keep humidity between 65-75 and i intend to give it a spray twice a week.

[wayne balcombe]

This is my T.blondi. i'm pretty sure it is T.blondi and not T.apophysis.

[Peter Lacey]

Yep, T. blondi, with a lovely rust colour

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Wayne, she's well underweight, but I'm sure she'll improve with your care, looks like a Blondi, judging by her colour she could be coming up for a moult, keep us updated.

[wayne balcombe]

i thought she seemed a little malnourished. shes a little bigger than i first thought just over 7" L/S seems to have unfurled herself now she's a little less dehydrated.

i'm feeding her on full sized locust at the moment and have some Argentinian roaches on route, she has plenty of water available and she's moving around without the jerky movements.

i suspected she may be due a molt fairly soon looking at the darker colour showing under the hair on her abdomen and the general condition of her exoskeleton but she's still feeding, she must have been hungry as she sprinted half way across the tank to catch the first locust i popped in there with her yesterday, shes pretty fast.

[Mrs Linda Street]

They're all good signs Wayne, keep up the good work.

[wayne balcombe]

thanks linda, i'll keep going the way i have been and see how she gets on, i'll take some pics during her development and post them up on here.

hopefully these roaches will help with feeding her up when they arrive.

[Mrs Linda Street]

We've had a lot of success with Roaches, Dubia's, so we've got a colony growing really well, they're easy to look after, pretty clean and not smelly like crickets, and will just about munch anything you give them. At the moment we're just using males as feeders, as they seem to be about 50/50, so they're breeding well before we take the excess males, and we're hoping it will be a self supporting colony, most of the bigger T's take them, Blondis love them.

[wayne balcombe]

i may take a leaf out of your book there linda and start a colony of these roaches, could work out better in the long run, the ones i'm getting are argentinian roaches, don't know if there's much difference between them they grow to about 4.5cm as adults, i have looked for dubai roaches but not been able to find anywhere that sells them.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Wayne, you can get them from Mantis World Exotics, they do from 0.5cm upwards, they get more expensive as they get bigger, but we've had 3-4 lots from them, and they are clean and healthy, I think they do most of their business on e-bay but you can talk direct to them on 0800 6128 798 - they're open from 9.30am - 5.30pm mon-fri. Their crickets are a good price as well in bulk.