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[neil padley]

I have just been given a mexican red knee spider with tank , could do with some advice tank has no heater room heated to 21 c but colder at night.
Spider seems to never leave a hollow log tried feed ing a cricket no luck just bought mealworms will try one of these. Will a heat pad help ? Plenty of moss etc. on the tank floor + a branch to climb up any advice will be appreciated

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Neil, welcome to the forum. With regard to your Red Knee (B.Smithi), 21c is an ok temp as long as it doesn't drop too much at night. Leave the substrate dry, they don't like it wet, make sure it has a bowl of fresh water available at all times. If it's recently been introduced into the tank, it may well be stressed, and may not eat for a while until it settles into it's new surroundings. It's not abnormal for them to stay in their hide, offer it a cricket every couple of days, but remove it if it's not eaten.
Do you know the history of it, ie, it's size, age, when it last moulted etc? It may not like a lot of moss, unless it's been used to it, generally just ordinary eco-earth is fine for substrate, it won't like wet moss at all. ;

[Colin D Wilson]

Looks like Linda's got it generally covered there, plenty of advice is available from BTS members if you ask, questions always welcome.

Welcome to the forum Neil

[neil padley]

Thanks for the advice, spoke to the guy I got the spider from he does not know the sex but he thinks it is about 1 year old, and has moulted once. It is about 4 cm across. Checked the temp in the room last night it had dropped to 17 c so I think I will get a heat mat. From what I have read you only put it on part of the tank, or on the back wall , is this correct.
Neil

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Neil, it's still a baby then, if you do decide to get a heat mat, only put it on the side or the back not underneath or inside the tank. I guess it's only in a small enclosure, at that size, so do be very careful not to overheat it, could you move it to somewhere warmer? to avoid having to use a heat mat, but if it is necessary for a mat, then I would think a small heat pad would be fine, but do make sure that it can get well away from it if it needs to, and monitor the temp.

[neil padley]

Hi Linda, my tank is 12" x 12" and18" high it has approx 1" of tree bark then some springy moss stuff with an area just of bark with the water lid on it. I bought mealworms, but if they only need a couple what do i do with the rest how long do they last? Sorry I put the thread on the wrong place can I move it.
Thanks Neil

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Neil, wow that's a big tank, it's an Avic tank for Tarantulas that live off the ground. Your Red Knee only needs a small tank, if you're near Wilkos at all a £5.50 fish tank would be on the big side, you really only need something like a small exo-terra or something 8"L x 6"w x 6"H, as they feel very insecure in a huge tank like that, and there is a risk of them climbing the side and falling. She'd happily reach full size in a Wilkos tank, with plenty of room, if you get hold of one of those, make sure you put a good depth of eco-earth or similar - dry, a waterdish, piece of bark or half a plastic plant pot for a hide, and it will be much better in that type of set up.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Neil, I've just dug out a couple of pics that may help you, the first one is the tanks, from left to right: The Wilko's which is roughly 12"L x 8"H x 8"W, the 2nd is about 10"L x 6"W x 7.5"H and the small one is 8"L x 5"W x 6.5"H just to give you some idea. Here's also a pic of a pretty much full sized Red Knee with a good sized hide, a rock she loves to sit on, and a water dish, and she has simply loads of room, her tank is 12"L x 8"H x 8"W. Hope that gives you a focus on what to look for.

[neil padley]

Many thanks I will get a smaller tank and change the layout will let you know how I get on.
Neil

[neil padley]

i managed to get the wilko tank £5.49 only one store in Scotland lucky I was passing .Going to get eco earth tomorrow. Do I put it in dry ? and can I put the spider in straight away ?
Thanks
Neil

[wayne balcombe]

the eco earth blocks need to be reconstituted before use, you put the block in a bucket, pour 2.5-3 ltr of water over it and leave it to soak for half hour, the down side to this is that the eco earth will be quite damp so you will need to wring it out, take handfuls and squeze it into the sink or another empty bucket, once you have got all excess water out you will probably need to leave it a few days to dry out a bit more before putting it into the tank and re homing the spider.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Neil, it's bought in blocks, you add water to it and then it expands, then you need to dry it, as Smithi's don't like wet substrate, and there'll be loads of substrate left for other T's lol. If you feel there's too much ventilation in the tank, you can always tape off some of the lid ventilation.

There are a number of items you can use for hides, ie, plastic plant pot cut in half, one a little bit bigger and position level, the one in my pic is a clay one but it has a flat base as it is meant for hanging on a wall, so, if you use an ordinary one, you need to make the entrance level. You could use a piece of bark instead, or a half coconut.

[neil padley]

at the moment I have a hollowed out log with hles in the side T seems to like it could I keep that as the T could be used it

[Mrs Linda Street]

Yes, if she's used to it, whatever works, there are never any hard and fast rules regarding things like that.

[neil padley]

Thanks for all your help I will post again when I get everything set up.
Neil