Advice needed on Avicularia metallica.

[j d caisey]

Hi all,I aqcuired my first Avic about 8 weeks ago.She's a sub adult i guess,with a leg span of about 3 and a half inches.I've housed her in a 30x30x45 exo terra tank with a cardboard tube hide and a suspended water dish with a couple of plants for decoration and additional hiding places.When i first put her in there she didn't move around much but i managed to get her to eat by dropping the crickets from above and she would catch them on the way down.After 2 weeks she found the cardboard tube and she's been in there ever since.She webbed it both ends,not heavily just a fine layer of silk.I assumed she was going to moult so i stopped feeding her.The thing is it's now 6 weeks later and she hasn't moulted.A week ago she must of come out because the webbing was broken and there was poo on the side of the tank.A couple of days later she webbed it up again.Should i try feeding her or should i just leave her be?She didn't look underweight when i got her but i'm getting concerned now with it being 6 weeks since she ate.The tanks temperature is 25 degrees with humidity at 75-80%.Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Cheers,John.

[Peter Lacey]

I wouldnt use a cardboard tube in a humid environment, I'd be surprised if it didnt fall apart, attract mould etc. They are good for transporting arboreals but I don't use them in my enclosures. Perhaps a cork or bamboo tube would make a good alternative.
That's quite a large enclosure so no surprise its not using all of it, you could easily split that in 2 and house 2 Avics. However, some people prefer large enclosures. I'd suggest you provide some more furnishings, create a busy environment that's interesting to look at and perhaps makes your Avic feel a bit more relaxed.
Most new Ts will take time to settle in and Avics are renowned for taking a bit longer. whilst its sometimes worrying and frustrating its often quite innocent. Provide a cricket once a week but remove after a day or 2 if its not eaten. Its quite likely to be a moult unless you are aware its been mated?

[j d caisey]

Thanks for the reply peter.The cardboard tube seems to be holding out ok at the moment.I did get a piece of bamboo but i thought the hole in it was a bit small.If i try feeding do you think i should just pop the cricket in on the cage floor and see if she comes out and takes it or try dropping one on top of the webbing on the tube?She hasn't been mated,I bought her from swallow aquatics in rayleigh where she had been for the past 9 months.

[Peter Lacey]

I think you'll find your cardboard will rot which will be unfortunate if it's the chosen hide. A piece of cork glued into the corner works well.
Drop the cricket onto the web, hopefully the disturbance will attract your Avic

[j d caisey]

Hi Peter thanks for getting back to me.I tried feeding her on tuesday before you replied.I dropped the cricket into the tube and she ignored it.I thought it would be best to leave it in there for 24 hours in case she changed her mind.When i checked on her a half an hour later she was wandering around the tank looking a bit wobbly.She fell in her water dish and nearly fell from the top of the tank.The cricket was still in the hide.I took the cricket out and decided to leave her be for a while to see if she settled down.When i checked on her on wednesday morning she was at the bottom of the tank with her front legs on the substrate.She has now made her way back to the top of the tank next to the cardboard tube.She looks ok physically but i get the impression she is not very happy.What do you think?Do you think i should rehome her in a smaller tank?

[Colin D Wilson]

Its possible that the spiders coming up for a moult due to ignoring food items and the fact that you say its "falling" or having limited grip (another indication we use)
At that size it's just really a juvi so i'd say there's little chance of being mated.
The idea of dropping the food from above works well with all our Avics here, you'll be surprised that these species can take a reasonably large prey item so it's worth a try using different sizes to temp.
The size of enclosures fine in my opinion, but as Pete says you could maybe add a little more decor for the spider to explor and it'll add to the esthetics too, Avics are very active during the night and if you look very carefully you'll possible see fine anchor lines of web strung across the whole of the tank.
The cardboard tube would eventually degrade due to spraying and peaks in humidity so i would personally change that, cork bark is the way to go. (they can get in and out of very small holes that we would think they would struggle with so there's no real concern there)
Temp could do with going up a bit (couple of degs) and the humidity would be better off a little lower as this species comes from a drier environment naturally.
Important thing is to keep fresh water available at all times.

[j d caisey]

Thanks for the advice colin.What would you say would be an ideal humidity?I think i'll remove the cardboard tube and replace it with cork.I've got some cork bark,do you think if i cut a slab off and glue it in the corner of the tank it'll do the trick?Or would a cork or bamboo tube be the way to go?I've bought some exo terra jungle vines i thought they might make the tank a little more interesting for her.Do you think it will be ok to remove her from the tank to redecorate it if she's coming up for a moult?Sorry for all the questions people but she's my first arboreal spider and i'm really stressing about her.

[Colin D Wilson]

Any where around the 60% for humidity normally will be fine, when you notice that there's a moult on the way then you can increase this a little with fine misting.

I'd leave the decorating untill the spiders moulted (if it is actually a moult thats on its way)
Just carefully catch her up in a cricket box when she's hardened up and then go to town on the revamp
Cork glued in the corner is ok, it's permenant then though so think it through first. I would be inclined to use a tube or rounded peice leaning up against the back wall and hold it in place with substrate or drape a bit of the jungle vine over it to hold it.
Either ways fine, what you dont want is a bit of cork flopping all over the place if you have to move the tank at any time

[j d caisey]

Thanks a million for all the advice colin.I think i'll just have to sit back and watch her for a while just in case she is coming up for a moult.She was definitely very wobbly and seemed to be having trouble sticking to the tank.I think my salmon pink climbs better when she's trying to escape.