Advice on A. chalcodes terranium please?

[Joanna Pendleton]

I'm in a bit of a mix up. Just had an email from the spider shop, they have run out of the usual medium terranium supplied with their starter kit. They have offered to replace with a flatter one, but I know A.chalcodes can burrow and not sure how happy they would be with less space to do so?

I would wait til the other is avaible, but some of the stuff is for a sling that is already is transit to us so we desperately need it. It did not say anything was out of stock on website when I placed order, so I went ahead and assumed all would be fine to post monday/arrive tuesday so told the other place sending the sling to do the same!

In a bit of a faff now. Can't afford 2 delivery charges for one order and can't wait til next week for stuff for sling, obv. Already worried about leaving sling in container posted in from arrival of sling tuesday til arrival of other stuff wednesday! we were notified of this situation sunday night, and replied asking a question about wednesday but never received a reply back. The email tonight had a name that wasn't mine on it, and did not refer to the questions i'd asked the previous night. As I only seem to receive emails of a night from the spider shop im worried he wont get any reply til tomorrow night and we won't get stuff till thursday now. W

Sorry for waffling, but panicking a bit! HELP!

x

[Colin D Wilson]

Regarding the spider, it will be ok in the flatter tank for the interim, to say they like to have a burrow around is more in line with "if the oportunity comes along to be able to" after all the often live in "scrapes" under logs and rocks in their natural habitat where enthusiastic digging is not possible.
The spider will just adapt to the living conditions you provide, saying this you'll still be able to give it a fair amount of substrate to move around if it wishes and if you bury a flower pot/cork hide then it'll have a "secure" area to retreat to.

[Joanna Pendleton]

Thank you Colin. I've taken a breath and calmed down a bit now. heard from Lee and all is fine for delivery wednesday (tomorrow) as hoped!

The terrarium is 16cm (6 inches?) in height. How deep should the substrate be for this species? Is about half way up the side fine? A little water bowl and hide come with the pack.

The substrate is coir fibre, is this fine alone? Someone told me to put some sand in but I don't think this sounds quite right myself!

A friend provided some vermiculate for the sling until order arrives - is this suitable for the sling or should I swap it for the coir fibre tomorrow?

Thank you so much

J x

[Colin D Wilson]

About 3-4 inches of substrate would be quite sufficient, you may even find the spider doesn't even dig or move any around but it's nice for the option.
I personally am not a fan of coir, i have used it and have gone back to reclaimed or sustainable peat and peat substitutes, this is just my view though and i would imagine thousands of people use coir and are perfectly happy. I think the main thing was that when completely dry (as i need it for many of my species) the coir was very dusty.
You can mix and match nearly all the substrates available and get a result that you're happy with, many people do that.
Vermiculite, in my opinion, is not really any good on it's own, mixed with other substrates it can benefit by holding moisture and/or lightening the mixture a bit. (although i think its a good sterile medium for emergencies)

Both your spiders will be fine on the coir, the Aphonopelma will be more settled when it's dried out a lot and it's got some webbing down in the areas it feels secure. The GBB will be fine too, i leave it to another to give you more exact tips on this as it's a species I've little experience with.

[Joanna Pendleton]

Thank you for your help.

Rio has been in her terrarium since yesterday afternoon and I made the coir up yesterday morning. However she is still sitting on the side, and doesnt seem to have moved all night (althoguh looking closer, some of the moss has been moved round a bit so I think she must of done.

I've had her heat mat on all night to try to get the terrarium heated up but not sure if it's warm enough still as the side she is on is the side the heat mat is on. It is on the outside of the terrarium, but effectively it's like she is sat on the heat mat. Is this safe for her? Don't want to cook her lol.

Is there anything I can do to dry out her substrate?

Thank you

J x

[Joanna Pendleton]

Here she is!



J x

[Colin D Wilson]

I've had her heat mat on all night to try to get the terrarium heated up but not sure if it's warm enough still as the side she is on is the side the heat mat is on. It is on the outside of the terrarium, but effectively it's like she is sat on the heat mat. Is this safe for her? Don't want to cook her lol.

Is there anything I can do to dry out her substrate?

She'll be fine on the side, she'll move if she gets too warm.
The tank will take a litle time to dry out and get a nice temperature gradient so it's just a waiting game i'm afraid.
You could really leave the heat mat on if it doesn't get over warm at the cool end (if you get me?) just keep an eye on the temp during the warmer months (i didn't usually bother heating any of mine through the summer when i was in England, but now i'm living with Elaine in Scotland, we've got a little spider room sorted out mainly for the terrestrials so we'll have to see how that goes for temp)

[Joanna Pendleton]

Good, am glad she's ok. Was starting to get a little worried. The temp seems to be getting better now, so hopefully it'll dry out soon. My GBB is doing a similar thing. She's more active than Rio, but wont walk on the substrate either. Instead she wanders round the tops of her tub, and is currently in her hide but on the inside wall/roof of it!

I will update in a few days and let you all know when they come down lol. How long should I leave it before feeding them? I know they have to settle in first but don't wanna starve them!

J x

[Colin D Wilson]

Some say they need a settling in period ......

I've found they will eat as soon as they've been dropped in their new home, it's all to do with being an opportunistic feeder (get it while they can frame of mind).

I'd say you could try and feed them now, if they dont take it straight away you could leave it for a while (hour/evening/over night - up to you) and if still no joy remove it.
As you've probably read, it's not a good idea to leave a food item in with the spider when it's moulting, crickets (especially black ones) can have a nibble on the fresh spider causing quite a few problems from loss of limbs to fatalities (i know from a couple of mistakes)

From the look of your Aphonopelma, she wont starve even if she doen't eat in the next few months, dont worry

[Joanna Pendleton]

Thanks for the advice Colin.

Not sure how to feed my sling. The crickets are so tiny Im concerned I wont be able to see if she doesnt eat it. She doesnt seem too happy, still clinging to the inside roof of her hide, in the same place she was sitting earlier defo doesnt seem to have moved. She hasnt once walked on the substrate and now doesnt seem to want to walk anywhere at all. Could there be something wrong or is she just chilling out waiting for the substrate to dry out still?

On the flip side Rio, the A. chalcodes, is settling in wonderfully. She's finally exploring her new home (must have warmed up/dried out enough to do so now) In light of this around 5pm I dropped 2 crickets into her home. I went to do something in the other room, and when I returned she was cuddled up next to her heat mat again - fang in cricket! She devoured it in no time. I then went out for tea and came back about half an hour ago. I thought at first she had eaten the other one too, but I had a good look and it was hiding by some moss. I stuck my hand in (tweezers in hand) to remove it, thinking maybe one was enough for her. It jumped away form my tweezers, and towards Rio's end of the cage (she was characteristically snuggled next to her heat mat again). Then my slow moving docile beauty literally ran, full speed and jumped on this cricket (glad I'd moved my hand by this point!). I could hear her happily crunching away, so I've left her to it, happy that she is settled enough to wander and eat now! Very exciting to see her pounce like that too!

J x