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Sorry if this is the wrong place, was going to ask in the introduction thread but just seems wrong. Did a quick search but came up short. Bit of a long post but I want to include as much info as possible.
I recently acquired my first T, a B. Albiceps juvenile, around 2.75", 10 days ago. She seems to be not settling at all. I set her up in a enclosure about 8" x 6" x 4", bone dry coco fibre, waterdish overflown a bit, piece of cork bark hot glued to the side to make a shelf/hide. Have a digital thermometer/hygrometer, temps are ~25C and Humidity high 70% (70 to 80 recommended) so I don't think climate is an issue.
Now when I got her I placed in her enclosure straight away, rested a heat mat at the side of the enclosure and placed her on top of my drawers. I watched her the first night head straight to the water dish and drank for quite a while, have observed her on 2 other occasions drink from it. I dropped a mealworm in 2 days later, after receiving her, and she dug it up and ate it, great! She likes to sit on top of her hide and generally never leaves the heatmat side of her enclosure, as I was told to expect. She also seems to have no interest in food now, tried a cricket and mealworms, which to my knowledge is not a worry.
I have been trying my best to fuss as little as possible, but being my first T excitement can get the better of me. I built a red LED torch to look at her with seen as they are blind to it. Obviously have had family members who wanted a look, but didn't move her at all for them to see. Had to open the lid up to change her water dish couple of time.
Now my problem is she seems to have been in a stress pose constantly (legs covering her carapace), last half a week in particular. Past 24 hours she seems to have been in this position in her hide. The first time I saw her like this I brushed her leg to check she wasn't in a death curl and her abdomen looks reasonable when I caught her drinking from the water dish 2 days ago. The skin under the bald spot doesn't look dark.
Just need some reassurance or advice. Is the enclosure too big? I ordered a clear acrylic 8x4x4 inch enclosure as it is much clearer plastic than her current one, but worried about transferring her when it arrives if she is still showing signs of generally being annoyed. Should I be worried about her being in this pose for too long? Or is should I leave her alone for a another week? Possibly entering pre-molt?
Apologies if this has been answered before but I couldn't find a similar situation occurring and this would be the best place to ask. I am probably also just worrying unnecessarily but I want to be 100% sure I am doing the right thing here!
I recently acquired my first T, a B. Albiceps juvenile, around 2.75", 10 days ago. She seems to be not settling at all. I set her up in a enclosure about 8" x 6" x 4", bone dry coco fibre, waterdish overflown a bit, piece of cork bark hot glued to the side to make a shelf/hide. Have a digital thermometer/hygrometer, temps are ~25C and Humidity high 70% (70 to 80 recommended) so I don't think climate is an issue.
Now when I got her I placed in her enclosure straight away, rested a heat mat at the side of the enclosure and placed her on top of my drawers. I watched her the first night head straight to the water dish and drank for quite a while, have observed her on 2 other occasions drink from it. I dropped a mealworm in 2 days later, after receiving her, and she dug it up and ate it, great! She likes to sit on top of her hide and generally never leaves the heatmat side of her enclosure, as I was told to expect. She also seems to have no interest in food now, tried a cricket and mealworms, which to my knowledge is not a worry.
I have been trying my best to fuss as little as possible, but being my first T excitement can get the better of me. I built a red LED torch to look at her with seen as they are blind to it. Obviously have had family members who wanted a look, but didn't move her at all for them to see. Had to open the lid up to change her water dish couple of time.
Now my problem is she seems to have been in a stress pose constantly (legs covering her carapace), last half a week in particular. Past 24 hours she seems to have been in this position in her hide. The first time I saw her like this I brushed her leg to check she wasn't in a death curl and her abdomen looks reasonable when I caught her drinking from the water dish 2 days ago. The skin under the bald spot doesn't look dark.
Just need some reassurance or advice. Is the enclosure too big? I ordered a clear acrylic 8x4x4 inch enclosure as it is much clearer plastic than her current one, but worried about transferring her when it arrives if she is still showing signs of generally being annoyed. Should I be worried about her being in this pose for too long? Or is should I leave her alone for a another week? Possibly entering pre-molt?
Apologies if this has been answered before but I couldn't find a similar situation occurring and this would be the best place to ask. I am probably also just worrying unnecessarily but I want to be 100% sure I am doing the right thing here!
. I have means of creating a better looking lid soon, there is a whole load of cnc machines on campus I could easily cut some acrylic to my desire as a replacement.
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