some advice for knowledge b.smithi

[carl firth]

hey i think my b.smithi in pre molt and as a new to the hobbie was wondering at this stage how long willl it take to molt i have attached a picture if this helps as you can see the abdomen is very dark

[vincent winyard]

hi there carl and welcome to the forum. it looks like your spider could molt within the next week could be days either way it wont be long. two things though how big is the container you have your spider in and second are you sure its a brachypelma smithi only it looks like an brachypelma boehmei to me i could be wrong though hopefully someone can back me on this. still a stunning tarantula though. perhaps you could try and get a clearer photo on here as this would be a big help to id the youngster for sure.

[Peter Roach]

Looks like its due a moult soon, when the entire abdomen is dark and especially when its shiny the moult will be usually within a week BUT as spiders dont read the books and forums they moult when they are good and ready and not before. So i would feed as normal until it stop eating and then stop and wait for the moult which could be days or months coming !
It doesnt look like a smithi , possibly a boehmei or emilia. An in-focus photo would be a big help in that.

[carl firth]

hey i have attached photo of the enclosure and a close up of my spider the guy in shop said it was a Mexican red knee b.smithi and it was i highly recommended shop in my area for exotic pets he seems trustworthy but you guys have more knowledge than me thanks for the reply and welcoming me to the forum

[carl firth]

hey here is the best close up i could get he has already stopped eating for about a week now
the guy in the store said it was a b.smithi Mexican red knee as here these are the best starter Ts

[vincent winyard]

hi there carl your spider does look darker than what it did in the previous photo and it does look more like a red knee in the photo you've just put on. cant really see the t in the enclosure your using so it's hard to say if it's to big for it. as a general rule the tarantulas tank should be 2 or 3 times the size of the leg span of the spider. if the enclosure's to big it makes life a bit harder for your spider to catch it's prey plus they don't really need loads of space. just one more thing your substrate looks quite damp you need to let it dry out as smithi's prefer it on the dry side. all the moisture a smithi needs is an open water dish from which it can drink hope this helps.

[carl firth]

hey thanks for the advice it might look damp because i took these photos just after misting i checked on the t this moring and he has not molted yet i manged to get a photo of the t in its enclosure minus the hide if this pic helps and am extremely grateful for the help

[Peter Roach]

I agree with Vincent that the in focus photos look like a B smithi (unlike the first blurry snaps)

A few things that I think need changing are.

1)
Throw away the dials in the tank as they are extremely inaccurate and total rubbish (couldnt write the word i wanted to but it rhymes with sit !!) Also if you do take note of those dials then you will be replying in false information which could be detrimental to your spiders health.

2)
Misting does nothing apart from wet the surface few mm of substrate, raise the humidity for an hour or two and annoy the spider. A much better option would be to add a small water container (a milk carton lid is an ideal size) and just overflow it so that a inch or two surrounding is constantly damp. The amount of substrate provided is nice and deep so if you slowly poured a small amount of water down the inside of the tank side, the water will run down the side and wet the bottom layers and keep the top layers reasonably dry. This will allow the spider to dig down to the moist area if it needs/wants to and will also provide a slight amount of humidity due to the slow and constant evaporation.


This is how I keep my smaller Brachypelma. (boehmei in photo, the 2 on left just been moved with new substrate)



Notice the milk carton lids used as water bowls.

[vincent winyard]

looks like a good size enclosure carl prehaps a bit on the large size but at least you wont have to worry about moving it to a bigger enclosure for the next couple of molts . very nice looking set up pete.

[carl firth]

hey man thanks for the advice

[carl firth]

hey thanks for the advice i have now added a bottle cap filled with water now and i realize they dial were rubbish the first day i got them so the next day i went out and bought a ministat 100 control for the heat mat and bought a electronic humidity and temperature reader

[vincent winyard]

carl your very welcome for the advise. but like pete said to you temperature and humidity gauges cant be relied on to give the correct temperature and humidity for every individual tarantula. he's just trying to help you to stop wasting your money on things that are not really essential especially for a mexican red knee. if you really feel the need to provide some heat for your tarantula simply put a heat pad on the side or the back of the enclosure with some polystyrene behind it to help throw the heat in the tank. but i would only use this if it's really cold in the room you have it in. the best way to judge this is if your comfortable with a t shirt on in the room then your tarantula will be fine but if your freezing in the spiders room then put the heat mat on for it. but what ever you do don't put the heat pad underneath the tank.

[Peter Roach]

i went out and bought a ministat 100 control for the heat mat and bought a electronic humidity and temperature reader

Sorry to say Carl but i think that you have just wasted a lot of money for no good reason.

You do not need a heat mat (and therefore a thermostat) or a electronic humidity and temp reader.

I suggest that you read >>> THIS <<< The first part is a little tedious but plough through it, from approx 1/2 way down the page it gets more interesting.

After you have read that then read >>> THIS <<<

[Nicolas Charrière]

I'm also keeping my Ts without any heating mat and they seem comfortable. As was said before, if you're comfortable and not freezing, they should be too. Maybe you should think of heating if your room's temperature goes below 18°C all day long. And heating mat risks to desiccate the substrate and then your T.

By the way, are you everybody sure it's a smithi? I'm no expert at all (far from that!!!), but when I look at your pictures, it seems to me the pattern on the prosoma is like one of B emilia. But maybe it's due to the fact she/he is still young...

[carl firth]

hey my room can get very cold at times also very hot i have placed my t in the best place i could for temp wise this is why i felt the need to to by the ministat 100 so if my room does go cold the heat mat will kick in thanks again