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B.Smithi strange behaviour

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  • John-Henry Dickinson
    replied
    Thanks for the advise. I will be sure to leave it alone now!

    Leave a comment:


  • Peter Roach
    replied
    Originally posted by Paul Larke View Post
    I'll be getting my first tarantula, a B. Smithi in a couple of weeks so this may seem like a silly question. Can I just ask how often and the extent of routine enclosure maintenance, i.e. cleaning out faeces and food boluses? How should this be performed properly to avoid annoying the tarantula?

    As the tank will be dry (or should be) any food boluses is rarely be seen . .if ever. I have 4 AF's and 2 sub males plus 30+ juvies and have never found a bolus yet.

    All of my larger smithi's seem to defecate in one corner and I just pick it out whenever i see it.

    Leave a comment:


  • Paul Larke
    replied
    Originally posted by Peter Roach View Post
    Whenever I move spider from an established tank into a new tank OR disturb the substrate in anyway then I will leave it alone for as long as it takes to settle in, which can take a few weeks but sometimes as long as several months.

    Many tarantulas do NOT like changes to their substrate as they will have laid fine webbing all over the substrate, its their territory and then suddenly the substrate is changed and then it isnt their territory anymore.
    I'll be getting my first tarantula, a B. Smithi in a couple of weeks so this may seem like a silly question. Can I just ask how often and the extent of routine enclosure maintenance, i.e. cleaning out faeces and food boluses? How should this be performed properly to avoid annoying the tarantula?

    Leave a comment:


  • Peter Roach
    replied
    Originally posted by John-Henry Dickinson View Post

    I moved it out of a low exo terra plastic terrarium into a 30x30x30 exo terra glass terrarium.

    The whole time it was in there it was climbing the glass and moving around. At first I thought the substrate might be too wet for its liking so I put more dry in there but it didn't make any difference. Long story short after making a number of changes I have had to move it back into its previous terrarium through fear of it falling from one of its climbs. But after this its still not settled. It does the same behaviour but not as active as in the glass terrarium and now it sticks its fangs out the vents on the sides of this plastic terrarium a lot.

    No matter what I seem to do it doesn't make a difference.

    . . .and there is your problem. . . .You moved it, then you changed it again by putting new (dry) substrate and then made it worse by making a number of changes and then you move it again


    Originally posted by John-Henry Dickinson View Post
    Any suggestions would be appreciated.

    You have moved it. Fine, not a problem but now LEAVE IT ALONE.

    Put it into the tank that you want to keep it in, change the water and totally forget it.

    Ignore it for 3-4 weeks, like you have never ever owned it at all.


    Whenever I move spider from an established tank into a new tank OR disturb the substrate in anyway then I will leave it alone for as long as it takes to settle in, which can take a few weeks but sometimes as long as several months.
    I put fresh water in, put it on a shelf and then forget it for at least a month.

    Many tarantulas do NOT like changes to their substrate as they will have laid fine webbing all over the substrate, its their territory and then suddenly the substrate is changed and then it isnt their territory anymore.

    Depending on the species/spider and and/or set up, the spider may spend days, weeks or months either stuck to the sides or on top of a piece of bark etc . . anything to get OFF the new substrate.

    The longest that ive had a spider stuck to the tank side was about 3 months (WC AF Phormictopus atrichomatus) and then one day it decided to lay a web mat in one corner which is stayed on for further 3-4 weeks. Then it decided that everything was OK and it was walking all over the tank.

    Leave a comment:


  • Mrs Linda Street
    replied
    Hi, firstly, 30 x 30 x 30 is waaaaay too big for a B Smithi, especially the height, it's a long way to fall, especially onto anything hard, which could result in injury or death. Smithi's like dry substrate, they do climb , one of my 15 yr old females spends a long time at the top of her tank, particularly if there's a temp rise in the room, but she's in a 12" x 8" x 8" high, tank with a sunken hide, and water dish, and she's 'as happy as Larry'.

    Leave a comment:


  • John-Henry Dickinson
    started a topic B.Smithi strange behaviour

    B.Smithi strange behaviour

    Hi all,

    around two months ago I upgraded a number of tanks for my tarantulas including for my B.Smithi. It is around a 4.5-5" specimen that I have had for over two years that I believe to be female. I moved it out of a low exo terra plastic terrarium into a 30x30x30 exo terra glass terrarium. The whole time it was in there it was climbing the glass and moving around. At first I thought the substrate might be too wet for its liking so I put more dry in there but it didn't make any difference. Long story short after making a number of changes I have had to move it back into its previous terrarium through fear of it falling from one of its climbs. But after this its still not settled. It does the same behaviour but not as active as in the glass terrarium and now it sticks its fangs out the vents on the sides of this plastic terrarium a lot.

    No matter what I seem to do it doesn't make a difference. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

    Many thanks.
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