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B.Smithi Dr. Bigbulls !6ts7WxNHwc
I don't know how many of you fancy keeping tarantulas, let alone have access to the Brachypelma Smithi (Mexican Redknee), but if there is one of you out there I could use some advice. Find the spider is extremely hard and when I finally DO get one I want the housing to be a decent place for the spider. I have taken two pictures and hopefully someone can give me tips on improving it.
>> Dr. Bigbulls !6ts7WxNHwc
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The soil is a mixture of sand, peat moss and a type of dirt that came in a brick. The cave like retreat is a hollowed conk that was found in my local forest. I am not sure about keeping the light so close to the cage but it maintains the temp and humid. better than keeping it suspended. Whether or not the conk will function and the spider will take to it is something that only time will tell.
>> Anonymous
lol @ spelling errors. Humidity won't be such a huge problem because they are a desert species and don't rely on it hugely. The beauty of it is that it is flexible so it can be high or low. Careful about that local forest thing, there could be some mite eggs, pesticides, or anything else you wouldn't want on a tarantula. Tarantulas don't care about light, as they can barely see. So long as they know the difference between day and night it is okay. I keep a light, however it is too hot to keep it on most of the time. 70-80 range is best for temp. The substrate looks fine, I don't think you had to get three types of substrate. Keep that water bowl clean and make sure you feed the stuff you are going to feed your T healthy stuff. Those pet stores do nothing but keep the feeders alive. Don't worry about overfeeding it, I have a G. Rosea that has not eaten in a month, and is still fasting. I recommend some nice romaine lettuce or something. Anyway, it's a hardy species, you will be fine. If it were up to me I would have gotten something more aggressive. It's not like you will be handling it a lot right?
>> Anonymous
Just keep the light to one side of the cage so that the spider has a choice between hot and cold, and remember to turn it off at night. Also, did you microwave all the substrate? The rule of thumb is to microwave it all for 3 mins on high to kill any bacteria or parasites in it. If you haven't, I'm sorry to say that you'll have to microwave all that dirt and then clean the cage so that there isn't any chance of parasites before putting the microwaved dirt back in. You're probably better off putting half a clay pot in there for it to hide in. Also, since B. smithi is a terrestrial tarantula, you need the substrate level to be a lot higher, otherwise it will try to climb the sides, fall down, and injure itself seriously resulting in death. Terrestrials will find a way to climb, and if they fall they die a slow and pitiful death. The substrate should be high enough so that the air space is no more than 1 and a half times the height of the tarantula. Microwave anything you took from outside, actually.