New Ts Haha

[Skittles1101]

Sooooo, I went to the local reptile shop to pick up a live mouse, and there was an Antilles Pinktoe and an Avic Avic I had my eyes on last week that I wanted to get now that I had gotten paid. Of COURSE both were gone. Just my luck.

So I ask the bug guy what kind of cool Ts he had, and my boyfriend was with me (who has zero experience with Ts, and doesn't really know any of the different types other than pictures I've shown him!). He says "ohhhh we have OBTs!" I'm like, definitely NOT! I did not want one, I prefer docile species. He told Andy (my boyfriend) what it meant and what it looks like when it gets older, so Andy says "I want it!". Oh boy...now I have an OBT, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little scared of it lol

Once I explained to my boyfriend how this one was different from the ones I had, he's like "oh....the bug guy didn't make it sound that bad" lol

I also got a Brazilian Black. This one was on my list of wants, so figured I'd grab one too since the two I went in for were gone. This one ate a cricket with a vengeance last night



Not too happy about the OBT since I'm afraid of it, but I'm glad I still left with two new Ts Hopefully within the next couple weeks they'll have a Versi and Avic Avic that I want.

[Boanerges]

Awesome new pick ups!!!!! Just be careful of the OBT's speed. Once it is big enough for a mini kritter keeper I would set it up iin there with a nice hide. That way you never have to take the main lid completely off if you don't want to (you can just open the clear lid) and will help with possible escapes. With a nice hide it will make a nice retreat out of webbibng and spend most of it's time in there and when disturbed will run and hide. When you don't give them enough room or good hiding spots they are more likely to run out or stand and hold its ground because it has no other option.

[Skittles1101]

Thanks for the tips! Like I said, I'm a little nervous about this one, but with your advice hopefully she just runs and hides lol.

[Boanerges]

Thanks for the tips! Like I said, I'm a little nervous about this one, but with your advice hopefully she just runs and hides lol.

If it has a good place to hide and space it will MORE then likely just run and hide. Unless you are messing with it for some reason or you got lucky and just have an overly ticked off one to begin with

[Skittles1101]

If it has a good place to hide and space it will MORE then likely just run and hide. Unless you are messing with it for some reason or you got lucky and just have an overly ticked off one to begin with

LOL that's my luck. My boyfriend was ridiculously scared of spiders just 3 months ago, so when he said he wanted the OBT I couldn't say no. He's been such a trooper with my hobbies. What do you suggest for a hide? I use a small condiment container for my red knee (with a hole cut in one side), but when it gets bigger what do you think?

[Boanerges]

LOL that's my luck. My boyfriend was ridiculously scared of spiders just 3 months ago, so when he said he wanted the OBT I couldn't say no. He's been such a trooper with my hobbies. What do you suggest for a hide? I use a small condiment container for my red knee (with a hole cut in one side), but when it gets bigger what do you think?

If your boyfriend is good with his hands he/you can make what I make. I go to home depot and get various size black PVC pipe and brown silicone. I then go home and cut the PVC in half horizontal wise so you now have two long halves. Then I cut them to the length I want. Then I put brown silicone on the tops of the hides and rub it in. Then I roll it in echo earth. Kind of a crappy way of explaining it though, sorry

As they get bigger I use ceramic flower pots cut in half. I cut them in half using a hack saw and an attachment used to cut tile (it looks like a thick, rope like, pice of sand paper thing). It will cut the ceramic flower pots right in half. Once the flower pots are in half just take sand paper and smooth out the rough edges where it was cut.

Cork bark can be used also. I use that for my aboreals and a couple of my burrowers.

Plastic flower pots can be used also. They can be cut in half with scisors. And if your felling sassy you can do the brown silicone thing to the tops and then roll it in the echo earth. Here are a couple of pics of a big plastic flower pot used for my Theraphosa stirmi and Lasidora parahybana females (ignore the mess, I was cutting cork bark that day too):



I've also seen people use half log hides (I used to use them but they mold to fast on me so I do not use them any more) and the coconut hides.

[Valentine Pirate]

Nice pick ups! Brazilian blacks are high on my want list. It's so cute when the significant others start taking an interest in the hobby, my ex got himself a tegu after I took him to his first show. My current boyfriend already had an interest in reptiles, but he never realized there was a community behind it. Definitely an experience!

Edit: Those are awesome hide ideas!! Simple and still fits in with a naturalistic setup

[Skittles1101]

Thanks for that info! Those flower pot ideas are awesome! Can I use any kind of silicone? Where do I find that?

[Boanerges]

Thanks for that info! Those flower pot ideas are awesome! Can I use any kind of silicone? Where do I find that?

I just took some pics of the silicone I use and I will upload them for you in this thread here shortly (I am in the process of editing a new tarantula feeding video) Just make sure you let it dry completely so there is no smell before you use them. The longer you let them dry the better

[Boanerges]

This is what my suspect female OBT's mini kritter Keeper looks like. She is in there but will run and hide at the slightest disturbance. Very easy for me to take care of. She has a piece of pvc hide (exactly like the one in my next pic) as her hide with a fake plant hot glued on top and she used that and webbed up the area to make it her own



This is the PVC I use. The bronze and brown look exactly the same when used for this purpose. I try to get brown when I can though becuae I am a dork I picked up the bronze a couple of times when I couldn't find the brown and honestly you can tell no difference in the colors when used with the echo earth. I get it at Home Depot. It should be near the paint section.