obt info please:)

i found an exotic store that carries em.ill be picking up a sling tomorrow.they said they are a lil bit bigger than a quarter.i have a 5.5 gallon.i was gonna let it sit normally long ways since its small right now.should i put it sideways or as is?ive read they are semi arboreal.or should i just keep it in a deli cup til it gets bigger?

ive read about their natural habitats and from that i was gonna mix some peat moss or eco earth with sand.im gonna put in some tree root looking branches on one side so it has opportunities to web a retreat under the "root" and above the "root",a longer three armed branch to sit in the background across the back of viv and some deep enough substrate in case it wants to burrow.i was also going to put in a couple of flat rocks stacked with some smaller rocks around it on kind of a sloped sub to mimic nature.sound good?
my room temp sits anywhere between 79 and 84f.i read temps for them should be between 75 and 80f.would i have a problem or would it be perfect?
im reading mixed things on humidity,some say 60-70 and some say they like it dry.where they come from its arid so dry?like 30-50%,only humidity causing is the waterdish?
i keep scorpions and have experience with the fast, venomous arachnids but ts are new to me and im ready for this beautiful aggressive punk.
oh and when i go id rather have a female because i read they get bigger and live longer.is that true?i wouldnt be able to determine gender til its adult,right?

any and all suggestions,comments and info welcome.thanks in advance.

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Originally Posted by mark and marley

i found an exotic store that carries em.ill be picking up a sling tomorrow.they said they are a lil bit bigger than a quarter.i have a 5.5 gallon.i was gonna let it sit normally long ways since its small right now.should i put it sideways or as is?ive read they are semi arboreal.or should i just keep it in a deli cup til it gets bigger? Definitely leave it in it's deli cup until it gets bigger or get a mini critter keeper to put it in. That 5 gallon is going to be waaaaaaay to big for an inch and a half size sling.

ive read about their natural habitats and from that i was gonna mix some peat moss or eco earth with sand.im gonna put in some tree root looking branches on one side so it has opportunities to web a retreat under the "root" and above the "root",a longer three armed branch to sit in the background across the back of viv and some deep enough substrate in case it wants to burrow.i was also going to put in a couple of flat rocks stacked with some smaller rocks around it on kind of a sloped sub to mimic nature.sound good? Sand sticks to T's and can get into or clog up the book lungs from what I have read. I would never use sand personally even if it is mixed. But you can look into some more and do what you think is best.
my room temp sits anywhere between 79 and 84f.i read temps for them should be between 75 and 80f.would i have a problem or would it be perfect? Temps are fine. The warmer it is the faster they will grow.
im reading mixed things on humidity,some say 60-70 and some say they like it dry.where they come from its arid so dry?like 30-50%,only humidity causing is the waterdish? My OBT set up is dry but the natural humidity where I am is high. Mine is doing quite fine.
i keep scorpions and have experience with the fast, venomous arachnids but ts are new to me and im ready for this beautiful aggressive punk.
oh and when i go id rather have a female because i read they get bigger and live longer.is that true? This is true but a quarter sized T will be unsexed. i wouldnt be able to determine gender til its adult,right? OBT's are hard to sex venterally. At around 3" or so you should be able to see on the molt if you have a male or female.

any and all suggestions,comments and info welcome. Mine was about your size when I got it. I used a mini critter keeper, coco fiber substrate and gallon milk cap as a water dish. I put a hide in there also. My OBT has since webbed up everything in the hide and made his/her own entrances and such. If it is out at the slightest disturbance it runs back into it's hide. Makes cleaning, feeding, watering and such a piece of cake to do. thanks in advance.

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I tried to answer to this thread must've been a million times but I'm on my phone and it kept messing up :P

Boanerges gave you tip top advice, as always :) I also recommend against the sand, it isn't necessary and can cause problems either caking up in the book lungs or in the mouth parts. You can offer a small shallow water dish, and may want to wet the substrate every now and then because you live in a pretty dry climate, but you shouldn't have problems with humidity, around 50% or a bit lower should be just fine.

Great choice! :D :gj:

great advice Boanerges.just what i was looking for.ill keep the sand out of the equation and keep it in a deli cup or put it in this small critter carrier i was keeping crickets in.im gonna need a bigger container to hold more crickets or just raise some dubias.

for substrate then?eco earth or peat moss or a mix?

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Originally Posted by mark and marley

great advice Boanerges.just what i was looking for.ill keep the sand out of the equation and keep it in a deli cup or put it in this small critter carrier i was keeping crickets in.im gonna need a bigger container to hold more crickets or just raise some dubias.

for substrate then?eco earth or peat moss or a mix?

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I'd vote eco earth because they tend to like burrowing, and well compacted eco earth works very well for burrowing. I can't say the same for peat moss. If you want though, you could always do a mix of them (just mostly eco earth to retain some structural strength when they burrow).

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Originally Posted by mark and marley

great advice Boanerges.just what i was looking for.ill keep the sand out of the equation and keep it in a deli cup or put it in this small critter carrier i was keeping crickets in.im gonna need a bigger container to hold more crickets or just raise some dubias.

for substrate then?eco earth or peat moss or a mix?

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I personally use eco earth for all my T's. Peat moss is fine also but I just don't personally like it. No need really in mixing the two though IMO.

This has nothing to do with the OBT and just me rambling: If you wanted more humidity you could mix vermiculite with either the eco earth or peat moss. I have tried that too a few times (not with my OBT) and didn't like doing that either really and always ended up switching back to just straight up eco earth. The straight up room humidity the T's are in now is reading 73-75%. I never have an issue with humidity really except for maybe in the winter. I have too keep an eye out for mold because of the humidity.

keeping it in a deli or critter keeper also gives me more time to design its 5.5gallon more intricately.:D
i think ill just stick to eco earth.

the hygro for my room is saying 41% so i could imagine a water dish would raise the enclosures humidity to at least 50%,would that be good?
oh water dish,do i want something shallow,deep with gravel,big enough for the t to fit in?
i got an arrowhead water jug(size of a gatorade lid)ready for the sling.ahhh im seeing in vids their water dishes are just the same as scorps 8).

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Originally Posted by mark and marley

keeping it in a deli or critter keeper also gives me more time to design its 5.5gallon more intricately.:D
i think ill just stick to eco earth.

the hygro for my room is saying 41% so i could imagine a water dish would raise the enclosures humidity to at least 50%,would that be good?
oh water dish,do i want something shallow,deep with gravel,big enough for the t to fit in?
i got an arrowhead water jug(size of a gatorade lid)ready for the sling.ahhh im seeing in vids their water dishes are just the same as scorps 8).

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Use a cleaned out water bottle cap, milk jug cap or something of the likes as a water dish for now considering it's size.

i cant wait! :D

aaaaallright i got my obt sling.he/she is sitting in a critter carrier with a piece of cork bark and a branch on some peat moss.the peat moss looks basicly like eco earth to me.they claimed eco earth would get in their book lung.i dont see how as they both look the freaking same.soil.

i also picked up an a.brockahursti sling. the dude had no idea how to spell the scientific name or knowledge of its common name but had the description and pic of its adult form so i figured hey ill grab this sling to.any info on the a.brock would help greatly even if just the correct name and spelling.thank you.

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Originally Posted by mark and marley

aaaaallright i got my obt sling.he/she is sitting in a critter carrier with a piece of cork bark and a branch on some peat moss.the peat moss looks basicly like eco earth to me.they claimed eco earth would get in their book lung.i dont see how as they both look the freaking same.soil.

i also picked up an a.brockahursti sling. the dude had no idea how to spell the scientific name or knowledge of its common name but had the description and pic of its adult form so i figured hey ill grab this sling to.any info on the a.brock would help greatly even if just the correct name and spelling.thank you.

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Congrats! :D the eco earth has never bothered a single one of my T's, but the moss (I'm assuming it's shredded) should be fine as long as you pack it down well.

The other T sounds to me like he was trying to write "Acanthoscurria brocklehursti" :P they're very cool spiders, they get big and are pretty hardy, though they can be very skittish and have a tendency to flick hairs when disturbed (heh, wasn't it you that said you'd kick hairs back? :P ). Regular house temp and humidity ~50% and you should be golden. If you want to keep it in the same temp as your obt you can, but be prepared for them to grow faster and have voracious appetites! :D

yep thats the t.it gets black with some striping?it looks pretty already.nickel sized.

ill do some research on that name and ill know for sure what to aim for.thanks for the husbandry info as well.it was me who said that about the urt hairs.it doesnt seem to mind me looking at it unlike the obt who just looks right back at me looking like its saying some curse words under its breath..
the lil a.broc(ill get the name right after research) was in a solo deli cup,i moved it to a bigger deli cup with a lil tiki head sideways for a cave and the peat moss.
when i added the peat i smashed it all down.it feels just like eco earth so i dunno what that guy was talking about.just pushin the product under a different name?either way im happy!
should i wait til they put some webs up before i drop a cricket in with em?
could the slightly larger than a quarter obt take a large crick or should i give it a small?the a.broc will definitely get a small.should i put a bottle cap for water for the tiny a.broc?

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Originally Posted by mark and marley

yep thats the t.it gets black with some striping?it looks pretty already.nickel sized.

ill do some research on that name and ill know for sure what to aim for.thanks for the husbandry info as well.it was me who said that about the urt hairs.it doesnt seem to mind me looking at it unlike the obt who just looks right back at me looking like its saying some curse words under its breath..
the lil a.broc(ill get the name right after research) was in a solo deli cup,i moved it to a bigger deli cup with a lil tiki head sideways for a cave and the peat moss.
when i added the peat i smashed it all down.it feels just like eco earth so i dunno what that guy was talking about.just pushin the product under a different name?either way im happy!
should i wait til they put some webs up before i drop a cricket in with em?
could the slightly larger than a quarter obt take a large crick or should i give it a small?the a.broc will definitely get a small.should i put a bottle cap for water for the tiny a.broc?

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Yup, the black one with the white striping on the legs. It could also be Acanthoscurria geniculata as both species looj very similar, but either way the husbandry is the same. I'd give them a week to settle in before offering food. You don't need to wait for webbing as they might not web right away, and they don't really need it for hunting.

The rule of thumb for tarantula feeding is not to offer a prey item bigger than the abdomen of the spider, so depending on how big the crickets are where you get them, I'd say that at their sizes you could put them both on smalls, and maybe offer a little more to the OBT. Just don't go for prey bigger than the abdomen, because it could potentially harm your spider if it fights back.

For the Acanthoscurria brocklehursti (that's the real latin name - the guy was close lol) if he's only the size of a nickel then you could offer a shallow dish (I find the caps for pill bottles work nicely because they're wide but shallow) or if you have the time you can dribble a bit of water down the side of the cup to make droplets on the side of the cup and keep the animal at a higher humidity level than normal to keep them hydrated. Up to you, but since keeping humidity high may be a bit tough in your area and the cage being that wet will produce mold, I'd say opt for a shallow, wide water dish like a pill bottle cap.

thanks for the help Alexandra!
ill find the smallest possible thing for a water bowl and feed em both small crix.im guessing like twice a week like my scorpion slings?

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Originally Posted by mark and marley

thanks for the help Alexandra!
ill find the smallest possible thing for a water bowl and feed em both small crix.im guessing like twice a week like my scorpion slings?

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No problema! You could do a small cricket twice a week, or you could just do 2 crickets once a week (maybe 3 for the obt) if you'd like. Up to you! :)

so i could feed them twice a week or twice a week?:crix::crix::confuzd::D

maaaaann.the obt doesnt wanna leave its deli cup for the new home.its webbing the deli cups existing webs to the wall of the critter carrier.wtf.i also see some other slings webbed up and dead.im guessing those are molts?do i just take its deli cup away or try to get it out of the deli some how?it just runs back into it when i move the carrier to get the deli out.
words of wisdom?:please:

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Originally Posted by mark and marley

maaaaann.the obt doesnt wanna leave its deli cup for the new home.its webbing the deli cups existing webs to the wall of the critter carrier.wtf.i also see some other slings webbed up and dead.im guessing those are molts?do i just take its deli cup away or try to get it out of the deli some how?it just runs back into it when i move the carrier to get the deli out.
words of wisdom?:please:

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I'd just let it be in the deli cup it came in then, if you have space to fit a water dish and leave a little toom for the spider. They don't need tons of room to themselves, especially obts because they like to hide a lot anyways. The other things are molts, yes. You could leave them there or take them out, whatever tickles your fancy.

Once the spider molts with you then you will probably have to rehouse it because it'll probably outgrow the deli cup. By then it may have settled in more and be a bit chiller (don't expect miracles lol but maybe just a bit!) And therefore easier to move. Good luck!

P.S. if you're really determined to get it out of the deli cup now, choose a day when you have time to work with it, leave the deli cup open in the critter carrier and bother the crap out of it with a chopstick (with the lid mostly on the carrier, open just enough to fit the chopstick in) until it comes out of hiding, then nudge it along away from the deli cup until it's far enough away that you can remove it.

Or you could try putting the deli cup on an angle right in front of the cork bark so it can see that there is somewhere to hide and it may then decide to go hide under the cork bark after.

good advice.had to coax the a.brocklehursti out into its newer deli cup.it was so cute and tiny and relaxed about the whole ordeal.

freak that obt! i kicked it out of the deli and its making nice web in the critter carrier. its got webbing goin on between the branch and flower.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...0806111807.jpg

the a.brockle deli home
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...0806111809.jpg

obt future home in progress.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...806111812a.jpg


sigh i need to get an actual camera