Setae/enclosures

[Ibnhamar]

Hey all, newbie here. So in different husbandry videos I've watched, they'll say something like "and you can see all the hairs they've kicked there" and I don't know if I'm blind or what because I feel like I can never see the loose setae in the enclosure... does anyone have any pictures/examples of kicked hairs or hairs on molting mats? I feel like it can be tough distinguishing between any possible hairs and different loose fibers in substrate (I'm still just using coco at the moment, but I'm aware that people recommend others, depending) or in the mulch litter+spaghnum, but maybe that's just because my Ts are all slings, and one juvie.

Additionally, once you've rehoused a T, how do you go about cleaning that enclosure for future usage? I haven't seen this covered in most of the "intro to Ts" information out there. My common sense says "wear a mask, use gloves, replace all substrate of course, and either toss or thoroughly wash any decorations you intend to reuse", but still would be nice to hear from someone more experienced.

Oh, last thing. Cork bark for sling hides. Everything online I've seen looks way too massive for slings + their enclosures, and I've tried breaking apart smaller ones I've found at local pet stores, but they're overpriced and not that high quality. Additionally, one piece I had set up in an enclosure seemed to grow mold, and the enclosure had only been lightly misted in decreasing amounts as I layered substrate. Any recommendations?

I appreciate any advice!

 

[Enn49]

Hello and welcome.
I'll be honest I've never seen hairs in their containers either. With slings they will be so tiny that they'll be virtually invisible but even with my adults I've only seen them as the T is kicking them.
To clean containers I just give everything (container, plants and hides) a good scrub out and sterilise with very hot water.
To buy cork bark try a florist or craft shop. I got some from a stall at a flower show that sold items for flower arranging that are thin enough to snap or even use scissors to cut.

 

[Arachnoclown]

As you can see in this horrible video she is kicking off her hairs and pressing them into her mat and substrate along with some silk. They're hard to see afterwards but at cleaning time you'll know they are there.

As for cork bark. I buy a large slab and break it up for my slings. It breaks rather easy. Hammer, saw, knife, screw driver....all work well breaking it up.

As for cleaning....I clean all the time. Changing out substrate maybe years. About 2-4 years for my old lady's to get a total deep cleaning. Sounds like a long time but in the wild they can stay in the same burrow for many decades.

 

[x_raphael_xx]

Welcome
Regarding cleaning, different breeds have different levels of irratibility. For example theraphosa have type 3 urticating hairs, so will have more of an effect than say an obt (which tend to defend with fangs before hairs)
It would also depend on your individual reaction, I personally haven't had a reaction to any of my T's yet, and I've had a few hair kickers while rehousing etc. Possibly I was just lucky and out of firing range.
If I was to rehouse the theraphosa however, I would dump the substrate straight in the bin, rather than putting my hand in it. T's tend to wieve hairs into the webbing around their burrows as an extra deterent.
I once caught my dog on camera while I was at work, having broken into the animal room he picked up and started throwing around an enclosure, luckily I live across the road so raced home. T had managed to escape after kicking hairs at the pup, you can see him jerk back and shake his head. He immediatly got discouraged and wondered off.
T was found, unharmed apart from its now bald butt.
(If you were interested...here's the vid)

 

[Ibnhamar]

Welcome
Regarding cleaning, different breeds have different levels of irratibility. For example theraphosa have type 3 urticating hairs, so will have more of an effect than say an obt (which tend to defend with fangs before hairs)
It would also depend on your individual reaction, I personally haven't had a reaction to any of my T's yet, and I've had a few hair kickers while rehousing etc. Possibly I was just lucky and out of firing range.
If I was to rehouse the theraphosa however, I would dump the substrate straight in the bin, rather than putting my hand in it. T's tend to wieve hairs into the webbing around their burrows as an extra deterent.
I once caught my dog on camera while I was at work, having broken into the animal room he picked up and started throwing around an enclosure, luckily I live across the road so raced home. T had managed to escape after kicking hairs at the pup, you can see him jerk back and shake his head. He immediatly got discouraged and wondered off.
T was found, unharmed apart from its now bald butt.
(If you were interested...here's the vid)

Oh my gosh. What a saga, that video... glad your dog and T are both okay, jeeze. I'm sure accidentally ingesting some hairs could've ended up horribly.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll definitely keep all of this in mind. My G. Iheringi has a *significant* bald spot similar to raphael's T in the video post - one attempt to rehouse that went poorly, my T kept throwing up threat poses at my catch cup/makeup brush until I gave up after a few gentle nudges, but I didn't see him kick hairs during that process, I'm nearly certain. Later that night, I gave it another try, and my T went this time pretty much without issue. Then, a few days later now is when I noticed the spot. I swear I didn't see *anything* of the sort during, so maybe my T must have done it after the fact, or maybe after the first attempt and I didn't notice the bald spot at the time. Not sure.

An additional question if anyone sees this - my G. Iheringi wasn't in the first enclosure long, maybe a week or two. I intend to replace/wash everything anyways, but theoretically, could someone go ahead and house in the same old enclosure, or would potentially another Ts hairs be able to harm another T? I assume not, and I'm sure there's good general reason to clean it out between Ts regardless, but just curious, don't think I've seen mention of this, either. It was just a temporary housing at the time, as I didn't have a bigger backup enclosure ready at the time, the T arrived about a full half an inch or longer than it was listed.

Thanks again everyone for the advice!

 

[x_raphael_xx]

Oh my gosh. What a saga, that video... glad your dog and T are both okay, jeeze. I'm sure accidentally ingesting some hairs could've ended up horribly.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll definitely keep all of this in mind. My G. Iheringi has a *significant* bald spot similar to raphael's T in the video post - one attempt to rehouse that went poorly, my T kept throwing up threat poses at my catch cup/makeup brush until I gave up after a few gentle nudges, but I didn't see him kick hairs during that process, I'm nearly certain. Later that night, I gave it another try, and my T went this time pretty much without issue. Then, a few days later now is when I noticed the spot. I swear I didn't see *anything* of the sort during, so maybe my T must have done it after the fact, or maybe after the first attempt and I didn't notice the bald spot at the time. Not sure.

An additional question if anyone sees this - my G. Iheringi wasn't in the first enclosure long, maybe a week or two. I intend to replace/wash everything anyways, but theoretically, could someone go ahead and house in the same old enclosure, or would potentially another Ts hairs be able to harm another T? I assume not, and I'm sure there's good general reason to clean it out between Ts regardless, but just curious, don't think I've seen mention of this, either. It was just a temporary housing at the time, as I didn't have a bigger backup enclosure ready at the time, the T arrived about a full half an inch or longer than it was listed.

Thanks again everyone for the advice!

Sometimes they kick off hairs to line the burrows etc, so may have bald butts from that. After the next molt they'll have new hairs. I have some with missing hairs, not quite to the extent of Luckys bald butt, who haven't been through trauma.
I doubt the hairs would actually harm another T, but if you are going to house a new T, I would replace substrate etc anyway. Sometimes the web etc from another T could stress out the new resident, as he may think the old owner is still nearby.