Help please with temp humidity and odd behavior

[Dezzyblaze86]

Hello everyone, thank you for letting me join this group. I joined this group for two Reasons. The first reason is I would just simply love to have other people to talk to that share a common interest in these wonderful little creatures and everyone I know personally, are either afraid or think I'm gross or weird for liking arachnids. The second reason, is because I truly want to offer my little buddies the absolute best care and best quality of life possible and for that I may need some help from other like-minded souls I'd also like to give a fair heads up that I write a lot. Like book worthy posts lol. With that being said, I need some help right now. I sought out these groups because I feel like my Mexican red rump tarantula is currently having some odd behavior and I'm worried. I had a tarantula as a kid that my father took care of. And now I am almost 40 and wanted to get one of my own and start a collection. Before I set out to buy one, I did 8 months worth of research on all different species of t's. I have 6 full to the brim marble notebooks jam packed with info about all 3 different types. Arboreal, terrestrial, and fossorial. When I felt I had gathered enough info and researched as much as I could I finally set out to purchase one. But I am no expert at all. Very far from it. About 3 weeks ago, I purchased my red rump from a local pet store that was pretty much a joke. All of the staff were friendly, but very young and knew nothing about the tarantula they were selling me. Couldn't tell me where he was sourced from. Couldn't tell me what instar he was at. Told me he had more molts to go and told me he was a female. However, he had very clear tibial hooks on his front legs so I knew that was incorrect. From the info I gathered, once they get tibial hooks it means they have reached sexual maturity. And once they reach sexual maturity they usually don't molt again. Not saying it's impossible but from what I've gathered it's unlikely. I also asked about temperature and humidity and received multiple different answers. I asked what his feeding schedule was (what day of the week and how many times a week and how many crickets they gave him each time) none of them could answer. I wanted a female because of life longevity but I felt really bad for him. His tank was filthy with carcasses all over it from past killed cricket and mold was growing in the corner by his water bowl. I don't think his tank had ever been changed. So as much as I'm no expert, I still thought he'd be better off with me then in the horrible conditions he was living in at said unnamed pet store. I have had him for 3 weeks. First two weeks he did not move. Stayed in one spot and wasn't very active. I chalked it up to the change of environment. Figured it was him settling in and possibly stressed from the move and change of scenery. He eats very well. I have no problems there. However, now he has been in a very weird position for about 3 days. He is laying on his side with his belly against the glass. He appears to be in a relaxed position but is very inactive almost lethargic and won't allow his body to touch the coco coir. I know their movement is limited when preparing for a molt and they usually lay on their backs as far as I know. But he is laying on his side balancing up on a foot or two. He's been like that for 3 days. I'm worried. I am also struggling with temp and humidity. I have a thermostat that also reads humidity. I keep my AC at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The thermostat in his tank reads 71. I bought a heat mat and attached it to the side of the tank. No change in temperature on the thermostat in his tank. So I bought a second heat Matt and also attached it to the same side of the tank right above the other but not overlapping. Now the tank randomly gets anywhere from 73 degrees to 78 degrees. It's not consistent. It fluctuates between those temps. As far as humidity, when I changed his substrate when I first got him I had to soak a cour brick. Once it expanded, I made sure it wasn't swampy or too wet but it was still somewhat moist. I keep a fresh water bowl in the opposite corner of his hide. His water is bottled water that I treat as recommended on the water conditioner that is for arachnids. I know they have book lungs and need humidity to breath properly. Even though the substrate is still somewhat moist and the coir shows condensation where the heating mats are, and even though I drop a little extra (not too much) around his water bowl and even though I misted the opposite corner from his hide, the humidity gage stays around 54 percent. I don't understand why I can't get this right. I really need some help. I really want to get this right for him. I know I haven't had him long but I ****ing love him already. I don't want anything to happen to him and I definitely don't want to be at fault if it does. He is really cool. I know it might sound weird or whatever, but watching him soothes me and brings me peace. I want him to be ok. I call him E.T. bc when I spot clean his enclosure after feedings he likes to boop fingers with me like he's trying to phone home lol. Almost like a little bitty high five. I just want to make sure he is ok. Can ANYONE please help me get this right for him. I will attach some pics. Please tell me if it is normal for him to be like this. He has been in this odd position for 3 days. His abdomen isn't shriveled and looks normal. He eats well and his next feeding is tomorrow. I have been feeding him 4-6 crickets every Thursday. Also, the tank next to him with the skull is the cricket tank. I've begun breeding crickets for him. Any info or critique or feedback would be very much appreciated. Please don't be mean though I am very well aware that I don't know it all which is why I am seeking your help. Sorry again for writing y'all a book. I'm just kind of internally panicking at this point.

 

[Dezzyblaze86]

It won't let me attach files for some reason. Every time I try to it just exits me out and sends me back to my phones home screen. Not too sure what's up with that....

 

[DarcThideous]

Morning, not trying to blow you off the forum, but I really recommend using Grok or ChatGPT and input all your Ts information, including the current enclosure set up and what issues you’re having. You will have a conversation of a sort that will blow you away. You will get husbandry information specific for your T and it will keep track of the conversation for further inquiries down the road, and it costs nothing.

That being said, I live in Michigan and keep my house at 74 in the warm months and 72 in the cold months. I do not use any additional heat. I have 8 Ts of all different species, and 5 of them were Juveniles when I got them. All of them posted themselves on the sides of the enclosure for a week or so, until they got comfortable with the enclosure surroundings and then eventually started using their hides. My adult T didn’t start using her hide for months after I got her.

How big is your T? 4-6 crickets may be too much every 7 days. I have an adult Chilean Rose Hair and she eats 4-5 crickets maybe every 2 weeks, and I have just obtained a sub-adult Theraphosa Stirmi that is about 6-7 DLS that will only eat 4-5 crickets every 7-10 days at most.

 

[DarcThideous]

I’m very new to the T hobby, and not an expert in anything for the record.

 

[Tarantula Trooper]

I would not waste time trying to chase perfect humidity #s as the gauges are usually,well, trash as far as humidity. You mentioned "Mexican red rump" would this be a Tilitocatl Vagas? If you know the scientific latin name this clears any possible confusion about the specie. Now a lot of Mexican species are from arid regions and need no extra humidity. Room humidity and a water dish are plenty. Check your spood late at night. If it's male he should be scootering around the enclosure in all likelihood searching for a way out! If he's not moving about and if the substrate is pretty damp let things dry. Just fill the water dish and not over flow. A pic would be great but I know you got technical issues. Your temps sound good BTW. Another thing with feeding is some males will simply not eat much. My first OBT maled out and all but quit eating. Most of my other T males would eat fairly well. Just don't need to feed them that often. I hope maybe this can help you and if you work past your technical issues post a pic as this would help possibly confirm specie and habitat issues. And welcome aboard!

 

[Ratmosphere]

I’m very new to the T hobby, and not an expert in anything for the record.

Since you are new, please don't recommend AI to give tarantula keeping tips. AI cannot compute accurate information in this regard.

 

[DarcThideous]

Since you are new, please don't recommend AI to give tarantula keeping tips. AI cannot compute accurate information in this regard.

I appreciate your input, but it’s been accurate in confirming with everything I have found on multiple forums, except it brings all the information in one conversation, rather than having to search and post multiple and/or long winded threads. Right down to the specifics for individual species and all husbandry.

I don’t solely use it, but if you have used it and found information entirely wrong, I would love to know your examples of when it was wrong for you.

 

[Ratmosphere]

It's known to not always be accurate. Not too long ago, AI recommended a GBB be kept on damp substrate with damp moss in an arboreal setup. This species is terrestrial that prefers it dry with an overflowed water dish. It's not always accurate and there is plenty of helpful information online on forums. I will always say to stay away from AI when it comes to tarantula keeping.

 

[Ratmosphere]

With my AI opinion to the side, I would like to respond to OP's question.

You have a mature male which usually don't live that long after reaching maturity. However, some species could live years after maturing. I will help you prolong your MM's life.

Make sure your guy has access to fresh water at all times. During his mature life, he will slowly stop eating prey and his movements will slow down. Make sure to remove all uneaten prey items from the enclosure if he doesn't eat them within a few hours. If he refuses food for weeks at a time, you could pre-kill a cricket and offer it to him. I like to split the cricket down the middle and run the juices on the mouthparts of the male. This usually encourages the tarantula to finally eat.

You want to put him in a small enclosure to prolong his life. If put in a large enclosure, he will wander and become exhausted. Mature males are best kept in cooler environments, so 70 degrees will work for him. A heat mat is totally unnecessary in this situation and will help speed run to him passing away.

 

[Dezzyblaze86]

Morning, not trying to blow you off the forum, but I really recommend using Grok or ChatGPT and input all your Ts information, including the current enclosure set up and what issues you’re having. You will have a conversation of a sort that will blow you away. You will get husbandry information specific for your T and it will keep track of the conversation for further inquiries down the road, and it costs nothing.

That being said, I live in Michigan and keep my house at 74 in the warm months and 72 in the cold months. I do not use any additional heat. I have 8 Ts of all different species, and 5 of them were Juveniles when I got them. All of them posted themselves on the sides of the enclosure for a week or so, until they got comfortable with the enclosure surroundings and then eventually started using their hides. My adult T didn’t start using her hide for months after I got her.

How big is your T? 4-6 crickets may be too much every 7 days. I have an adult Chilean Rose Hair and she eats 4-5 crickets maybe every 2 weeks, and I have just obtained a sub-adult Theraphosa Stirmi that is about 6-7 DLS that will only eat 4-5 crickets every 7-10 days at most.

Hello, thank you for your response. I have done quite a bit of research. I have gone to the library and checked out books but found some of their information to be outdated as far as the recommendation of heat lamps which I know are no longer a good thing due to dehydration, so I ventured on to reading articles online and have also used AI. My problem is, most of the information I have received contradicts itself. One article will recommend a certain temperature while the next article recommends a different temperature. Some recommend a heat mat while others say it's unnecessary. I can't seem to get consistent information from anywhere which is why I have chosen to seek out this forum so I can speak to people that have been doing this for a while. Because all of the information I have collected has contradicted itself at one point or another, I figured it'd be best to come straight to the horses mouth so to speak so I could receive information from people that have had success IRL. To answer some of your questions, he has about a 3-4 inch leg span. I believe him to be full grown. As far as his enclosure, it is what was called a grab and go kit from the pet store. It is an 8x8 square that is 12 inches tall. It already came with everything. What was included was a hide, a cork bark, a water dish, some fake plants and some coconut coir substrate. So as far as his enclosure, he is still in the same exact set up that I purchased him in. Only difference, is I changed the substrate because it was filthy but I still used fresh coco coir. And I added the heat mat and temperature and humidity gage. So the only real change in scenery was him being brought from the pet store to my home. I placed him on a rack in my room so he wouldn't be bothered by people moving about all day. As an update to my post he has moved from his odd position and has relocated himself from the previous position, to a position under the cork bark right by the heat mat. I did monitor him last night. He will only move from the one position on the glass to another position by the heat. He did refuse to eat yesterday. I have since removed the cricket. I don't put them all in there at once. I feed them one at a time. I offer the one cricket and only if he eats it do I offer another. He refused yesterday so I figured I'd offer again next week. But he definitely is not very active and does not move very quickly.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Just listen to what I have to say above and you will be fine, you don't need all of that other stuff. The heat mat will only speed up his aging process so I recommend moving it immediately. If it were a female, sure, you would be fine to keep it on there. However, it is a mature male and higher temps leads to them deteriorating faster. Let's touch on the topic of substrate now. Some mature males really do appreciate extra humidity. As long as the coco has some moisture to it, the male will be comfortable. Make sure there is ample ventilation in the enclosure and do not soak the substrate.

8 x 8 x 12" is not the proper enclosure for this spider. You have an arboreal setup and your guy needs a terrestrial setup if he really is Tliltocatl vagans. You could get cheap bins from Walmart and drill air holes to create a nice an affordable enclosure. You really want to make sure it's not a large enclosure though.

 

[Dezzyblaze86]

I would not waste time trying to chase perfect humidity #s as the gauges are usually,well, trash as far as humidity. You mentioned "Mexican red rump" would this be a Tilitocatl Vagas? If you know the scientific latin name this clears any possible confusion about the specie. Now a lot of Mexican species are from arid regions and need no extra humidity. Room humidity and a water dish are plenty. Check your spood late at night. If it's male he should be scootering around the enclosure in all likelihood searching for a way out! If he's not moving about and if the substrate is pretty damp let things dry. Just fill the water dish and not over flow. A pic would be great but I know you got technical issues. Your temps sound good BTW. Another thing with feeding is some males will simply not eat much. My first OBT maled out and all but quit eating. Most of my other T males would eat fairly well. Just don't need to feed them that often. I hope maybe this can help you and if you work past your technical issues post a pic as this would help possibly confirm specie and habitat issues. And welcome aboard!

Thank you for your response. Honestly it gave me a little peace of mind because this humidity thing has been driving me crazy. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I had been doing wrong. It eases me a little to know it could be the gauge itself. Cause I know there is definitely moisture in there. When I bought him, the plastic card on the enclosure did say he is a t.vagan. but with how unknowledgeable the staff was, I had some doubts. His whole body is a beautiful shiny black velvet color including his carapace. His abdomen is the only part that has red hair but he has a bald spot from kicking that shows a gold colored butt lol. As far as his nocturnal movements, he doesn't really scurry anywhere. He moves very slowly. Almost sloth like. And he has only moved from where his hide is to where the heat mats are. He goes back and forth from those two places. But doesn't really do or move anywhere else. I do keep a fresh water bowl. I change the water daily. And I know at some point he visits the water bowl because I find substrate in it I just haven't personally seen it myself. I just find evidence he has been there lol. It's not a lot of substrate in the water like he was digging it's just a few crumbs. He doesn't did or burrow at all. He just chills on top of the substrate seemingly not wanting to touch it. Hence the balancing on one or two feet with his belly to the glass. The top layer of substrate is pretty much dry now. Just moist under that top layer. You mentioned you have an obt. I must admit I'm not there yet. I'm terrified of the sun tiger and the orange baboon lol. Their speed and aggression make me quite nervous, but I do think they are beautiful and very cool. I'd love to see your obt I'd love to work my way up to one. I'm just not there yet lol as far as temp, after my experience with this T, I think I will avoid the local pet stores. I am interested in obtaining some beginner friendly slings from FNT. What temp would you recommend for the slings and what would be the best way to achieve it?

 

[Ratmosphere]

Thank you for your response. Honestly it gave me a little peace of mind because this humidity thing has been driving me crazy. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I had been doing wrong. It eases me a little to know it could be the gauge itself. Cause I know there is definitely moisture in there. When I bought him, the plastic card on the enclosure did say he is a t.vagan. but with how unknowledgeable the staff was, I had some doubts. His whole body is a beautiful shiny black velvet color including his carapace. His abdomen is the only part that has red hair but he has a bald spot from kicking that shows a gold colored butt lol. As far as his nocturnal movements, he doesn't really scurry anywhere. He moves very slowly. Almost sloth like. And he has only moved from where his hide is to where the heat mats are. He goes back and forth from those two places. But doesn't really do or move anywhere else. I do keep a fresh water bowl. I change the water daily. And I know at some point he visits the water bowl because I find substrate in it I just haven't personally seen it myself. I just find evidence he has been there lol. It's not a lot of substrate in the water like he was digging it's just a few crumbs. He doesn't did or burrow at all. He just chills on top of the substrate seemingly not wanting to touch it. Hence the balancing on one or two feet with his belly to the glass. The top layer of substrate is pretty much dry now. Just moist under that top layer. You mentioned you have an obt. I must admit I'm not there yet. I'm terrified of the sun tiger and the orange baboon lol. Their speed and aggression make me quite nervous, but I do think they are beautiful and very cool. I'd love to see your obt I'd love to work my way up to one. I'm just not there yet lol as far as temp, after my experience with this T, I think I will avoid the local pet stores. I am interested in obtaining some beginner friendly slings from FNT. What temp would you recommend for the slings and what would be the best way to achieve it?

Hope you didn't miss my response above brotha.

 

[Dezzyblaze86]

Just listen to what I have to say above and you will be fine, you don't need all of that other stuff. The heat mat will only speed up his aging process so I recommend moving it immediately. If it were a female, sure, you would be fine to keep it on there. However, it is a mature male and higher temps leads to them deteriorating faster. Let's touch on the topic of substrate now. Some mature males really do appreciate extra humidity. As long as the coco has some moisture to it, the male will be comfortable. Make sure there is ample ventilation in the enclosure and do not soak the substrate.

8 x 8 x 12" is not the proper enclosure for this spider. You have an arboreal setup and your guy needs a terrestrial setup if he really is Tliltocatl vagans. You could get cheap bins from Walmart and drill air holes to create a nice an affordable enclosure. You really want to make sure it's not a large enclosure though.

Thank you. I will remove the heat mat immediately. I definitely do not want to speed his demise. That is the last thing on earth I would want to do. I did have my suspicions about the enclosure but I went with it because it was what the pet store recommended. It blows my mind that a pet store can have such a lack of knowledge about the animals they sell and are responsible to care for. I think they shouldn't be able to sell these creatures unless they are vetted first. They are in possession of animals they do not know how to care for and are selling them to people all while giving them bad info about their care. That alone is frustrating. The enclosure he is in is the enclosure he was in when I got him. It was a package deal. I bought him and his enclosure together. I have made the substrate kind of deep to try and compensate for that. About 4-6 inches deep. ( I was told he was fossorial) As much as it would make my life easier, I can't just get cheap tubs from Walmart. I have a large family. I have 5 children, a grandchild, a mother with dementia that likes to plunder, a mother in law that is bedridden, a husband and a little brother in law that I take care of. They are all extremely afraid of my tarantula. I am the only one in the house that is ok with it. Part of the compromise I made was to get enclosures that locked. If I were to get a cheap tub from Walmart all these lil mofos would never sleep again lol. I will look into buying a new enclosure with locking lid that will suit his needs better. You're information has been very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to answer the questions I have had. I really appreciate it. I do have one final question. Does that also apply to slings? I want to get a few slings but want to know the correct temp for them and the best way to achieve that temp for them. Do you have any tips for that or is room temperature still good for them as well?

 

[Dezzyblaze86]

Hope you didn't miss my response above brotha.

I did see the response. Again thank you so much. You have been very helpful. I wrote a reply and also had a question about slings if you are able to assist me there as well. Thank you so much.