new to the forum

[nyteovvl]

Hello all,
I am new to this forum and have a few questions. I just got a curly hair tarantula for my birthday from my daughter. She ordered a Rose Hair but the specimen supply company sent a curly hair. I know they are both very similar in temperament, hardiness, and docility. My rose hair died unusually. She never molted. She went through the motions several times but would quit at the last second and walk away from her molt mat she made. I thought I was doing everything right. I used zoomed forest floor substrate, kept humidity around 80%, had a reptile cage heat pad under half the tank and fed her around 5-6 crickets every other week and a hide box. She was smallish (maybe 4 inch leg span so I don't think she was old) I don't want my new pet to suffer the same fate. Could it have been malnutrition? I didn't know about gut loading the crickets back then but I do now. My Curly is in a 5 gallon tank with the same set up as before. Also, knowing its a burrower is that forest floor substrate ok to use in the tank? what kind of lighting should I use. I know that rosies are close to blind but are curlies too? I have an LED strip (white light) right now. haven't used it much because the curly seems more active when its just the ambient light or night time. Any advice anybody has would be appreciated. Thank You.

nyteovvl

 

[Enn49]

Hi and welcome .
Curly Hairs, Brachypelma albopilosum, are adorable tarantulas but they do like dry conditions. Forget about humidity all you need is a water bowl and a heat pad is not recommended as long as the room they are in is warm enough for you to sit in comfort your tarantula will be fine. If you really need to use a heat pad then it is best stuck on the back of the container as most tarantulas burrow to cool down and if it's hot down there they can overheat. They don't need light either as in the wild they will find dark places.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Welcome to the group. Sorry to hear about your loss. If you kept it at 80% humidity with a heat mat I'd say that's probably why it died. That humidity level is way too high for any spider trapped in a enclosure. It gets way to stuffy for them and with added heat she had no where to go. No fresh air. Tarantulas dont care for heat...they burrow during the day and come out at night to hunt when it's cool. Yes occasionally you'll see them like a little heat but it's not necessarily good for them, they can dehydrate fast. Humidity on care sheets are from the region in which their ancestors came from. It's not a constant humidity level that should be maintained in a enclosure without the other variables like a breeze or fresh air.
Inside a burrow a tarantula cant escape the heat of a heat mat...instinct tells them to dig down to get cool but they run into a heat mat. They dont retreat either...they die.
I'd get ride of the heat mat for the curly hair and let the substrate stay dry. Over flow a water dish once a week and it will be fine.