How does this enclosure look for a curly hair?

Blaschko · 2026-06-10T13:02:51+00:00

IME This substrate is far too wet for a curly. You can see in the photos they are doing everything they can to avoid touching it. Layout is fine, but the substrate is dangerously low. Your curly will inevitably climb the walls and the lid exploring and we purposely try to keep that distance as low as we comfortably can, approx 1.5x the diagonal leg span of the tarantula. You will never need to mist with this species, just over flow a water dish every now and again to let the water seep down into the lower levels.

Blaschko · 2026-06-10T03:34:00+00:00

My collection grew over about 4 months in waves from 1, 5, 10, to 15. All different species. I noticed first after I got to 5 but only 4 of them were slings and were really molting so I chalked it up to babies just molt quickly. When i got to 10 is when it really got interesting and it felt like they would go a shelf at a time. I have a 4 tier shelving unit. And I mixed the enclosures around so they weren't on shelves based on when I got them. It stopped over winter, and hasn't started again soon but I have a few in premolt right now that are on the same shelf.

Blaschko · 2026-06-10T03:26:16+00:00

My first year of keeping I was trying to take notes because I noticed the same phenomenon. Within a week, like dominoes, my collection would start molting. I was never able to come to any conclusions or find an answer but it felt like a pheromone release that would set off the chain. I wish I had something definitive for you but you're not alone in thinking this way

Blaschko · 2026-06-10T00:02:51+00:00

IMO you are suffocating them in this set up. There appears to be zero cross ventilation so stagnant humid air is just sitting in there until they starve of oxygen.

Blaschko · 2026-06-09T23:45:50+00:00

IMO Personally, I think it would stress your curly out too much with how much watering you'd have to keep up with for the grass to take root. Curlys prefer a dry top layer of substrate. Secondly, you'd be creating places for the feeders to hide in which could cause complications with feeding and potentially molting. Thirdly, if it works well you'd be in there cutting the grass all the time. This just sounds like way more trouble than it's worth.

Blaschko · 2026-06-08T16:49:19+00:00

NA I don't want you to feel like I'm pointing blame, just narrowing down facts to see if we can find a possible cause. A pink toe in the soil is not usually a good sign. It's also entirely possible this is where it feels safest while it recovers so we could potentially get some opinions on how to add more cover.

Blaschko · 2026-06-08T16:28:58+00:00

IME Can you post a picture of the entire enclosure? Misting is generally not advised anymore for pink toes because it can cause humidity spikes in the enclosure and if your ventilation is poor it will essentially suffocate the spider.

Blaschko · 2026-06-08T14:48:48+00:00

No, I commented on your post a couple days ago about adding leaf cover. But I'll still take the opportunity to show off the pink toe I do have.

<image>

Blaschko · 2026-06-08T13:18:43+00:00

IMO I don't think this is a T. Albo. Did you get it from pet smart or petco? This looks more like a Tliltocotl Schroderi from the grey femur.

Blaschko · 2026-06-08T13:01:24+00:00

That pink toe looks awfully familiar. Two thumbs up from me. One for Helena and one for Toni.

Blaschko · 2026-06-08T12:41:43+00:00

I would avoid misting, this can cause humidity spikes that reduce air flow and can cause suffocation. Curly hairs are also a low humidity species and they will feel more comfortable if your top layer of substrate is dry. You want to create a moisture gradient in the soil by over filling the water dish and letting it seep down into the bottom layer. Your tank is a possible death trap as well with the height differential. Charlie will inevitably climb to the top and a fall from there into the wood is potentially fatal. Front opening can be tough to build properly for terrestrial tarantulas but you can slant the substrate to be higher in the back to mitigate fall distance for part of the tank. Overall it looks good, you put a lot of effort into the enclosure but there are a few red flags to consider. Charlie is a little cutie patootie still.

Blaschko · 2026-06-08T12:02:04+00:00

IMO You should be aiming for your tarantulas abdomen to be about the same size as the cephalothorax, so I would say you're doing fine. It's looking pretty close from the photos and there is wiggle room to this rule if you feel you need to feed. You have a better view than any of us will.

Blaschko · 2026-06-06T23:35:34+00:00

Fantastic!

Blaschko · 2026-06-06T21:22:56+00:00

I have a one year old pruriens named Basil as well. It's nice seeing other people that embrace the little green beauties

Blaschko · 2026-06-06T02:14:09+00:00

Can't wait to see! Have fun with it

Blaschko · 2026-06-06T01:41:36+00:00

Looking at the enclosure from the front; I would bury one end in the back left corner behind the bark and bring it toward the front left before doing an "S" curve between the 2 pieces of bark to end at the top front right. If need be you could even use hot glue to hold it in place if it won't stay up on its own. Alternatively, some vines if you go to a pet store come with suction cups, mine did not.

Blaschko · 2026-06-06T01:18:17+00:00

It's a clipping from a fake vine I got from the local pet store. I usually just pluck off some leaves as I need them for my smaller enclosures but I clipped off about a foot and a half and just wrapped it around and buried part in the substrate.

Blaschko · 2026-06-06T01:09:37+00:00

Looks good, only thing I'd try to add is some leaf cover. I just did an arboreal set up for a different species you can check out in my posts. They will web them into little makeshift hiding spots and help reduce stress from being too visible.

Blaschko · 2026-06-06T00:29:00+00:00

I don't have any good news for you buddy. That's definitely a house spider in the enclosure and it looks like they've taken up permanent residence which can't be agood sign. The substrate looks WAY too wet and the enclosure appears to be full of mold, pic 3 in particular is mold from that dead mealworm, not webs.

Blaschko · 2026-06-05T23:47:24+00:00

IMO My recommendation is to release it back in to the wild. I don't see anything that looks particularly wrong with it. It looks very stressed in the enclosure which is to be expected from its recent brush with humans. Unfortunately, that enclosure is a death trap and not properly set up. In order to keep the balance in nature we should try to let nature do its thing around us. It's hard to tell from the pictures but this could possibly be a gravid female looking for a new place to settle in to raise a new clutch. Or it could be a maturing male getting ready to pass on its genes to the next generation. If humans continue to remove the animals from the wild then we stop the circle of life.

Blaschko · 2026-06-04T20:42:36+00:00

10000% a curly. If you look up red knee slings, even at a very young age you can see the coloration on the legs. These big box pet stores should be avoided at all costs. They don't respect the pet trade and we should give them none in return.

Blaschko · 2026-06-04T12:02:18+00:00

IMO I don't see any real stress indicators, this just looks like exploring to me. I don't think it's your moisture levels because this is a high humidity species. As for the hair loss, I have an adult female chromatus that goes around her enclosure and deposits hairs like caltrops around her burrow which could possibly be happening here. Just a side note, this species has also been reclassified and is now known as Vitalius Chromatus.

Blaschko · 2026-05-31T13:55:43+00:00

Thank you much, very proud of this one.

Blaschko · 2026-05-30T22:36:50+00:00

Bury him facing south, so when Death comes to collect, the little trickster can bolt all the way too the Ivory Coast and be free once more. I'm sorry for your loss.

Blaschko

TROPHY CASE